Alive in Me!

Luke 24:1-12 NKJV
Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”
8 And they remembered His words. 9 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. 11 And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.


Dear Jesus,

You are alive!  You live in my heart.  I have seen you in the face of a child.  I have watched You live in the energy of a teenager.  I have seen You in young adults, men and women, and senior saints.  You are alive.

You are God.  You are the very Son of God, eternal and co-equal with the Father.  You existed from eternity past.  There never was a time that You did not exist.  You are Creator of the worlds.  You will never cease to exist.  

You are man.  Incarnation.  God made flesh.  You were conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of a Galilean virgin girl, Mary.  You were born.  You lived without sin. You died a sacrificial death upon the cross for the sins of the whole world.  You are the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world.  

William Barclay wrote: "There are those who regard Jesus simply as a man whose life must be studied, his words examined, his teaching analysed. There is a tendency to think of Christianity and Christ merely in terms of something to be studied. The tendency may be seen in the quite simple fact of the extension of the study group and the extinction of the prayer meeting. Beyond doubt study is necessary but Jesus is not only someone to be studied; he is someone to be met and lived with every day. He is not only a figure in a book, even if that book be the greatest in the world; he is a living presence." (In The Gospel of Luke, 1953, p. 306).

Bodily resurrection.  You are alive.  Not a ghost or an apparition.  Flesh, bones, body.  Alive.  Before Your ascension to the Father in Heaven, You appeared in Your resurrected body.  You ate.  You drank.  You laughed.  You touched and were touched.  

You are alive.  Live in me today.  And help me to live in You.

In the Name of my living Lord Jesus,

Amen.

So Ordinary

Luke 22:14-23 NKJV
14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
17 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. 21 But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. 22 And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”
23 Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.

Dear Jesus,

The Sacrament.  Bread and wine.  So ordinary.  Yet eternal.

"The bread which we eat at the sacrament is common bread, but, for him who has a heart to feel and understand, it is the very body of Christ" (William Barclay in The Gospel of Luke, 1953, p. 277).

At first glance, the invitation to bread and wine seems almost mundane.  Daily.  Ordinary.  Such was the staff of life in Your first century world.  You came through the ordinary.  You transformed ordinary into extraordinary.

Barclay put it this way:  "In the rush and press of things you will forget me.  Man forgets because he must, and not because he will.  Come in sometimes to the peace and stillness of my house and do this again with my people--and you will remember" (In The Gospel of Luke, 1953, p. 278).

Certainly, these words capture Your invitation into the extraordinary.

Thank You for Your call to Your table.  I have celebrated Your gift of sacrifice with a group of teenagers on a mountainside in Pennsylvania, an altar at church, with 39 Kenyan pastors being ordained into Your ministry, with my own family, and more.  I feel the choke in my throat.  Tears sting my face.  My heart breaks at the consideration of Your sacrifice.

Dr. Bill Ury wrote: "We are made for a Mediator. We have no answers to the stark pain of life without Another bearing our anxiety. All of us need the blood of Jesus to remove our sin." (The Bearer: Forgiving as Christ, 2015, p. 45).

Humbled. Broken. Penitent. Loved. Inspired. Thankful. I rise from the communion rail. Each time, I am changed.
Draw me again into Your presence.  Invite me to the table.  Bring me to the foot of the bloody cross. Make me new in You.

Thank You for changing me in Your holy presence.

In the Name of Christ, my Lord,
Amen.

MORE

The devil came to me disguised as more,
One more good thing I could do,
Should do,
And then another,
And another.
I was seduced and misguided.
The more sapped my energy, my joy, my delight.
There was more  harshness and impatience
In my voice and my presence.
And the devil grinned,
While God sighed patiently
Knowing that when I get worn down enough,
I'll come home to my true self,
To being my true self in God.

"More" by Clarence Heller

Make Me a Servant

Luke 22:26-27 NKJV
"Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves."

Philippians 2:5-11 NKJV
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Matthew 20:25-28 NKJV
25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Dear Lord Jesus,

Make me a servant. 

Thank You for coming to earth as a servant.  You served freely with generosity and self-sacrifice. You exchanged up the glories of heaven, relinquished Your reputation as God, and took on human flesh. Theologians have tried to plumb the depths of the mystery of Your incarnation, but each attempt is inadequate.  Unbelievers have stumbled at the incongruity and impossibility of Your coming to earth as "God made flesh."  Mockers have ridiculed Your being conceived by the Holy Spirit. The vulgar have profaned Your virgin birth.  Infidels have refused to trust the reality of Your death atoning for the sins of world.

Yet, You came to be a servant.

From the cross, You call me to serve.  Make me a servant.

Servants get abused and taken advantage.  "I demand service!" is the watchword of the impatient.  At a restaurant, parts counter, or at a stop light, "I demand service!"  Our self-centered agenda sees self as the center of each universe. 

William Barclay pondered the need for servants.  "What the world needs is service.  The odd thing is that the business world knows this... The strange thing is that there is more argument about precedence, and more concern about people's 'places' in the Church, than anywhere else.  The world needs and recognizes service... It is only the man who will consent to serve more than anyone else who will really rise high... It is a law of life that service leads to greatness; and that the higher a man rises the greater the servant he must be."   (The Gospel of Luke, 1953, p. 279).

In the midst of a "me" generation, You came to serve.  And from the cross, You ask me to follow Your lifestyle of servanthood at home, at work, and in the marketplace of life.

"When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).  Make me a servant.

In the Name of my serving Christ,
Amen.

"Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly!"

Luke 21:5-37

Dear Jesus,

I had an interesting conversation yesterday by the coffee pot.  A couple of colleagues were in earnest exchange about Your soon return when I approached.

