In step

[RiverOL]

Prepare for Battle

. . . on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it—Matthew 16:18

We’re designed for battle by our Father God; we’re led into battle by our King, Jesus Christ; we’re aided in battle by God the Holy Spirit. These battles are waged “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). The places where we meet our enemies have names like “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these” (Galatians 5:19-21). Though perhaps less dramatic than battles fought on the ground or in the air or on the sea, their outcomes are more momentous. They determine not only how we spend our lives, but our eternities too (Galatians 5:21).

We have enemies. They’re real. They’re powerful. They’re cunning, relentless, scheming always against us—scheming right now. We too, brother, must be cunning and relentless. We too must be prepared.



Create a battle plan. Resist any “this isn’t necessary” or “do it later” tendencies. Create a plan to bring the fight to our enemies. They’ve brought it to you long enough. Write it out today. Make it explicit. Make it practical.

1. Definition of Battle . . . what problem would you like to finally overcome?
2. Definition of Victory . . . what’ll victory look like?
3. Lay of the Land . . . what external factors contribute to the problem?
4. Points of Weakness . . . what aspects of your lifestyle contribute too?
5. Plan of Attack . . . how will you counter or minimize or eliminatethe external factors and contributing aspects of your lifestyle?
6. Sources of Strength . . . how’ll you stay connected to God and community?
7. Brothers-in-Arms . . . whom will you tell about this plan and keep updated, as to victories and defeats?

 

[RiverOL]

Worship Before Serving (12 May 2019)
Morning Encounter:
Read:
Shout praises to the Lord! Everyone who serves him, come and praise his name. Let the name of the Lord be praised now and forever. From dawn until sunset the name of the Lord deserves to be praised. The Lord is far above all of the nations; he is more glorious than the heavens.
(Psalm 113.1-4)

Reflect:
People who serve God are also called to worship God. In fact we are called to worship God and then serve. If we get these the wrong way round then we can easily serve out of our own strength and with all the wrong motives. True service, with good intentions and motives, overflows from love for God. Worship strengthens us to serve. Worship leads us to love God and others.

Respond:
Take time to worship God today. This may be especially important if you are one of the many people who will be serving at a church today. Being with God needs to come before serving God.

Midday Meditation:
‘True service rests contented in hiddenness. It does not fear the lights and blare of attention, but it does not seek them either. Since it is living out of a new Centre of reference, the divine nod of approval is completely sufficient.’
(Richard J. Foster Celebration of Discipline)

Evening Reflection:
May the God of peace
bring peace to this house
May the Son of peace
bring peace to this house
May the Spirit of peace
bring peace to this house
this night and all nights

 

[RiverOL]

Walk in the Light
The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. —Proverbs 4:18 NIV

Psalm 76:4 says of Jehovah, “You are radiant with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game.” Conversely, darkness is a simile for evil and sin. Isaiah 9:2 tells us, “The people walking in darkness [sin, evil] have seen a great light [Jehovah’s righteousness]; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned” (NIV).
Of course, Jesus said in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
One small candle can illuminate the dark recesses of a room, chasing away the gloom and fear. Walk in His light, and you will escape the pitfalls of darkness.

 

[RiverOL]

Hospitality
Morning Encounter:
Introduction
The concept of hospitality is sometimes muddled up with scenarios involving swan-shaped napkins, the good china and carefully constructed centre pieces. This can be enough to frighten some people away altogether. Dinner parties are not for everyone. What is for everyone, every follower of Christ at least, is the opening of home and heart to those who need a welcome- friend, family or stranger. In this we are imitators of Jesus, who at the last supper was both host and feast, giving himself to make a home for us with God. This week we’ll be exploring the spiritual practice of hospitality- the when, the who, the how. And I can promise fish knives and salad forks won’t even get a mention.

Read:
Jesus called his disciples together and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been with me for three days, and they don’t have anything to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. They might faint on their way home.”
His disciples said, “This place is like a desert. Where can we find enough food to feed such a crowd?”
Jesus asked them how much food they had. They replied, “Seven small loaves of bread and a few little fish.”

