While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death.  Hebrews 5:7

How many people exist with whom you can speak freely – without a filter? With whom can you pour out your heart and know that divine wisdom is hearing it, filtering it, and responding to it? Precious few. To speak freely is a gift rarely experienced.

‘Pouring out’ in Hebrew means what it portrays. To empty oneself of something. I’ve been surprised just how often this phrase is used in scripture.

• Consider the night Jesus was betrayed. He left three of His disciples to pray and watch as He poured out His heart before God.
• A dependent prayer is described as the ‘pouring out of one’s soul’.
• God also says that ‘He pours out His wrath’. That’s sobering.
• And how about this? God says that He will ‘pour out His Spirit on the house of David’ and they will finally be able to see ‘whom they have pierced and weep bitterly.’ Zech 12:10

Do I feel free to pour out my heart freely to God.  Or do I feel I have to weigh my words with Him and phrase everything just right?  Do I sit on my anger and try to pretend I don’t have any? Is prayer a time when I can truly empty the contents of my soul and know I have placed my heart in safe hands? God extends this kind of freedom to me and I’m held safely in perfect Love.

I am riveted on the beauty of two things; 1.) Lifting my heart to God, tipping it, and pouring out the contents. And, 2) envisioning the effects of Him pouring out His Spirit upon me.  This is certainly where Jesus got His strength on the night of His arrest.  He poured out His anguish and God poured out His strength upon Him for His final hour.

Both are beautiful. While I would certainly feel better having poured out my soul, the benefits would be miniscule in comparison to what would happen if God poured out the power of His Spirit on me. Nothing in my world would stay the same.

Pour out Your Spirit upon me today. Let me see Your glory. Touch my lips so that I can pour out words that will transform something mundane into something divine. In Jesus’ name, Amen

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:13-16

Confession can easily get stuck in my throat. Jesus wanted a confession from Peter ~ especially after the erroneous confessions of other Jewish people. He knew Peter’s heart but perhaps Peter needed to draw a line in the sand of truth for his own sake.

I remember the scripture, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9  Without audible confession, there is serious doubt as to someone’s standing with God. My willingness to align puts my new-found faith in cement. Proclaiming my love and allegiance to Jesus when keeping company with Jesus-haters makes me an enemy.

This is the same tension the prophets felt when God told them to take His message to people who were usually stiff-necked and closeminded. Oh, what a job they had! Some of them questioned God out of their inadequacy and fear. Jonah ran away from his assignment until the chastening was worse than the calling. Jeremiah said, “If I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it! Jeremiah 20:9 I’m chuckling as I read this, not because I think it’s funny but only because I’ve lived it. God gives the message and the mandate. I belong to Him and He is my King. Yet going where I’m called and opening my mouth to say what His servants down through the ages have proclaimed takes supernatural courage. Yes, the message shook up the world and brought revival but it also made the message bearers public enemies. What will be the result for me, for you? We don’t know. And so, my prayer is this ~

I’m yours. When I open my mouth, fill it and help me stand on my feet. Amen

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign.  Matthew 12:38-39

Most anytime a believer talks about asking God for a sign, it is inferred that signs are unpleasing to God.  Yet, most every Biblical covenant has been confirmed by some visual symbol.  The Abrahamic covenant included circumcision, the Mosaic covenant had the Sabbath, and the new covenant had the Lord’s Supper.  God made a covenant with Noah by setting a rainbow in the clouds.

So what about Jesus words in Matthew where he says that only an evil and adulterous generations seeks for a sign?  Just after, He called them wicked and perverse.  But that whole account was characterized by rebellion and unbelief.  Jesus was the sign but they rejected Him.  In their denial of the truth, they asked for another sign.  This was an affront to God the Father.

If I love Christ and walk obediently in His ways, I will encounter times when I’ve prayed about a critical decision but am just unsure which way to go.  In that instance, I ask for a sign, or a series of signposts, where God shows me that I’m on the right, or wrong, path.  My experience is that He is very eager to give markers.  He wants me to get it right.  He applauds my obedience and celebrates that I care about making a righteous decision.

  You are a good Father and You constantly show me the way.  Thank you.  Amen

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.  Matthew 10:34

All over the world, Christians are suffering for their faith.  I hear from some via email because they receive this daily devotional.  I often sit at my desk, read their stories, and tearfully ask God to give them strength in the fire.

Oppressors don’t have to be soldiers beating down their door in order to take them away to be killed or tortured. The ones who persecute can be family members, fellow employees, and even children who strain against a parent’s obedience to Jesus.

