And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28, NRSV)
For Good
The Real Lords Prayer
They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him. He came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.” (Mark 14:32-42, NRSV)
Prayer is a vital part of our lives and for centuries upon centuries we have be praying to God for help, guidance, strength, and maybe ultimately just to vent. Prayer is also very much not what we think it is. For some it is to clarify what we desire to God, for some to grow closer to God, but let’s look at the greatest example of what prayer really is, Jesus.
Jesus was a prayer warrior, he was constantly going off to be alone with God and to pray. This scripture example above is just one of the many examples in the Gospels of the life of prayer that Jesus regularly invested in. What’s important about this is that he was frequently active in prayer.
This moment in Mark 14 is a moment of desperation, of pain, but ultimately Jesus is scared. Jesus who is our Savior and Lord of the world, everything in the world is here because of Him and yet in this moment he is desperate, scared, and praying to God for assistance, except Jesus knows what prayer is about. It’s another opportunity to glorify God which is why even in his fear Jesus responds to do God’s will.
See this is what we don’t like about prayer. We don’t like that we can’t just get our way. Admit it, there have been times in your life when you wanted something to happen or something not to happen and you to go in prayer pleading with Him to let it be as you desire, but we can’t control God.
Prayer is about a relationship about the need to invest in more than ourselves. Jesus knew that prayer was a lifestyle, not something we grab onto when things go wrong. The power of prayer is not in that you can make God do things, but that in prayer God is always with us no matter what happens in our lives. Through the good and the bad God is present, always.
Prayer is a gift of presence and a holy gift given to us by God himself. No matter what happens God is always with you, comforting you, encouraging you, and supporting you to live a life that is far better than one we can do on our own.
Requirement of New Life
This is a post that was originally written by myself and shared on Youthworker Movement.
When you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this observance. 26 And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this observance?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed down and worshiped. (Exodus 12:25, NRSV)
We like order, control, but essentially we like having things OUR way. We really like things our way, and we resist like the dickens anything else. When the operative word, “change,” is uttered any sense of the word we tend to clam up and resist, and yet we have this quandary of the lesson that we get in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
To have new life, something must die.
Ouch.
New life in Christ is amazing, but bad things had to happen for that new life to happen. Jesus had to die for us to live. Really think about what this means for our lives now. For us to live into that new life we have to consider that some parts of our lives do not belong. You can’t give your heart to Christ and the world, you can only serve one master.
So what does that mean for our lives?
It means that there is nothing in our lives that doesn’t connect to our deep faith in Christ. That is what it means to be a disciple to constantly point to our savior, if we are not doing that then why are we following Him. I mean seriously, this is what discipleship is and what it looks like. Things have to go aside and Christ has to reign in our lives. Christ’s love and grace gives understanding of what we truly need and everything Christ passing over us because we don’t need it.
We just need Christ, and Him alone.
Sitting Outside
I really like working in the community in which I serve. Let me be clear in what I mean. I love to once a week work remotely at a location in the community of Fort Worth. It always brings a feeling of blessing. Today I am sitting outside Central Market in Fort Worth. Each Thursday I come to a remote location from at 4:00 pm to work for awhile outside the church, but also invite students to come by if they want to hang out.
It’s a win win for me because I get to experience the beauty of God’s creation, connect with the community and connect with youth at Arlington Heights UMC.
Today as I sit outside Central Market I am reminded of the fact that Jesus did this a lot.
Rarely did Jesus stay in one place for an extended period of time, but kept connecting with people in all communities of the region he lived in at the time of his ministry. Jesus and the Disciples were constantly moving from place to place with the sole purpose of connecting people to God’s Kingdom. Not only that but Jesus would be teaching to His disciples or hundreds sometimes thousands of people of this important connection.
I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of time in the office, maybe I’m spending too much time there.
Maybe I need to be going from place to place connecting people like Christ did.
It’s worthy of reflection at least. We will see where it leads me and where it leads us.
Don’t Pull A Homer
When I was younger and even now I was a big fan of a certain TV show, The Simpsons. The Simpsons have been on television since December of 1989, for the majority of my life. For those of you who do not know the Simpson are an interesting family. Homer and Marge Simpson are the parents and they have three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. As I have grown in age my love for the show hasn’t changed but I have. Homer is one of comedic aspects of the show, but as I have grown older this character has become somewhat of a cultural norm for us.
Homer is what the world expects of us. He is who we are comfortable being, or maybe not. I am not comfortable with my life being like Homers. So, today we are going to analyze who Homer is, where he is going, and why he is going there and through this we will see hopefully that there is a better way.
A week in the life of Homer J. Simpson is a bleak one. He drinks, a lot, goes to work which is pretty much a joke to him which is quite telling, because Homer works at a Nuclear Power Plant, where if he pushes the wrong button the whole community could have a nuclear explosion. When he is not at work he is at the Bar, Moe’s Tavern where he is drinking with his buddies, usually coming up with a terrible scheme to get more money or fame, which always ends badly.
To answer the question Homer isn’t really going anywhere and being anyone.
Hey, from our end its funny. Sort of, until this becomes our life.
Parents, how many of y’all want your kids to grow up to be a Homer? Not many of you. The most telling of this entire thing is Homer goes to church, but you wouldn’t be able to tell, because he is like many of the current state of the church. Not transformed. Just present in a pew, physically present anyway.
His life is not changed however by his presence at church because He is not really there. His being at church is not a decision on his part but one where Marge, his wife has said we are going to church. Going to church doesn’t make you a disciple just like a car just being a garage makes it a GTO. Our lives are not changed by a presence of osmosis, but by a decision, a commitment, a covenant with God.
God wants so much for us, so much more abundance and we see Christmas’ go by every year and we set New Years resolution and fail them time and time again. Jesus wasn’t bored to tears in heaven; His coming may the most intentional creation that God has done in the history of everything. He meticulously designed this great moment and has been leading to this moment and every part of this moment screams to all of creation who God really is or more importantly who He is not!
He chooses Mary and Joseph, the Shepherds, Wise people from across the world and a stable to reveal Himself to the world. All will be a part of this story and in this very action God is saying all are welcome in my kingdom and in this abundant life.
Mary today is possibly the best image for what we do now. “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.”
No negotiations, no complaints, just faith and surrender. I am sure she thought of all the doubts, the concerns, and all that would happen.
Mary continues on in verse 46 by praising God:
“Mary said, “With all my heart I glorify the Lord! In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior. He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant. Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored because the mighty one has done great things for me. Holy is his name. He shows mercy to everyone, from one generation to the next, who honors him as God. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations. He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty-handed. He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, remembering his mercy, just as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.””
Listen to something similar from John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Movement:
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you,
Praised for you or criticized for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service.
And now, O wonderful and holy God,
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, you are mine, and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it also be made in heaven. Amen.
Who are you and I? We are Gods children, we are no longer slaves to fear and doubt but at our core we belong to God and He to us.
Where are we going? Where He leads us and we are going there because He is good and worthy of our trust and faith.
Don’t let this season of renewal in Christ go by without saying Yes to the life that God deeply wants for you, so much that He gave His own Son. Let us transformed from the inside out so that through us we can partner with God in transforming the world.
Don’t just exist in the life that God has for you, LIVE that LIFE with ABUNDANCE.
Amen.