Stand

I Corinthians 10:1-13 (NIV)

¹²So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!

¹³No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Last week, we read about Jesus' temptation by the Devil in the wilderness.

We learned that Jesus was able to stand firm, even while starving and weak, because of his deep sense of purpose and identity. And because of his knowledge of, and embodiment of, scripture.

So what about us?

Did you decide to intentionally expose yourself to temptation during this Lenten season? Have you "given something up?"

How is that working? What does it feel like?

If you picked something that's hard enough...it's definitely not easy. We know that "thing x, y or z" is not good for us. That's probably why we chose it. But we're drawn to some seductive part of it anyway.

Some good news: Paul reminds the Corinthians, "no temptation has seized you except what is common to man."

Some more good news: St. Paul himself...one of the greatest and most prolific Jesus-followers who ever lived, wrote this about his own struggled in Romans 7 (from The Message)

Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison.

What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise.

So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.

^17-20But I need something more!

For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help!

I realize that I don't have what it takes.

I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway.

My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

^21-23It happens so regularly that it's predictable.

The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight.

Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

²⁴I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?

²⁵The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does.

He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

We will fail, and fall, regularly, to temptation. But, that's not who we're called to be, forever. Know that we are not the first to struggle, nor will we be the last.

There is a war between the "heart and the flesh." But there is also help. "He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions." Let's make the most of this Lenten season to find out what that really means.

Grace & Peace,

Adam

No secret meaning to the song today...it's "The Temptations." And, my favorite song of theirs for all time, "I wish it would rain," although I definitely don't wish that today.

Satisfied

Psalm 63:1-8 (NIV)

O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.

² I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.

³ Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.

⁴ I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.

⁵ My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

⁶ On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.

⁷ Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.

⁸ My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

Ever have trouble sleeping?

I rarely have that experience. I usually go to sleep fairly easily, and hardly ever wake up in the night.

But, just like everybody else, I do occasionally have those nights when the clock seems to make fun of my inability to doze.

I don't know about you, but for me, when I can't sleep it's because I'm thinking about my problems through "the watches of the night," not because I'm thinking about God.

Psalm 63 is a psalm for the anxious. It's the insomniac's psalm. The solution this psalm-writer finds is not in a bottle or an infomercial.

It's simply an intimate, powerful knowledge of the love of God.

Everything will be ok. Roll over and go back to sleep.

Grace & Peace,

Adam

Come

This Week's Readings

Monday: Isaiah 55:1-9
Tuesday: Psalm 63:1-8 (UMH 788)
Wednesday: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Thursday: Luke 13:1-5

Friday: Luke 13:6-9

Isaiah 55:1-9 (NIV)

¹ "Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.

² Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare...

⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.

Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

⁸ "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

⁹ "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

During "The Great Flood of 2009," back in September, I had a fascinating experience in our local Kroger.

Well, the whole morning and several days afterward were filled with fascinating events for all of us, come to think of it.

I woke up to a text from a neighbor saying that school had been called off. That made absolutely no sense.

Once we watched some news and had a feel for the severity of what had taken place (27" of rain in 24 hours...which has been called a "500 year rain event" by the weather folks...what climate change?), we realized that it was going to be an interesting day.

Still, I was naive. I sallied forth to the Kroger near our house. I the main east-west road from our subdivision was underwater. I took an alternate route. Still, I wasn't prepared.

A grocery store, crawling with folks who were beyond the panic of a get-milk-and-bread-now-or-you-shall-surely-die impending snowstorm.

This was just crazy. Folks were cleaning off shelves and they were 20 or 30 deep at every register.

Then the lights went out.

I heard a manager on a megaphone say, "our computers are down, and we cannot checkout any more customers."

What? What about a pencil and paper? What about a calculator?

All the registers had locked. Inventory is tied to sales by computer. No items have prices on them...everything is UPC code. No way to sell anything.

Even if they would sell...the "money" in my pocket was an electronic card tied to my bank account. No cash, of course.

I went home, back through the craziness.

When the chips are down in life, money isn't going to make a difference.

I know this seems impossible. But it's true. The invitation from Isaiah 55 is so important for each of us. It is an invitation to what is real and lasting. It is the spiritual invitation to wine and milk and bread that can't be bought with money.

God will provide.

His love is sufficient.

As flood recovery began to unfold, I saw that love first-hand. Two other churches partnered with SOTH and helped us help other people. Without their money, time, and talent, we could never have accomplished so much. But all of that, even the money, was milk and wine from the Father, that we didn't obtain with our own "purchasing power."

