365 Reflections

I think we wall want to be remembered for having lived well. I think we all want to live well. But I also think most of us have no clue how to get there and mismanage our path along the way. David lived well. He had his bad moments, but he ended well and brought Isreal to unprecedented heights. His last words are a testimony to his secret to living well. For David, it was his complete heartfelt devotion to the Lord. 2 Samuel 23:1–4 (ESV)  Now these are the last words of David: The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel: 2 “The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue. 3 The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, 4 he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth. David knew the Lor...

Jesus would rather have no church in a community than a dead church. That is what is made clear in the first three chapters of Revelation. With every encouragement, challenge or correction given to the 7 churches in Asia Minor Jesus promises to remove the lamp stands of those churches that do not heed His word and walk in His ways. But before there were churches in Asia Minor, there were seven lamps in the Holy Place of the tabernacle. Numbers 8:1–4 (ESV) Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and say to him, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.” 3 And Aaron did so: he set up its lamps in front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses. 4 And this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was hammered work; according to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand. The holy place of the tabernacle was to remain continually lit. W...

In the Psalm of Ascents, David declares: Psalm 124:1–5 (ESV) If it had not been the Lord who was on our side— let Israel now say— 2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when people rose up against us, 3 then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; 4 then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; 5 then over us would have gone the raging waters. Psalm 124 is the response of God's faithful help in response to the cry of Psalm 123. They are meant to be read together. The Psalmist called out to God in Psalm 123 and then responds with praise in Psalm 124. How fitting and how often forgotten. We need to learn how to move from PRAYER to PRAISE. We usually call out to God when we need help. That's in our nature. We go back to church, we make deals with the Almighty, we pray, we get serious in our devotion, we seek the face of God.  Then the battle ends in victory. And yet how often we nev...

If you read Psalm 107 you find a repeated phrase: Psalm 107:6 (NLT) “ Lord , help!” they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress.    Psalm 107:13 (NLT) “ Lord , help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. Psalm 107:19 (NLT) “ Lord , help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. Psalm 107:28 (NLT)   “ Lord , help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. The Psalm is a beautiful telling of God's help for all kinds of people with all kinds of problems.  Some wandered in darkness (verses 4-9). Some sat in darkness because of their rebellion (verses 10-16). Some were foolish and sinned - suffering for their own problems (verses 17-22). Finally, some sought business ventures and ended up drunks (verses 23-32). What this Psalm really reminds me of is that God is always ready to help any and all who cry out to Him! No matter what the issue...

Your testimony doesn't have to be very complicated. It simply has to be clear, Simple, and pointed out what Jesus has done for you. In John 9 a man born blind is suddenly healed miraculously by Jesus. This of course angers the religious leaders of the day because Jesus healed the Sabbath. They call him in to testify he tells them what Jesus done. They aren't content so they call his parents and they testify that he is their son was born blind. They call him in a second time and here's what it says: John 9:24–25 (ESV) So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” The Bible has a few good "One thing" statements: Jesus in talking with Mary and Martha, says to an overly committed Martha: "One thing is necessary." (Luke 10:42) Paul in speaking abou...

Paul was about to be killed by a mob scene in Jerusalem and asks for a chance to "reason" them out of it. He stands up before the crowd and shares his conversion experience. Acts 22:3 (ESV) “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. The first thing you do is find common ground with whoever you're talking to. Paul is talking to strict law-abiding Jews. He begins there.  He says  "I am a Jew… zealous for God as all of you aren't this day" . In other words I am just like one of you. We need to learn how to find common ground with people to whom we tell our story. Paul even finds deeper common ground sharing how he longed to kill Christians - just like they were doing to him at the moment! Acts 22:4 (ESV)   I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both m...

Hebrews 11 is the Hall of Fame for the people of faith.  It lists the great ones: Abraham, Moses, David, Samson, Gideon, etc... All the people we herald for their unflinching commitment to God's unseen presence and unbelievable power. We look at them and think in some small way - maybe we can achieve such great testimonies of faith.  To stand with the hall of heroes knowing that we aimes for permanent rewards and performed miraculous victories, deliverances, and conquests for the Kingdom of God. I especially like the content of verse 35 where people were raised from the dead!  Wow! But oh how quickly, the page turns in Verse 36. Hebrews 11:36–38 (NLT) Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. 37 Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated.  I don't know about you, bu...