GOSPEL OF LUKE: Chapter 14

Luke 14:3-6  Sabbath Questions….Again!

So Jesus asked the religion scholars and Pharisees present, “Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath? Yes or no?”   They were silent. So he took the man, healed him, and sent him on his way. Then he said, “Is there anyone here who, if a child or animal fell down a well, wouldn’t rush to pull him out immediately, not asking whether or not it was the Sabbath?” They were stumped. There was nothing they could say to that.  (MSG)

Luke 14:3-6

When will the Pharisees let this issue of Sabbath work rest?  It is apparent from the very beginning that to Jesus the overall goal far surpasses any law on the books!  The purpose and intent of the Sabbath is what is important: to honor God!  What can be more a demonstration of honor than to do Godly work.  If the Pharisees were to follow the letter of the law themselves, could they do their job?  God asked us to set one day aside for his purpose; what if we were to take a few minutes every hour, a few seconds every minute?  What if we were to honor the Celtic tradition and LIVE God, LIVE Sabbath continually?

Luke 14:10-11   Hospitality

“When you’re invited to dinner, go and sit at the last place. Then when the host comes he may very well say, ‘Friend, come up to the front.’….. if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”  (MSG 10-11)

          True hospitality looks beyond personal comfort or social one-up-manship.  True hospitality is concerned with the needs of the guest, making the guest feel comfortable and at home.  To be able to receive hospitality is just as important as giving it.  In the past 2 weeks, Rick and I have been on the receiving end of all manner of hospitality, staying with friends and family on 10 different occasions.  To be a gracious guest is sometimes as hard as being a gracious host!  But when the give and take is genuine, true hospitality flows as naturally as love pouring from an open bottle. 

Luke 14:10-14

Luke 14:12-14
 No Tit for Tat

Then he turned to the host. “The next time you put on a dinner, don’t just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You’ll be—and experience—a blessing. They won’t be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned—oh, how it will be returned!—at the resurrection of God’s people.” MSG

          Serve those who can’t return the favor; no tit for tat.  The best hospitality is given, not exchanged.  Hospitality doesn’t keep score.  God will take care of that. 

          How often do we invite the same people over and over to our homes?  I am so guilty as charged.  May I remember our Lord’s words the next time I have cause to make invitation.  Could I extend an invite to at least one ‘outsider’?

Luke 14: 26-33 FIGURE THE COST
"Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters - yes, even one's own self! - can't be my disciple.  Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple.....Simply put, if you're not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can't be my disciple."
     This is such a hard passage.  The NIV says hate your father and mother.  The Message tempers it a little, with 'refusing to let go'.   Yet Jesus is trying to make clear the sacrifice he is requiring.  I wonder if the disciples had any clue the reference to the cross - they hadn't witnessed Christ's sacrifice yet or the cross he would carry at Golgatha.  The cost of discipleship is high - Jesus demands our all.  Jesus demands to be numero uno, top on our list.  Perhaps that sounds easy to do, but we deceive ourselves. We allow so much to wiggle its way in front.   More likely, we spend a lifetime 'attempting' to be a disciple.  But it is a worthy goal and I shall keep trying.  

Luke 14: 34  SALT

 “Salt is excellent.  But if the salt goes flat, it’s useless, good for nothing.”  Are you listening to this?  Really listening?”  (MSG)

        Salt….a seasoning for flavor, preservation, part of the earth.  Salt is a critical element, a part of us.   We must make our faith like salt; embedded within us totally. 
        How salty am I?   Does my salt irritate an open wound or enhance the message of God?  Are there times when my saltiness should irritate for the sake of God?  Has my salt gone flat, my faith hollow and meaningless?
        How can I keep my salt full of flavor, robust and ready to season a world waiting for a taste of God?  

BEFORE AMEN (Lucado) - In Jesus' Name Amen!

Post based on Max Lucado's book, BEFORE AMEN: The Power of a Simple Prayer, 2014.

Daddy. You are good.  I need help. Heal and forgive me.  They need help.  Thank you. In Jesus' name, Amen.

In Jesus' Name, AMEN.