There is a greater power. Let's plug into that account.

Grace & Peace,

Adam

Find your headphones, kick back, take a 6 minute vacation, and groove on some "higher love," 80's style.

"Higher Love" Steve Winwood

Think about it, there must be higher love 

Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above 

Without it, life is a wasted time 

Look inside your heart, I'll look inside mine 

Things look so bad everywhere 

In this whole world, what is fair? 

We walk blind and we try to see 

Falling behind in what could be  

Bring me a higher love 

Where's that higher love I keep thinking of?  

Worlds are turning and we're just hanging on 

Facing our fear and standing out there alone 

A yearning, and it's real to me 

There must be someone who's feeling for me 

Things look so bad everywhere 

In this whole world, what is fair? 

We walk blind and we try to see 

Falling behind in what could be  

Bring me a higher love 

Where's that higher love I keep thinking of?  

Bring me a higher love 

I could rise above on a higher love

 I will wait for it I'm not too late for it 

Until then, I'll sing my song To cheer the night along 

I could light the night up with my soul on fire

I could make the sun shine from pure desire 

Let me feel that love come over me 

Let me feel how strong it could be  

Bring me a higher love 

Where's that higher love I keep thinking of?

Jerusalem

Luke 13:31-35 (NIV)

³¹At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, "Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you."

³²He replied, "Go tell that fox, 'I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.'

³³In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

³⁴"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

³⁵Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'

Holly and I had the incredible privilege just about one year ago, of going to see the very city that Jesus talks about in today's passage.

Jerusalem.

If someone said, "describe Jerusalem" to me, some words would spring immediately to mind. So would many, many images, sounds and smells.

Holy...overwhelming...mysterious...desperate...tormented...tense...spiritual...diverse...ecclectic...historical...powerful.

Jerusalem was an incredible experience.

It seems that the world truly does converge on this small city.

At its heart, the ancient temple mount comprises the most contested few acres in the world.

Jerusalem is crushingly beautiful. It is middle eastern and European crusader, it is Jewish and Muslim and Christian (though in the extreme minority).

It is guns and walls and fences. It is checkpoints and security. It is places of peaceful prayer, and the ever-present reality of terror and violence.

I will always remember our wonderful tour guide saying, as we stood on the Mount of Olives, outside of the city, "Until his arrest, Jesus never spent the night in Jerusalem. He wouldn't do it. If you read the gospels closely, you'll see that he always came back here, or he went to Bethany. It's as though he just wasn't comfortable in that city."

Notice "comfortable" didn't make my list of Jerusalem descriptors.

There is a deep, deep sense of brokenness in that place.

Though Jesus surely seemed to have that sense as well, he would not give up on this place that he loved so much.

He gives us the image of messiah-as-mother-hen as he tries to describe how much he longs to care for those in danger in that place.

Like a mother hen, he fights to the death, laying down his life for the ones he loves.

Jerusalem, of course, is also a metaphor for all of us. "You were not willing" must be some of the saddest words Jesus speaks in all of the gospels.

No matter how broken we are...no matter how beautiful or dangerous or mysterious or tension-filled our souls may be...the invitation stands from the mother hen who seeks to give us peace.

Grace & Peace,

Adam

Note: the pic today is one I took in Jerusalem. There was a class of new Israeli army recruits, and we were told that they were on a "field trip" for an Israeli heritage/history component of their training. These girls are probably 18 years old and will do 2 years of compulsory military service. All Israeli men serve 3 years between the ages of 18 and 21. Yes, they were all carrying automatic weapons like this, and it's safe to assume they were loaded and ready to roll.

Jerusalem (Steve Earle)

I woke up this mornin' and none of the news was good
And death machines were rumblin' 'cross the ground where Jesus stood
And the man on my TV told me that it had always been that way
And there was nothin' anyone could do or say

And I almost listened to him
Yeah, I almost lost my mind
Then I regained my senses again
And looked into my heart to find

That I believe that one fine day all the children of Abraham
Will lay down their swords forever in Jerusalem

Well maybe I'm only dreamin' and maybe I'm just a fool
But I don't remember learnin' how to hate in Sunday school
But somewhere along the way I strayed and I never looked back again
But I still find some comfort now and then

Then the storm comes rumblin' in
And I can't lay me down
And the drums are drummin' again
And I can't stand the sound

But I believe there'll come a day when the lion and the lamb
Will lie down in peace together in Jerusalem

And there'll be no barricades then
There'll be no wire or walls
And we can wash all this blood from our hands
And all this hatred from our souls

And I believe that on that day all the children of Abraham

Will lay down their swords forever in Jerusalem

Await

Philippians 3:20-4:1 (NIV)

But our citizenship is in heaven.