After Jesus had told the people to sit down, he took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks. He then broke them and handed them to his disciples, who passed them around to the crowds.
Everyone ate all they wanted, and the leftovers filled seven large baskets.
There were four thousand men who ate, not counting the women and children.
(Matthew 15: 32- 38)

Reflect:
Hospitality very often revolves around food. Here, Jesus is full of compassion for the hunger of the people who’ve been following him around eagerly soaking up all he has to teach them, and he is able to satisfy them with the little food available. Later, he says he is the bread of life- the one who sustains us.
We may be fearful of scarcity, fearful of our limitations, fearful of the overwhelming needs around us. But when we offer what we have, and point people to Jesus, we are offering true hospitality and it will be enough.

Respond:
Lord, you have welcomed me and fed me. Give me what I need to do the same for others. Amen.

Midday Meditation:
'In the midst of a turbulent, often chaotic, life we are called to reach out, with courageous honesty to our innermost self, with relentless care to our fellow human beings, and with increasing prayer to our God.'
(Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out)

Evening Reflection:
'Taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Fear the LORD, you his holy people,
For those who fear him lack nothing.

The lions may grow weak and hungry,
But those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.'
Psalm 34:8-10 (NIV)

 

[RiverOL]

Exalting Jesus
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. —Philippians 2:9-11 NIV

The priesthood of Jesus Christ resonates through the book of Hebrews. In chapter 3, verse 1; He is called “apostle and high priest.” Again in chapter 4, verse 15, the writer refers to our Lord as “high priest.” The commission of the high priest was to offer atonement for the sins of man—to bring man into a place of communion with God.
Jesus took on the role in order to open the way for man to approach Jehovah through the blood covenant of the Cross.

Christ presented not offerings, but Himself as a sacrifice to redeem fallen man. He had none of the frailties of earlier high priests; no longer a need to slay sheep and bullocks for the forgiveness of sin. He was the sinless Son of God sent to take away the sins of the world—not to postpone them for another year.
When Jesus whispered, “It is finished,” on Golgotha, the work that He had been sent to do had been completed. Now you can be free because of His sacrifice.

 

[RiverOL]

Welcoming Strangers (14 May 2019)
Morning Encounter:
Read:
Be sincere in your love for others. Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good. Love each other as brothers and sisters and honour others more than you do yourself. Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord. Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying. Take care of God’s needy people and welcome strangers into your home.
Ask God to bless everyone who mistreats you. Ask him to bless them and not to curse them. When others are happy, be happy with them, and when they are sad, be sad. Be friendly with everyone. Don’t be proud and feel that you are smarter than others. Make friends with ordinary people.
(Romans 12: 9-16)

Reflect:
In the early life of the church, there were particular reasons for an emphasis on hospitality. Shared meals were a way of forging community out of a disparate group from a variety of cultures, social strata and religious history. The spread of the gospel depended on travelling missionaries who relied on the kindness of strangers for bed and board. And churches initially met in homes, fostering a sense of family and belonging.
The context may be different, but the practice of hospitality is central to what it means to be a Christian. It is not an optional extra, and it is not the particular remit of the gifted. We are to “be sincere in our love for others,” (v.9) and we must “take care of God’s needy people and welcome strangers into our homes” (v.13).

Respond:
Have you thought about hospitality as a spiritual practice? How might you make room for it in your Christian life? What do you think would be the challenges and the blessings of doing so?

Midday Meditation:
Meditate on 1 Peter 4:9: “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” (NIV)

Evening Reflection:
“Hospitality…is a concrete expression of love- love for sisters and brothers, love extended outwards to strangers, prisoners and exiles, love that attends to physical and social needs. Within acts of hospitality, needs are met, but hospitality is truncated if it does not go beyond physical needs. Part of hospitality includes recognising and valuing the stranger or guest.”

 

[RiverOL]

Peace and Praise
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation…
—Ephesians 2:14 NKJV

The majority of sacrifices offered to Jehovah in Old Testament times were not consumed by those making the offering. The peace offering was to be eaten after a portion had been burnt on the altar. The remainder of the offering was returned to the presenter and then distributed to the poor. It is a perfect illustration of Jehovah’s provision—physically and spiritually; a picture of His matchless grace and kindness. The peace offering was a wonderful way to thank Jehovah-Jireh, our Provider whose grace is sufficient.

The peace offering was a foreshadowing of the One to come—the Messiah. The consistent instruction given throughout Scripture—beginning in Leviticus—is that praise springs forth from an offering that is completely satisfactory to God.
Your freedom of worship flows from the one truly acceptable offering: Jesus Christ our Lord, the matchless Son of God, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. (See Revelation 13:8.) Because of that sacrifice, not only can we worship God in “spirit and in truth” (John 4:24 KJV), we can receive forgiveness of sin through the blood of Christ.

