Work or Work of God

On March 19, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 10: 38 – 42

Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary, who was also seated at the Lord’s feet, and was listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do the serving by myself? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; but only one thing is necessary; for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Yesterday I mentioned the “one thing” which is most important. The idea of the “one thing” came from Jesus. He said that only one thing is necessary, inferring that Mary had chosen and was partaking of the “one thing.” What was that one thing which Jesus thinks is most important and, truly, the only necessary thing?

Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to his teaching. It seems like the one thing, then, had to either be sitting at Jesus’ feet or listening to his word. One would presume it was the latter. Jesus said in John 6: 29, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” Rephrased, if you want to do the work of God, then the work is to believe in Jesus. Presumptively, that was what Mary was doing. Martha was working, but Mary was doing the work of God. How is that for perspective? It appeared that Mary was goofing off, but Jesus said she was doing the real work, the only important work in fact. Or ask this, which one was really serving Christ?

My mind translates all of this into a mandate to seek God, Son and Spirit. The work of God is believing in the one He sent. The beginning of that is in seeking. Jesus said Mary was doing the one thing which is necessary when she sat at his feet listening to his word. She was fulfilling God’s calling. Today, we still sit at Jesus’ feet, but we listen to him speak to us through the Bible. His teachings are there. We also use meditative prayer and conversation with him to hear him speak to our lives. If we wish to do the works of God and if we want to accomplish the one important thing, I believe that means we must seek God through His Word and through time spent with Him.

Consider today, if you will, what the “one thing” means to you. What did Mary do that Jesus said would not be taken away from her? She provided a model for us, so it is good for us to ponder what happened in that interchange. I hope it means prayer and meditation come before housework.

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Good Happens

On March 18, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Lamentations 3: 25

The Lord is good to those who await Him, to the person who seeks Him.

What is the motivation for seeking God? I think there are many motivators, but this verse certainly is motivational. I think some of us (me) can be a little lackadaisical about seeking God. I mean, I just don’t think I am as intent as I should be. Then I read this verse and feel like an idiot. I probably wouldn’t have to pray about many things in my life, or anything, for that matter, if I would do the one thing which is most important, seek the Lord.

Good things happen when we seek the Lord. Seeking Him draws Him deeper into our lives so that He becomes integrated in our life stream. When He is a part of the fabric of our lives, of course things go better. He is goodness so incorporating His existence into my daily existence makes goodness happen in my life. It makes sense. It is pretty simple logic, really. So, why do I not dedicate myself to seeking Him all the time? I suspect I am not alone in this either. God wants to bless us, and we want to be blessed. I am happy to let Him bless me. That blessing is in His presence so, today, I am going to seek Him and let Him bring His goodness to my day. I hope it makes His day too.

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Three for One

On March 17, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Chronicles 28: 9

If you seek Him, He will let you find Him.

I was looking through some notes yesterday and found this note, “Seeking God builds relationship with Jesus and the Spirit.” There wasn’t much else on the page. Apparently, it was an epiphany I had one day and felt inspired to write it down.

I can testify to the veracity of today’s verse. If you seek Him, you will, without a doubt, find Him. Once upon a time, I had a decent relationship with Jesus and with the Holy Spirit. I had a block, though, when it came to the Father. When I was in High School, I believed a bunch of bunk about God growing me through pain and disappointment. Even though I came to understand, intellectually, how foolish an ideology that was, in my heart I still blamed God for the bad things that happened in those years. Knowing Jesus, though, and continually seeking Him brought me to a revelation of the lack of relationship with the Father. Ultimately, that formed the basis of reconciliation with my Father.

Seeking any one of the three persons of the Trinity brings us into greater harmony with the other two. We might rewrite this verse to, “If you seek Him, He will let you find Him, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.” That is the New Testament rendition of this verse. Each person of the Trinity longs to bring you into a deeper relationship with the other two. Each one brings specific benefits and relationship characteristics. We, therefore, need a healthy and well-developed relationship with each of them; Father, Son and Spirit. Seek Him and you will find them.

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Prayer Tree

On March 16, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment


Philippians 1: 4

[A]lways offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all.

A funny thing happened on the way to a tree. My biking partner and I have a course we ride regularly. This lovely tree is along that course. One day, during a spring ride, the idea came to me to pray every time I went under this tree. I agreed with Father and began praying as I went out and again as I returned. As summer progressed, our time over this course got faster and faster. We had a goal, though, that we had not yet reached. So, one day when my riding buddy couldn’t ride, I determined to try to best our fastest time and reach that goal.

The ride began smoothly and at a good pace. The tree is in the early part of the ride. I prayed as I went under it. All was well. It got interesting on the way back. I was chasing the time goal and working pretty hard to reach it. By the time I got to the tree I was working hard and breathing hard. I could see the tree looming in the distance ahead. To myself, rather than aloud, due entirely to a lack of breath, I said, “I’m not going to pray this time because I need my air.” Okay, no! No sooner did I complete the thought, in fact, before it was fully formed in my mind, I heard a resounding, “No.” Our father was part of the initial bargain that I would pray each time I rode my bike under that tree and He meant to speak to this latest decision. The decision, it turns out, was not mine alone to make.