And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

¹Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!

Who here enjoys waiting?

Really, there's nothing better than sitting in the waiting rooms with the stale, burned coffee, the 18 month old magazines, the vinyl furniture and vending machines. No signal on your phone. Somebody with a very communicable-sounding cough, sharing your air. Somebody else who's angry, or whiny, or just too loud on a bad, too-loud tv set.

Having fun yet?

We don't like to wait. We'd much rather be free. We'd much rather do whatever it is that we want to do.

But if you're gonna get those new tires...or that oil change...or that car wash...

you're gonna have to wait for it.

Good things do take time.

Now, this analogy really is pretty poor, but it's the best I could do this morning to stir our thoughts about what we wait for in this life.

Paul has seen the resurrected Christ. He knows that the promised future for all believers is to one day become "like his glorious body."

No, I don't know what that means.

But it sounds better than a new set of tires. And the waiting room is a lot nicer.

Right now, by faith, we get to enjoy the gifts of joy, peace and grace. There is laughter and hope and possibility.

There is meaning to be found right now in this waiting room, and there is more around the corner than we can begin to imagine.

And there's no bill to be paid.

This "mechanic" of our souls loves us...he's family...and he does what we need for love, not money.

Let's think about that today.

Grace & Peace,

Adam

"I'm Not Who I Was" - Brandon Heath Music Video

Stomach

Philippians 3:17-19 (NIV)

¹⁷Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.

¹⁸For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

¹⁹Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.

Their mind is on earthly things.

So...where is our mind?

If I'm being honest, mine is often on "earthly things."

I'm an "earthly" being.

This is where I live. The earth is what I see and experience. We will think most of what we can touch and feel and taste and know in a first hand way.

But this scripture is calling us to know that there is a different way.

If our "god is our stomach," we are headed for destruction. The Bible constantly reminds us of this truth: all things are passing away.

The world we see is temporary and changing. The unseen world...the world of faith...is forever.

Certainly, there is a balance to be found. We shouldn't be so focused on the heavenly things to come that we're "of no earthly good."

But more often among us Christians, at least the kind that I am (21st century American), just the opposite is true.

Life is more than computers, tv's, houses, clothing, food (and food, and food) and vehicles and schools and hospitals and security and safety and power.

There is a hole in the human heart that can never be filled by wealth, or food or substance.

The missing piece is the love of God. Let's don't miss it because we're distracted by the spectacle, and the stomach.

Grace & Peace,

Adam

A song about "the stomach," the darkness of addiction, and the path of destruction from the Son Volt front man, a truly great alt country band, in my humble opinion of course.

I

"Cocaine and Ashes," Son Volt

I’ve had strychnine, I thought I was dead
I snorted my father and I’m still alive
I did because that’s how it is done
I’m the same as everyone, just kinda lucky

Body and soul, Cocaine and Ashes
Get to that place in time
Tears and blowin my mind

It’s no way of life but I’ve tried everything once
I have no pretensions of immortality
I’ve been told I had six months to live
But I’ve outlasted them all

Body and soul, Cocaine and Ashes
Get to that place in time
Tears and blowin my mind

Senses and Spirit, Mourning and Misery
Addiction is somethin I should know somethin about
Whatever gets done I know that I’ll be blamed
They say the King is the man who can

Body and soul, Cocaine and Ashes
Get to that place in time
Tears and blowin my mind

Body and soul, Cocaine and Ashes
Get to that place in time
Tears and blowin my mind

Body and soul, Cocaine and Ashes
Get to that place in time
Tears and blowin my mind

Getaway

Psalm 27 (The Message)

³ When besieged,
I'm calm as a baby.

When all hell breaks loose,
I'm collected and cool.

⁴ I'm asking God for one thing,
only one thing:

To live with him in his house
my whole life long.

I'll contemplate his beauty;
I'll study at his feet.

⁵ That's the only quiet, secure place
in a noisy world,

The perfect getaway,
far from the buzz of traffic.

What's "the perfect getaway" for you?

The beach? The mountains? A hidden cabin somewhere at the end of a gravel road?

A place where the cell phones don't work, and nobody's really sure what they'd do with the internet if they had it?