I enjoyed embracing the discussion.  But as I consider the topic now in prayer, I realize that I often have faced the subject of Your return as a theory to be proved or disproved.  I have become frustrated with those who are certain of their expectations and theories as to the precise timing and sequence of last things.  I think that I should rather consider Your return as an expectant and anticipated reality.  I want to live with a hope of Your return!

"The Christian conception of history is that it has a goal and, at that goal, Jesus Christ will be Lord of all.  That is all we know, and all we need to know... The Christian must never come tho think that he is living in a permanent situation.  He must be a man who lives in a permanent state of expectation... We must live forever in the shadow of eternity, in the certainty that we are men who are fitting or unfitting themselves to appear in the presence of God.  There can be nothing so thrilling as the Christian life" (William Barclay in The Gospel of Luke, 1953, p. 272).

Protect me from a misguided attempt to control You through speculation and theorizing about details of Your return that You have intentionally onscurred.  Check me when my God-given motivation for order and prediction reaches beyond the ordered or the controllable, and attempts to manipulate You into my will, rather than submitting to Yours.

Help me to long for Your return as the Early Church did.  Help me to look expectantly for You.  All the while, help me to engage the reality of this life with the vigor, passion, gusto, planning, and doing that makes life on earth productive, meaningful, and fulfilling.  Help me to live out the purpose for which You placed me here.

"Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly."

In the Name of my soon returning Lord,
Amen.

Give Until it Feels Good!

Luke 21:1-4 NKJV
And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”

II Corinthians 9:7 NKJV

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

Dear Jesus,

I can imagine your standing there in the Court of the Women.  You saw a widow woman approach the Trumpets, the 13 collection boxes stationed there.  Each worshiper who came by the Trumpets cast their offering with a clatter.  But when the widow dropped her two thin coins, they made barely a sound. 

So much of Your Kingdom work has been accomplished by the widow's mite.  I know this woman.  She lives in Brooklyn, New York and in Cruger, Mississippi.  She lives on Social Security in a rented apartment or a family home.  She has little, but she gives with generosity.

"The only real gift is the gift which is the inevitable outflow of the loving heart, the gift which is given because the giver cannot help giving it!" (William Barclay, in The Gospel of Luke, 1953, p. 266).

Help me to give not to be noticed, honored, or recognized, but out of a heart of worship to you.  Help me to give not for the clatter of heads swiveling to see what the ruckus is all about, but as an act of love and worship to you.

The sacrifice of worship was a feature of the burnt offerings of the temple.  I often think in terms of sacrificial giving.  Some people tell me, "Give until it hurts."  I suppose I understand the truth of that admonishment in the broader context of sacrifice.  But You seem to want me to get past the hurt, and give until it feels better!  "For God loves a cheerful giver."

So I worship.  I give.  I love You.

Amen.

It’s the Thought that Counts
by
Dr. John E. Neihof, Jr. 
9-24-2007

She put in a penny. It was all she had.
She gave the biggest gift; that’s what Jesus said.
The poorest of the poor, she gave what she could,
An example to us, to give what we should.

My wealth is small, my gifts aren’t great.
I can’t do much, and the time is late.
Can you use me Lord in any way?
Here’s my little gift for you today.

I want to give from my heart.
I want to please the Lord as I give my part.
I will give for eternity,
Precious souls to lay at His feet.

It’s the thought that counts! A gift from the heart.
It’s the thought that counts! I’ll do my part.
It’s the thought that counts! I’ll give my all.
It’s the thought that counts! No matter how small.

We don't need a president. We need a Messiah.

Luke 20:41-44
41 And He said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David? 42 Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:
‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, 43 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.'
44 "Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son?”

Dear Jesus,

The season of a presidential election in the United States of America always stirs Messianic hopes and dreams in the populace.  Every four years, we find ourselves looking for a savior.  Four years later, we continue looking.

The Jews had done the same thing throughout their history.  The difference is that God had promised them a Savior.  A Messiah would come.  But when He came, they imagined a Messiah of a different sort.  They did not want the Messiah God gave them.  They could not construe a Messiah who was a son of David, yet his Lord.  They could not construe the incarnate Son of God, come to be the Savior of the world.  They wanted a political, economic, and military leader, not a Savior.  They wanted an earthly nation, not a spiritual kingdom.

We don't need a president.  We need a Messiah.

"I'll vote for the person who can fix this mess!"

"The next leader had better control our borders.  If you don't have a border, you don't have a country."

"China is buying up our $19 trillion national debt.  Pretty soon the capital of the USA will be in Beijing!"

The Jewish Messianic hope is the hope of all nations.  However, we distort our need for a Messiah into a temporal military, economic, and political leader.  A king, a fuhrer, a despot, an emperor, a new Congress, a president. The cycle of disappointment, frustration, and hope continues.

The Jews did not need a king.  They needed a Messiah.  And when Messiah came, the people crucified Him.

Help me not to misplace my Messianic hopes in flawed humanity.  Only the Word made flesh is worthy of such adoration.  Only Jesus, the Lamb of God, can clean up this mess; and You require eternity, a new heaven and a new earth to accomplish Your purpose.

We don't simply need a president.  We need more than political and international stability and prosperity. We need a Messiah, and a president does not qualify!  Lord, guide the path of our nation. Preserve us from the judgment we deserve.  Spare us from the tyranical, evil leaders we deserve.  Protect our land, and grant us another opportunity to repent and experience revival.  Help us, the church, to place our deepest hopes, longings, and aspirations in Jesus, our Messiah, rather than in an elected official who will change in four more years.

In the Name of Jesus, our only Messiah,
Amen.