Mark 11-12 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is Mark 11:1-12:44.

“And he was teaching them and saying to them, ‘Is it not written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations?” But you have made it a den of robbers’” (Mark 11:17).

So much for the mild-mannered, Caspar Milquetoast Jesus. This is the “I’ll be back” Jesus. He overturns tables. He clears out cheats. He runs off the insincere. What kind of emotions do you think we would have been able to read on His face in the midst of all this?

What I can’t help but think about is I Corinthians 6:19. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. In one sense, my body is a house of God. What does that mean for me? Is God’s house a house of prayer? Or have I made it into a robbers’ den? Or have I made it in to some other kind of den?

Am I willing to ask Jesus to overturn the money-changing tables in my own heart? Am I willing to ask Him to take up His scourge and cleanse me of the den of wickedness that is in my own heart? Or do I want the Caspar Milquetoast Jesus who just sadly looks the other way? The latter leaves me in my sins, in guilt, shame, misery, and despair. The former is painful, but I’ve learned it is less painful than just leaving the robbers’ den in my heart. Only being willing to let God do whatever it takes to cleanse me and keep me on His path works for me (cf Psalm 141:3-5).

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Click here to add your input.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Today’s reading is 1 Peter 1:1-2:25.

“…knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Too often I’ve thought that grace was God’s ability to overlook my sins. But that is not true. God has not overlooked my sins. He hasn’t winked at a single one. Rather, He has stared at them in all His glory and all my horror. He could not help but see them glaring from my heart.  He does not dismiss them; He deals with them. He does not wink at them; He washes them away. He does not pass over them; He pays for them. What is the purchase price for my sins? Not gold. Not silver. Not all the money in the world. The purchase price was Jesus’ blood.

No longer can I dismiss my sins with a wink and a nod toward God’s grace. “Oh well, we’re all human, that’s what God’s grace is for.” God’s grace is not some ethereal force out there wandering around looking for sins to cover up from God’s eyes. God’s grace is the blood of Jesus Christ. Every sin I commit costs Jesus’ life. Every lie, every idle gossip, every look of lust, every cheat on a test, every rebellious notion is only paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.

How can I turn a blind eye to my sins when God did not? How can I wink at my wrongs when the cost is so great? How can I dismiss my defects when Jesus’ death is the purchase price for them? Today, I’m going to throw myself into Jesus’ hands to grow in Him by His grace so I am not asking the price to be paid again.

Yes, when I fail, I know the price has been paid and I’m eternally grateful. But I will not devalue that price by assuming Jesus paid it so I could sin as much as I wanted.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Ephesians 1:1-2:22.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

What a thought! I am not my workmanship. I am God’s workmanship. Obviously, I’m making choices in my daily life. This doesn’t mean I’m nothing more than a puppet with God literally pulling the strings. But it does mean I’m not alone. It means I don’t have to direct the way for me to be all that God wants me to be, all that I want me to be.

God has created me in Christ Jesus to walk in His good works. But is His workmanship merely a moment in time switcheroo? Does Paul simply mean when I was baptized into Christ, God did some work but now He is sitting back hoping the switch took? I don’t think so. This verse means God is still working in me. He is providing me with progressive victory over sin and progressive victory in righteousness.

This doesn’t mean I sit on my backside and wait for God to pull the strings. But it does mean I can take comfort today that God is working in me. I am His workmanship and He is the Master Craftsman. He may not always work on my timetable, but He is working.

I think today, I’ll just surrender to God’s way. I’m pretty sure it works. And I’m pretty sure it will work on me.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

PPS. For those who haven’t seen it elsewhere, here is a great video from the Skit Guys about God working on us. Even if you have seen it, you may want to watch it again. Enjoy.

God’s Chisel by the Skit Guys

Here is the link for my e-mail subscribers: http://giveattentiontoreading.com/?p=1620

Today’s reading is Acts 19:1-20:38.

“Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver” (Acts 19:18-19).

A friend of mine once told me that when you want to change the way you play the game of life, you have to change three things: your playground, your playmates, and your playthings. If nothing ever changes about my life, well then, nothing ever changes. If I want to bring my anger under control, then I have to make some changes. Am I listening to music that gets me angry, watching shows, or even the news that keeps me stressed? I need to burn those things. Do I want to change my eating habits? Then maybe I need to change which restaurants I frequent. Am I trying to quit drugs or drinking? Then I need to not only dump out my stash but also the paraphernalia that went along with it and develop new relationships with those who aren’t involved in that life.