Chapter 9 highlights:

• Prayer slaps handcuffs on Satan.  Prayer takes problems out of the domain of the devil and into the presence of God. 
• Prayer changes things because prayer appeals to the top power in the universe....It is a yes to God's invitation to invoke his name.  

1.22.15  Authority
Matthew 8:6-8 GNT 
"Sir, my servant is sick in bed at home, unable to move and suffering terribly."  
'I will go and make him well," Jesus said. 
"Oh no, sir," answered the officer.  "I do not deserve to have you come into my house.  Just give the order, and my servant will get well."
    
      In the name of Jesus, Amen.  That final phrase stamps our prayer with the authority of God, the power of Jesus to create change.  The Roman centurion knows this.  He knows Jesus can heal with just the word.  Just give the order...he says...you have the power.  And Jesus heals the servant, giving witness to all of his authority over all.  
     I have to admit I originally just typed Amen for the title of this final chapter of Lucado's book.  I'll write a little on the power of Amen and be done.  I can't.  Lucado places considerable emphasis on the power of a prayer which invokes the name of Jesus; the power of a prayer that bears witness to the authority of Christ through God. .... 

The Father has handed over everything to My care.  Matthew 11:27 VOICE
I am telling you the truth: the Father will give you whatever you ask of him in my name.  John 16:23 GNT

     Jesus affirms this authority.  We should do the same when we pray, confident that God is listening and ready to respond.   Whatever you ask....in my name.     
  

1.23.15  Amen!
2 Corinthians 1:20-21 MSG
Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus.  In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident.  God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his YES within us.
     I did a little research on the origins of the word Amen.  The English comes from Latin, which comes from Greek, which is derived from Aramaic, and finally Hebrew.  So many translations allow a word to have multiple meanings and uses.  But in a nutshell?  Truth, dependability, agreement, emphasis.  At the end of a prayer we often translate Amen as So be it!  Peterson uses the word, YES!  This is truth!  Fact!  I agree!  
     The root word from Hebrew or Aramaic Jesus used at the beginning of sentences.  The "Truly, truly, I say to you" is very much like saying, "Amen. Amen.  Listen up!  This is important and true."  I like the use of YES!  It is positive and affirming.  I like thinking that at the end of the prayer God is voicing YES! with me, we say Amen! together.  

     Rick and I listen to a Christian radio station each morning and it is often playing while I am writing during my devotional time.  One song has been played nearly every morning and it has echoed in my mind throughout this book. I will include the first verse and the chorus....perhaps the final line will echo at the end of your prayers as well.  

You are not alone if you are lonely 
When you feel afraid, you're not the only
We are all the same, in need of mercy
To be forgiven and be free
It's all you got to lean on but thank God it's all you need

And all the people said Amen
And all the people said Amen
Give thanks to the Lord for His love never ends
At the top of your lungs sing it with me again
And all the people said Amen!       


Publishing: © 2011 Thankyou Music (PRS) (adm. worldwide at EMICMGPublishing.com excluding Europe which is adm. By Kingswaysongs) / Songs of Razor and Tie / Paulmoakhas (ASCAP) / trever morgan music (ASCAP)
Writer(s): Matt Maher, Paul Moak, Trevor Morgan

http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/what-exactly-does-amen-mean

A final prayer summarizing the 'Pocket Prayer':

BEFORE AMEN (Lucado) - Thank You

Post based on Max Lucado's book, BEFORE AMEN: The Power of a Simple Prayer, 2014

Daddy. You are good.  I need help. Heal and forgive me.  They need help.  Thank you. Amen.

THANK YOU

Chapter 8 highlights:

• Gratitude is a dialysis of sorts.  It flushes the self-pity out of our systems. 
• To say thanks is to celebrate a gift. 
• The white whale of want swims our waters.  But God has given Ahab the harpoon of gratitude.  
• When you look for reasons to be grateful, you'll spot love happen, miracles happen.
• Nothing silences grumps like gratitude.  
• The cure for ingratitude?  Look up!  Look and see what God has done!
• Don't be too quick in your assessment of God's gifts to you.  Moment by moment.  Day by day.  

