Wednesday, October 16, 2019

OCTOBER OVERTURES 17-24


As we shuffle through leaves and add another layer for our daily walk, let us sing a new song to the lord. 
May these quotes before this next section of meditations lift your spirits and brighten these blustery days of Fall.

“Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love gift  Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship.”   Oswald Chambers

“The kind of work we do does not make us holy, but we can make it holy.  However sacred a calling may be, as it is a calling, it has no power to sanctify; but rather as we are and have the divine being within, we bless each task we do, be it eating, or sleeping, or watching, or any other.”  Meister Eckhart

October 17  Jeremiah 38:1-13; Psalm 18;    1Corinthiens 14:26-33a, 37-40; 
                Matthew 10:34-42
Matthew 10:38  “He who does not take his Cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.  :40 He who receives you receives Me and he who received Me receives Him who sent me. 
Powerful words.  It’s enough to make us close the bible and give it a rest.   This IS heavy teaching.  Jesus is saying, “Fish or cut bait.”  Either you are all in or not.  People knew very well what it meant to ‘take his cross,” the most brutal form of execution in history.  They also knew the emperor was a god to be worshipped, reverenced by bowing down in his presence.  Jesus reminded God’s chosen people, the Jews, that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, their One God, was the only One to be worshipped according to their commandments written at the time of Moses . . . the Mosaic Law.  
The difficult part was accepting Jesus as a ‘person’ of the God they worshipped.  That’s why the next verse is so important and is stated in various ways throughout the new covenant scriptures.  ‘He who receives you [God the Father] receives me [God the Son] and he who receives me [Jesus, the son of God] receives Him who sent me [God, the Father].  Not until after Jesus ascended into heaven and promised to send an ‘advocate’ in his place, the Holy Spirit, would our Triune God be understood by the Jewish followers of Christ.  
The very fact that thousands of Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ chose to die rather than renounce Jesus as God gives weight to these statements.  For centuries people have chosen eternal life in God’s presence rather than eternal damnation separated from God.  They have chosen to die in their belief in Christ rather than have their soul die from starvation of not being in the presence of God.


Think about it:  Many of us take our Christian walk for
granted.  We may have never had our faith in Christ challenged.  Perhaps we have been blessed by attending worship without incident.  For some, this is not the case.  Think of the headlines where Christians were killed because they did not deny their faith in Christ.  They did nothing to cause their death.  They only ‘took up their Cross’ to follow Jesus a
What would you do?  
For many of us we could not possibly know until that moment.  
Are you ready to die for Christ’s sake?  
Ask the Lord to help you stand strong in your faith.




10-18  Celebration of Luke, the Evangelist  
Ecclesiasticus 38:1-4,6-10; Psalm 147; 2 Timothy 4:5-13; Luke 4:14-21
Luke 4:14  Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit  :16 “He entered the Synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the book of Isaiah. 
 :18 ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me’ …  and He closed the book, sat down and all eyes were on Him when He said, :21 ‘Today the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’”
As you have noticed, we celebrate another person who helped to further the Gospel or good news of Jesus Christ - Luke.  Luke, the physician, could have remained quite comfortable by staying in one place and using his skills to heal.  In fact, one would think that Jesus might
be ‘competition’ for his practice.  But Luke saw God’s presence in Jesus, believed in him and followed Him.  
In fact, the Gospel of Luke is only half of his well documented story of Christianity.  He followed the Apostle Paul on his missionary journeys which he documented in the book of Acts.  Luke’s writings about Jesus’ and the Apostles “actions” creates a very clear picture of the Gospel stories for us today.
Luke, the doctor, the evangelist, the traveler, the one who weathered the ‘storms’ of life with the disciples as they journeyed far from home to share the good news with the world.  Luke, who could heal not only with the knowledge he learned in his medical career but also with the power given to him through his faith in Christ.  Luke, indeed, had the ‘spirit of the Lord upon himself’ after Jesus’ ascension, as did all the thousands to gave their lives to God in Christ.

Think about it: When we study the Gospel of Luke we
can picture the stories because Luke provided concise descriptions, as is typical of most physicians. 
 Can you think of other scientists who became Christians knowing that God’s power within them, combined with God’s creativity working through them,  enhanced their work?  
Are you amazed in your walk with Christ that the more you get to ‘know Christ’ the more you discover your gifts and creativity?  That’s what is so exciting about our walk in Christ.  If we study every day and glean as much information as we can from scripture, we cannot possibly know the power and creativity available to us according to God’s plan for each of us.  

We may not be like Luke but we are unique and can be used right where we are.  The more open we are to the Lord’s direction for our lives the more we are able to give the Holy Spirit permission to share gifts with others in our community.  You may not need to travel as Luke did.  Give thanks to the Lord for how He is using you each day, right where you are.


