February 29th 2012

What does it look like to be a part of and support your faith community?

Read Acts 2:42-47 and journal your thoughts

Usually when we think about being a part of our faith communities, we think about the time we spend with them on Sundays, Wednesdays, or Saturdays (whenever you go) and maybe keeping tabs on them on Facebook. When it comes to supporting them in tough times we think about things like praying for them, taking them food when they have gone through a major event, or maybe even taking them out to lunch to talk with them about something.

For the early followers of Jesus being a part of a faith community was something totally different. For them it was not just going to regular services, instead they ate together, they hung out together, they experienced God together, and they learned from each other. Not only were they together all the time, but they loved it. They truly loved their neighbor as themselves. They were a family.

Not only were they a giant family of all these different people groups, but they showed extreme generosity towards each other. Verse 45 talks about how they would sell their stuff to be able to provide for anyone in their community who was in need. That is the heart of generosity, when we are able to demonstrate the love of God to others to the point that we are willing to sacrifice to be able to help another. Not only were they willing to sacrifice, but they were willing with “glad and sincere hearts”.

Today pray that God would help you to become a generous person, to the point where you are truly open to give whatever you can to help another.

February 28th 2012

When it comes to giving, what do we give? Money? Food? Clothes?

Read Matthew 22:36-40 and journal your initial thoughts

Sometimes when it comes to giving, we can focus too much on the material things. But what Jesus tell us here is that we need to love our neighbors as ourselves. Love is more than just the giving of material things. Love can be expressed through giving things like food, clothes, money, and stuff, but love is something more than that.

Loving our neighbor goes deeper, it’s revealed in the amount of time we spend with them. It is easy to give material things, because we can always get those back. But time, once it’s gone, it’s gone. Time is not only the most important thing we can give for us, but for the other person. When someone is going through a difficult time, sometimes what they need most is just someone to be there, someone to listen. Sometimes the most important way to show someone you love them is simply to be a friend.

Today pray that God would show you those opportunities when the most important thing you can do is to be a friend.

February 27 2012

When it comes to your giving, what areas of your life do you give the most? Is it from the overflow places of your life? Those places where you have so much you can afford to give it away, or is it something else?

Read Luke 21:1-4 and journal your thoughts

For so many of us, we give out of our abundance. We give from the areas of our lives where we have so much it will not really hurt us to give this thing away. For some of us that is money, for some it’s food or some kind of supply, and for others of us it is simply our time. But this widow who Jesus has this experience with does something different.

While we are so use to giving from the areas of our lives where we have abundance, or are at least “comfortable”, this widow chooses to give from a place of need in her life. Once again we are reminded that they are living in a very male dominated world, where males would provide income. So when a woman becomes a widow, how does she earn her income? She’s mainly at the mercy of others, and yet she is free to give.

This widow is an example of what it means to really have a heart that trusts God. She is not concerned with things, stuff, or money, rather her concern is giving. The ironic part of this story is a portion of the offerings from the Temple were meant to go to the poor, the orphans, and the widows. And she is the one who gives.

Today pray that God would show you how to give not only from your abundance, but from your areas of need

February 26th 2012

What is your attitude when it comes to giving?

Read 2 Corinthians 9:6-13 and journal your thoughts

That sounds nice, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be great to be the type of person who actually enjoyed giving? Usually for most of us, the idea of giving is more like a root canal than being close to what we would call being cheerful.

Now read Psalm 37:4 and journal your thoughts

The key to becoming a cheerful giver is to pattern the things that we want after the things God wants. When we do this then our hearts will beat in rhythm with the heartbeat of God. Essentially we will want to do the things that God wants to do.

It’s when we get to this place in our walk with Christ that we begin to give freely and cheerfully, because giving opens up the opportunity for God to do something else in our lives. It’s when we get to that point where we trust that God is going to take care our needs, and then we become free from the worry and stress of provision.

Today pray that God would show you that He is faithful and that you can trust Him to provide.

February 25th 2012

What if you are someone who struggles with selfishness? How do I get past it?

