We talk a lot about fighting for our freedom but Jesus offers us the freedom not to fight. As we consider the way Jesus used his freedom, to surrender, to allow himself to be arrested in the garden, even to willingly lay down his life, it should give us pause to ask ourselves how we are using our freedom.
Are we really free, or are we bound by our fears and our need for control and survival?
Do we use our freedom to fight for our own rights, or to sacrifice for the sake of others?…
Hosanna to the Son of David. Hosanna to the humble king riding on a donkey. Hosanna to the Prince of Peace…
…”Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were…”
Wait! What?
I thought this was a peaceful protest. I thought Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey stood in contrast to the military might of Roman authority. What happened to the peace?
In Matthew 5:9 we read, “Blessed are the peacemakers” and then in Matthew 10:34 Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace…” What’s going on here?…
In a world where staying busy is a virtue, the idea of rest often goes against the grain of our work ethic and our need to prove our worth by our productivity. Work is indeed an important part of our lives, but the blessing of rest reminds us that we are not defined by our work. Our identity is not, or at least should not be wrapped up by what we do or what we produce.
To rest is to know that we are enough simply because we are God's beloved.
To rest is to remember that we are not in control, nor do we have to be.
Let us rest this week as we learn to let God be God…
For all of our bold claims about how God is in control, it is interesting how often we make excuses when we are the ones called by God to do the impossible. We encourage and sometimes even expect others to have more faith, to trust God with whatever circumstances they are facing. We remind them that God can do miracles and that God will work everything out for the good. But when it’s our turn to face the impossible it doesn’t matter how many miracles we have seen, we tend to hesitate and imagine all of the things that could go wrong….
We pray for discernment all the time. We pray to know God's will. We pray for guidance in our decisions and for how to navigate the challenges we face. The question is, how long do we pray?
The wilderness reminds us that God does not answer on our timetable. The wilderness teaches us to persevere. Faith isn't about a quick and miraculous answer to prayer, as wonderful as those may be. Faith is about the long game.
In what areas of your life is God asking you to persevere right now?…
We love sitting around the table talking about Jesus and even talking with Jesus in prayer. We sometimes feel like the disciples, members of Jesus’ inner circle, having the privilege of traveling and dining with our Savior and soaking in all of his wisdom along the way.
What happens though when Jesus gets up from the table, takes off his outer robe, and kneels down to wash our feet? If Peter is any indication, my guess is we would become very uncomfortable. It would probably feel a lot like a dinner guest getting up in our home to do the dishes. That’s not their place. They are the honored guest…
Sometimes faith is not just about what we do, but about how we do it. In the wilderness God teaches us to rely on his strength instead of our own and to recognize him as our only true source of life instead of trusting in our own abilities.
How is God inviting you to stretch your faith in the wilderness this week?…
With conspiracy theories flying around on every side of every issue in our contemporary culture, Pilate’s question, “What is Truth?” is as poignant now as it ever was. We rightly encourage people to “speak their truth” by honestly sharing their experience and perspective, especially when their stories have been sidelined, ignored and marginalized for so long. On the other side, those in power tend to fear such stories and do whatever they can to undermine their credibility. In a world where everyone’s version of the truth is contradictory to someone else’s version of the truth, it would seem the idea of absolute or objective truth has gone the way of the dinosaur. Or perhaps truth is a more mythic creature like the unicorn that never really existed at all except in our own minds.
And yet Jesus is clear. “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life” (John 14:6). “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32)…