1.21.15   1 Thessalonians 5:18 VOICE
Give thanks to God no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. 

     I have often used the ABC's as a way to remember my prayer concerns, people in need, etc.  But I can't say I have used the method to categorize my thanks, to enumerate my gratefulness for the blessings God rains upon me.  I have been making my list of 'Moments of God-Grace' for this year on a daily basis.  I have a goal to LOOK for reasons for gratitude, to look for love, to look for the miracles.  My goal is One Thousand Gifts by the first of June.  So far....I'm ahead of schedule.  I am abundantly blessed!
     But Max Lucado has us alphabetize our thanks.  So...here's my ABC list for today....the first things that popped into my mind!  But it is amazing how you can suddenly not think of ANYTHING 'good' that starts with a particular letter!  And for certain letters the blessings flow....  I'm sure next week my list would look different.  Maybe a good exercise to undertake on a monthly basis!  

A:  Andrea and Amilio, Acorns, Autumn colors, and Absence of Appendix!
B:  Bountiful Baskets, Balloons, and Butterflies
C:  Chocolate, Chimpanzees, Cherries and Cherrie!
D:  Daffodils, Diane...my sister-in-law
E:  Elephants...they remind me of my sister Liz, and I love their trunks! 
F:  Family, Friends, and Fireflies. 
G:  Grace, Grins, and the Glory of Creation  
H:  Happy faces 
I:    Ideas, new and old, Images.
J:   Jon Jedediah, Jack, 
K:   Kady, Katy, kaleidescopes and kids
L:   Luke, Lectionary study 
M:  Mothers and melodies memorized
N:   Nature, nuts, and nasturshims
O:  Orange sunsets.... 
P:   Photographs of Creation beauty, Pencils, 
Q:  Quiet moments in the morning for reflection, writing, drawing
R:   Rick....and rainbows!
S:   Sisters, Sunshine, smiles, and sourdough starter
T:   Travel, tie-dye, and lots of Toms!   
U:   Umbrellas and understanding 
V:   Violets and vines
W:  Waterfalls, winter, and wisdom
X:   Xtra special friendships
Y:   Yellow flowers   
Z:   Zebras.. ...a cop-out, but my mind is blank! 

   

BEFORE AMEN (Lucado) - They Need Help

Post based on Max Lucado's book, BEFORE AMEN: The Power of a Simple Prayer, 2014.
Abba-Daddy. You are good.  I need help. Heal and forgive me.  They need help.  Thank you. Amen.

THEY NEED HELP

Chapter 7 highlights:

• Jesus never refused an intercessory request.  Ever!
• Intercessory prayer at its purest form is the confluence of paucity and audacity.
• Intercessory prayer gets God's attention quickly.
• Unbelief attempts to help others without calling on Jesus; Belief pounds on the door at midnight doing whatever it takes to present people to Jesus. 
• We do not change God's intention, but we can influence his actions.
• Intercessory prayer isn't rocket science.  It acknowledges our inability and God's ability. 
• Nothing pleases Jesus as much as being audaciously trusted. 
• The quickest way to douse the fire of anger is with a bucket of prayer. 
• You are never more like Jesus than when you pray for others. 

1.17.18 Be Audacious
Luke 11:10, 13  MSG   
Don't bargain with God.  Be direct.  Ask for what you need.....Don't you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?
     This well known passage (Seek and find; Knock and open; Ask and given) follows the story of a neighbor who was audacious to ask for food at midnight when he had guests who were hungry.  The point doesn't focus on the sleepy food-giver.  The point is in the boldness of the one who goes knocking ON BEHALF on someone in need.  
     When we intercede on the behalf of friends, family, or even strangers, we cannot go half-way with a limp 'They need a little help, God, do what you can.'  We have to remember that WE are often the answer to our own prayers.  God might just reply, 'What are YOU doing about it?' first. 'I want YOU to go knock and ask on their behalf.'  It is easy to pray and leave the details up to God.  But what if WE are part of the details?  Be audacious in our requests - both to God and in response to God's solution.  