10-19  2 Kings 25:8-12,22-26; Psalm 20, 21:1-7, 110:1-5; 116, 117; 1 Corinthiens 15:12-29; Matthew 11:7-15
Matthew 11:10  Jesus quoted from scripture saying, “Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.”  Then Jesus said, :11 “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet, the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
Did you think about which scripture Jesus was quoting in verse 10?  After all, the works of the New Covenant were just happening and would not be written for general publication for several decades.  Malachi 3:1 is part of the old covenant scriptures which are quoted throughout the Gospels.  
Jews knew a ‘messiah’ or anointed one was suppose to appear at some time.  They also knew someone would ‘make way’ for this prophet.  However, it had been centuries since this prophecy was proclaimed.  Jesus stands before the Jewish crowd and firmly states that John, the one baptizing the Jews to renew their commitment to God, is indeed the one who is preparing the way for the ‘One who is the New Covenant,’ Jesus Christ.
God, the Father, with the power of the Holy Spirit, orchestrated Jesus and John’s every move.  John, totally devoted to God, listened, waited and moved into his role to pave the way for Jesus’ reign, only when he was directed.   John lived separated from the world, eating only that which the wilderness provided.  John, the faith-filled relative of Jesus, was born to pave the way for God to introduce His Son, Jesus, into the world in full power.  
John had a very large following but directed his followers to Jesus after baptizing Him in the Jordan. John encouraged them saying, “I baptize for repentance but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”  Jesus became known as the Prophet of prophets, a Rabbi of rabbis, the divine healer and so much more.

Think about it:  Have you considered your ‘calling’ as part
of God’s grand orchestration so that others could come to know Jesus and call him Lord? 
 Do you work behind the scenes, so to speak, paving the way for another leader to draw people into the loving arms of Jesus Christ?  
Even if you are the extrovert who is able to evangelize with ease, do you have others ‘preparing the way’ so they can hear you and come to know Christ Jesus as Lord?

We each have varied rolls on our Christian journey.  Sometimes we are called to be leaders while others pave the way for us to do the Lord’s work.  More often, we are paving the way so that whomever is called to draw the ‘flock’ into Jesus’ arms has a clear path to do such work.  Evangelism does not ‘happen’ in a vacuum.  At the very least, we must prepare the path for the Holy Spirit to work at any given moment.  Are you prepared to clear the path that the Lord places in front of you in order for even one to hear the salvation message and be baptized?


10-20  19th  Sunday after Pentecost  Year C
Genesis 32:22-31; Psalm 121; 2 Timothy 3:14—4:5; Luke 18:1-8
Luke 18:5  “Because the widow bothers me I will give her legal protection.  How much more will God do when we bother Him with prayer?”
Did you ever have such a strong need to get someone’s attention that you harassed them until they gave you their undivided attention?  My mind goes back to childhood.  We may not remember our own need for attention but I bet we have observed a small child tugging at mom’s leg to get her attention when she is talking to a friend she bumped into at the store.  We’ve all been there, done that.
That’s exactly what happens when we need to get God’s attention in a hurry, in our own time, now . . .  immediately . . . as if our very life depended on it.  Perhaps we send an email to all our friends asking them to bang on God’s door . . .  all at the same time.  “Let’s all pray at a certain hour on a certain day to make sure that person’s surgery goes well.”  One who does not understand the power of prayer my think this idiocy.  But the Lord promises in scripture, “Come to me when you are weary and heavy laden . . . “  Further words assure us that we can bare our soul, we can dump our burdens on our Lord.  
I have experienced, many times, the power of persistent prayer.  I have seen miracles when a dozen family members prayed for a miracle for a newborn going into surgery.  The surgeon took another Xray just before surgery.  Healed!
He could not explain it.  We all were in awe . . . and most of the prayer warriors had never really prayed for another before.  

Think about it:  Persistence is powerful.  Persistence in
Prayer is dynamite . . . literally.   Persistence in prayer is dynamite-powerful when continued until some answer is heard.  It may not be the answer we are looking for but if we pray until we know, deep in our soul, that whatever answer we receive is indeed God’s answer, we have a sense of completion much like reaching the top of Mt. Everest.
Think of one time you felt the need to persist in prayer for an extended length of time.  Can you recall how you felt about the Lord’s presence during that time?  What was the outcome?  Could you feel the Lord’s grace pouring out upon you?   Our Lord waits patiently for any conversation from us, which we call prayer.

       Persistent, continuous prayer, even if it seems like a selfish request, draws us into His presence a little more deeply, which is like sweet incense to our Lord.