There are very few places where you can actually get completely away from man-made noise. Planes fly, trucks deliver goods, the world goes on in its busy business.

But that's not really what this Psalm is all about. The truth is that our times spent in "the perfect getaway" are few and far between.

We don't have the time to go on long vacations, or the money, or the energy it would take to get there.

What we need is for God to make our current location "perfect" in him.

This psalm is really about peace. It's about knowing that we can rest.

You can rest.

Listen. You can rest. You can rest in him.

It's been said that, "life is about our stewardship of reaction to each passing moment."

Take a breath, know that his grace is sufficient, and that peace is the gift he truly seeks to give you.

React from that peace.

Grace & Peace -- Adam

"His Grace is Sufficient," by Jennifer Knapp

I've exhausted every possible solution,
I've tried every last game there is to play.
In this search for the Christ like perfection
I'm convinced I've only left my God ashamed
. I cry I wonder can he hear my despair.
Afraid to lift my hands afraid he doesn't care.

And if he answers and I fall again
can I still be his daughter can I still depend on him.
When I'm down search every mistake, looking for new regrets.
sometimes I forget, I forget that his grace is sufficient for me.
that it's deeper and wider than I can conceive.

His Grace is sufficient for me.
My convictions seem to fade with desperation,
my hope declines with each and every tear.
My sin an anchor and this grace just an illusion.

The gavels heavy and justice is near.
Up comes the light and finds the stains on my hands.
Up comes my pride, I hide, I know he won't understand.
Cause it's deeper than deep and it's wider then wide.
why did I ever doubt now I'm dying inside. (chorus).

His Grace is sufficient!

Stars

This Week's Readings:

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27 (UMH 758)
Philippians 3:17–4:1
Luke 13:31-35

Genesis 15:1-12; 17-18 (NIV)

¹ After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
"Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward."

² But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" ³ And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."

⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir."

⁵ He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

⁶ Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Can you "count the heavens in the stars?"

It seems like maybe our best astronomers still can't.

I love it when God gets a little pointed with Bible characters (but not when he does that with me, of course).

"Look up at the heavens and count the stars -- if indeed you can count them."

A cursory stroll around the internet this morning seems to estimate the number of stars just in our own galaxy at "between 200 and 400 million."

That seems like give-or-take-200-million to me.

I don't think we can count them.

And we're one galaxy of billions in the universe.

There's a lot we don't know.

Like why God would choose a Chaldean herdsman of advanced age to become the father of his people.

Because God does, that's why.

I wonder what God might do today? Do we think he could do anything we don't expect? Do we believe he can act at all?

Genesis says that we should at least entertain the possibility...just like Abram did.

Grace & Peace,

Adam

Tempted

Luke 4:5-13 (NIV)

⁵The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.

⁶And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. ⁷So if you worship me, it will all be yours."

⁸Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"

⁹The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here.

¹⁰For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
¹¹they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

¹²Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

¹³When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

The easy way. It's always there.

"Wide is the path that leads to destruction."

Remember where we left Jesus? Starving. Physically depleted. Spiritually strong.

Satan whispers, take the shortcut. No one is watching. You deserve it.

Jesus surely must have been tempted. Any way other than the cross.

This Sunday at SOTH, we'll talk about temptation. The Lenten discipline of giving up something that has allure and temptation...it's all about learning to lean into the strength of God when we experience our own weakness.

It's the narrow path that leads to life.

Grace & Peace,

Adam

Hungry

Luke 4:1-4 (NIV)

¹Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert,²where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

³The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."

⁴Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.

Last night, I couldn't sleep. For me, that is a thankfully rare experience.

But, I've been under the weather for a couple of days, and have slept a lot. Last night, it finally caught up. Maybe that's a good sign that I'm almost well.

At about 4:00 AM, I decided to watch a documentary about life in a post-apocalyptic world.

Famine. Disease. Danger at every turn. No water, no medical help, no authorities.

The "experts" on the show said that a human being could possibly live up to 60 days without food. Starvation is a slow process, though painful and full of nasty side-effects along the way. This was not good insomnia viewing.

I know beyond nothing of starvation. If I decide to fast, I usually make it less than 24 hours before I'm "really hungry."

I'm dependent on our civilization to feed me. Like most modern people, even though I like to think I've got some "country" credibility, the truth is that I couldn't possibly produce all the food my family needs with the skills that I have.

I want to believe that I trust God for my bread...but what if it wasn't there for any extended amount of time?