UPCOMING....
1.18.15  Prayer Can Create Change
Exodus 32:11-12 GNT  
But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, "Lord, why should you be so angry with your people, whom you rescued from Egypt with great might and power? Stop being angry; change your mind and do not bring this disaster on them."
      The people of Israel have sinned.  Big time sinned.  God is angry.  REALLY angry.  God is probably just a little fed up with them.  But Moses (again, audaciously) challenges God to change his mind.  Moses pleads for compassion from God on behalf of the people.  This is prayer intercession at its boldest when we ask God to rethink actions of the Almighty. 
      How many times have we responded in anger, however, and wished someone had pleaded with us to stop and think; to change our mind.  I recently was frustrated with a situation and wrote a rather sarcastic response.  I was glad to have an even-tempered son who cautioned me to STOP! and respond with compassion.  I appreciated having a Moses ready to challenge me in prayer.  
      Our prayers can be powerful agents of change.  God listens.  But always consider, 'Thy will be done.'

1.19.15   Ambassador-Secret Agent
2 Corinthians 5:20 MSG  
We are Christ's representatives.  God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them.

     When we intercede in prayer for others, we are acting as representatives in the kingdom of God.  We are a Christ ambassador in our realm of the kingdom.  That realm might include our family and friends, acquaintances and strangers who we encounter in our daily actions.  We have a responsibility to pray on behalf of all in our little part of the kingdom; that responsibility comes with being a good representative.  Just ask anyone serving in the government!  
     Or maybe we can think of this as agents....secret agents for Christ!  Our mission, should we choose to accept, is to PRAY!  Pray for healing, pray for encouragement, pray for reconciliation, pray for forgiveness! I'm putting on my Secret Agent Prayer glasses!!   

1.20.15     Love THEM?
Matthew 5:44 GNT  
But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you....
     It is easy to pray on behalf of friends and family, loved ones and those close to us.  It is even easy to pray for strangers we have never met.  But pray for people who hurt us?  Who anger us with their ideology that is so opposed to our own?  Pray for those who have slandered or lied to us?  Pray for those who are so different from ourselves that we can't even imagine how they can be a part of our world?  Yes.  Nothing breaks down walls faster than prayer.  Nothing can create community stronger than prayer.  Nothing can make a church stronger and more alive than to pray for one another.  Nothing can turn those enemies into friends more completely than a simple prayer.  

BEFORE AMEN (Lucado) - Forgive Me

Post based on Max Lucado's book, BEFORE AMEN: The Power of a Simple Prayer, 2014.
Daddy. You are good.  I need help. Heal and forgive me.  They need help.  Thank you. Amen.

FORGIVE ME

Chapter 6 highlights:

• Guilt is God's idea.  Guilt is the rumble strips on the highway of life.
• Guilt alerts us to the discrepancies between what we are and what God desires.  It stirs repentance and renewal. 
• God uses the sinless to carry away the sins of the guilty. 
• Give God your guilt. Be concrete in your confession.  Be firm in your confession. 
• Confession is not a punishment for sin; it is an isolation of sin so it can be exposed and extracted.

1.13.15  Rumble Strips
Isaiah 1:18 GNT
The Lord says, "Now, let's settle the matter.  You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow."
     I like Lucado's analogy of guilt as rumble strips along our life's highway.  We don't want a highway covered with them, but they do serve a purpose in alerting us when we stray off the road.  Guilt - the little conscience guy sitting on our shoulder - lets us know we are off course.  Guilt serves a purpose up to a point.  But it isn't something we want to carry with us.  We don't want to stray past the rumble strips because the journey will get unbearable, the road unpassable.  Guilt can make us defensive or defeated.  Either one is not what God wants for us.  So we can give our guilt to God.  It is a wake-up call that can promptly be returned.  

