Easter: Monday, May 8, 2006

Old Testament Lesson

Exodus 32:1-20

The people make the golden calf when they grew tired of waiting on Moses to return. They grew tired of waiting for God's plan to unfold. They grew tired of not having it done the way they wanted it done and in the time that they wanted it done. They grew tried of waiting.

Someone once said the hardest answer to prayer is not "No" or "Yes," but "Wait." We don't like waiting on God's plan to unfold. We want Him to hurry up. And when it is not on our schedule, we do as they did, we take it into our own hands. Now, we might not have every made a golden calf, but just like the people did in the text, we say, well, its not going to happen, lets do it another way.

And just like them, we get ourselves in trouble. If we we will just wait on the Lord. He has a plan, and it's better than ours. Today, what are you waiting on the Lord for? Today, what are you losing patience with? Today, where are you doing it your way, not God's way? Today, wait on the Lord. The word tells us in Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Today, wait on the Lord.

New Testament Lesson

Colossians 3:18-4:6

We see in this passage verses that talk about husbands and wives, children and parents, master and slaves. In each case, they are to do right according to each others. Wives submit to your husband, but husbands, love your wives. So, the wife is to think first of the husband, but the husband is to think first of the wife. When we do that, we find happiness, because in that each person is think of the other, and each person receives what they need. We must not think that we are Lord over one another, but we are to love one another, and lay aside our lives for the sake of each other.

For a marriage to work, each person must love their spouse more than they love being right. They must love each other more than they love their own pride. Too often, we are too prideful to say "I'm sorry," or to admit our mistakes. The only way a marriage will work, or a friendship, or a family, is that you must be willing to lay aside yourself for the other. But, when both sides are doing that, there is peace and joy. When only one side does that, there is discord and hurt.

Today, in you family, in your marriage, both husbands and wives, do you put the other person first? Do you love them more than you love your pride? Do you think of them first? Because it is in these things that we see true love, for our example of love is Jesus Christ, who laid down His life for our sake.

Gospel Lesson

Matthew 5:1-10

This is one of the most famous and powerful passages in all the Bible. There is no way I can possible do justice to this passage in this short devotional space. I will say that notice in each one, there is that idea that we just talked about in the New Testament reading, that life is found in laying aside our life for something bigger. We see in this passage that only in realizing how much we need God can we find life, and that the life of a Christian must, must, must be different. Today, is your life different from those around you that are lost? Today, if you are a Christian, do you live in any different than the world? We must.

Instead of talking further about this passage, just read it, and the let the Lord speak to you right now. Listen to His voice. Listen to what He has to say to you.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Today, are we blessed? Today, are we living the way God would want us to?

Easter: Friday, May 5, 2006: Repentance

Gospel Lesson

Matthew 4:12-17

We see Jesus first message or theme. Luke records Jesus reading from from the Old Testament about how God is going bring about salvation and healing and is rejected, while Matthew doesn't record a specific sermon, just the message of His preaching. Repent!

This is consistent with Luke, for the way that God brings about healing and salvation is through repentance. Isn't it interesting that this would be Jesus first message? Repent. While He would preach and live out the message of God's redemptive love, His first message was repent.

Repentance is the beginning step to knowing God. Repentance is not the end of faith, rather is is one of the beginning. Until God calls us with His prevenient grace to repentance as the first step in the journey of knowing Him. We cannot fully understand God's great love for us until we have come to understand just how much we need it. We can't understand the joy of salvation until we have been set free. We can't know that joy of communion with God until we see that our sin separates us.

And that is why we must repent of sin, because it keeps us from God. And no sin is worth being separated from God. No habit, no hobby, no desire, no anything is worth being separated from God. And the only way to over come that separation is to respond to God's grace and repent.

Repentance is not just feeling bad for our sins, that is conviction. Let us not mistake conviction for repentance. Jesus didn't say be convicted, He said, repent. It is not just enough to bad about your sin, what will you do about it? Repentance is a turning from.

And repentance is not just something we do preceding our conversion, it is something we must do each day of lives. We must allow God's grace to search within, find the sin within, and turn from it. Today, Jesus message to us is repent. Today, do you repent of your sins, do you turn from them? Do you turn to your God and live in His salvation? Today, repent, and believe the Gospel.

It's off to work I go

At Coy UMC, no one is too young to work!

Easter: Thursday, May 4, 2006

Old Testament Lesson

Exodus 20:1-21

There have been hundreds of books written about the 10 Commandments throughout the years. Many of us know them by heart, having learned them from childhood. They are in many ways the foundation of morality and proper living. Each one of the commandments has so much to say to us in today's world, and they have never been more relevant than they are right now.

Lets look, though, at 2 important themes we see in the 10 Commandments. The first 4 deal with our walk with God, and the second 6 deal with our walk with each other. In both areas, we must walk with integrity. We must try in lives to do right by God and by each other.