This is not always a matter of getting rid of stuff we can prove is sinful. I’m not sure it was absolutely sinful for these folks to own these books. In fact, it doesn’t say everyone did this, only a number of them did. In like manner, I’m not saying everyone has to get rid of everything I mentioned above. However, if something is my stumbling area and I want to change my life, I need to learn to burn everything that will lead me back down that path. I don’t do that because that is God’s requirement for repentance. I do that because if I try to change the way I play but I keep frequenting the same playgrounds, with the same playmates, hanging on to the same playthings, I won’t change. And I desperately want to change.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 2 Peter 2:1-3:18.

First, my apologies for missing last week. We were traveling and then working through the death of Marita’s Maw-maw. 

Second, I want to ask for your prayers. My family and I have decided to relocate to work with the church in Brownsburg, Indiana. The next three months are going to be a very stressful time (I haven’t been very good about keeping our house in ready-to-sell condition). I don’t know how that will impact my blogging over that time, but I’ll try to keep it up.

On to today’s reading.

God Doesn’t Want Us to Perish

I love today’s reading because it reminds me that God is patient. He doesn’t want me to perish. He doesn’t want you to perish. He doesn’t want anyone to perish. 2 Peter 3:9 says so:

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

I don’t know how many times I get asked what will happen if I get cut off in traffic, lose my cool, give someone the finger and shower them with profanity and road rage only to end up in a fatal accident without time to repent. I believe this question is looking at God all wrong. God is not looking to wipe us out. He is looking to save us. God is giving everyone time to repent. I don’t have to fear that there will ever be something that I would have repented for if given the time but God cuts the cord of my life before I have that opportunity. God is not willing for any to perish, but is patient wanting everyone to repent. What that means is you, me, everyone will have enough time to repent. If we die without saving penitence, it won’t be because God didn’t give us the time.

The great comfort for me in this passage is not simply that God is patient. The great comfort is that God wants us to be saved. God wanted us to be saved so badly that He sent Jesus to die for us. Surely, if He went that far to make sure I could be saved, He is still working to help me be saved. The question is not about what God is doing. The question is about me. Will I surrender to His work to save me or keep trying to go my own way?

God doesn’t want me to perish. How badly do I not want to perish?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Luke 15:1-16:31.

I am once again reminded of the compassion God has given me and of the compassion I need to have for others.

For a long time, I’ve been enamored with the concept of “tough love.” Basically, what I thought that meant was if someone made their own bed, they had to lie in it. Sure, if someone through no fault of their own had a hard time in some area, emotionally, mentally, physically, financially, spiritually, then I would be there to help them out of their tight spot. That is, of course, the loving thing to do. However, if their trouble was in their own doing, my job was to be like wisdom in Proverbs 1:26, and laugh at their calamity. 

But then here is this story about a father and two brothers. This prodigal made his bed. He demanded his inheritance before the time. He wasted it on profligate living. He destroyed his own life. He comes back to his father. Will the father show tough love? Will he tell the son to pull himself up by the bootstraps and get out of his own mess he so willingly made? Will he accepts the son’s idea of being a servant and working his way out of it? That’s kind of an intermediate idea. “You have to work your way out of it, but I’ll help you get a job.” No. The father does none of these things. The father just shows love. He accepts the son back as his son. He shows mercy and grace.

The older brother, on the other hand, is livid. He’s all for tough love. “This son of yours” he calls the brother. He doesn’t deserve this. But of course not. If he deserved it, it wouldn’t be mercy and grace, would it? “He made his own bed. If he had been more like me, this wouldn’t have happened.”

I get two things out of this. I’m reminded that I am the prodigal. I’m not the son who stayed with the father the whole time (though, I think the older brother was not being honest with himself when he tried to claim he had always done what the father wanted, but that is another post). I’m the son who went into the far country, looking for meaning and fulfillment elsewhere. However, I never found it. Instead, I found things that left me broken and empty. I was eating pods with the pigs. I too came back to the Father with the idea that I could somehow be His servant, earning my keep. Then perhaps someday I could work my way up and deserve His love again…maybe. But, instead of demanding I earn my keep, He brought out the fattened calf and celebrated with me. He put a robe on my back and a ring on my finger and, because of His love, declared me His son. Wow! I needed that.

The second thing is I need to recognize that same thing with others. I’m a returning prodigal who has been shown mercy, grace and love. How can I show anything less to the other returning prodigals? Of course, I should not enable anyone to live in sin or continue with prodigal living. I should not be a codependent rescuer. That would be participating in their sin (Ephesians 5:11). If we keep the phrase “tough love” to mean we stay lovingly detached from those who want to stay in their problems and establish boundaries for our continued aid, then okay. But withholding mercy, grace, and aid from those who penitently seek it is not tough love. It is not love at all. We’ve all made our beds. If our Father forced us to lie in them, where would we be? If we do the same to our fellow returning prodigals, where would they be? 