Read Ephesians 4:28 and journal your thoughts

Did you notice the transition there? If you are the type of person who has had a problem with stealing, not stealing is only part of the solution. We are also supposed to do something, we are told to create something and give it away.

It’s interesting isn’t it? So many times it seems like the goal of following Jesus is to simply get back to that Garden of Eden state of being where we are free from sin. But this is not what Paul seems to be saying here, is that God does not just want us to get back to square one, simply not sinning. Instead God pushes us to do something good and give it away.

Today pray that God would help not only to give up the areas of your life where you may be selfish but to show you how to turn that negative into a positive.

February 24th 2012

Yesterday we looked at how the call of Jesus is to become someone who is not selfish but someone who gives. But what is the standard of our generosity?

Read Matthew 20:1-15 and journal your thoughts

How does this story make you feel? Angry? Confused? For most of us, there is a part of us that cringes at this story, because this story is not fair, is it? We read this story and we know that Jesus is not just talking about a vineyard owner paying his workers, but that he is talking about something else.

The problem is we live in a culture where we are more worried about what is fair than what is graceful. Jesus pushes us here, to live in a way that is completely counter to our culture. Instead of focusing on what is fair, Jesus says that when the kingdom of God is lived out people will generously in spite of what is fair and what is not. So, the challenge for us is to get past what our society considers “normal” or “fair” and fully trusting God when He asks us to give.

Today pray that God would show you the areas where He has blessed you abundantly and that He will show you where He wants you to give

February 23rd 2012

This week we are going to begin looking at some of the characteristics that we need to have as someone who is a follower of Jesus. This week, we are going to look at generosity.

Read Luke 19:1-10 and journal your thoughts

Did you notice what Jesus said at the end? Take a moment and let that sink in. Salvation comes to Zaccheus because he is generous. He didn’t ask Jesus into his heart, he didn’t say a prayer or go to an altar. He just started giving.

Sometimes it’s easy for us to equate following Jesus to a Holy rite, ritual or act. I said a prayer, I talked with the pastor, and I asked Jesus into my heart. But then what…? To be a follower of Jesus is to be transformed, to become different. This has to be core of what it means to follow Jesus, because it’s what we have to do in order to keep up with Jesus.

Sometimes there are these things in our lives that really keep us from following Jesus. These are things that are hard for us to give up. For Zaccheus, he was selfish, he enjoyed the benefits of his job as a tax collector (which was to add a little extra for himself), but the call of Jesus is not okay with this. The call of Jesus is not content with the things that we do that hurt others. The call of Jesus transforms us from being selfish to becoming someone who open gives as much as they can.

Today pray that God would show you the areas of your life where He wants you to be more generous.

February 22nd 2012

This week we have been looking at the different attributes that go along with a marriage and what is expected from each side and how that relates to our walk with Christ. Today we are going to wrap it up by looking God’s presence in our lives.

Read Exodus 24:15-18 and journal your initial thoughts

These passages of Scripture talk about what they called the “Shekinah Glory”, which was the very presence of God. The word “Shekinah” literally means “to dwell” or “to rest”, and it mean the actual, physical dwelling place or resting place of God. Throughout Scripture we see the Shekinah Glory in the Holy of Holies and in the tabernacle. For them, God was present. God was dwelling among them, with them in whatever they were doing.

If God dwelled in the Temple and the tabernacle, where does God dwell in our lives?

Read Ezekiel 36:27 and journal your thoughts

Did you catch it? God’s promise is to actually put His Spirit in us. He is resting and dwelling in us through His Holy Spirit. His Shekinah isn’t contained to the Temple or the tabernacle; rather it is active and alive. It is with us wherever we go, and this changes the way we live. When we live in constant awareness of the presence of God we begin to take every decision we make very seriously, as if they matter.

Today may you see the Shekinah Glory of God in your lives.