10-21 Jeremiah 44:1-14; Psalm 25,9,5; 1 Corinthiens 15:30-41; Matthew 11:16-24
Jeremiah 44:10 They neither became contrite nor walked by God’s commandments, the Law. :12 “I will take away the remnant of Judah and send them to Egypt where they will fall by the sword, endure famine and no refugees will return to Judah.”
Jeremiah shares these prophetic words from God to the Israelites. God’s chosen people in Judah, and particularly in Jerusalem, will be overcome by Egypt because they continue to serve other gods.   This is the part of Israel that remained close to God, had more good leaders than the northern region, and the Temple in Jerusalem was the ‘heart’ of God’s presence.  
So what happened?
Like us today, making God a priority over all parts of their lives slipped away little by little.  You know.  First it’s not going to church now and again.  Then it’s slipping out of that commitment that focused on sharing the love of the Lord with others.  Then it was taking the summers off because, after all, it’s vacation time.
Then it became easier to not read scripture or pray even weekly.  And then . . . 
Jeremiah was ‘called’ to bring God’s people back to worship, back to relying on God as their primary source of life.  So, God let them do what they wanted.  They eventually suffered grave consequences.  It is no different today, is it.
We do not think there are grave consequences to our lives because we have not yet been “sent into Egypt.”  We have not suffered at all compared to the people of Jeremiah’s day.
Think about it:  When was the last time you suffered for
being a Christian?  When did you find yourself in a totally empty space: feeling friendless, penniless, totally at wits end?   If, indeed, you did experience this or suffered deeply in other ways, who did you call on for help?   

I have been there but I also was in ‘community’ with the Lord: daily bible reading, weekly family group, bible study, church friends.   I simply called out to the Lord for ‘creative solutions’.  These Christian communities could not do much  but they prayed for me.  The solutions were complex but I survived with plenty of encouragement from the Lord.  I also learned new habits that enabled me to easily weather other ‘storms’ that came my way.  God’s love, mercy and grace are endless if we take the time to turn to our Lord and trust the Holy Spirit to lead us.

PAUSE:  Hubby and I will be off the grid again so I'm posting a few days of meditations.  EnJOY!

10-22 Lamenations 1:1-12; Psalm 26,28,36,39; 1 Corinthiens 15:41-50; 
Matthew 11:28 - 30
Matthew 11:28Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest  :29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls :30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
This verse is a perfect solution to yesterday’s challenge.  This became my ‘life verse’ after using it almost daily when I was a new Christian learning how to trust in the Lord.  I tucked a few others into my heart to sustain me but this one penetrated deep into my soul.  Just think!  When we are totally worn out by fighting life’s battles on our own, we can finally turn to the One who can give us rest from our trials.  And almost every day can seem like a trial if we are viewing life as a daily challenge.
“Just give it to God,” is easier said than done, isn’t it.  
That’s why our Lord continues with, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from ME.”  In Jesus’ day, two oxen would share a ‘yoke’ to pull a very heavy mill stone in a circle to crush the grain into flour.  By ‘yoking’ the two together, the weight was shared and the the ‘burden became lighter.’   Learning to work together with the Lord is no easy task.  We must allow at least half our burdens to be taken off our own backs.  
It’s hard to let go of grudges, unforgiveness, anger and all that ‘junk’ inside us that bogs us down.  Yet, if we let Jesus take just one tiny bit of our burden and then another and then . . .    Ahhhhh, relief!  Jesus will find rest for our soul ONLY if we let Him.  Only if we let go and let the Lord chip away at that big block of cement we’ve been carrying for so long.
Think about it:  Do you have any burdens that you carry in your soul?
Picture a huge backpack filled with bricks that you choose to carry daily.  Ask yourself how much it weighs you down.  Would you like to feel a little lighter, be able to sprint through life instead of slog?  
Then find a comfy chair and just sit there.  
Breathe deep.  
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you dig for words regarding your burden.  
Wait a moment.  
Just wait quietly.  
Now, let those words that are coming forth pour out of your soul to the Lord.  Keep pouring.  
How is your load now?  Jesus is our YOKE.  
Just share your load with Jesus daily and be amazed at the lightness of any burdens that might come forth from day to day.

10-23  James of Jerusalem
Acts 15:12-22a; Psalm 1; 1 Corinthiens 15:1-11; Matthew 13:54-58
Acts 15:19-20  Barnabas and Paul related signs and
wonders.  James chimes in with wise words, “Don’t bother the gentiles who have come to know Christ Jesus but remind them to abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.” 
We celebrate so many who gave their lives to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  James of Jerusalem was the head honcho along with Peter.  Peter was often called to Antioch or Samaria or places where new Christians were overwhelming evangelists like Barnabas and Paul.  There were too many sheep and not enough shepherds.  So, James would hold down the fort in Jerusalem.
When possible, Paul and his entourage would go to Jerusalem for council.  In this case, James was present with sound advice.   The gentiles who came to know Christ as Lord had not been circumcised and this bothered the Jewish proselytes.
James is telling Paul and Barnabas that this is the NEW Covenant and the Law is to be observed but Christ Jesus is to be followed.  The gentiles are told do no longer offer food as sacrifice in temples dedicated to false gods
Jesus is our sacrifice.  Of course, remain celibate until marriage and remain in fidelity with your spouse.  To this day, we do not eat anything strangled (or road kill) as the way meat is processed is important to our health.