 

[RiverOL]

Reconsider Your Party List
Morning Encounter:
Read:
Then Jesus said to the man who had invited him:
When you give a dinner or a banquet, don’t invite your friends and family and relatives and rich neighbours. If you do, they will invite you in return, and you will be paid back. When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. They cannot pay you back. But God will bless you and reward you when his people rise from death.
(Luke 14:12-14)

Reflect:
Jesus’ teaching was often deeply disconcerting and challenging. Did he really say our party invite list should include all the people with issues and none of those we’d actually like to spend the evening with? Really? As was often the case, Jesus wasn’t instituting a new law here, but making a point in a way that would strike home. He was reminding his hearers, including us, that everything we do is for him, and for eternal reward. And it is his good purpose that we are his hands and feet in this world. And let’s not forget too, that we, for all our brokenness and failures, are honoured guests at God’s feast.

Respond:
Who do you need to include in on your next gathering that you might not have considered?
Midday Meditation:
'A life of hospitality begins in worship, with a recognition of God’s grace and generosity. Hospitality is not first a duty and responsibility; it is first a response of love and gratitude for God’s love and welcome to us.'
(Christine D. Pohl, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition)


Evening Reflection:
'Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.'
1 John 3:18

 

[RiverOL]

With Friends Like These . . .

My brothers, show no partiality
as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ—James 2:1

We men tend toward partiality. Sometimes with forethought, many times with no thought, we give or withhold based upon characteristics of the potential recipients. We can, therefore, find ourselves directing all our time and attention, our kindness and generosity, toward only those who live, look, sound, spend, sin . . . like we do. This plays out in many areas of life and, therefore, many areas of faith—in service, giving, worship, and certainly in brotherhood.

But James, brother of our King, Jesus Christ, cautioned us to oppose this tendency:

“For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ while you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there,’ or, ‘Sit down at my feet,’ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (James 2:2-4).

So, what’s wrong with partiality? Well, intending to or not, we harm people. We harm them by disregarding them, those whom God wants us to impact or serve or befriend, but who don’t quite make our cut (Proverbs 28:21). God put us here for one another (Matthew 22:39). Partiality means we forsake people who need us. And if that’s not bad enough, we harm ourselves. We cut ourselves off from relationships—and often the weightiest. You see, those we’re meant to impact are meant to impact us, right back.



How’re you doing with this, brother? The test is simple—look around. Who are you spending time with? Whom are you serving? There should be people in your life who’re nothing like you. Are there?

 

[RiverOL]

Unexpected Guests
Morning Encounter:
Read:
One hot summer afternoon Abraham was sitting by the entrance to his tent near the sacred trees of Mamre, when the Lord appeared to him. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. He quickly ran to meet them, bowed with his face to the ground, and said, “Please come to my home where I can serve you. I’ll have some water brought, so you can wash your feet, then you can rest under the tree. Let me get you some food to give you strength before you leave. I would be honoured to serve you.”
“Thank you very much,” they answered. “We accept your offer.”

Abraham quickly went to his tent and said to Sarah, “Hurry! Get a large sack of flour and make some bread.” After saying this, he rushed off to his herd of cattle and picked out one of the best calves, which his servant quickly prepared. He then served his guests some yogurt and milk together with the meat.
While they were eating, he stood near them under the trees, and they asked, “Where is your wife Sarah?”
“She is right there in the tent,” Abraham answered.
One of the guests was the Lord, and he said, “I’ll come back about this time next year, and when I do, Sarah will already have a son.”
Sarah was behind Abraham, listening at the entrance to the tent.
(Genesis 18:1-10)

Reflect:
Abraham’s lavish hospitality to his three impromptu guests was only what was expected in Ancient Near Eastern culture. They are offered water to wash, a place to rest, and a sumptuous meal, and all with great respect and deference. There is no hint that Abraham was aware of their special significance, or had any expectation of repayment or reciprocation. But the story has come to be a foundational motivation for Christian hospitality, connected as it is with the presence of God, his promise and his blessing.

Respond:
Think about what motivates you to offer hospitality. Do you do it from obligation? From a desire to show-off your home or cooking skills? From the hope of reciprocation? What might God want to say to you about your motivations for giving hospitality?