February 21st 2012

“The degree of blessing enjoyed by any man will correspond exactly with the completeness of God's victory over him.” A.W. Tozer

Read James 1:22-25 and journal your thoughts

Sometimes it’s easy for us to listen to what God is saying through His Word, but it’s usually a lot harder for us to actually do it. There comes a point when we have to be submissive to what God is telling us to do. If we want to experience that freedom, we have to be submissive to God’s calling in our lives.

This would be like if your spouse asked you to do something; they obviously would be expecting you to do it. Let’s say they leave and come back later and ask you if you took care of that thing they asked you to do. What’s that, you didn’t? Why not? Didn’t you hear me? Yes, then why didn’t you do it?

The problem is with God, we often have a hard time doing what He tells us to do, because we doubt what’s He’s saying. I mean, how do I know that’s really from God? Here’s the trick, hold up what you think God is calling you to do with His Word. If what He’s calling you to do fits the nature of who He is then, do it. If you’re not sure, ask someone you trust, someone who has a solid relationship with Christ. Once you begin to recognize the Voice of God, the easier it will be to notice the next time.

Today pray that God would speak loudly in your life and help you to recognize and be submissive to His Voice.

February 20th 2012

Have you ever noticed how hard it can be to trust yourself? You know your past and the things that you’ve done. But what if God trusts you more than you do?

Read Acts 1:1-9 and journal some of your thoughts

Have you ever wondered what it was like for the disciples? The person they’ve been following, their Rabbi has just ascended into heaven and now they’re all alone. Surely they must have asked themselves the question; now what? Jesus changes everything, but what are we supposed to do with that? What traditions to we continue to keep, and which ones don’t apply anymore? This had to be a frightening moment for this band of disciples.

Here is the good news, Jesus trusts his disciples. When Jesus ascends into heaven he trusts his church into the disciple’s hands. Why? Because he believes in them, and the good news for us is just like Jesus trusted his first disciples with his church he also trusts us. Stop and think about that for a moment, Jesus trusts us, he believes in us.

Just like when we begin to follow Jesus there are moments when we have to step into the water and trust God before He acts, so God trusts us. Trust is one of the foundations of a solid relationship, but if it doesn’t go both ways then the relationship will eventually fall apart. So as we begin to trust God with our lives, be encouraged that God already trusts you.

Today pray that God would show you just how much He trusts you.

February 19th 2012

Yesterday we looked at those moments when God is waiting on us to act, so that He can act. We looked at how we are working as a team with God. Those moments are often dependent on us doing what God wants us to do, but…how do I know what God wants me to do?

Read Luke 5:16 and journal your thoughts

All throughout the Gospels Jesus is always going away to pray and be alone with God. Time and time again, he purposefully escapes the chaos and craziness of life so that He can spend time with his heavenly Father. In fact this verse sums it up the best because it says that he did this all the time. It happened so often that Luke actually writes it down.

If we are to step into the life that God is calling us to live then we must make room in our lives to develop a relationship with Him. We have to create a space of intimacy with God, where we can sit down with Him and get to know what’s on His mind. For anyone who is married, you understand the importance of this. If you want to keep a good relationship with your spouse then you have to set time aside where you can talk with each other. Same is true with God, how are we supposed to know what God is calling us to do if we never take the time to actually listen to what He’s saying?

Today take some time to just sit in silence and listen for the Voice of Creation.

February 18th 2012

Have you ever been in a situation where you worked with a team or with somebody else and everything just clicked?

Read Joshua 3:14-17 and journal your thoughts

Yesterday we talked about the importance of being committed to God, and today we see that when we remain loyal to God, He begins to work on our behalf. The problem is if we’re really honest with ourselves we have a hard time really believing that God is really working, that He is really going to do something. The problem is that we can’t see God like we see each other, so it’s hard for us to trust that He’s really going to step in to that moment when we need Him the most.

The part that makes things even trickier is that often God waits for us to act, before He steps in. This isn’t the first time God had parted a large body of water with His people. When the Hebrews were escaping Egypt and their backs were against the Red Sea, God parted the waters, and then they step forward. Notice in today’s verse, the Hebrews actually had to step into the river before it parted. God doesn’t do the exact same thing, He waits for them to act, but He still shows up.