1.14.15 Scapegoat
Leviticus 16:21-22 MSG
He will put all the sins on the goat's head and send it off into the wilderness, led out by a man standing by and ready.  The goat will carry all their iniquities to an empty wasteland; the man will let him loose out there in the wilderness.
      This is where we get the term 'scapegoat'.  The one who takes the guilt and then is banished.  This was a yearly ritual for the Hebrew people.  Jesus fulfilled the NT prophecy of 'Once for All'.  He is the one and only scapegoat.  When we confess and place our sins, or transgressions, our omissions, our hurtful words - all of it - on Jesus, they are taken to the wilderness of the cross, and forgiven.  
      When we come to God in confession, we must be specific.  A quick, all-encompassing, 'Forgive me for everything I've done wrong' might not cut it.  Detailed confession helps us recognize our individual errors and work to correct the wrong.  Our confession might involve an apology to the wronged person, not just to God. Our confession paves the way for God's forgiveness. 
      



1.15.15    Erased
Psalm 103: 12-14 VOICE
You see, God takes all our crimes - our seemingly inexhaustible sins - and removes them.  As far as east is from the west, He removes them from us. 
     Erased.  Removed.  Gone.  Forgotten.  What an incredible act of forgiveness on the part of God.  What an act of Jubilee.  Our debts are wiped clean.  The Old Testament law required a year of Jubilee for the forgiveness of personal debts.  Perhaps this is where we get the term in some Lord's Prayer versions, as opposed to sin or transgressions.  The amazing thing about this is that it happens over and over!  We aren't forgiven just once, but are granted such grace EACH time we err, even if the sin is the same over and over. (Sometimes we are very slow learners!)  I'm sure God mutters to him/herself...'When are they going to figure this out?  This is SAME thing they did last week!'  Inexhaustible sin. Inexhaustible grace.  Inexhaustible forgiveness.  Just ask. 


1.16.15    AS
Matthew 6:14-15 GNT
If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done. 
     And now....the catch.  "Forgive others as I have forgiven you".  The grace God extends to us we must also extend to the wrongs done to us.  How often we forget this part of the prayer: ...."AS we forgive our debtors" (those who trespass against us).  We ask God to forgive AS we forgive.  Our failure to forgive others limits God's forgiveness to that 'AS'.  We ourselves place a limit on God's ability to function AS God desires and wills.  Goodness,  God must be frustrated with us! 
     A friend who was deeply wronged recently shared that she believed forgiveness was solely up to God, implying it wasn't her responsibility.  I was deeply troubled because I felt she was the one missing out on the freedom forgiveness bestows.  I was troubled because we are clearly called to forgive.  
     This entry is not a commentary from Lucado's book.  He doesn't mention this aspect  of 'Forgive me'.  But I feel strongly about our responsibility in this petition.  I feel so strongly about the 'AS' that I had to have my say!  Forgive me.

BEFORE AMEN (Lucado) - Heal Me

Post based on Max Lucado's book, BEFORE AMEN: The Power of a Simple Prayer, 2014.
Daddy. You are good.  I need help. Heal and forgive me.  They need help.  Thank you. Amen.

HEAL ME

Lucado quotes from Chapter 5:

• How do we explain the how and when of God's healing? 
• God's goal for you is wholeness. 
• Sickness and sin still stalk our planet.  But here is the difference: neither sin nor sickness will have dominion over God's people. 
• If Jesus heals you instantly, praise him.  If you are still waiting for healing, trust him.  Your suffering is your sermon. 

1.10.15  Forsake. Care For.
Psalm 22:1 GNT
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?  
I have cried desperately for help, but still it does not come. 
Psalm 23:1 VOICE
The Eternal is my Shepherd.  He cares for me always. 

      Wow.  Two psalms from David.  Just a chapter apart in the Bible and they read so differently.  Isn't this how we often feel?  We waver between the impression that God isn't listening, God doesn't care, God 'let' something bad happen to the joy of knowing God's presence, the assurance that God is with us every moment of every day.  How can our life be such a dichotomy - bookends of good and bad? 
      Lucado asks, "How do we explain the how and when of God's healing?"  How do we explain the times of apparent abandonment with the moments of miracle cures?  There is no ready answer to explain the mystery of God.  Yet, we know we are never abandoned.  God is present.  God is good.  God is at work for what is BEST for us.  God's timing, not ours.  Some mysteries are not meant to be understood, just experienced.  