Midday Meditation:
Be sure to welcome strangers into your home. By doing this, some people have welcomed angels as guests, without even knowing it.
(Hebrews 13:2)

Evening Reflection:
'Not every act that may be done as a discipline need be done as a discipline. I will often be able to serve another simply as an act of love and righteousness, without regard for how it may enhance my abilities to follow Christ…but I may also serve another to train myself away from arrogance, possessiveness, envy, resentment, or covetousness. In that case, my service is undertaken as a discipline for the spiritual life.'

 

[RiverOL]

Building New Gauges

Do not be conformed to this world—Romans 12:2

We men love to measure things. And we have, at our disposal, highly accurate gauges for measuring just about anything, including the progress of our lives. I mean, we never have to wonder which careers are most prestigious; which jobs are most coveted; which neighborhoods are most exclusive; which vacations are most glamorous; which cars are most luxurious. Our culture makes sure its gauges remain well calibrated.

“Listen carefully . . . and be wary of the shrewd advice that tells you how to get ahead in the world . . .” (Mark 4:24 MSG).

The problem is, such things are not proper for measuring the progress of any life. There’s nothing wrong with careers or communities or cars, in-and-of themselves. They’re just not appropriate gauges in this context. Using them is like using a thermometer to measure the weight of a steel beam. It doesn’t work. Likewise, improper gauges won’t work for us, for measuring our lives as men. We must create and calibrate new gauges, ones that can properly measure our lives, because they measure the right stuff—like how we’re doing as husbands, as fathers, as friends, as neighbors; and how we’re doing toward becoming the men God intends us to become.



Build new gauges for yourself, brother, ones that measure things like . . . how many nights you are home for dinner; or how often you sit down and pray with your wife or girlfriend; or how often you have conversations with your sons or daughters about their dreams or their fears; or how often you meet with brothers in community; or how often you drop what you’re doing to spend time with friends in need. Get practical. Build a simple spreadsheet, for example. Or create a calendar. Do what makes sense for you, but start measuring, today.

 

[RiverOL]

Neighbours
Morning Encounter:
Read:
But the man wanted to show that he knew what he was talking about. So he asked Jesus, “Who are my neighbours?”
Jesus replied:
As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, robbers attacked him and grabbed everything he had. They beat him up and ran off, leaving him half dead.
A priest happened to be going down the same road. But when he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. Later a temple helper came to the same place. But when he saw the man who had been beaten up, he also went by on the other side.

A man from Samaria then came traveling along that road. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him and went over to him. He treated his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next morning he gave the innkeeper two silver coins and said, “Please take care of the man. If you spend more than this on him, I will pay you when I return.”
Then Jesus asked, “Which one of these three people was a real neighbour to the man who was beaten up by robbers?”
The teacher answered, “The one who showed pity.”
Jesus said, “Go and do the same!”
(Luke 10:29- 37)

Reflect:
The practice of hospitality takes an abstract commitment to love and service into the practical realm. It is a concrete expression of compassion, a recognition of the image of God in our fellow humans, and a subversive challenge to the value the world places on personal advancement, self-sufficiency and privacy. In this story Jesus told, the giver of hospitality was not even in his own country. He was far from home, a stranger himself. Yet he found a way to give dignity, help and hope to a fellow traveller.
The most commonly used Greek word for hospitality in the New Testament is philoxenia, a combination of the word for love between those connected by kinship or faith (phileo) and the word for stranger (xenos). In the New Testament, hospitality was clearly understood as being about love, and about strangers. Is that how we understand it?

Respond:
What holds you back from offering hospitality? Is it how you feel about your home? Is it perfectionism, or fear, or selfishness? Take an honest look at what is keeping you from loving your neighbour as Jesus defined neighbour.

Midday Meditation:
“The greatest stranger is our neighbour, because God has bound all men together, for the purpose of assisting each other.”
(John Calvin, Commentary on the Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke)

Evening Reflection:
Lord, you saw me, welcomed me, gave me dignity and a place by your side. Enlarge my gratitude and enlarge my heart so I can bless others the way you have blessed me. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Restoring Connections

. . . build up the ancient ruins
. . . repair the ruined cities—Isaiah 61:4

Three relationships broke when man fell, so long ago: the relationship between man and God, the relationship between man and himself, and the relationship between man and other men (and women). Our jobs now, brother, are to repair and rebuild those relationships, in our own unique ways, as much as we can during our lifetimes . . . and to encourage and assist others in doing likewise. Our King, Jesus Christ, gave us our instructions—love “God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and love “your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). His two-part directive covers all three relationships: love God more than anything else; love yourself sufficiently; and love other people at least as much as you love yourself. It’s all there.