What we have to remember is when we follow God’s lead, He is always working with us. Even though we can’t always see Him, even in those moments when we’re on the water’s edge, God is right there wait for us to act so He can act. In those moments, everything clicks, and we begin to actually work with God.

Today pray that God would give you the faith to act in those moments when you are more uncertain than certain.

February 17th 2012

When you think about love, it's hard to not think about some sort of commitment. When two people fall in love, if they are really serious they make a commitment to each other not to see other people. Eventually it gets to the point where they make a legal commitment to each other. Before any relationship gets to this point, they have to have "the talk".

Read Exodus 19:5-6 and journal your thoughts

At this point in their story, God has brought the Hebrews out of Egypt and they've entered the Desert of Sinai and they've set up camp at the base of the mountain. This is right before God gives them the Ten Commandments, it's at this point God gives them "the talk". While this is just a part of the talk, it's an important part of it because God is making a promise to His people.

In this moment God is giving them a glimpse of what will happen if they follow His, but it begins with a condition. This is what the Hebrews are supposed to do; they are to be loyal to their God. They are to be committed to Him, and in return He will be committed to them. In fact, God says that even though everything in this world is His that we are like a precious jewel to Him.

What was true for this band of Hebrews in the middle of the desert is true for us today. When we commit ourselves to our God, when we are loyal to Him we begin to walk in our destiny. We discover just how loyal God is to us, we begin to experience Him in ways we never imagined before, to the point where He treats us as if we are the most precious thing on this planet.

Today pray that God would show you what it looks like to be completely loyal to Him

February 16th 2012

"Love? Above all things I believe in love. Love is like oxygen. Love is a many-splendored thing, love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is love" - Christian (Moulin Rouge)

Read Matthew 22:36-40

Here Jesus sums up all of the Law and all of the Prophets in two commands; love God, love your neighbors. Truly love is a many splendored thing. Notice that when Jesus talks about love and the Law he's not just summing it up, but he talks about love as if it's the engine that moves the Law. Love is the thing that brings everything together and propels us into our future, into our destiny.

Sometimes it's easy for us to read the Scriptures and disassociate anything having to do with the Law with Christianity, and so we disassociate anything having to do with the legalism of the Law. Just like the religious leaders of Jesus' day ran the risk of only being concerned with keeping the Law, so we can run the same risk in our culture.

Sometimes it's easy for us to get so focused on doing certain things, or keeping the Law that we miss the whole point. It's like we get so focused on the details that we forget why we're doing it. When we choose to live in the Law, we live within the confines of the Law. Yet when we allow ourselves to be motivated by love, we begin to move beyond the confines of the Law into a world of abundance.

Today pray that you would not see the world as things that you have to do, but things that you get to do.

February 15th 2012

So far this week we have looked at what we are supposed to be doing while we are waiting on God. Honestly God isn’t calling us to do a whole lot of waiting. Instead He actually expects us to be pretty busy.

Read Isaiah 40:3-6 and journal your thoughts

How many times have you read this verse or heard this verse talked about as what God is going to do when He returns? Try re-reading those verses and look again at who is doing all the work.

Did you catch it, it’s not God that is preparing the way for Himself, it’s us. We’re the ones who are supposed to preparing the way for God. We are the one who are supposed to be preparing this place for His arrival, not the other way around.

This week we’ve talked about the various things God wants us to do in those times when we’re waiting. We’ve talked about living lives of service and love and when we do these things, we begin to prepare the way for the Lord with our lives. We begin to shine hope for those in the most barren wilderness, we begin to make the most rocky path flat and easy. One day God will return to dwell with His people, and it’s our job to get the place ready for Him.

Today pray that God would help you to see that even the smallest act of love and kindness plays a giant role in building His Kingdom here on earth.

February 14th 2012

Are we busy, or just looking busy?