 1.11.15 Go to the Top
Matthew 20:32-33 VOICE
Jesus (taking the two blind men aside): What is it that you want, brothers?
Two Blind Men: Lord, we want to see.
     Two men by the side of the road who needed healing.  The crowd ignored them; the disciples ignored their cries.  But the two men knew who could make a difference: they went straight to the top - call on Jesus.  In answer to Jesus' question, they gave a straight and simple answer, a here-is-my-request kind of answer.  Heal me.  And Jesus did. 
     There are many doctors who acknowledge they are not 'the top'.  They pray before they begin surgery, often with the patient.  I find this comforting.  I would want this before any surgery I would have.  Our doctors can be the hands of healing, the hands of Jesus, but the source of healing comes from God.  
     When we turn on a light switch, the light comes on.  But the light may be in another room, on the porch, or in the closet.  The power has to travel along a middle-man wire from source to light.  Doctors and medical personnel are the wire conveying and transferring the healing power from source to patient.  But first we must turn on the switch and ask: heal me.
      

1.12.15  God-Time
Mark 8:23-25  GNT
After spitting on the man's eyes, Jesus placed his hands on him and asked him, 'Can you see anything?'  The man looked up and said, 'Yes, I can see people, but they look like trees walking around.'  Jesus again placed his hands on the man's eyes.  This time the man looked intently, his eyesight returned, and he saw everything clearly.  
John 11:4,17 MSG
When Jesus heard it, he said, 'The final result of this sickness will not be the death of Lazarus; this has happened in order to bring glory to God, and it will be the means by which the Son of God will receive glory.'......When Jesus finally got there, he found Lazarus already four days dead. 

       God doesn't always heal instantly.  Sometimes it is a delayed healing such as in the two scriptures noted.  And sometimes, healing happens when we pass from this world to the next.  But God wants us to be whole; God wants what is best for us.  So when our healing is delayed, why?  There must be a reason or purpose.  What lesson or sermon need I hear?  What service am I to perform?  Those who are close to God and have suffered a physical loss or impairment, will often voice, 'It was the best thing that ever happened to me.'  They became more aware, more compassionate, or more in tune with others.  When you look beyond the hurt, you can find God at work in the delayed healing.  Healing happens on God-time. As Lucado writes....Instant? Praise! Delayed? Trust! Prolonged? Dig deep for the why!

BEFORE AMEN (Lucado) - I Need Help

Post based on Max Lucado's book, BEFORE AMEN: The Power of a Simple Prayer, 2014.
Daddy. You are good.  I need help. Heal and forgive me.  They need help.  Thank you. Amen.

CHAPTER 4:  I NEED HELP
Key Lucado quotes from chapter:

• How many disasters would be averted if we'd go first, in faith, to Jesus?
• An unprayed-for problem is an embedded thorn.  It festers and infects all around.  
• Let go and let God.  Resist the urge to reclaim the problem once you've given it up. 
• Jesus says, 'Bring your problems to me.'  State them simply.  Present them faithfully, and trust him reverently.   

1.7.15  Give God the Load
Philippians 4:6 MSG
Don't fret or worry.  Instead of worrying, pray.  Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.  
1 Peter 5:7  VOICE
Since God cares for you, let Him carry all your burdens and worries.
     I need help.  What a simple prayer.  What a powerful prayer.  It acknowledges before our Abba-Dada that we are children who need help.  God can provide that help.  We ask.  Think of the assurance we had as kids when we finally brought an issue of concern before our parents, knowing they could help solve the problem.  The relief that someone with more knowledge and insight would have our back.  God can provide that relief and assurance if we simple take our worries and concerns, even the petty everyday problems, and lay them before Abba.  
     As I write my prayers and concerns on this prayer drawing, I give to God the anxiety and worry of these friends and family, the hurts and pains, the upcoming surgeries, the brokenness, the cancers.  All of it is given to God as I write the names.  Amen.   
     