Jesus said that He came not to bring peace but a sword.  Devotion to Him will create chasms in some relationships.  These words from Jesus can feel shocking if I cling exclusively to other verses about Jesus being the Prince of Peace.  Are these principles contradictory?  Not at all.  Jesus is Peace and He will bring peace to those in disharmony when they seek His face and embrace His truth in unity.  But there are just as many times when following Christ offends those closest to me.  When that happens, I suffer for righteousness sake and Jesus’ words are an clarifying for me.

This devotional reaches out to you today if you are one who suffers in any way because you love Jesus and are unapologetic when you declare that you are His disciple.  When the fire of love and devotion cause you to walk upstream against those around you, know that Jesus sees you and will reward you.  As a wife, you may suffer the scorn and ridicule of an unbelieving husband.  As a husband, you may experience the cold shoulder of a wife who wishes your values were more temporal.  As a child, you may feel disowned because your passion for Jesus alters the future your parents desire for you.  As an employee, you feel excluded by everyone around you who are all too willing to play corporate politics.  As a pastor, you feel that your job is in jeopardy because the majority of your congregation wants feel-good-messages rather than solid Bible teaching.  If you live wearing your power lightly, dispense with the guilt.  Even Jesus’ love just repels those who are spiritually blind.

Breathe deeply as the Spirit breathes over you today.  Do it, not once, but as a way of life.  Make your momentary prayer, “Have mercy on me.  Give me Your grace.”

I can so often look to those who suffer more than me and minimize my own needs.  Jesus, I come to you today; aching, needing Your touch.  Amen

And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.  Luke 4:27-28

I may not want something and even turn up my nose at it but at the same time, I don’t want anyone else to have it either.  Jealousy has many manifestations.

When Jesus read Isaiah 61 in the synagogue and revealed that He was the fulfillment of the prophecy, the Jews were furious.  They rejected Jesus and though He called them “His people”, they did not call Him ‘their Savior’.

He reminded them that God’s grace had often been sent to the Gentiles, the ones the Jews believed to be spiritually inferior.  They knew the stories but their jealousy erupted at the reminder.

Jealousy is not rational.  The Pharisee’s  teaching was probably lifeless, full of rules and regulations. They were proponents of the law and sticklers for keeping every “i” dotted and “t” crossed.  The spirit of their listeners sunk as they increased the heavy yoke on their shoulders.  The only ones who enjoyed their company were like-minded legalists.  They didn’t want Jesus but they also didn’t want Him to be desired outside of their circles.

Today, a similar jealousy can be among us.  Those who have been the spiritual fathers of a certain church can come to see the church as ‘their church.’  But when the move of the Spirit is quenched by familiarity and tradition, God takes the fire and zeal to a new generation.

Those who look, dress, and worship differently suddenly occupy their seats, once considered to be reserved for pillar families in the congregation who had claimed them as their own spot Sunday after Sunday.  There can be an indignant and unrighteous response, believing that God has done wrongly in extending the Gospel to an untamed and undeserving crowd.  God uses jealousy to stir up the pot and allow the impurities to come to the surface.

To personalize:  Am I rejoicing over the ways the Gospel changes all lives?  Am I grateful for the favor God puts upon others if I am in a wilderness?  Can I express my joy over the providence of God and trust His sovereignty?  If any twinges of jealousy stir in me as I read or write this, I have an issue with God and He invites conversation in prayer.

Bless my enemies and help me mean it in all seasons of my life.  Amen

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.  Matt. 22:36

Only a fool thinks that walking according to God’s precepts is confining.  It’s only because that person hasn’t tried it.  I used to be a fool.  I put discipleship on hold; the kind of discipleship that sought after God and His Word with a single-minded passion.  I considered myself neutral.  I wasn’t consciously running after Satan’s precepts, nor was I running after God’s.

I failed to realize that neutrality doesn’t exist.  To not hunger and thirst after righteousness is to settle for the ways of my soul, which are really the devil’s counterfeit.  I found out the hard way that doing my own thing, even though I was moral in my behavior, led to confinement.  I hadn’t counted on the minefields of the mind, the unstable grounds of the heart.  My internal world looked nothing like the composed, controlled outward exterior I showed to the public.  Inside, I was scared, threatened, lonely, and lost.  Without the precepts of the mind of Christ, I was subject to my own rudder, or lack of.  I ended up in a prison of my own making.  Confinement to say the least!

Now, as a matter of daily discipline, I bind my mind to the mind of Christ.  I loose my mind from the grip of my flesh.  As long as God’s precepts rule my world, inside and outside, I know the freedom of living in a spacious place.  The vistas are expansive.  The view is breathtaking.  The roads available to me are endless.  The mysteries are intellectually and intuitively challenging.  There is no graduation, then coasting into retirement before taking my last breath.  There is wonder for the keenest centenarian.

