September 15 - Pray

Luke 22:39-46

And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:40 ESV)

There are books on prayer, sermons on prayer, and countless opinions on prayer. Jesus told his followers as he was going off to pray for strength for the difficulties to to come, that they should pray. If Jesus told his disciples to pray there was a good reason. One we can learn from.

Why would Jesus tell his followers to pray? He wanted them to ask God for the same kind of strength he was looking for. He wanted them to be ready. He wanted them to overcome the temptations just around the corner.

Temptation can be stifling. If you haven't positioned yourself for the battle it can be nearly impossible. Prayer is something we can do that sets us up for success. Why? It isn't magic. If you approach it as such your results may not be what you were hoping for. However, if you remember it as the relational interaction between Father and child that it actually is, then you will be encouraged, strengthened, and prepared to face down temptation.

September 14 - Asleep on the Job

Mark 14:32-42

And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?" (Mark 14:37 ESV)

I'm not overly fond of sleep. It usually strikes me as a huge waste of time. I do a lot of my writing at night just before bed. This is also when I do a good bit of reading and study. I'm just wired a little differently and tend to think more clearly in the moments leading up to slumber. However, there are times when I hit my pillow and feel sleep begin to edge it's way in. This doesn't discount my eagerness to tackle my daily routine of reading, writing, and study, my spirit is indeed eager and willing; but sometimes my flesh is weak.

I wonder, how often do we find ourselves asleep at the wheel? What garden has Jesus drawn you into? Where has He asked you to post up for prayer, to sit, and pray, and watch? Did you fall asleep on the job? Sometimes we shut our eyes and drift away, even as our destiny is unfolding just a few feet away. It's not an issue of unwillingness or disbelief, it's a matter of laziness. What if we didn't fall asleep on the job?

Jesus, Help me to love you, to listen to you, and to follow you better. Lead me into the garden of your choosing. Strengthen me to stay the course. Embolden me to zeal for your charge, your love, and your will. Amen.

September 13 - When They Sang

Mark 14: 26-31

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (Mark 14:26 ESV)

Since the beginnings of Christianity believers have come under fire for their worship. Worship has long been a chief means of showing devotion and love for God. Often there is nothing more powerful for advancing your trust in God than uninterrupted worship.

I love that the last recorded activity involving Jesus and his entire entourage of disciples is a moment of collective singing to God. They worshipped God, togethers with the Son of God. For you and I that should highlight just how critical worship is for our spiritual well-being. Jesus, knowing he was soon to enter a time of intense difficulty and torment, chose to worship one final time with his friends.

Moments of private worship are enjoyable, and connected with prayer and reflection they are wonderful opportunities for development. But joining in with a group of friends to lift up your voice to heaven is a beautiful experience. It is a safe place. Because the reality of our hard world is sometimes waiting just on the other side of a song.

September 12 - Love Before Foundations

John 17:20-26

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24 ESV)

Before you were born God loved you. Before the difficulty you are facing cropped up in your life. Before you had your current job and present relationships.

Before the world was, God knew your name. He knew your need. He cared for you deeply.

There is something to be said for the incredible sovereignty of God. His power and plan stretches across history in either direction. Before the furthest flicker of ancient beginnings God already existed. After the last anything on this Earth, God will exist. He has been there, seen those moments, and lived them—and He has loved you throughout all of them.

September 11 - In Truth

John 17:10-19

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17 ESV)

Is truth objective? Is it subjective? Does it change based on the situation and individual? Is it constant regardless of circumstances?

People have been arguing about the nature of truth for a long long long time. Philosophers, theologians, and various other thinkers have defined and redefined their take on truth numerous times over the years. That's not to say they're right, or even close. But the general consensus is that truth is personal, flexible, and private—which is false.

Jesus prayed his high priestly prayer and included a lengthy bit about the disciples and what he hoped for them. He asked God to "sanctify them in the truth." A singular declarative statement which narrows truth down to something more pointed than the generalities and vagueness our modern era passes for truth.

Jesus went on to define truth. He said that truth is God's Word. In other words, Jesus believed that the Bible, for him it was the Old Testament, was the truth that God would use to redeem, changed encouragement and instruct his people. I am encouraged to know that Jesus saw our need for centralized truth. I am even more encouraged to find that he had prepared that truth before those men were ever even born.

And here is the big idea for you and I. Jesus wants us to be sanctified, cleaned, and set apart, through the careful reading and application of the Bible. Because it is not enough to think we know truth. No, we need to be in truth.

September 10 - Now They Know

John 17:6-9

Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. (John 17:7 ESV)

Jesus lived out a life of demonstrative teaching. Everything he did and said was an intentional part of his leading and guiding his followers into a closer relationship with him. All of it was designed to draw them closer to Christ and closer to the Father.