But, this is nothing new for Christians, for our Lord told us that the greatest of commandments is to love the Lord our God and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Luke 10: 27). This truth is something that we know.

So, we talking about the 10 Commandments, the question really is not to we believe in them, do we believe that they are important, the question is do we obey them? It does no good for us talk talk about the 10 Commandments, for us to argue about them, for us to display them, unless we follow them. Do we love the Lord our God? Do we love our neighbor? For, we can talk all we want to about how great the 10 Commandments are, but if we don't live by them, what good have we really done?

Friends, our Lord wants us to serve Him not just with our lips, but also with our lives. For if our lives invalidate what our lips say, what good have we done? Our lives much match our lips, and if they do, then in that, we will give glory to our Lord and Savior.

New Testament Lesson

Colossians 1:24-2:7

Paul here warns that we must be shaken by smooth sounding arguments. My mama always told me that people can twist the Bible to make it say anything they want it to say. I have found during my time in seminary and during my ministry that to be very true. A couple of things that we should take note of.

First, we must make that we really know the Bible so that we will not be shaken by smooth talk. We have to know the Bible ourselves. It is not enough for your preacher to know it, your Sunday School teacher to know it, your parents to know it, your children to know it. You must know it yourself so that you will not be shaken. Do you spend time in God's Word so that you will know it?

Second, we must make sure that we don't twist the Bible to defend what we want to do. We are supposed to used the Bible to know how to live, not use the Bible to defend what we've already decided to do. We must let the Bible shape us, not twist the Bible to make it say what we want it to.

Gospel Lesson

Matthew 4:1-11

A couple of things from the temptation of Jesus. First, remember yesterday we read of His baptism? That baptism was the beginning of His ministry, not the end. So is it for us. Baptism is not the end of faith, rather the beginning. Likewise, conversion is not the end of our walk with God, rather it is the beginning as well. Our faith should be constantly growing, changing, and being formed. We must never stop growing in grace.

Second, this passage talks about what we talked about in the New Testament Reading. How did the Devil tempt Jesus? He quoted the Bible to Him. The devil knows the Bible just as we do. How did Jesus battle them temptations? He knew the true meaning of the text. He knew the truth of the Word of God, and responded by quoting the Bible correctly back to the devil. I know I'm beating a dead horse here friends, but we must really know the Bible. It was in His knowledge of the Bible that Jesus was able to fight off temptation.

We can do the same thing in our lives, if we know the Word. Today, do we know the Word well enough to stand against temptation?

Easter: Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Old Testament Lesson

Exodus 19:16-25

We see this passage the Lord descend down to Mt. Sinai. We see His holiness, His power, His might. We read it; they saw it. And yet, in spite of all they had seen: the plagues in Egypt, the Red Sea, the fire night/cloud by day, manna, and the Lord descending onto the mountain. In spite of all this, they still doubted. They still disobeyed. But, they just never got it, did they.

While we have never seen these things, have we not felt God's grace within us? Have we not felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit? Have we not felt the forgivness of our sins? Have we not felt the presence of God in a powerful way in our lives? Have we not seen God move in powerful ways in our lives, in the lives of church, in the lives of our friends, our families? Have we not seen God move in amazing ways, just like they did? And, we still disobey and doubt. They question is not why didn't they get it, but why don't you and I get it?

New Testament Lesson

Colossians 1:15-23

This is one that I could preach on forever, and actually had to preach on at one point during my journey to ordination in the United Methodist Church. There is so much here. Through Jesus Christ everything, both seen and unseen, was created. He holds it all together. He is the head of the church. Not the preacher, not the bishop, not any source of human authority, Christ is the head of the church. So, the question for our churches is, are we following the will of Jesus Christ, are we doing things the way we want them done. Are we, in church, more worried about what we want, as opposed to what Jesus wants. It is His church not our church. He is the head, not me, not any human. Jesus, He is Lord of the church.

And we see in this passage that through Jesus, God is reconciling the world to Himself. Through Jesus, God has undone what we have done. Our sin separates us from God. Through Jesus, we can be brought back. Through Jesus, we can come home, we can be reconciled to the Father. Through Jesus, we can live at peace with God.

Jesus offers us this today. He offers peace and hope and love and the chance to be made right with God. The question is, do we accept?

Gospel Lesson

Matthew 3:13-17

We see in His baptism, each person of the Holy Trinity. We see the Son, being baptized. We see the Father, saying that He is pleased. We see the Spirit, descending as a dove. We must never forget that one of the main tenants of our faith is that belief in the Holy Trinity. We see that in this moment, each person of the Trinity is at work, as it is in our lives. In life, we are convicted of sin by the Spirit, and called into relationship with the Father by that same Spirit. The Son died for our sins and paid the price, so through Him, we come to the Father. And it is the Father that longs to bring us back home, but we cannot come to the Father but by the Son. And after our conversion, it is the Spirit that calls us to keep walking each day, closer to Father, through the grace of Lord Jesus, and by obedience to our Lord, Jesus.