There may be many messages to take from this little story. The one which immediately occurred to me was, “He is a jealous God.” I gave Him an oath. Though it was not made in any formalized or ritualized setting or fashion, it was, nonetheless, a promise, a declaration of fealty, in fact, it was an oath. It was also an offering, a prayer offering. It calls to my mind the Old Testament offerings we read about. Though it had none of the formality, it was the same to Father. Did I really want to remove my offering from the altar? Of course not and He saved me from doing just that.

I could go on about the offering and covenant but there is another, more modern expression too. This little event, which turned out to be a be not such a little thing, is reflective of the life intertwined with the Trinity that Jesus taught and is forever leading us deeper into. It is reminiscent of a partnership. Once I forged that bargain with the Father, He was an interested party with a vote, in this case, the deciding vote. We are partners and I should not make unilateral decisions. I should consult my partner, or as they would have written in the Old Testament, I should inquire of the Lord.

You may have been waiting to see what today’s verse would teach us. For myself, it was the word, “always.” The verse does not say, I will pray as I promised but only when I feel like it. It says to me, every time you ride under that tree, you shall pray. And, by the way, I did pray and I did make my speed goal. Hmm, I wonder if the two are connected.

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Indwelling Presence

On March 15, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 140: 13

Certainly the righteous will give thanks to Your name; the upright will dwell in Your presence.

Clearly there are two parts to this verse. I confess, it was the latter which drew my attention. The question this verse presents is, will the righteous give thanks and the upright dwell in God’s presence only in heaven or is this verse meant to suggest life on earth experiences. For it to have great attractiveness for me, it needs to speak of our human existence in the earth and I believe it does.

What is the epiphany of Holy Spirit inspired language about us giving thanks to God when we all move to heaven, or for that matter, where is the great revelation in exposing an afterlife spent in the presence of God? Those are great truths and good news, but the truly remarkable thought is that these two declarations describe life here on earth. We can also know this by the preceding language. Verse 12 reads, “I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the poor.” There are no afflicted or poor in heaven, no need for God to justly defend them. Therefore, we know the author wrote about an earthly condition in which it is possible to live in God’s presence.

That is what is attractive about this verse, living, dwelling daily in His presence. The glory of God has been sent into the earth to dwell among men. But wait, the best is yet to come. Jesus described this Holy presence as the inhabitation of the Spirit of God within us. We are the temple of the Most Holy. I know that sounds like just a bunch of “church words” but if we are to think of them literally rather than poetically see what an amazing idea His indwelling presence really is. The Apostle Paul said that nothing could in any way separate us from the love of God. Well, I guess not if we openly allow the Spirit to integrate with us in a meaningful way. I mean to say, this isn’t a churchy experience as much as a daily one when we allow the Spirit to expand into every part of our being and our lives. This living in and with the presence of God can become as real to us as living with our families. For some people living with God became more substantive than their existence with people. I have read of nuns and monks for whom the reality of God’s presence was encompassing. I am not suggesting we must live as monks but rather use their lives as evidence that this God of whom we speak, Yahweh, our true Father, can and will live with us as much as we can allow. The more we grow spiritually, the more capacity we have for sharing our lives with the three people of Divinity. We can long for just a bit more every day and then, by the end of summer, we will have a SONtan from all the time spent in his presence. That idea warms my heart, partially because I know it is an ever-increasing possibility. Seek Him. Know Him and invite Him into your everyday existence.

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Greatest and Worst

On March 12, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Mark 12: 28

One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?”

It is interesting that Jesus did not answer according to the question. The inquirer wanted to know which one commandment is the greatest. Jesus answered with two, love God with all your heart, love your neighbor as yourself. He said the combination of these two are the greatest commandment. It was a bit of a cheap question as if to say, if I decide only to keep one commandment, which should it be. Intellectually, though, it is an interesting question, attempting to discern where God’s thoughts and priorities lie. Alternatively, I have wondered why no one ever asked him, “Which is the worst sin?”

How would you answer that question? How would God? We have a sense, don’t we, that there are little sins, and big ones. Some sins are worse than others. Murder, rape, idolatry, and adultery are biggies. The Apostle Paul gave us a list of “those things that are not proper, people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unfeeling, and unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them,” (Romans 1: 28 – 32). He lumps lying, arrogance and gossiping with murder and haters of God, the latter of which obviously flies in the face of the one Great Commandment.

What do we say then? What are the categories of sin? Where do we draw the lines? Perhaps this is a question best answered each person for himself.

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Sweet Dreams

On March 11, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 139: 17 – 18

How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.

Check this out! David was having a grand encounter with God, in a dream. Then he awoke and God was still there with him. The dream and the reality were simpatico. They were contiguous. I had a dream like that once. When I awoke, I was still in the dream and it lasted quite a while.

David was aware of the tender thoughts God had about him. He was also surprised at the sheer volume of kind thoughts Yahweh thought about him. That is precious. God is thinking lovely thoughts about you too and He thinks masses of them daily. Think about that just a moment. All day long, your heavenly Father is thinking lovely thoughts about you. It is a constant flood of love thoughts. Were you to get in His head, you would find He is thinking how beautiful you are and how much He loves you and He thinks those things all day long.

That should give you something fun to ponder today. Moreover, when you go to sleep tonight, ask Father to share them with you as you sleep. I bet you will awaken tomorrow in a good mood. Be blessed.

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