So how do we begin? Well, we restore relationships with God when we soften our hearts, decide to trust him more than we trust ourselves, and bend ourselves toward obedience. We restore relationships with ourselves when we soften our hearts and decide to care for ourselves as God intends, finally dealing with self-condemnation or idolatry or addiction (to work, to food, to alcohol, to pornography, or anything else). And, we restore relationships with others when we soften our hearts, decide to look around for people who need us, and bend our lives toward loving and serving and forgiving them.



Take a moment to survey your life. Which type of relationship is most broken? If none is obvious, take time for listening prayer. Ask your counselor, God the Holy Spirit, to guide you. Once you’ve focused-in on what’s most in need of rebuilding, what’s most in need of repair, you’ve got your own, individualized blueprint for “what’s next.” Begin working on it this week. Start with something practical.

 

[RiverOL]

Communal Hospitality
Morning Encounter:
Read:
Come to Jesus Christ. He is the living stone that people have rejected, but which God has chosen and highly honoured. And now you are living stones that are being used to build a spiritual house. You are also a group of holy priests, and with the help of Jesus Christ you will offer sacrifices that please God. It is just as God says in the Scriptures,
“Look! I am placing in Zion
a choice and precious
cornerstone.
No one who has faith
in that one
will be disappointed.”
You are followers of the Lord, and that stone is precious to you. But it isn’t precious to those who refuse to follow him. They are the builders who tossed aside the stone that turned out to be the most important one of all. They disobeyed the message and stumbled and fell over that stone, because they were doomed.

But you are God’s chosen and special people. You are a group of royal priests and a holy nation. God has brought you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Now you must tell all the wonderful things that he has done. The Scriptures say,
“Once you were nobody.
Now you are God’s people.
At one time no one
had pity on you.
Now God has treated you
with kindness.
(1 Peter 2:4-10)

Reflect:
One of the ways the English language lets us down when it comes to reading the Bible is the lack of a plural ‘you.’ We therefore often read exhortations and challenges and directions for holy living in an individual way, when they were intended for us as a body, a family, a ‘spiritual house’ (v.4), a ‘group of royal priests and a holy nation’ (v.9). So although there is a challenge to us personally to be hospitable, we also do it communally- as a church. Together we are to be a place and a community that is open to those who need us, reflecting the kindness with which we have been treated by God (v.10).

Respond:
In what ways does your church practise hospitality? How are newcomers welcomed? How could you encourage a bigger vision for the spiritual practice of hospitality in your Christian community?

Midday Meditation:
“Churches have the material, social and spiritual resources to practice vibrant expressions of hospitality, yet the sad testimony from a number of practitioners of hospitality is that the people they welcome often do not find welcome in the local church.”
(Christine D. Pohl, Making Room)

Evening Reflection:
'Welcome is one of the signs that a community is alive. To invite others to live with us is a sign that we aren’t afraid, that we have a treasure of truth and a peace to share.'

 

[RiverOL]

Who Are Your Heroes?

Worship the Lord your God, and only him.
Serve him with absolute single-heartedness—Matthew 4:10

We men like heroes. We like to look upward. We start early, as boys, looking up to men and women who do amazing things on grass and turf and hardwood and ice. As we get older, we shift our “looking up” to those who do amazing things in classrooms, board rooms, laboratories, legislatures . . . to those who speak and create and negotiate, to those who research and discover and write.

There’s nothing wrong with honoring and admiring other people. Something is wrong, though, when honoring or admiration becomes worship—when we devote our lives to becoming just like our heroes. You see, heroic images are false. They are false because they’re incomplete. Heroic images portray the good and obscure the bad. We think, “he’s got it together”—“great job, great wife, great bank account, great house” . . . “must be nice.” What we don’t see is what’s broken. Something always is: “For we all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2). Maybe it’s what was sacrificed in order to achieve the heroic image. Not realizing we’re misled, though, we decide to chase their images, to model our lives after theirs. Not realizing we’re misled, we end up imitating their brokenness.

When we worship heroes, we do like the ancient pagans who “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). The truth is, no person, past or present, is worthy of our worship . . . except one.



