Philippians 2:8 (GNT)
He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death—
his death on the cross.
Give us the mind of Christ, Lord.We pray to be like him.
Make him real in our lives.
A tender shepherd, healing and caring,
feeding, blessing, sharing.
Humility and servant-hood.
DID YOU READ THE REST?
THE PART ABOUT OBEDIENCE UNTIL DEATH?
Oh, I skim over that part, Lord.
Those words are a little touchy.
We must subdue dreams we hold dear,
And find glory of a different nature.
That path isn't a walk in the park,
But conflict in the garden,
A struggle between the welfare of others
And our selfish personal desires.
And death on a cross?
That really hurts.
BUT OBEDIENCE WILL BRING YOU TO MY GLORY,
RESURRECTION WITH AND IN ME AWAITS ON THE OTHER SIDE.
Give us the mind of Christ, Lord.
We pray to be like him.
Just help us remember living our prayer
Is never easy.
FRIDAY, March 22 "Become Nothing"
Philippians 2:7 (NIV)
"He made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant."
Become nothing, Lord?But we all want to BE somebody!
We all want to make a name for ourselves.
We want to be remembered for greatness.
We want to climb higher and higher,
Closer to heaven, right?
NO.
What?
Think the opposite?
Be nothing?
Lowly, humble?
Be mocked & ridiculed?
Accept pain & disgrace?
Serve the unlovable?
Defer to others?
YES.
This nothing is much harder than we imagined.
Guide us, Lord.
You showed us how once,
But we still need your help.
THURSDAY, March 21 "Mind of Jesus"
Philippians 2:5 (GNT)The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had.
Act like Christ.
Seek direction,
Follow his will.
Go forth into the world.
But how?
With the MIND of Jesus.
With humility,
Obedience,
In servanthood.
Our work will be unified,
As the interests and needs of others
Supercede those of our own.
To act like Christ,
We must think like Christ.
Daily...
In all circumstance...
With all we encounter.
WEDNESDAY, March 20 "God the Sculptor"
Proverbs 3:11-12 (the Message)
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects;
a father’s delight is behind all this.
Michelangelo God.Carefully crafting his sculpture of man.
Chiseling each day to perfect the vision of creation in his mind.
The tool is sharp at times, perhaps painful.
But the end result is worth the momentary cut into the form.
God will not stop until the sculpture is finished.
God has too much invested in the relationship.
Like a parent to a child, he will correct until we are mature.
Until the sculpture is complete and we are wise.
God disciplines those he treasures.
May we delight in being formed and created by the Almighty!
We are a work of art!!!
TUESDAY, March 19 "Good Morning, God"
1 Chronicles 28:9 (The Message)
Solomon my son, get to know well your father’s God; serve him with a whole heart and eager mind, for God examines every heart and sees through every motive. If you seek him, he’ll make sure you find him, but if you abandon him, he’ll leave you for good.
Get to know God, they say.
Seek him, he'll find you. But...it's God we're talking about!
GOD!
I went to Kitt Peak Observatory.
I heard how big the universe is.
And it is expanding!!
How can a God of light years and par-secs
Possibly have time for me?
Possibly know me on a personal level?
It is utterly mind-boggling!! Incomprehensible!
But....that the capacity of our God.
Vast...and personal.
Incomprehensible, yet intimate.
Start out the day with a greeting,
'Good Morning, God!
How are you today?
How are the vast reaches of space coming?
How am I doing here on earth?
You talk, God....I'll listen.
It helps to start my day
Knowing you love and care for ME!
So, first things first this morning...
How's it going, dear friend?'
MONDAY, March 18 "Creative Best"
Galatians 6:4-5 (The Message)
Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.
CHRPA gives plenty of opportunities to explore your 'creative best'. Home repair is light years from new home construction. Problem solving constantly, putting your heads together to figure out the best you can do. There can be no competition, no sense of "I goofed up major!" because everyone is simply there trying to do the work we are given in the best way we can figure. As long as we feel we are giving our best, be content with that!
It can be exhausting to always compare oneself to others. Each one of us has gifts, but no one of us can do it all. We cannot expect that of ourselves, nor can we expect it of others. In HIS wisdom, God has equipped us to do just what he wants us to do - no more, no less!
When God gives an assignment, it comes with His enablement. (ODB)
SUNDAY, March 17 "M.M.M." (ODB)
Psalm 12 (The Message)
Quick, God, I need your helping hand!
The last decent person just went down,
All the friends I depended on gone.
Everyone talks in lie language;
Lies slide off their oily lips.
They doubletalk with forked tongues.
Slice their lips off their faces! Pull
The braggart tongues from their mouths!
I’m tired of hearing, “We can talk anyone into anything!
Our lips manage the world.”
Into the hovels of the poor,
Into the dark streets where the homeless groan, God speaks:
“I’ve had enough; I’m on my way
To heal the ache in the heart of the wretched.”
God’s words are pure words,
Pure silver words refined seven times
In the fires of his word-kiln,
Pure on earth as well as in heaven.
God, keep us safe from their lies,
From the wicked who stalk us with lies,
From the wicked who collect honors
For their wonderful lies.
Who owns my lips, Lord?When I speak with flattery,
Is my aim to manipulate?
Do I twist and turn my speech,
To get my own way?
Do I blurt out hurtful words without thinking?
Do I speak gossip and lies with no consideration?
Do I toss out careless words that ignite strife and conflict?
When I am the Manager of the Mouth Department,
the temptation is great to prevail,
To say what I please,
To have the 'last word',
To accuse or belittle,
Despite the cost and hurt to those loved
and those unknown.
May you, Lord, own my lips.
May you manage my mouth.
May my words mirror your words,
With encouragement, support, and LOVE.
Refine my language and heart,
So my speech is acceptable in your eyes.
May I stop at the Door of Utterance and ask,
"Does blessing and healing enter?
Am I bringing Love inside?"
I fire myself as mouth manager
And put you in charge, O God!
He who guards his mouth preserves his life. (Proverbs 13:3 NIV)
M.M.M. = MANAGE my MOUTH as a MIRROR
SERMON NOTES: John 12:1-8 "The SENSE of the Gospel"
* Analogy of a good movie or book - John gives away the end of the story!
* There is always a story within the story, a dual soundtrack: God infused into the ordinary, the God-story within the world-story.
* Do we distrust extravagant displays of love solely BECAUSE they are extravagant?
* Sometime our desire for responsible management of our resources and the extravagant love of God can be in conflict.
* Every meal is communion if we sense God in the corn-flakes. * Allow our SENSE of the SPIRIT to SIMULTANEOUSLY rest with our SENSORY perceptions of the world. (I shall call this S.S.S.)
*It is love that lives at the end of the movie!
S.S.S. = SIMULTANEOUSLY SENSE THE SPIRT
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