1.8.15   Let Go. Let God.
John 2:1-8 MSG  
Jesus' mother told him, 'They're just about out of wine.'  Jesus said, ....'This isn't my time....'  Mary went ahead anyway, telling the servants, 'Whatever he tells you, do it.'
       We often focus on what Jesus did on this occasion of his first miracle.  But Mary proves the power of a simple prayer in this instance.  She comes to Jesus with a problem: the hosts are about out of wine.  She doesn't complain, she doesn't blame or accept blame, she isn't critical of the situation, she doesn't tell Jesus what to do.  She simply states the problem.  And then what does Mary do?  She WALKS AWAY!  It is now out of her hands.  She lets go of the matter and walks away to let God go to work.  (Although she does tell the servants to do what Jesus says - she knows before Jesus knows himself that he will act!)
      We've all heard the saying, 'Let go and let God."  But for many of us, it is a Let go - let God - take it back - let go - take it back again type of situation.  We want to tell God how to fix it.  We want to blame others first.  We are impatient for a NOW solution.  So...reconsider  part two of this prayer: God is good.  God knows the best solution.  Let God handle it.  But stay in communication - God might give us a little responsibility in the resolution.  But the problem itself?  It belongs to God.  We gave it away.  Don't try to take it back! 

1.9.15  Persistence
Luke 18:7-8 GNT   
...Will God not judge in favor of his own people who cry to him day and night for help?  Will he be slow to help them?  I tell you, he will judge in their favor and do it quickly....
    This verse is part of the story of the woman who asked daily for justice and the corrupt judge finally relented just to quiet her.  Sometimes the squeaky wheel really does work!  This isn't a form of nagging God, but just simple reminders that the problem still exists - and that we are patiently waiting for God's resolution...in God time.  Why persistent patience?  Again, back to step 2, God is good and God knows best!  
     I have several individuals on my prayer list that I pray for each day.  I am not particularly close to them.  I have no idea how God might answer my prayers, but I know that each one of them can use God's intervention in their lives.  So I ask daily for God to be present for them.  Years in the future I MIGHT discover my prayers were answered.  I may never know.  But I will know that I was persistent in my simple request.  And I know that God is listening.

EPIPHANY THOUGHTS

Matthew 2:1-12  The Voice
....They unpacked their satchels and gave Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.....

     Today is Epiphany - the 12th day of Christmas has finally arrived.  Yet, as I look around our home and community, the tree has been taken down, the creche gone from the front porch, and already life is returning to 'normal'.  How quickly we put Christmas behind us, for by the time it finally arrives in December, we are tired of all the trappings, the decorations, the fuss and the confusion. I just barely got the last of my baby Jesus figurines into their mangers.  With Jed's sudden surgery, we have managed to celebrate much of the Twelve Days of Christmas this year.   Yet today, I stop and remember the LAST day of Christmas, the day the wisemen (kings-sages) arrive bearing gifts.  
      God makes his arrival on earth in the form of a baby boy, helpless, vulnerable and very dependent. Perhaps we should consider this is how we must come before God as well - child-like, vulnerable, and trusting.  As we come as the wisemen, following the light of the star and bearing gifts, we must come to the stable reliant and trusting, vulnerable to the trials of the world, and dependent on God for all.  We cannot come proud, arrogant, or filled with conceit.  We cannot come assured of our financial wealth and status.  We cannot come to the manger bearing gifts of OUR worth.  We must bear gifts worthy of God: gifts of our heart.  Our gifts must be all that we are deep inside, heart and soul and mind and strength.  Once offered, we can wait and be amazed to see what God will do with our gifts. 
     The Voice translation explained the gifts of the wisemen in terms of their royal and kingly nature.  Gold was the gift of choice for a king.  Scripture said that a new kind of king was to be born.  Incense was a gift for priests and Jesus was to serve as a new kind of High Priest.  Myrrh is a healing ointment, appropriate for one who would heal with a mere touch.  Yet myrrh is also used to prepare a body for the tomb, hence a foreshadow of sacrifice and grace.  The wisemen brought different gifts for different purposes.  We can do likewise.  Our gifts of talents, time, and prosperity are varied.  Each has a purpose and need.  Once offered, we can again wait and be amazed to see what God will do with our gifts. 
     Follow the star.  Follow the light.  Bring YOUR gifts to the newborn baby.  Approach God in the same manner as God came to us.  As a child.  Happy Birthday, Jesus!  Enjoy your presents.  