I am reminded of two things today. I have been shown great mercy. I need to also be merciful.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is Revelation 9:1-10:11.

Revelation 9:5 jumped out at me today.

“They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them…”

That reminded me of God’s instruction to Satan about Job in Job 2:6, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”

The difference between Job and the folks in Revelation is that Job hadn’t been living in sin before this, but by the time he was done with this temptation he repented of the sins he had committed (Job 42:6). The folks in Revelation didn’t repent no matter what discipline they saw, even after another trumpet was blown and plagues killed mankind.

“The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts” (Revelation 9:20-21).

I can’t help but think of some of the devastating things that happen in our world. I’m not saying that tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes are the direct judgment of God (though they might be). However, there is no doubt that God allowed them to happen. These great displays ought to cause those who remain behind to repent and turn to God, seeking the life and salvation He offers. Sadly, it seems that most often these cause folks to become more entrenched in sin believing God must not be out there. That is really not logical. It is as if folks believe because God allowed something they don’t like, He must not exist. That is no evidence either way. The thing we need to see is that life is a vapor. Death is coming. It may come from cancer. It may come from a car wreck. It may come from a hurricane. It may simply come from old age. But it is coming. Repent now. Glorify God now. Turn from idolatry now. Do these things while there is still time for you to glorify God and draw close to Him. Remember what we learned yesterday. He is the one who holds salvation.

***Question: What forms of idolatry still plague the world today?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is 2 Peter 2:1-3:18.

“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:8-9).

What a comfort. I don’t know how many times I have been asked by people, “What if I’m, like you know, driving in my car and someone pulls in front of me and I yell some cuss word and give the guy the bird right as I get in a car wreck and I didn’t have time to repent? What then? Will I go to heaven or hell?”

First and foremost, I have to say that I’m not God to decree what judgment you will actually receive. However, more importantly, I wonder what kind of God you think we actually serve? Do you truly think we serve the kind of God who is going to take an otherwise faithful servant and kill him/her the moment they have slip just so He can cast their soul into hell? Do you think we serve a God who is waiting for opportunities to squash us like bugs and then watch us burn for eternity? Really? That’s the God you serve?

I don’t serve that God. My God is a patient God. The God I love is a God who wants everyone to come to repentance. He is patient with each and every one of us. That tells me something about Him. I can trust Him to do what is right with me. I can trust Him to do what is merciful with me. I have no idea what tomorrow will bring. For all I know, I may die in a car wreck in which I slipped with my mind and my tongue. Here is what I’m confident about. If I am judged to spend eternity in hell, it is not going to be because I committed one sin right before I died without having time to repent. Further, if, as some believe and teach, it is true that the one slip would make me guilty of hell, then I know my God will give me time to repent. 

That is comforting to me. I don’t have to dream up crazy scenarios to test God’s grace or to increase anyone’s fear for eternity. We serve a God who wants us with Him forever. We serve a God who wants to bestow grace upon us. We serve a God who wants to welcome us into His heavenly home. He’s not waiting to punish us forever. We can trust in Him and His grace.

So, why not take the patience God has extended to us today and use it to turn from whatever is still enslaving us in sin. Turn your life over to God today in every way. 

***Question: What other aspects of God’s nature provide you with comfort in Him?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Revelation 15-16 provides apocalyptic pictures of God’s judgment on the beasts (oppressive government and false religion) and those who bear the beast’s mark. Twice in Revelation 16 God makes a statement that really gets me.

“The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”–(Revelation 16:8-9, ESV).

“The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.”–(Revelation 16:10-11, ESV).

They did not repent.

Did you catch that? The point of this discipline was not merely judgment. Rather, it was an opportunity to repent. They were disciplined and given time to change sides, given time to leave the beast and be marked with God’s name. But they didn’t do that.

I can’t help but think about me. Now, I certainly don’t think every negative thing that happens to me is necessarily God’s judgment on me. Nor do I think it is necessarily God specifically disciplining me for some specific thing. However, I believe nearly every occurrence in my life can be used as God’s discipline. What lessons do I learn from these things? If those lessons show that I have not been glorifying God as I ought, will I let them prompt me to repent and glorify Him? Or will I let them galvanize me away from Him?

Some folks face hardship with increased faith, learning the lessons that help them rely on and glorify God more. Others flee from God when troubles come thinking they mean God no longer loves them. I obviously cannot speak about God’s direct involvement in any specific hardship you have faced. I simply know this: for those who love God, He uses all things to achieve good for them. Instead of turning your back on God when you face hardship, examine your life. What lessons can you learn? How can you use what you are facing to repent and glorify God even more? 

Praise the Lord, He gives us opportunity to repent when we need it.

Keep the faith and pass the word along,

ELC