Read Luke 12:35-48 journal your thoughts

It’s not usual to see this sort of thing in jobs, if the boss isn’t around then I’m just going to stop and wait for them. Once the boss comes, then I’ll start working again. If we’re not careful we in the church can fall into that same sort of thinking. I’ll work on Sunday’s or Wednesday’s or whenever I’m at the church then I’ll do the churchy things. Because obviously those are what counts, those are the times that God is watching (Yes, heavy sarcasm).

Sometimes it’s easy for us to categorize our lives, we have our work time, family time, church time, etc. and we leave each one of these in their place never allowing them to bleed into the other. But when we begin to follow Jesus, we begin to see the potential in every moment and every opportunity that it is a time to express who God has created us to be through service and love.

Today pray that God would help you see the potential in every opportunity.

February 13th 2012

Yesterday we talked about how God does not want us to sin against those who are sinning, but this doesn’t mean that we’re supposed to just sit around and watch it.

Read James 2:14-17 and journal your thoughts

We’ve been discussing how when we are waiting on God we’re not just supposed to sit back and not do anything but that we called to keep working. The problem for us is that sometimes it is easy for us to simply turn a blind eye to the problems of the world. When we see someone holding a cardboard sign on the side of the road begging for food, it’s easy to struggle through those awkward for minutes where we pretend not to see them.

Sometimes when we see a situation like that it’s easy for us to pray and wait for God to do something for that person. But what if God is simply waiting on you to take care of them? What if in all the time we’re waiting for God, God is actually the one waiting on us? It’s like an awkward conversation where we’ve missed our cue that it’s our turn to talk. If we’re not really listening to the conversation, then we’ll miss it.

Today pray that God would speak loudly and help you to see those moments when He’s waiting on you.

February 12th 2012

Have you ever been in a situation where you were struggling while you were waiting on God? As you look at the world around you see people who are getting away with all sorts of injustices and are thriving in it?

Read Psalm 37:7-11 and journal your thoughts

When we look at the world around us and it’s filled with all sorts of injustices (poverty, human trafficking, etc.) and it’s easy to get angry and what to lash out and maybe even hurt the ones who are hurting others. It’s in these moments God essentially looks at us and says “Stop, I’ve got this. I’m still here and I’m going to take care of this.”

In other words, we cannot allow the sins of others to cause us to sin, instead we have to trust that God is still here and He is doing something about it. This is why the Psalmist writes that “the meek will inherit the land”. Sadly we’ve interpreted this word “meek” to be “weak”, but that isn’t really what this word means. Instead, to be “meek” means to have a controlled strength or to show self-control. For example you have the ability to run a stop sign, but you show meekness when you stop.

We need to note that in this verse God is calling us not to sin against those who are sinning. This does not mean that we sit back and allow bad things to happen. We’ll be looking at this tomorrow.

Today pray that God would show you those moments when He wants you to show meekness

February 11th 2012

So what exactly are we supposed to be doing while we are waiting on God?

Read Matthew 25:1-13 and journal your initial thoughts

Kind of a strange story, isn’t it? It’s like just because they forgot oil they have to miss out on this great opportunity. The problem was that they weren’t really doing anything at the time (See verse 5), and they missed the one thing that they needed, oil. In their culture, it was expected for the bridesmaids to have lamps with oil, and they didn’t do it. Instead they waiting, they slept.

Sometimes it’s easy for us to get stuck in the habit of not doing anything while we’re waiting. It’s almost like the waiting room mentality has invaded our idea of what God expects from us. But God never brings us to that point where we’re not supposed to be doing anything. We are called to engage and impact the world around us, Jesus constantly calls us to serve. There are things that we should be doing here and God will hold us responsible for those things. When we give up on these things and assume we’re good with God, then we become like these bridesmaids who forgot their oil. To quote Erwin McManus talking about these verses “If the work of art God intends for you to create requires you to work with oils, you better have them with you.”

Today pray that God would show you what you should be doing while you are waiting

February 10th 2012

Have you ever been in a situation when you are waiting on God and it felt like He wasn’t going to do anything? It’s like, would God really leave you there?