BEFORE AMEN (Lucado) - You Are Good

Post based on Max Lucado's book, BEFORE AMEN: The Power of a Simple Prayer, 2014
YOU ARE GOOD

Major Lucado quotes from Chapter 3:

• Most people suffer from small thoughts about God.  In an effort to see him as our friend, we have lost his immensity.  In our desire to understand him, we have sought to contain him. The God of the Bible cannot be contained. 
• If God were only mighty, we would salute him.  But since he is merciful and mighty, we can approach him.  
• If God is at once Father AND Creator, holy - unlike us - and high above us, then we at any point are only a prayer away from help. 
• Before you face the world, face your Father. 

1.1.15  O God = Good
Psalm 31:19 GNT
How wonderful are the good things
    you keep for those who honor you!
Everyone knows how good you are,
    how securely you protect those who trust you.

        What a great thought to ponder at the start of a new year: God is good.  How often do we utter these words when something goes 'right'?  God is good.  But the immensity of that goodness is hard to grasp.  We have just snuggled into the comfortable lap of our Abba with the words, "Our Father" or "Hey, Daddy!" and now we must realize that we are sitting in the presence of the God of the Universe, the Creator of All.  That's a pretty big jump!!  
        Our God is good at many different things.  We don't have to be good at everything because our Daddy is good!  Abba Dad expects us to do well those tasks for which Dad has gifted us, but we can leave the rest to God (or those God has put in our path with the right gifts!)  Our God is good in that Abba Dada wants what is good for us, to the point where Papa gently corrects and steers us to the good.
        "O God" might be our opening prayer.  It is wise to remember that also spells GOOD.  We can continue our prayer from that assurance.  

1.3.15  Taste and See
Psalm 34:8 MSG
Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—how good God is.
Blessed are you who run to him.
     God is mighty, the ultimate power and creator of all.  There's no doubt of that.  But this is a mighty that we don't have to just bow down before and worship.  It is a mighty that we can approach or as the psalmist said, we can 'taste and see'.  What a combination of power and mercy, of universe and individual, of expansive and personal.  

     Taste and see.  Get to KNOW God's goodness.  Run to it!  God is just a prayer away, a simple conversation that will provide the opportunity to experience the goodness and mercy of the Almighty. The end of the 23rd Psalm echoes in my mind right now, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."  Dwelling in the house of the Lord is a constant diet of tasting God and seeing God.  Dwelling is being intimate with God.  Goodness and mercy are included in the bargain.  What a deal!  We are indeed blessed!

1.4.15  Thy Will Be Done
Matthew 6:10 MSG
Do what's best - as above, so below.

For now, I will leave both versions of this prayer
drawing on the post.  It shows how different the
design can be whether drawn on the computer or
by hand.  Either way, typing the prayer words in
the background is intense!!  Prayer TWICE today!

       Father Tim in Jan Karon's Mitford books calls this 'the prayer that never fails' - Thy will be done.  I include it here because it is part of Jesus' tutorial, part of the 'God is good' portion of the Lord's prayer.  And I like the reminder that God knows best, Father KNOWS Best, as the old TV show proclaimed.  We can pray for what WE want, but our prayers should always include 'your will, God' because that is what will be GOOD.  We don't have all the answers, but God does.  When we acknowledge that difference in position, we allow ourselves to receive fully the goodness God wants to share.  

1.5.15   Before You Face the World, Face Your Father
Hebrews 1:3 MSG
This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God’s nature. He holds everything together by what he says—powerful words!
     The world we face every day when we roll out of bed isn't always a world of goodness and mercy.  Relationships fail, things go wrong, afflictions happen, and pain is endured.  Why face that alone and unequipped to handle it all?  Why not begin the day with the assurance that God's goodness will penetrate the ugly and make it better, if not in reality than in perception.  When we know we are walking each day hand in hand with our Abba-Daddy who is strong and mighty, we are ready to walk ANYWHERE!  
     Start the day with a moment of face-to-face time with God.  Guaranteed to make for a better day!