He is jealous for me

How He Loves is one of my all time favorite songs.  Check it out and especially be sure to listen to the lyrics...
“He is jealous for me”.  According to m-w.com, to be jealous means to be intolerant of unfaithfulness.  That’s true of our God.  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” -Matthew 22:37.  
Another definition they give is to be vigilant in guarding a possession.  This is also true of our God.  The Psalms talk about this over and over again.  Psalm 23 talk about how the Lord is our shepherd.  The main job of a shepherd is to protect the folk, right?  Or how about Psalm 27:5, “For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will set me high on a rock”.
Notice too how it says that our afflictions are eclipsed by glory.  Being a Christian does not mean that life is easy, or without pain, and suffering.  Romans 5:3-5, however, challenges us to “rejoice even in our sufferings” because we know that in our sufferings we learn and grow and develop strong meaningful relationships with others and with our God.  
The stars are always up there in the sky yes?  And they are beyond breathtakingly beautiful yes?  ...I think so...  Anyway, can you see them during the day?  No.  You need the darkness of night, right?  Right.  I think this can apply to our lives.  Sometimes it takes the darkness for us to see the beautiful lights in our lives.  The blessings that are innumerable (just like the stars).  We find hope in that God promises to work good through all things, not that all things will be good in our lives.
Finally, when have you experienced heaven meeting Earth?  It happens.  Daily.  Check it out!

Prayer:  Father God, thanks for bringing heaven to Earth!  Thanks for using us to bring heaven to Earth.  Continue to help us see your light in our lives.  Continue to protect us, to shelter us, and to be faithful to us as long as we remain as faithful as we can to you, through you!  Amen! 

Can you imagine that meal?!

“He sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, “The Teacher asks, ‘Where is my guest room where may I eat the Passover with my disciples?’  He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready.  Make preparations for us there.”  So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.  When it was evening, he came with the twelve.  And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.’  They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, ‘Surely, not I?’”  - Mark 14:13-19

Finally the day of the Passover meal had arrived.  How would you feel if you were Jesus?  That seems like kinda a weird question to ask, but I think we forget, all too often, that Jesus was fully human.  He experienced similar emotions that we do today.  So how do you suppose He felt?  Knowing that He was well aware of the fate that awaited Him and the events that would lead up to His death, that the next few days would be full of betrayal, pain, and suffering, I would guess He saw this night as sort of the calm before the storm.  He chooses to spend it with His closes friends, in celebration.
How do you think the disciples felt?  First, the two that were directed to make the preparations according to His very detailed instructions.  How would you feel having heard Jesus say these things and go into the city, and have it happen just so?  The disciples believed that Jesus was the Son of God, just as we do, but how often are we taken by surprise when we encounter His miracles?  What about during the dinner?  What do you and your family or friends talk about at dinner?  What if you were at the table and the Lord of lords all the sudden broke the casual conversation by announcing that someone at that very table, one of His closest companions, would betray Him?  Would you be able to consider it a possibility that it could be YOU?  How have you betrayed God or disappointed Him?
Notice that even though Jesus knew the horrific content of His near future, He still went through with it.  He did not choose to manipulate it or change it in any way.  He embraced it and endured it all out of love for you and me and the world...
Prayer:  Dear Father God, Thank you for never giving up on us.  Thank you for enduring the worst of the worst for us.  Thank you for saving us.  Be with us the rest of the week.  Amen! 

What was Judas Thinking?!

“Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.  When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money.  So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.”  -Mark 14:10-11

Some of the gospels point to satan’s influence in Judas’ decision to betray Jesus.  Mark doesn't mention satan's involvement, but he was definitely all up in the plot to kill the Savior of the world. But let's think about something for a minute... Why would Judas hand over his Teacher, his companion of the past few years, this man he had grown to love?  Did Judas know how much Jesus loved him?  Did he have any idea what his actions would lead to?  I don’t know that he did...  Do we have any idea what our actions lead to?  Who might feel the effects of our actions?  How the world might be changed for someone, or for many?

Have you ever put your faith in something just to have your expectations completely shattered?  Jesus was supposed to be this mighty Messiah.  He was supposed to save the world.  People had come to depend on Him to heal, and teach, and show love.  So....How did His death make any sense?  How did His suffering on the cross coincide with His supposed unsurpassed strength and power?  It didn’t in people's tiny little pea brain way of understanding.  And so, with all the talk of His death, Judas gave up on Him as his Savior.  He decided in all his human wisdom (hahaha...human wisdom...funny, right?) that Jesus wasn’t the right kind of Savior for the world.  His expectations of the Almighty Son of God, didn’t line up with God’s plan for saving the world, so he was done with it.  Do we let our expectations get in the way of God’s plans?  Do we give up on Him because we can’t make sense of what He’s doing?  Because it doesn’t fit into the box we put Him in?  I know I do... In your prayers today, ask Him to help you to trust. To humble you so you can rejoice in following His sure path through and to paradise.