I would panic. We all would. Have you been in the milk aisle when snow is on the way in the south? Panic.

Last night, one person on the show said, "at any moment, we're 9 meals away from anarchy."

Jesus had missed 90 meals. And yet, when tempted, he remained focused on the truth.

The spiritual outlasts and outweighs the physical. There is no panic.

"Man does not live by bread alone."

How do our lives show this truth? How can we become more like Jesus?

Grace & Peace,

Adam

Do It Yourself Blog

Romans 10:8-13 (NIV)

⁸But what does it say?

"The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:

⁹That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

¹¹As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." ¹²For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Well, I'm a bit under the weather, so I'm going to keep it simple. The scripture can definitely speak for itself. Here's a poem for the day, and I invite you to leave your thoughts about this scripture and what it means for you. I've been to the doc and hopefully I'll be 100% again tomorrow.

Grace & Peace,

Adam

"That hollowness we sometimes feel
is not a sign of something gone wrong.
It is the holy of holies inside of us,
the uncluttered throne room of the Lord our God.
Nothing on earth can fill it,
but that does not stop us from trying.
Whenever we start feeling too empty inside,
we stick our pacifiers into our mouths
and suck for all we are worth.
They do not nourish us, but at least they plug the hole."

Barbara Brown Taylor, 1998

Rescue

Psalm 91:1-2; 9-16 (NIV)

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

² I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

⁹ If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-

¹⁰ then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

¹³ You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴ "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

¹⁵ He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

¹⁶ With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."

Psalm 91 has long been popular among soldiers. I can definitely understand why.

It is a reminder of God's love and protection.

When we are in danger, when situations surround us that are far beyond our control, God is present and on our side.

The message really is a simple one: draw close to God, and receive God's protection.

And, throughout history, people of faith have been tempted not to believe in this promise.

If we truly believed it, we would act with more courage. But, we have seen bad things happen to good people, and we have learned to rationalize away this psalm as a nice in theory but dangerous in reality.

But we do have to choose. Either we provide our own protection, or we rely on God. Which will it be?

If we truly think we protect ourselves in this life, we simply haven't been in enough danger to tear away the veil of false reality.

All life is lived in God's hands. We can walk in confidence, not tempting God (we'll talk about that later this week), but sure that he will walk before us every day.

Grace & Peace,

Adam

First

This Week's Readings:

Monday: Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Tuesday: Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
Wednesday: Romans 10:8b-13
Thursday: Luke 4:1-4

Friday: Luke 4:5-13

Deuteronomy 26:1-11 (NIV)

¹ When you have entered the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, ² take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket.

^"8 ...So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders.

⁹ He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;¹⁰ and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me."

Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him.

Gratitude is a powerful thing.

To be truly thankful for what we have. To believe that it has come to us, unmerited, as the gift of a generous God.

These are the things that can give life meaning and joy.

But it can't be merely lip service, at least not according to scripture.

Often, we are wounded when others doubt our beliefs, or our intentions. But actions speak more powerfully than any words ever could. They reveal the real movements of our hearts.

So let's ask ourselves. Are we really grateful for the blessings that come from God?

Really?

Our checking accounts will tell the story.

What do we give? Not "how much." The number will be relative to each person's circumstance. But do we make giving, to someone, somewhere, a priority?

Is there some sense in which we regularly and clearly return a portion of the first and best that God has given us?

It's important. Try it. God gave us this instruction because it puts feet on our thoughts and feelings. And it changes the very core of who we are.

Grace & Peace,

Adam

Tomorrow: Psalm 91

Greatness

Luke 9:37-43 NIV

The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him.

³⁸A man in the crowd called out, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. ³⁹A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him.

⁴⁰I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not."

⁴¹"O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here."

⁴²Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion.

But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father.

⁴³And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.

As we wrap up this week of transfiguration scriptures, I want to simply point out that Jesus does here what the disciples could not.

He heals, casting out a demon, because he is so closely aligned with the power of God the Father, at work within him.

Of course, Jesus is more than "aligned." He is one and the same. He is "of the same stuff" as the Father, but his example of the perfect human life reminds us that the power of God waits to work within us to any degree that we will allow it.

I hope you'll take a few minutes with this wonderful film about the transfiguration below, and really reflect on what it would mean to let God's power be seen...and how all who see it might then be "amazed at the greatness of God."

Keep the comments coming, and come be part of worship at SOTH this weekend!

Peace -- Adam