Who are your heroes? Have you ever walked the line between admiration and hero worship? Have you ever held another (broken) person in too high esteem? If you’ve crossed that line, simply confess it to God in prayer. And commit to worshiping no man but our worthy King, Jesus Christ.

 

[RiverOL]

Welcoming Christ
Morning Encounter:
Read:
This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Laodicea:
I am the one called Amen! I am the faithful and true witness and the source of God’s creation. Listen to what I say.
I know everything you have done, and you are not cold or hot. I wish you were either one or the other. But since you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth. You claim to be rich and successful and to have everything you need. But you don’t know how bad off you are. You are pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

Buy your gold from me. It has been refined in a fire, and it will make you rich. Buy white clothes from me. Wear them and you can cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy medicine for your eyes, so that you will be able to see.
I correct and punish everyone I love. So make up your minds to turn away from your sins. Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together. Everyone who wins the victory will sit with me on my throne, just as I won the victory and sat with my Father on his throne.
If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
(Revelation 3:14-22)

Reflect:
At the heart of the Christian faith lies the need to accept the truth that we are ‘pitiful, poor, blind and naked’ (v.17) however successful and rich we are on the face of it. We have to accept this in order to get the help we need- the free and full gift of grace. And yet, this message the angel gave to the church in Laodicea beautifully illuminates another truth. However pitiful we are, we have the opportunity to offer hospitality to Christ himself, who desires to come in to the centre of who we are (v.20), who provides what we will need to make our home acceptable for such an honoured guest (v.18).

Respond:
Have you made Christ at home in your life? Is the Spirit welcome? Does God the Father have the run of the house? Picture yourself behind the door, hearing the knock. What do you do? What is said? What is going to happen now?

Midday Meditation:
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.”
John 15:4 (NIV)

Evening Reflection:
'Today the heart of God is an open wound of love. He aches over our distance and preoccupation. He mourns that we do not draw near to him. He grieves that we have forgotten him…And he is inviting you- and me-to come home, to come home where we belong, to come home to that which we were created for. His arms are stretched wide to receive us. His heart is enlarged to take us in.'

 

[RiverOL]

Too Busy? Hmmm . . .

Look carefully then how you walk . . . making the best use of the time, because the days are evil—Ephesians 5:15-16

When sacred opportunities come—opportunities to listen, to care, to encourage, to serve, to give, to tell others about our faith—we men often use a tactic called “too busy, right now.” We say the words out loud, sometimes. More often, we say them to ourselves and just keep moving. We then rationalize the dodge by using a second tactic, one called “make up for it later.” That is, we imagine ourselves jumping into other, similar opportunities, eventually—when things slow down a bit maybe.

God knows we’re busy. He sees how busy we are, right now. And he calls us still. You see, these sacred opportunities don’t come by chance. He places them carefully in front of us. He knows we’re busy . . . and he knows what he’s doing. He knew what he was doing when he called Simon and Andrew, when the brothers were busy fishing (Mark 1:16-18). He knew what he was doing when he called James and John, when those brothers were busy mending nets (Mark 1:19-20). He knew what he was doing when he called Levi, when Levi was busy collecting taxes (Mark 2:14). He knows what he’s doing when he calls us too, even when we’re busy. He doesn’t wait because he knows our time is scarce. He knows that we have none to waste.

“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4).



What was your last sacred opportunity, brother? What did you do? Is the opportunity still open? If not, take a moment to decide what you’ll do the next time a sacred opportunity comes. Commit to stepping into it and making the most of the precious time you’ve been given.

 

[RiverOL]

Better Together
Morning Encounter:
Introduction
From the beginning of the Bible where God creates a partner for Adam, to the nation of Israel, to Paul’s letters to churches and communities in the New Testament and finally to Revelation where we glimpse eternity together as God’s people – we see that God never intended for us to make it on our own. Despite all the difficulties we experience in relationships due to our shortcomings and weaknesses and the differences in our personalities and perceptions, we are better and stronger together. The common activities of worship, prayer, celebration and service which sustain our life together enlarge our capacity to experience more of God.

Read:
About that time Jesus went off to a mountain to pray, and he spent the whole night there. The next morning he called his disciples together and chose twelve of them to be his apostles. One was Simon, and Jesus named him Peter. Another was Andrew, Peter’s brother. There were also James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus. The rest of the apostles were Simon, known as the Eager One, Jude, who was the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed Jesus.
(Luke 6.12-16)

Reflect:
Jesus was not a lone ranger. One of his first strategies as he began his public ministry was to surround himself with a small group of disciples. For three years they would share life, travelling and ministering together. Jesus poured his heart and soul into this group as he taught them and modelled practices like prayer, serving and healing. Our life with God is not a solo event; we are in this together.