Prayer:  Saving God, We cannot understand You.  You are greater than we could ever imagine.  Your plans are greater than we could ever hope for.  Thanks for not giving up on us, even though we sometimes give up on you.  Amen 

Why Wait for Tomorrow?

Lent is a time for reflection.  It's a time for challenging ourselves to reflect on how we are living out our lives as God's beloved children.  How we are living out the call to be the hands and feet of our Savior to every person we meet.  To check-in on our efforts to rejoice everyday in the grace that is freely given, our salvation that has been won.  Sometimes people give something up for lent.  Sometimes people try a new spiritual practice.  The goal is to bring us closer to our Heavenly Father by getting rid of distractions or adding intentional time spent with Him.  To nurture that relationship that can be so easily taken for granted.  Are we engaged in this everyday?  Probably not.  Are there things that we put off, saying we'll do that tomorrow?  Probably.  I'll call to check in on that friend tomorrow.  I'll set aside more time to pray tomorrow.  I'll spend some quality time with the Word, God's love letters, tomorrow...
This song by Mandisa says it very simply, and very clearly.  "Every day's a day to start over; so why am I waiting for tomorrow?"  Next time you find yourself saying you'll do it tomorrow, ask yourself why.  There are times where you will have very legit reasons.  But there will be times when what you're throwing into the unknown abyss of tomorrow is something that would be a wonderful addition to today.  Every day is a brand new day.  Another opportunity to find joy in God's creation.  To praise Him for the blessing of that day.  To grow closer to Him.  Those Newsies had it right- seize the day.
Thank you, Father, for each new day.  You bless us beyond measure.  We can't comprehend all that you have done, are doing, and will continue to do in our lives out of love.  Move through us to seize today and live it out for your glory!  We love you!  Amen.

Expensive Perfume? The Poor??

“While He was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on His head.  But some were there who said to one another in anger, ‘Why was the ointment wasted in this way?  For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.’ And they scolded her.  But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her?  She has performed a good service for me.  For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me.  She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial.  Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.’”  -Mark 14:3-9

So a few quick translations- the ointment in the jar was basically really really expensive perfume.  Think higher end than the high end  perfumes of Burberry, Ralph Lauren, Chanel... Which leads us to translation #2- 300 denarii was almost a whole year’s wages- thousands of dollars today.  So what’s the deal?  Shouldn’t that money have gone to the poor?  I have a hard time with this.  So many other times, Jesus talks about caring for the poor, and then He defends this seemingly extravagantly wasteful woman.  She probably didn’t even know that what she was doing served a greater purpose.  She probably didn’t realize that in a few short days, Jesus would be killed and that her act of love was preparing Him for His burial.  But she was lead to show the huge love she felt for Him and to care for her dear friend and Savior in this way.
This season in Lent, we have been talking a lot about Matthew 25.  In this passage, Jesus makes it clear to us that as we serve and care for each other, we serve and care for Him.  After all, everyone we meet is a child of God, created in His image, just as we are, just as Jesus was.  To live in the love that He has first given us, is to share that love in extreme ways.  This woman did it by anointing Jesus with expensive perfume.  Maybe we do it by serving a meal, sponsoring a child through Compassion International, or by visiting the Manor.  Maybe we do it by donating money to a charity, or buying flowers for a friend or family member.  Whatever it looks like, I think Jesus is making a point in this story to give, with complete abandon, out of our need to share God’s crazy love with the world.  She didn’t use fancy words, in fact, we don’t know that she said anything at all.  She used action and tears to show how she felt, and Jesus is sure to tell us that her story will be told everywhere anyone talks about Him.  That’s legit.
Something I read recently in the book Almost Christian by Kenda Creasy Dean, caught my eye about this story. She points out that the word translated to "waste" in this passage derives from the same Greek root as the word translated to "lose" in Mark 8:35 when Jesus says, "Those who lose (/waste) their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it." So what does this word "waste" mean? In both instances, something is being given. Something HUGE- a perfume bought with a years worth of wages, a life. These are both things that one would not casually lay at someone's feet. As I explained above, I believe the woman did this anointing out of love. Throughout the Bible we are called to love simply because He first loved us. This translates to living our lives completely surrendered to His love and His loving purpose for which we were lovingly created. Which, in a nutshell, is sharing the Good News of His hugely extravagant love for us. Notice the full circle that we just made? Revolving the whole time around, "For God so loved the world...".
So love. Love with wild abandon. Love your neighbor as you love your Father in Heaven. Be extravagantly wasteful with your love. He's given you more than enough. As long as you continue to look to Him, to fill you up, you will never run dry.
Prayer:  God, you love us like crazy!  You have loved us first so we can love where love is not.  Guide us in our service to others, to you.  Amen!