Read Deuteronomy 31:1-6 and journal your thoughts

God’s people are in a bad place, and it’s about to go from bad to worse. They are still in the wilderness waiting to go into the Promise Land, and their great leader, Moses is getting old and proclaims that God has told him that he won’t enter the Promise Land. For the Hebrews, Moses was it. He was their fearless leader who took on the Pharaoh and led them out of Egypt. But not even he will be able to enter into the Promise Land? Will God really leave us here?

At this point, God’s people needed to be reminded that He is still with them. He hadn’t left them. He wasn’t quitting on them. He was still going to lead them into their new home, He was going to go ahead of them and fight for them.

Sometimes we get stuck in those moments when we’re waiting for God and things begin to change, maybe they go from bad to worse. Just like the Hebrews, we need to be reminded that God has not given up on us, He hasn’t left us here to fend for ourselves. Instead He is with us and fights for us.

Today pray that God would give you strength in those moments when you feel like you’re all alone to fight for yourself that He would remind you that He never left.

February 9th 2012

There are times in our lives when we have to spend some time waiting on God.

Read Psalm 40:1-3 and journal your initial thoughts

Have you ever been in one of those moments like this? Where you feel like you’re stuck in the mud and mire of life. There you are covered in the dirt and the filth that life seems to throw at you, and you feel like you’re completely out of options. These moments are hard for several reasons; first we are in a place where we feel like we’re stuck in the mud and junk of life. That’s kind of hard by definition. But secondly these moments are hard because we come to the realization that we are not in control.

As a follower of Jesus we feel like we shouldn’t have these moments. The church answer is that we totally trust Jesus and God with everything. But this is reality, and the reality is we like to be in control and we struggle when we’re not.

The first step is simply admitting that you’re not in control. Now go ahead and say it with me. “Hi, my name is ________ and I’m not in control.” As a follower of Jesus the key is not being in control but simply learning to trust the One who is.

Today pray that God would give you the courage and confidence to trust him not only in the hardest times of life, but even in the simplest.

February 8th 2012

Yesterday we looked at how Jesus doesn’t make God’s Law obsolete, but instead amplifies it. Jesus not only calls us to a higher standard of living, but lived it out himself. Today we look at our part.

Read Romans 2:13 and journal your initial thoughts

For so many people the whole idea of being a follower of Jesus is deeply tied to a single moment. For some it’s a moment when they made a public affirmation to follow Jesus, for others it’s that moment when they are baptized. And while those things are good, they become a problem if we simply forget to live it out. In our culture we make decisions every day, but how many of those decisions do we allow to change the very core of who we are? How many decisions have we made in our entire lives that have done that?

Now read 1 John 2:6 and journal your initial thoughts

Pretty blunt, huh? When we claim to follow Jesus we are also called to live a life just like Jesus did. When we do this, we begin to live out the Law. But notice throughout the life of Jesus he didn’t practice a lot of the legalistic stuff that the “religious” people of his day did. In fact he was often condemned because he didn’t do those things. Because the emphasis of the life of Jesus isn’t to pretend to be righteous or Holy or perfect, but to live a life in this beautiful relationship with his Father.

Pray today that God would show you the areas of your life that you are not fully following Jesus with.

February 7th 2012

The other day we looked at Joshua 1:6-9, and we talked about being “strong and courageous”. We looked at how “strong” means to tie yourself or anchor yourself to something solid so that when rough times come you won’t be blown away. Today we are going to look a little deeper try to grasp how exactly we do that “strong” part.

Read Joshua 1:8 and in light of the other day journal what this means to you

Here we see the word “meditate”; now this word has different meanings for different cultures. In the Far Eastern cultures when one mediates they enter into the process of emptying themselves. But when you look at what God is telling Joshua to do, this sort of meditation is much different from the Far East. Notice how God tells Joshua to not let the Law depart from our mouths and meditate on it day and night. This means it’s something that we are supposed to repeat constantly, all the time. This doesn’t sound like emptying, and more like filling.