Respond:
Consider those who have supported and encouraged you in your life with God. How have they been a blessing to you? Pray for them today.

Midday Meditation:
‘The church exists primarily for two closely correlated purposes: to worship God and to work for his kingdom in the world ... The church also exists for a third purpose, which serves the other two: to encourage one another, to build one another up in faith, to pray with and for one another, to learn from one another and teach one another, and to set one another examples to follow, challenges to take up, and urgent tasks to perform. This is all part of what is known loosely as fellowship.’
(N.T. Wright, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense)

Evening Reflection:
I will praise you, my God and King, and always honour your name. I will praise you each day and always honour your name.
You are wonderful, Lord, and you deserve all praise, because you are much greater than anyone can understand. Each generation will announce to the next your wonderful and powerful deeds. I will keep thinking about your marvellous glory and your mighty miracles.

 

[RiverOL]

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."1

As we said yesterday, happiness is many things to many people. For one thing, it means we need to know and accept ourselves for who we are.

Happiness also means learning to accept my personal circumstances. Some of them can be changed. Others can't. And unless I accept the ones that can't be changed, I'll never be happy or content. As blind Helen Keller said, "I thank God for my handicaps, for through them I have found myself, my work, and my God."

Happiness is also having a worthwhile goal . . . a noble purpose for which to live . . . something of value to strive for.

I was once talking to a union representative on a construction job. At the time he was also demonstrating for a cause that was popular back then. He told me he joined this group because it gave him something to live for. I don't know if this man is still demonstrating for a cause, but certainly everybody needs something to live for other than himself and his own happiness.

Happiness in itself is not a worthwhile goal to live for. To be happy all of the time is unreal, as happiness is only one of life's great emotions. To be in touch with all of one's feelings is more important than being happy all of the time. To feel sad, hurt, angry, afraid, and unhappy at the appropriate times is both normal and healthy. However, if one is unhappy most of the time, this is nature's way of telling him/her that something is missing in his life or some conflict needs resolving.

To be happy, or at least fulfilled, one also needs to have worthwhile work (paid or volunteer) into which one can put one's best efforts. Note, too, that when our work is helping to meet others needs, this can be very fulfilling.

Everybody has some talents; so it is important that he/she discover his/her gifts, receive adequate training to sharpen them, and find a place to use them. This is equally true for both men and women.

It is a wise man who helps his wife find, develop, and use her special gifts. He will reap just rewards through his wife's increased fulfillment and happiness. And so it is for a wise woman for her husband.

To be continued. . . .

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to realize that happiness comes much more through who I am rather than what I do. Help me to become the person you want me to be and then find further fulfillment and happiness with what I do with my life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name. Amen."

 

[RiverOL]

Travelling Together
Morning Encounter:
Read:
You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone, because then you will get more enjoyment out of what you earn. If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble. If you sleep alone, you won’t have anyone to keep you warm on a cold night. Someone might be able to beat up one of you, but not both of you. As the saying goes, “A rope made from three strands of cord is hard to break.”
(Ecclesiastes 4.9-12)

Reflect:
The author of Ecclesiastes here reflects on the blessings of companionship. He cites three potential dangers of travelling alone If you are alone, then falling into a pit could be fatal. On cold nights travellers would sleep close together for warmth; if you are alone you could die of cold, or at the very least pass an uncomfortable, sleepless night. Lastly, travelling alone made you more vulnerable to potential attack. Our journey, whether physical or spiritual, is best travelled with others.

Respond:
Who has encouraged you the most in your life with God? Why not send them a text or message today and let them know you appreciate them?

Midday Meditation:
‘Some Christians try to go to heaven alone, in solitude. But believers are not compared to bears or lions or other animals that wander alone. Those who belong to Christ are sheep in this respect - that they love to get together. Sheep go in flocks, and so do God’s people.’
(Charles Spurgeon)

Evening Reflection:
Blessed are you, Lord our God.
How sweet are your words to the taste,
sweeter than honey to the mouth.
How precious are your commands for our life,
more than the finest gold in our hands.

How marvelous is your will for the world,
unending is your love for the nations.
Our voices shall sing of your promises
and our lips declare your praise.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God for ever.