My Bible Journey: Jeremiah 2

I have been thinking through my reading of Jeremiah 2 this week and wanted to share some thoughts.

• Vs 2 – "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem" – This is God telling Jeremiah that it is time to go and preach to the choir and make sure that they are listening.
• Vs 2 – "I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness" – These questions really caused me to think about how my passion has waned over the years and gave me a kick in the butt. It is time to rediscover my drive to follow Him and seek to reach greater heights.
• Vs 8 – "The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me" – As church leaders we have always got to keep the Lord #1 in our life, because we are followers before we are leaders; relationship with God gives us the authority within the church not our relationship with those within the church; we can’t expect to preach things to people which we are not keeping ourselves and see them follow.
• Vs 11 – "But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit." – Is God your glory? Is He in whom you take your greatest pleasure? What does it mean for Him to be your Glory?
• Vs 20 – "For long ago, I broke your yoke and burst your bonds; but you said, ‘I will not serve.’ – This spoke to how ungrateful we can become when we forget what God has done. How do you keep the work of God in your life in front of you?
• Vs 28 – "But where are your gods that you made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save you, in your time of trouble" – Sarcasm from the man upstairs. Maybe God likes to have a little fun with us, especially when we think we can do a better job than He can.
• Vs. 32 – "Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire?" – This was a reminder that God is my glory and I should choose His joy every morning and take Him every where I go.
• Vs 33 – "How well you direct your course to seek love!" – It is amazing how we can make time for our idols and lusts, but find excuses for our Savior. I was blown away in the next verse that says we have things to teach to the wicked. The wicked cannot see their sin, but we not only know we are committing sin, but have tasted the glory of the Savior. Our sin is against the innocence of God.

This is going to be a great devotional journey. Join me if you are not already studying something.

My Bible Journey: John 1-2

I have started studying John as I teach it to the students who attend Skate Church. Here are a few of the insights I have taken out of chapters 1-2.

• The disciples came to believe in Jesus in different ways; Nathanael even needed a little extra effort
• I love when Jesus asks Andrew, "What do you want?" and Andrew replies, "Rabbi, where are you staying?" If Jesus was to turn around on you right now and ask you why you are following Him what would you say?
• I think Jesus wants us to dream BIG. He jokes around with Nathanael for believing for something small and then goes on to say that he will see greater things. What do you believe God is capable of doing?
• Jesus makes 120-180 gallons of wine for a party that had already ran out of wine. This was a big party.
• Sometimes God will give us a word and we won’t know what to make of it until a latter point. When Jesus spoke of raising the temple the disciples didn’t get it until three years later. I can remember God telling me to sell all of my guitars and equipment. I didn’t understand why, but he showed later that He had me do this to position me for the work He needed me to do. Sometimes we need to write things down or put them away until God shows us what to do with it and it could take Him years. BE PATIENT!

It is A Team Effort

       I have been subscribing to the One Year Bible via www.YouVersion.com and reading through my subscription.  I haven’t really posted a lot about my personal devotional life and thought that now would be a great time to share what I am learning.

      In today’s reading from Joshua 7 here is what I learned.  Achan took of the accursed thing and caused a problem for the rest of Israel.  Not only was it a problem but, it took them away from the task at hand as they began working through the problem to find a solution.  It caused a redirection from the tasks at hand and caused them to spend time and resources fixing the problem.  As a leader I have to make sure that I am looking out for the spiritual well-being of everyone that I work with.  Joshua may have had all of his stuff together, but one member of his team did the wrong thing and it caused a problem for the whole team.  Make sure that you are helping other members of your team along in their relationship with God.  If they get out of step, they could cause damage to the whole team or the whole organization.  One misstep by a person at our church could create a stumbling block for the whole church, cause us to lose favor with God and the community, and even cost you your job.  How are you looking after the members of your teams?  Maybe you aren’t the leader.  Remember, that you can "lead up" and encourage the members of your team just like the person with a title can and maybe even have more influence than that person.  Everyone has a responsibility for each other.  Remember, there are two great commandments.  Love the Lord your God and Love your neighbor as yourself. 

Go The Extra Mile

      Here is a story I heard from NPR that just blew me away.  Jesus tells us to go the extra mile when someone pushes us around.  Here is the story of a guy went the extra mile and was able to spark a conversation and relationship with a would be robber.

Morning Edition, March 28, 2008 · Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner.

But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn.

He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.

"He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, ‘Here you go,’" Diaz says.

As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you’re going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm."

The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, "like what’s going on here?" Diaz says. "He asked me, ‘Why are you doing this?’"

Diaz replied: "If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me … hey, you’re more than welcome.

"You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help," Diaz says.

Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth.

"The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi," Diaz says. "The kid was like, ‘You know everybody here. Do you own this place?’"

"No, I just eat here a lot," Diaz says he told the teen. "He says, ‘But you’re even nice to the dishwasher.’"

Diaz replied, "Well, haven’t you been taught you should be nice to everybody?"

"Yea, but I didn’t think people actually behaved that way," the teen said.

Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. "He just had almost a sad face," Diaz says.

The teen couldn’t answer Diaz — or he didn’t want to.

When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, "Look, I guess you’re going to have to pay for this bill ’cause you have my money and I can’t pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I’ll gladly treat you."

The teen "didn’t even think about it" and returned the wallet, Diaz says. "I gave him $20 … I figure maybe it’ll help him. I don’t know."

Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen’s knife — "and he gave it to me."

Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, "You’re the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch."

"I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It’s as simple as it gets in this complicated world."

So how far would you been willing to?  Who has been pushing you around lately and how have you been responding?

Big Eyes, Small Stomach

        Last week I went to eat dinner with my mother, sister, and my wife.  We went to the Delta Cafe in Shawnee, OK to eat.  I ordered the catfish, which was really good.  My sister ordered a chef salad.  Now the chef salad at Delta Cafe is very, very large.  Take the bowl you use to serve popcorn to your guests in at home and fill it with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and ham and you will have an idea of how large this salad is.  During the meal my mom made an off hand comment that my sister’s eyes were larger than her stomach.  My sister has never finished anything she has ordered at a restaurant.  I have never seen her finish anything. 

      This phrase, "your eyes are bigger than your stomach," struck a chord with me.  I got to thinking about all the things that people are asking me to do with technology and video and I had to ask myself, "are our eyes bigger than our stomachs."  Now our eyes are our ideas, dreams, visions, things other churches are doing that we wish we were doing and our stomachs are our resources and capabilities.  Now I am all about leaving a lot of room for faith and God to work and making Big-Hairy-Audacious-Goals that only God could accomplish.  In fact, those are generally the majority of ideas that I have, but let’s step back for a second.  Are there times when our eyes are bigger than our stomachs?  Are there times when we see what is on other people’s plates and say I’ll have that?  This line of thinking has led me to ask several more questions.  Are we willing to finish what we start?  Are we putting everything we can into accomplishing what our eyes see?  Are we resourcing our people, our staff, our ministries, our small groups like we should?  Do we see something happening in our life or church and expect God to do all the work? 

      Here are several other ideas I am taking away from this.  When you have a vision, "pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on you."  Count the costs before going in; this is a great lesson from Nehemiah.    Test the spirits.  Just because you can see it happening or know that others are doing it doesn’t mean that it is for you. 

      So what are you thinking after reading this post?  Are there areas in your life where your eyes are bigger than your stomach?