The doors inside the castle of the kingdom are only available for the one who enters by the narrow gate.  To come by way of Jesus is to come initially through the narrow way – which then opens to the wide places the psalmist describes.  David said in another Psalm.  “He brought me out into a spacious place and rescued me because He delighted in me.”  God’s precepts don’t lead to an imprisoned life.  They lead to an endless array of exhilarating choices.

I think I’ve only just begun to see what spacious really means, Lord.  I want it all.  Open my heart fully to your kingdom.  Amen

 

The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.  Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women.  What do you say?”  They said this to test Him so that they might have some charge to bring against Him.  John 8:3-6

Questions were asked of Jesus for many reasons.  Some were curious, wanting to be enlightened, adding to their intellectual prowess.  Some were seeking, drawn toward the Light because they had tasted the torment of the darkness.  Some were testing, wanting to discredit Jesus by trapping Him between, what they thought might be, only two possible answers.  Either of those answers would implicate Him.  Truth was never trapped however.  Knowing the hearts of men, He answered outside the box in the genius of deity.

If Jesus said that the woman should be stoned, His message of grace and forgiveness would be compromised.  If He let her go free, He would violate the law of Moses.  What a bind He was in.  If I had been in the crowd, I would have been holding my breath.  Learning from Him, I add to my repertoire of people skills.

1. Not every question or comment needs to be answered, even though posed.

2. Some are driven by personal agendas to ask inappropriate questions.  By answering, it feeds their boldness.

3. Questions can be wonderful things if the one asking is truly seeking and there is no ulterior motive.

4. Questions can be dangerous if the intent is entrapment.

Oftentimes, my own body language will tell me what I need to know about the one asking the question.  For instance, I could be asked the same question by two different people.  One would feel safe and I’d love answering it.  The other would feel invasive and I would scramble to know what to do with it.  Listening to my gut, which is where the Spirit often moves and speaks in a believer, is important.  I must be like Jesus and never answer on the fly.  He was constantly listening to His Father; discerning, unrushed, willing for others to bear the uncomfortable silences if necessary.  He was not manipulated by the schemes of men, nor should I be.  Though tongues can often set a trap, I dwell in a spacious place with a God who rescues me, moment by moment, because He delights in me.  (Ps.18:19)

If ever I needed to know Your mind, it’s in this area, Lord.  I want to think like You, discern like You.  Give me the courage to speak the truth, sit on the truth until it’s an appropriate time, or fall silent.  Clothe me the surpassing power You promise each of Your children.  Amen

Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me. But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving. Mark 10:21-22

My husband’s father used to preach a message about the rich young ruler’s visit with Jesus. After asking Jesus what he had to do to gain eternal life, Jesus told him to take all his possessions and give them away to the poor. He went away from Jesus feeling sad because the price seemed too steep. The point of my father in law’s sermon was this: Everyone leaves Jesus sad, mad, or glad. I used to think it a bit simplistic but now, many years later, simple is right. Are there more reactions to Jesus than this? Perhaps not.

Sad ~ You’re attracted to Jesus. You see the light. You know you’re in the presence of holiness. You know your life will never be the same but after weighing everything involved in following Him, it’s just too costly. The sadness is so great that you walk away and suspect you missed something beautiful.

Mad ~ Your pride is offended. How dare Jesus say that you’ll never be good enough. How dare He call you a sinner. How dare He require that everything you love and everything you want come second to Him. The offense is so great that you walk away and believe you missed nothing.

Glad ~ You find a treasure. You recognize, in Jesus, what you’ve always longed for. Real love. Lasting forgiveness. A second chance. Eternal beauty. A cause bigger than yourself. Though you lay your life down, it is nothing in comparison to what you gain.  The joy is so great that you walk away celebrating.

Is there someone in your life who is fighting Jesus? There are a few people close by to me who are. One is mad ~ offended at the thought that God forgives too recklessly. He wants others to pay for what they’ve done to him. Another is sad ~ offended because there would be loss of control. Trust in anyone, including God, seems wrong. And the last person is also sad as she believes that she’s too much of a loser for God to love her.

As I re-read the scripture for today, I notice that before Jesus told the young man to give everything away, it said that Jesus felt love for him. I can often believe that what Jesus asks me to give up is driven by something other than love. It’s not. He knows that my joy will be full when I love Him most of all.

For every one of us today who are seeing ‘mad’ loved ones, or ‘sad’ loved ones, help us model the joy of having found you as the pearl of great price. Amen