I think a good question we can ask ourselves is "what do people know about God by looking at my life?" The possible answers to that question say a lot about how we are going through this life. It says a lot about how we are communicating Christ to those around us.

Jesus wants you and I to be his messenger. As the disciples learned to look to the Father through the Son, so will people look to the Son through those he has saved. So, think about the people in your life. Because of you, what do they now know?

September 9 - Having Accomplished

John 17:1-5

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. (John 17:4 ESV)

Knowing you have accomplished a great task is incredibly fulfilling. There is not quite anything like it. When I was growing up on the farm it was great getting that sense of accomplishment from finishing something that my dad had for me to do. Jesus' Dad had set a task before him as well.

Jesus' task was to bring about the salvation of mankind. He said himself that he came "to seek and to save that which was lost." A task that he accomplished. Restoration was made ready. It is possible.

Jesus brought glory to His Father when he accomplished the task. When God sets a task before you accomplishing it brings glory to Him as well. And even sometimes when we fail, the simple act of pursuit and obedience is a way in which we bring Him glory. Because God gets glory when we long to be restored to relationship with Him. And if there is anything worth having been accomplished, it is bringing glory to God.

September 8 - Do You?

John 16:25-33 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? (John 16:31 ESV)

Belief is powerful. It shapes our hearts. Shapes our motives. It drives us toward many things. There are so many different kinds of beliefs. They are nigh innumerable. Some beliefs people merely jump into with little in the way of evidence, while others are based off of things they have seen, heard, and understood.

Jesus heard what his disciples had to say about him. Their reassurances about who he was. He desired to further reinforce their belief in him and was communicating to them an aspect of his relationship with God the Father. He was building their belief, much as he had done for nearly three years.

What do you believe pr disbelieve about Jesus? What is your belief in Jesus based on? Do you believe in him? Who is he to you?

September 7 - Sorrow & Joy

John 16:16-24

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. (John 16:22 ESV)

I have been pretty fortunate in life. Rarely have I known what is it like to experience true sorrow. There have been a few isolated incidents, but in nearly every occasion the sorrow has been short-lived. There are some that experience deep sorrow on a daily basis. The circumstances of their life is terribly tragic.

Jesus knew that his followers were about to experience a deep level of sorrow. They had yet to grasp the severity of what was about to befall Jesus. Knowing their lack of understanding of the situation he was offering them comfort for what they could not yet understand.

Jesus still offers comfort for sorrow. An essential theme of the Gospel is that he not only understands sorrow, but he is the answer for the sorrow in our world. The kind of joy that is God-given cannot be taken away by people or circumstances. And one day when we see Jesus we will understand that only in him is our joy made complete.

September 6 - Not Right Now

John 16:5-15

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. (John 16:12 ESV)

"Patience is when we wait nicely." That's what we tell our son nearly daily when he seems to be getting antsy. Patience is a tough thing to develop. Why? Because we often think we're ready for something when we're not.

Jesus knew his followers better than they knew themselves. He knew that he was sharing so much with them that they were at capacity. They couldn't handle any more profound truths that particular day. They had hit their saturation point.

I think he does the same with us. He knows what we're ready to hear. But I don't think He will communicate something to us that we're not ready for. It means we are not the final authority. We're not the ones calling the shots. Jesus does. He evaluates both instantaneously and beyond the confines of time. He sees tomorrow's potential in today's failings. He sees the real us, the true heart, and he is the best judge of what exactly it is that we need to know, do, and experience right now.

September 5 - Falling Away

John 16:1-4

I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. (John 16:1 ESV)

Have you ever known someone who walked away from their faith in Jesus? Perhaps not. Theologians and all manner of people smarter than myself have argued over even the possibility of such a thing for years.

Jesus said it was possible for people to fall away from their faith. He was warning his followers of some of the terrible things to come in hopes that they would maintain faith. He didn't want the trials and afflictions of persecution to drive them away from their belief in him.

It worked. Nearly all of the original twelve disciples went on to give their lives for their belief in Christ. Christianity spread like a flame in a forest. People have continued to believe in Jesus as their savior for nearly two millennia.

In western culture we as Christ followers don't generally face direct physical persecution. Instead we often come up against simmering ridicule, sarcastic academic scrutiny, and posturing political posers. It is sometimes a nearly subconscious or passive aggressive kind of tension that wears away at our faith, if we let it. We have a choice in all things, we choose to let these things push us closer to Christ, or we choose let them erode our faith. If we do succumb to the pressure until the foundations of our faith erode away, we too may one day run the risk of falling away.

September 4 - Before It Hated You

John 15:18-27

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. (John 15:18 ESV)

Hatred is such an intense thing. Even the thought of the word hate conveys so much strong meaning. It is a violent and alarming emotion.