Repeating God’s word over and over sounds simple. In fact it doesn’t sound like much at all, but as we begin to repeat God’s word it’s almost like it becomes a part of us. There is something in just repeating and focusing on a few words at a time that takes something very complicated and simplifies it and brings it to home in our own lives. This is meditation. Those moments where we take a smaller part of God’s word and really question it. We have to ask ourselves; what is this really saying? What was this saying to the original listeners? What does this mean to me and my life? What changes do I need to make because of this?

Today pray that God would help you to focus on little parts of Scripture at a time, and through those little parts begin to reveal big things in your own life.

February 6th 2012

We’ve been looking at God’s law and how it’s not about restrictions and regulations, but about freedom and love. How we can know exactly where we stand with this God. Today we are going to ask the question, what does it look like to live out the Law?

Read Matthew 5:17-18 and write down what this means to you

Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to do something and you had no idea what you were doing? In that moment how badly did you want someone to just show you how to do it? Essentially this is what Jesus is doing with his life, showing us what it looks like to live in a perfect relationship with the Father. He is our example when it comes to living our lives today.

What’s interesting is that so many people, whether they admit it or not, believe that Jesus came to do away with the Law. But that’s not what Jesus is doing here; in fact he’s amplifying it. In this verse Jesus is beginning the Sermon on the Mount, which was a sermon that Jesus gave many times throughout his life. In it, Jesus hits many parts of the Law, but shows us how his followers are called to go above the Law. For example in Matthew 5:21-26 Jesus tells us that the Law says not to murder, but Jesus says that we shouldn’t even be angry at another.

Today pray that God would help you to recognize the areas of your life where you could go beyond the Law and show you the areas of your life where you need to life up to Jesus’ example

February 5th 2012

Yesterday we looked at the life of Jesus and how he is giving us an example of how to live in this life. But how do I do that in my own life?

Read Joshua 1:6-9 and journal your thoughts

As you read this there should be one phrase that jumps out at you over and over again. As He is about to send them into the Promise Land, God keeps reminds Joshua over and over to be “Strong and Courageous”. Obviously God is trying to get Joshua’s attention, to the ancient Hebrew this would be the equivalent to flashing neon lights. To really get what God is trying to tell Joshua we’ve got to look at these two words.

First God tells Joshua to be “strong”, now when you think of “strong” what do you think of? More than likely we think of someone being tough, something that they do themselves, right? But when you look at the Hebrew the word “strong” means something else. Think about it in nautical terms, if there was a massive storm coming someone may tie themselves to something “strong” on the boat so they wouldn’t get swept off. Essentially what God is saying here is that we need to be rooted in the Laws of God in everything we do.

Secondly, God tells Joshua to be “courageous” which strangely enough means to be courageous. In order to step into his destiny Joshua is going to have to step into some uncertain and downright scary moments. He’s going to have to be courageous. In our lives we are going to go through times when things are going to seem uncertain and we are going to have to be courageous.

Today pray that God would help you to see the importance of being “strong” in God’s Word and that God would help you to be “courageous” in your actions

February 4th 2012

Yesterday we looked at God’s promise for a new covenant with His people, today we are going to look a bit at the fulfillment of that promise.

Read Acts 2:17-18 (Joel 2:28) and write down your initial thoughts

In this scene Peter and other believers are in the midst of Pentecost where God put His Holy Spirit in them. How do you even begin to explain that? Peter does it the only way he knows how, by referring back to Joel 2:28. Journal how you would explain Pentecost in your own words.

What we need to understand about this verse is that it applies to us. God promises whether we are young or old, male or female, slave or free, indebt or debt free, that He will give us vision and dreams of what He’s going to do. The question we have to ask ourselves is do you really believe that God does that? Why or why not?

For so many of us, the idea of God giving us visions and working in dreams is a bit of a hard sell. Dreams are nothing but a part of our subconscious coming out, right? And visions, our imagination, we should have out grown that years ago. Welcome to the real world, right? What if we don’t know it all? What if there is something else going on? What if God is using our imagination to show us what could be? Take a moment and journal some of your dreams, some of your visions, some way you imagined the world to be.