Think about it:  Was there a time when you asked what it means to be a Christian?  What do you have to DO?  Did some helpful soul rattle off a list of “DO NOTs” making

you wonder what you got into?  Or were grace-filled souls guiding you with encouragement to take one step at a time and DO this and that?
When I was seeking to understand the Christian faith I wondered about the ‘rules.’  The best advice I received from the many leading me in my new journey was, “Just focus on learning about who Jesus is by reading His stories in scripture.  The Lord will do the rest.”  
I was amazed at the layers of ‘gentile behavior’ that gently slipped away from me without me even realizing it.  I was blown away when one day I felt like I truly was a ‘new person in Christ.’  Quietly, as my soul changed, my demeanor changed.  My petty grievances washed away, my frown lines became smile lines, and a tiny light began to flicker inside me that had been snuffed out for decades.
It is good to seek wisdom from an authority like James to remind us to let go of the small stuff and let the Lord do the rest.

10-24  Ezra 1:1-11; Psalm 37; 1 Corinthiens 16:1-9; Matthew 12:15-21
Ezra 1:1-11  The first year of King Cyrus’s reign, he
proclaims that he will build a house in Jerusalem, “Judah, rebuild the house of the Lord”.  “Then the house of Benjamin, Judah, Levites and all whom the Spirit of God stirred within brought treasure to rebuild.  :8 King Cyrus brought back that which Nebuchadnezzar stole and set before other gods:  30 gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29 other articles, 30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls, 1000 other articles which total 5400 articles.  All of this was brought to Jerusalem by exiles returning from Babylon.”
  I could not resist reflecting on this old covenant story.  Ezra is the faith-filled scribe who gives us this glorious picture.  God’s chosen people were disbursed, exiled, sent every direction including Babylon.  King Cyrus was pleased with the prosperity these ‘salves’ brought to his kingdom.  After all, the Jewish people were industries and Babylon was a place to behold.  Any Jew brave enough to return to the desolation of Jerusalem and start all over again would at least have what they need to celebrate in the temple, thanks to this benevolent king.   The brave ones returned to Jerusalem, packed full of the glorious temple treasures that had been taken at the time of their exile when the temple was desecrated.   They had to rebuild the temple and the Jerusalem wall and plant the desolate fields and . . .   this was no easy task.  Only those determined to worship the Lord, thy God, the way God wished, were strong enough to return.
Most likely there was much planning once King Cyrus came to power and allowed any and all Jewish people to return to the Promised Land.  Amazingly, life was so bountiful and easy in Babylon that many chose to remain in exile.   They chose the easy life rather than return to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  They chose to enhance their prosperity rather than return to a desolate land that would take years to rebuild.  

Think about it:  What would you do?  Think of a situation where you were given the opportunity to step back from a
well paying job in order to fulfill a dream the Lord put on your heart.  What if you were ‘called’ into a ministry that would pay only enough to sustain you for a good period of time but would be abundantly rewarding in other ways?  
I recall being told that I should step back from my high paying job that enabled me to travel all over the world.  My body was not doing well and needed a more stable schedule.  Of course I did not listen but God had a plan.  
Eventually, I got laid off along with a slew of others.   I was single, owned a home and had just spent most of my income fixing it up.  I had to start all over again.  I got creative and found a new job at minimum wage.  I invited other ‘singles’ over after church for brunch - they could bring whatever they wanted and cook it at the house.  Needless to say, I had enough left overs to last the week.  I even found a couple women who needed a place to live.  Their rent help pay expenses.  
They also needed some practical help so I began
teaching women how to live on very little, eat healthfully, and feed their soul as we gathered weekly.  The women who lived with me grew strong in their faith and began their own discipleship homes until they got married.  Thus began a ministry that I managed with my full time job.  I’ve been on an incredible journey over the past thirty years.  The Lord even orchestrated an amazing opportunity, through these women I taught, to meet my precious prince of a husband decades ago.  
When I “returned from Babylon”, each step that was directed by the Lord has brought immeasurable treasure into my life.  My ‘temple’ is full of the priceless presence of God in Christ Jesus.  
How about you?  Do you feel that you, the temple of the Lord, are overflowing with the treasure of all that Jesus has for you? 


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