Jesus warned his followers that hatred was count their way. It was to be expected by them. Why? Because people hated Jesus.

It is tragic, ironic, and perplexing to think that someone could hate someone that embodied love in everything they did. Yet the religious elite and power hungry hated Christ. He messed with their status quo. So they killed him.

Jesus wants us to know that people may hate us for our beliefs. We may come under attack. And thousands of believers have lost their lives over the centuries. But in the event that we do come under persecution, we enter into divine company. Because Jesus faced it first. Jesus was hated first.

September 3 - Command Love

John 15:12-17

These things I command you, so that you will love one another. (John 15:17 ESV)

When I think of love I think of something that is voluntary. It is something that you decide, not something that is forced on you. And that is exactly how God created mankind.

We were created with the capacity to love, but not forced to do so. No one makes us love anyone. But we do love don't we? We choose over and over again to risk our hearts in loving other fallen creatures like ourselves.

Jesus epitomizes love. He even at one point stated it matter-of-factly, the highest form of love is self-sacrifice. And he called his followers to join him in that. Self-sacrifice doesn't always mean voluntarily allowing your mortal existence to end so that someone's life can be better. In fact, some of the highest form of selflessness comes when you soldier in through something immensely difficult in order to help someone. That is love.

Those who profess to follow Jesus in their faith, beliefs, and practices are asked to be willing to serve one another selflessly. Jesus wants us to go the extra mile for each other. He wants to love one another deeply, and authentically. Love is voluntary, and yet the Christ of Christianity commands love.

Rings and Other Lost Things

One of my biggest pet peeves is losing something. It drives me nuts. Because of this I usually try to take extra special care to know where I put my stuff. Unfortunately life is not always so accommodating to such a desire.

When I do lose something I can almost always find it by retracing my day one step at a time until I realize the moment that I became separated from it. Case in point: just this morning I realized that I had misplaced my wedding ring.

I went back through my morning one step at a time. Where did I lose it? What was I doing? Did it happen when I was getting ready? No. Did I lose it on my morning run? I had it when I got home, I had it after I cleaned up. Then it hit me. I took off my ring when I was changing my son's diaper. I went to his room and sure enough there it was in the floor near where I changed him.

My relationship with God can be looked at in much the same way. Like my cherished ring, that relationship is very dear to me. It is the most important thing in my life. But there are times when I know in my selfishness that I allow other things to come between me and God, that is the stuff we call sin. And all of us do it. We all allow something to cause us to be separated from God. Sometimes it is willful sin. Something we do intentionally. Other times it is something we do wrong by not doing something right. That means we omit the right thing. All of it is something that has potential to drive a wedge between us and God.

We were all lost. We can retrace our steps through the human history found in the Old Testament Book of Genesis. There we see that the moment of separation came when our first parents, Adam and Eve, willfully sinned against God. And each of us have played some kind of role in following them in that.

"For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God." - Romans 3:23

Here is the awesome part. We know our moment of separation as a people. We also know our own personal moments of separation. And this is our window of opportunity to realize that God has provided a means to account for this. He has restored us in His power, like only He can. We were lost. We chose lostness. But God has made it so that we can each be found again. All we have to do is acknowledge our need for his restoration, and ask for His help. And the best part is that once we allow ourselves to be found God has told us that nothing would ever separate us from His love again.

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39 NIV

September 2 - Already Clean

John 15: 1-11

Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. (John 15:3 ESV)

Cleanliness was a big deal to the Old Covenant Jews. They had all kinds of ceremonial laws about it. They had rules about washing, eating, sickness, sex, and even housewares. There were a lot of rules. By the time Jesus came their rules had become so convoluted and misconstrued that they overwhelmed the original purpose for the desired cleanliness.

During a teaching about human relationship with God, Jesus told his followers that they had been made clean. Their cleanliness was a freeing thing. It freed them from their sins. It was amazing. And it was all done by Christ.

Jesus had made them clean. He had asked them to follow him. He had called them out, and then cleansed them of their sinful issues. Jesus did it. Jesus did it.

Christ makes us clean when we are his. It's what he does and what he wants. It is a work of his power and his grace extended to us that allows to live in that cleanliness. It's pretty cool to be clean, not because of our own actions, but because of the power of the Word that Christ has already spoken concerning you.

September 1 - The Holy Spirit

John 14:15-31

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, (John 14:16 ESV)

Jesus' time with his disciples was drawing to an end. Soon he would no longer be with them in the common way we think of when we talk about companionship. Instead, Jesus said that the Helper was going to come. That actually by him leaving it would empower the disciples to serve God in even more incredible ways. The Helper Jesus was speaking of is the Holy Spirit.