What if this is just the tip of the iceberg of living a life in the Spirit? What other ways could God be speaking to you in your life? How else could God’s Law written on our hearts be trying to burst into our lives?

Today pray that God would give us visions, dreams, and inspire our imagination and help us to be aware of the other ways His Law is trying to speak to us in the midst of our busy lives.

February 3rd 2012

Yesterday we began to understand the good news of the Law. While the Law from our point of view looks restrictive and barbaric, from their point of view was actually liberating. Today we’re going to see that the good news does not end there.

Read Jeremiah 31:31-34 and journal what this means to you

You see Israel has a problem, no matter how hard they try they cannot keep the standard of God’s Law. They just keep falling into sin; they keep getting lead away by the temptations of their day. But God does not give up on them. Instead He makes a promise with his people that He is going to do something new, in fact it won’t be like anything they’ve ever seen.

How many times have you read the Old Testament and say to yourself why can’t I experience God like they did? Why can’t God just take me by the hand and show me what He wants me to do? But God has given us something better, because we will know Him. God says He will put His law on our minds, and His Spirit inside us. We don’t have to wait for the Heavens to part and an angelic messenger to come down and speak with us.

Today pray that you would recognize the direction of God in your life

February 2nd 2012

This week we are going to look at the commands of God through the lens of God showing us how much He loves us. Sometimes we think of the Law simply as a set of restrictions, but how these things actually make us free.

Read Psalm 119:44-45 and journal your thoughts

Have you ever heard of an un-written rule? It’s one of those things that you’re not supposed to do but no one ever really says you’re not supposed to do it. For example, in baseball you’re not supposed to bunt to try to break up a no-hitter. But how many people actually know that? Every now and then you’ll find a random article on the internet about how some rookie broke that rule and had no idea.

Whenever I come across a verse that talks about how we have freedom in the commands of God, I think about un-written rules. We know exactly what is expected of us and exactly where we stand with God. In that knowing we have freedom.

Sometimes it’s hard to look at something like God’s law in the book of Leviticus and think of freedom. But in ancient times and cultures people believed in many gods, and that these gods were responsible for the things that happened in the world around them. From the produce in the fields to the welfare of their family and everything in between, these people believed they were dependent on these gods and so had to stay in good favor with these gods. Here was the problem, how do you know if you are not in good favor with the gods? Bad things happen in your village, what if it’s your fault because maybe you did something to your neighbor? In order to fix this you make an offering to the gods, but how do you know whether it was enough? How do you know if your offering was accepted? Could you imagine the guilt? This is not freedom. This is why the Law was so radical (for its time), because you could know exactly where you stand with God.

Today pray that God would help you see and understand the freedom we have because of His Law

February 1st 2012

‎"The decisions we make in this moment will determine our freedom in the next" -Erwin McManus

This week we’ve been looking at how God loves us enough to give us a choice, He gives us free will. What we do with that choice is entirely up to us.

Read Genesis 2:15-17 and journal your thoughts

God places Adam and Eve in this garden and gives them full reign over it; the only thing is they can’t eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Every day Adam and Eve faced a choice, was today the day they were going to actually eat of that fruit? Every day when they made the choice not to eat of the fruit, they were close to God. They had this beautiful relationship with Him where they were able to talk with Him just like we talk with each other. But the moment they choose to eat the fruit, they grew distant from Him (Genesis 3:23-24).

This is the same choice we make every day. It’s so easy for us to say “if only I was in the garden, I wouldn’t have eaten the fruit and none of this would have happened”. But we have this same choice every day. We choose to eat the fruit when we sin against God. But we also have the choice to draw closer to God when we choose to follow Him, when we choose not to eat the fruit in our own lives. Just like Jesus lived in this perfect relationship with God, we have the same opportunity when we follow Jesus’ example.

Today pray that God would give you the strength to put the fruit down.