Jesus says Follow Me

Daily Reading: Gen. 12-14 & Luke 5

Scripture: Genesis 12:1, Luke 5:11 & Luke 5:27-28

Observation:

God called Abraham, Simon Peter, James & John the sons of Zebedee and Matthew Levi to follow Him, and they all left and followed him.  Abraham left his family and his families country to go to a new unfamiliar country.  Peter, James and John had a fishing business together and they dropped it and followed Jesus.  Matthew was a lucrative tax collector and at hearing the invitation left it and followed Jesus.  Are we willing to leave behind our old life to follow Jesus?  Are we willing to let go of the worldly ties to spend time with God?  When we discover that Jesus is life, He is salvation, He is our all in all, are we willing to give him our all?

Application:

I have left things in my old life behind, but have I given up all for Jesus?  I still have ties to the world as I do live in the world, but am I willing to forsake all to be with Him?  I need to make sure that my first priority is to spend time with Jesus.  To hear what he has to say and be guided by Him and willing to follow where he leads even if it seems scary and foreign, and realize that He will be there with me and he will see me through it.

Prayer:

Lord, please help me to hear your call in my life that I will be ready to drop all and follow you where you may lead.  Lord, I desire a deep relationship with you, so that I can know you and know that you are there for me.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

Judge the Message NOT the Messenger

OK, now to catch up on my Jan. 4th reading.

Daily Reading:  Gen. 9-11 & Luke 4

Scripture:  Luke 4:24

Observation:

In Luke 4:24 Jesus was preaching in Nazareth his home town.  They had lived with Jesus, watching him grow from a boy to a man.  He was common to them and they had no high regard for him.  So when he came to them as Christ Jesus proclaiming his time had come to preach the gospel, they could not believe him for they saw him as Joseph's son not the Messiah.  Jesus explained that a prophet is not accepted in his own country.  Do we sometimes reject Godly wisdom brought to us through our family and friends and reject it because of who brought the message to us?

Application:

I want to be careful that I don't miss out on God's message to me, because I can't accept who is delivering the message.  God worked through many people throughout the Bible, and all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, yet they were doing as they were told and delivering a message to God's people and many times God's people rejected it.  We should be careful and weigh the message as to wether it came from God and is in harmony with God's word, and not judge the message by the messenger who brings it as they will never live up to the message because they are sinners just like us.

Prayer:

Lord, please help me to hear your voice in the message you send to me.  Help me to not judge the message by the messenger who brings it, but accept your word and receive it gladly that I may obey and follow You.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

Jan 3 - Walk With God

I was at church all day Saturday, Jan. 3 helping run the Audio/Visual booth and then attended the Loghry post-Christmas Party that evening, so I did not have the time I needed to sit down and read my lesson for January 3rd, so I am making up for it today.  Here goes:

Daily Reading: Gen 6-8 & Luke 3

Scripture: Gen 6:6, 8 & 9

Observation:

Verse 6 says that God repented that he had made man because man's wickedness had so pervaded him that his every thought was evil.  It says God was grieved.  It tore at his heart that something he had made perfect in every way, something he had enjoyed interacting with had become so corrupt and evil.  Except for one man who found grace in the eyes of God according to verse 7, and that was Noah.  In verse 8 it explains why he found grace in the eyes of God, because he was a just man and perfect in his generations and Noah WALKED WITH GOD.  Noah had a relationship with God.  He loved God.  He spent time with God.  He got to know God.  He beheld and was changed by God.  And therefore he was found to be perfect and just and one deserving of God's grace.  Apparently Noah had influenced his family has well, as God invited Noah's wife, his sons and his son's wives to join him on the ark to be saved.  Noah was a man of integrity, honor and uprightness, because he walked with God.  You might say he was mentored by the best teacher on the subject, but it's more than that he was molded, shaped and changed to be more like God.

Application:

God is Righteous.  God is Truth.  God is Love.  If I want to attain truth, love and righteousness, I need to Walk with God on a daily basis, no an hourly basis, no minute by minute, no I need to walk with God on a continual basis.  I need to draw close to God and not let go.  I need to fall so in love with God that He becomes my all in all.