Traditional (Orthodox) Christianity has always held the belief of a triune God, that means God expressed through three persons. It is all rather complicated sounding, but it is actually really simple. There is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

There are a ton of varied beliefs that revolve around the Holy Spirit. Some movements have very exuberant ideas about what is involved as we interact with the Holy Spirit, while some try not to acknowledge the Spirit at all. There are a few things that are quite clear about the Spirit.

All throughout scripture we see God performing powerful deeds. The Holy Spirit is always at work in these stories. Jesus performed miracles by being filled with the Spirit at his baptism. Many Old Testament heroes did mighty and amazing things under the power of the Spirit of God.

Salvation is a work of the Holy Spirit. After salvation the Holy Spirit continues to urge us toward personal growth in Christ. The Holy Spirit assists us in the ability to better fight temptation. Awareness of the Spirit makes us more sensitive to the way God sometimes chooses to communicate with His kids. The Holy Spirit empowers us to demonstrate fruitful Christian lives. The Holy Spirit sometimes works through us to do the miraculous.

Those are all incredible things. They make life with God outstanding. Indeed, I can not imagine trying to live this God-life without the instruction and influence of the Holy Spirit.

August 31 - Jesus the Way

John 14:1-14

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6 ESV)

We live in a time when people proclaim that there are many paths to heaven. For some people the only acceptable explanation of death and the after life is one that is an all inclusive possibility. Based on his own words, it is impossible to follow the teachings of Jesus to the fullest human degree possible and not discount the idea of an all-paths-lead-to-heaven belief system.

Jesus boldly and plainly declared that he was the only way to heaven. Why? Because he is the path to God. He is the connection point. He is the intermediary, the advocate, the sacrifice, and the King. We are coheirs with Christ only because he was first an heir of all that God has in store for us.

There is no secret spell. No hidden agenda. No duplicitous schemes in the story of Jesus. He lived perfect. He died meaningfully. He rose again assuredly. For you, and for me. That he might be the way, the truth, and the life for all that would seek after a way to the Father.

August 30 - The New Commandment

John 13:31-35

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35 ESV)

Historians attribute the rapid spread of Christianity to the fiercely unrelenting kindness the early church demonstrated in the face of great odds. Another way to say that is that Christianity spread far and fast because of how well they demonstrated love. Because true love is relentless.

Jesus explained to his followers that love would be the identifying characteristic of followship. His people were to be a people of love. They were to be set apart from the world around them.

Why then does that not always seem to be the case in our world? Sometimes people who call themselves Christians can be the meanest people around. That stands in stark contrast to the words of Jesus.

The call to love is more than a suggestion. It isn't pop psychology either. It is a commandment straight from the mouth of the Son of God. It isn't optional. We don't get to choose who we will or won't love. We are called, no commanded, to love. It's time we stepped it up.

August 29 - As You Will

Matthew 26:36-46

And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39 ESV)

The will is a powerful thing. There are moments in life when strength is diminished, opportunity is dwindling, or resources are exhausted. In those moments it seems as though will alone is what can carry you through to completion. Unfortunately we all too often focus our will on something selfish. We spend ourselves on something that is less than that which God intended for us.

Jesus knew what weighed in the balance. As he cried out to God the Father from the garden that night long ago he expressed his desire to be spared a terrible ordeal. Yet, he also communicated his truthful yearning to see God's will through to the intended result.

It took the will of the Son to bring about the will of the Father. And I really believe that there are moments and opportunities in life where God allows us to experience what it means to partner our will with His will. I think there are things God intends to happen in our lives that can be hastened along when we take our will and subject it to His. Sometimes our most powerful prayer is, "not as I will, but as You will."

August 28 - Though They All

Matthew 26:30-35

Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” (Matthew 26:33 ESV)

I really like Peter a lot. Mostly it is because I feel like I understand him. He made a lot of mistakes but seemed to genuinely want to do the right thing almost all of the time.

When Jesus was telling his disciples that they were all about to abandon him Peter piped up to claim that he would never waiver in his loyalty. It was a wonderful sentiment. It was a wholesale rejection of the kind of apparent peer pressure we are usually conditioned against. Too bad it didn't okay out that way.

Peter did scatter with the rest. He even went so far as to betray Christ by denying his standing as a disciple. It was a tragic moment for Peter. Thank God his story didn't end there! Peter was so sorrowful and repentant after his betrayal. Ultimately he was forgiven. And eventually he went on to lead the church. What could have been a tragic end became a hopeful beginning.

And Jesus offers each of us that same beginning. We all like to think we are above betrayal. We talk really big. But we have our moments. We aren't perfect. And we need the loving grace of God Almighty to restore us, encourage us, and point us in the right direction.