We see that we often speak of God or Jesus or the Spirit, but each person of the Trinity is at work at all times, bringing us to that closer, deeper walk with God, the Triune God that is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Easter: Tuesday, May 2, 2006

Old Testament Lesson

Exodus 19:1-16

We see here that God is telling the people that He will come to them. He reminds them that He was the one that freed them from Egypt and now He is coming to instruct them to be who He calls them to be.

If God calls us, He will show us the way to go. He had a high calling for Israel, and in this passages, we see the way He will instruct them to be holy; He gives them the law, and by keeping that law they will be "set apart," or holy.

For us as Christians, through His grace, we become holy. Just as the people of Israel had to keep the law to be "set apart," so must we say yes to God's grace each day of our lives. And that means that we must allow God's grace to work in us and through us to change us, to transform us, to make us into what we should be. See, we are called, as they were called, to be holy. To be different. To stand out. Today, do we stand out from those that are not Christian? Today is there a difference between the way we live and the way that they live? If we are saying yes to God's grace, there must be. Today, are we living different?

New Testament Lesson

Colossians 1:1-14

This passage talks about how we are to be within the light, and that light is supposed to drive out darkness. An interesting fact about darkness is that it has no physical properties. Darkness is merely the absence of light. The only way there is darkness is that there is no light. When there is light, there is literally no darkness.

In the same way, the areas of lives that are dark are the areas of our lives that we have not allowed God's light into. God's light will drive out the darkness of our lives; but first we must let Him in. Unless we allow His light to penetrated the darkness of our hearts, the darkness of those hidden place, the darkness of those hidden sins, His light does us no good. Today, what area of your life are you hidden from His light? Apart from His light, we are in darkness. What part of your life are you allowing to stay dark?

Gospel Lesson

Matthew 3:7-12

John tells us today that one of the things that Jesus will do is that He will divide the wheat from the chaff. One will be placed in the safety and security of the barn, one will be thrown into the judgement and destruction of the fire. There is unity in Jesus, all that believe upon Him can be one. But, there is also division and separation. We must choose. We must choose will we serve Jesus, or the world. Will we serve God, or our possessions. We will be faithful to the truth, or to our culture.

Jesus calls us to Himself, and calls us to leave behind all things that keep us from Him. Today, may we cling to Jesus.

Easter: Monday, May 1, 2006

Old Testament Lesson

Exodus 18:13-27

We see in this passage that Moses listened to wise counsel. Moses was a pretty powerful guy. God had done a lot through Him. God had spoken to him and through him. Moses had every reason to think that he had it figured out.

And yet, he was not afraid to listen to someone else’s opinion. In fact, this opinion was so wise, it caused him to change the way he was thinking and the way that he was leading the people. In spite of all that he had done and all that God had done through him, he wasn’t afraid to listen and to change.

Today, we may have done so good stuff, but I doubt any of us have done as much for God as Moses. And if Moses was not afraid to listen to others, why should we be? If Moses was not afraid to take constructive criticism, why should we be? If Moses was unafraid to change, why should we be? Today, listen for God and listen for God speaking through others. Today, listen for ways that God make speak that will cause you to change everything you are doing. But know if God asks us to change, it is for our benefit and for His glory. Today, listen to wise council, just as Moses did.

New Testament Lesson

1 Peter 5:1-14

We see here in this passage a couple of important things

First, in v 3, we see that as Christians, we should lead by example. A lot of people like to talk about how much they love God, but what does their life show? It doesn’t matter how much we claim to love God, how much we claim to be faithful, how much we claim to detest sin. What matters is the example that our life sets. Today, do your claims about how much you love God match your life?

Second, we see in v 8 that the devil is a roaring lion, seeking to destroy. The way a lion attacks its prey is that it finds the one that is weak, the one that is separated from the pack. Today, are you weak in your faith? Today, are you separated from you “pack,” the Body of Christ? It is hard to fight off the devil, fight off temptation, and fight off evil when you are alone. We must not be. We must not live our lives apart from God and His church. Today, are you in the Body of Christ, or are you wandering off alone?

Gospel Lesson

Matthew 3:1-6

As God prepares to do a new thing, He lays the ground work for that new thing. Before Jesus came, John the Baptist appeared, and began to preach the same message that Jesus began to preach, Repent!

John was different than what folks were used to seeing, and he preached a different message. He only concern was laying that ground work for Jesus. He only concern was being faithful to God and to his mission. Today, what new thing is God trying to do in your life?

In your family?

In your church?

Has he sent someone to lay the ground work? Or is He sending you to lay the ground work? God is always up to something, and the great thing is that He chooses to use and you and me. Today, like John, are you focused on your mission and God’s plan? Today are you watching and listening for God will do? Today, are you letting God use you?