Prayer:

Dear Father, as I embark on this life journey with You, may it blossom into a deeper and deeper relationship with You.  May I find more and more ways to fall in love with You, to trust in You, to rely upon You, to surrender my selfish motives to You.  Help me, Lord, to continually walk with You, so that You can change me into that perfect creation You desired for me to be originally.  Please, forgive me of my sins, my selfish motives, my rebellion toward.  Lord I pray by the blood of Jesus, Amen!

God's Tender Care

Day 2 of "Doing Life Together" following the Life Journal program.  Dear Father, please speak to me through this reading of your word.

Daily Reading: Gen 3-5 & Luke 2

Scripture: Gen 2:25, 3:7 & 3:21 (Focus on 3:21)

Observation:

In Genesis 2:25 God had finished creating Adam and Eve and it mentions that they were both naked and were not ashamed.  Then after Adam and Eve sinned in Chapter 3 it says in verse 7 that their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked.  Apparently they were now ashamed.  They were completely naked and open for scrutiny for the disobedience they had committed and they felt guilty and ashamed.

However in 3:21 it says "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them."  The penalty for sin was death, because once you remove yourself from God's wisdom, God's Loving direction, you are effectively saying I no longer need you God.  I can do it on my own without you.  Essentially that is what the serpent was saying, that they would become like God.  In other words, they would not need God any longer because they would be Gods.  So, when we say we have no need of God or His council, we are saying that we no longer need the Life Giver, the Life Sustainer. God created and sustains all Life for He is Life.  That is why the penalty was death, because you can not live outside of the Life giver/sustainer on your own.  Not because God is a tyrant and wants us to live His way or else He will kill you.  No, it is us who chooses death by trying to live outside of the true source of Life.  However, verse 3:21 shows that God showed mercy on them, because God is Love, and allowed them to live by providing a substitute death on their behalf. God showed them that someone would have to die in their place, for them to be able to live. The first death on Earth took place that day, how horrify that must've been not knowing death up to that point, and he used those innocent animal's skins to cloth them and cover their nakedness, their shame, their guilt.  God does not want us to die, He wants us to live and live to the fullest that is why he provides a way out, a way back into the presence of the Life Giver and Sustainer.  Verse 3:21 shows the actions of a Loving God who cares tenderly for his people.

Application:

I need to remember that God is a God of Love, not a tyrant, not a dictator, but a God willing to put it all on the line to help me understand that his ways are best.  I need to remember to watch and pray every moment of every day, to heed God's council as it is in my best interest for a full and happy life.  I need to cling to God's words as they are Life to my wayward soul, providing a way for me to discern subtle errors that could lead me astray.  Ultimately it will lead me to a life in harmony with the laws upon which the universe operates. Laws that provide for the happiness of everyone together as it focuses on loving God and loving each other by putting them first above ourselves.  And it will lead me to a Loving God, a Loving Savior, willing to die in my place so that I might have life and life more abundantly.

Prayer:

Lord, please help me to fall in love with you as much as you love me.  Help me to lean on you, depending on, feeding on every word that proceeds out of your mouth.  Help me to hold your words dear to my heart so that they become a part of my life, words that I live by.  Thank you for your abundant love, mercy, and grace and for the righteous life you cover me with so that I might have right to live in the presence of the Life Giver. In Jesus name, Amen!

Family Connections

I am starting the first day of my daily journey with God through His word.  I am joining with my church family in "Doing Life Together" following the Life Journal program of daily bible readings and listening to what God wants to say to me.  I am very excited to see what God has to say and what He reveals to us all as a group as we draw closer to Him and to each other.

Daily Reading:  Gen 1, 2 & Luke 1

Scripture:  Gen 2:7, 22, 23

Observation:

We are all physically connected. We are all part of one another via the creation of man and woman and now handed down through genetics.  We are one people.  We are also spiritually connected to one another and through our physical connection with God through the breath of Life given from God.

Application:

When I reject or accept someone, it is like rejecting or accepting a part of me, myself.  It is like rejecting or accepting Christ (when you have done it to the least of these you have done it to me), because of our interconnection our interdependence with one another through creation.

Prayer:

Lord, please help me to see everyone through your eyes.  Eyes of otherness Love.  Eyes of Concern.  Eyes of Acceptance.  Eyes of Forgiveness.  Help me to see the best in everyone and encourage the best from everyone.  Help me to uplift and encourage all who cross my path.