Take Comfort in God

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come
to you.

John 14:18 (KJV)

Today's verse was inspired by Grace Day, who is dealing with a breakup. As I searched for words of comfort on these Internets, I found the above verse. The verse is about Jesus coming back after His death. It speaks to me of more however. Not just of His second coming, but of the fact that he is always with us. We can turn to Him and He will comfort us.

In those times when you're feeling lonely, rejected, sad, as if no one cared for you - remember that God does care for you. God will not leave you comfortless. He will come to you. These are words of hope when we are down and at our worse. God loves us. He died on the cross for our sins. Nothing and no one is beneath His notice. When you are sad He is there with you. He has nowhere else more important to be.

Today's picture is entitled "Rain on a Rose". I chose it because it depicts to me sadness and hope in the same picture. The rain drops are like tears on the petals. The black and white colors make this a stark and lonely picture. And yet at the same time the rose is white, full of light and hopeful. The rain does not take anything away from the rose. In fact it enhances its beauty. Soon it will dry in the rays of the sun and the rain drops will be but a memory...

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Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of
you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8 (NRSV)

This verse was a verse that my pastor, Bob Humphrey, preached on for a number of weeks earlier this year during Lent. It popped up in my random Bible verse app today, and I thought it was a good one for today.

Why does God require these things of us? What struck me when I read this today is that when we do these things we are less likely to sin. Especially that last part - walk humbly with your God. When you are walking with God, aware of His presence, you are less likely to do the things you know you shouldn't. Sin likes darkness, and when we are walking in the light, it pushes back the sinful desires we have.

So I encourage you today to walk humbly with your God.

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Tablet of Your Heart

³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.

Proverbs 3:3

I asked my friend Mike tonight what verse I should use, and he gave me this verse. He said it was his life verse, the verse he would use to sum up the way he lives his life. I let him pick the picture too, and he started looking for stone crosses. I showed him the pictures I'd taken of the stone cross at Eagle Eyrie and you see the result. :)

This verse is so simple and so profound. It is a simple thing to say, and yet sometimes so hard to do. I think this verse speaks for itself though. Write them on the tablet of your heart.

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Arguing with Fools

⁴ Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you will be like him yourself.

⁵ Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes.

Proverbs 26:4-5

I came across this passage the other day when trying to respond to a very frustrating email. I then spent even more time trying to figure out what this passage means. It's very confusing. What I came up with was that we should be careful what we say. Pick your words carefully.

I don't think this verse is saying, "Don't say anything because something bad will happen." Instead it talks about how to deal with people who are foolish. We might also call them idiots. How do you respond to comments that are so stupid, you don't know what to say? How do you respond to something so illogical that there is no right answer?

Address the issue at hand, but don't act the same way as the person you are arguing with. (Because let's face it, this passage is about how to argue with people.) Another way of saying this is, try to understand where your opponent is coming from. You don't have to agree - but it may help you make an argument that is better formulated and more effective than something that amounts to a personal attack.

God is Love. We try to follow that example. In all you do, put love first.

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Hidden Miracles

¹⁹When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. ²⁰But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." ²¹Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

John 6:19-21 (NIV)

You may recognize this as our gospel lesson from yesterday morning. As I was listening to it, I noticed the last part of it, where the boat is suddenly at the shore. So I looked it up in my study Bible, and it says that some scholars interpret this as the boat reached the shore as a miracle. After the story of the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on the water, this miraculous teleportation goes pretty much unnoticed. It's a hidden miracle.

I started thinking about how there are many hidden miracles in our lives, from the creation around us to the little bits of serendipity that make our life better. Jesus' life was full of miracles, and if we take the time to look around, we will often see that ours are too.

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Watch Yourselves

¹Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. ²It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. ³So watch yourselves.

"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."

Luke 17:1-4 (NIV)

Today's passage was inspired by a conversation I had with Taylor Swanger yesterday. It was about forgiving our fellow Christians. There are a number of other verses I could have chosen, some of which you have probably heard.

However this verse says a lot to me about how we are always supposed to interact with our brothers and sisters in Christ. When a brother sins against you, and you rebuke him, you must do so in a loving way. If you rebuke him in a way that is confrontational, you will escalate the argument, possibly causing him to sin more as he responds in anger.

When people hurt us, or those we love, it is difficult to forgive them. We want to hurt them back - sometimes even more so when it is a loved one that is wronged. We want to defend them. This verse speaks to that need, telling us that it is ok to call someone out when they do something wrong. But it tells us that we are to do so in a way that builds him up. This verse also talks about how we should forgive every time someone asks for forgiveness. It's a difficult thing to do, especially if our trust has been betrayed time and again.

It's easy to give into our anger when we are wronged. It's much harder to act in a loving manner, but that is what we are called to do.

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Love Never Fails

⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

1 Corinthians 13:8

This was one of two verses we picked for this year's Crossroads event. This passage is at the end of the famous love passage that is read at every wedding. We actually used just the beginning of the verse: Love never fails. Think about that. True love - actual love - never fails. It is always there.

It is easy to say we have, "fallen out of love", or "I never really loved them". What we are talking about is our own human failings. It's not love's fault. Love hasn't gotten less potent. Love is constant. The same is true of God's presence. We can feel him at youth events, but when we get home we feel that he is gone. He isn't. God is there. God' grace is there. God's love is there.

Love never fails.

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Never Been Unloved

¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:10-12 (NIV)

This passage was inspired by Kara Brooks' blog on the Book of Faith website. If you don't know about the Book of Faith initiative, it's something that was started last year by the ELCA and Augsburg fortress to help Christians spend time in the Word every day. If you like reading my daily verses, but are more do-it-yourself, check out what they have to offer. Note that I do not use the same verses that they do every day.

Today's passage is a multimedia experience. You can find Michael W. Smith's song, Never Been Unloved, on YouTube. He sings about the fact that for all that for all our failures, God's love never fails.

Today's verse is very powerful for me, for I do not think there is any power on earth greater than love. God's love is so great that he covers us with His grace. His son died for our sins. That's a lot of love. Our passage goes on to encourage us to love each other the same way. This kind of love, this self-sacrificing love, is referred to as agape in the Bible. How can we be that self-sacrificing? It's hard. We are selfish creatures. We aren't God. We aren't perfect. We can love one another though - and every little bit counts.

So what do we do? We try. Start with the little things. Be aware of people around you and the things that you can do for them. Hold a door for someone. Help someone carry something when it looks like they need help. Say a kind word or just smile to someone when you pass them in the hall. These little things are good habits and they can mean a lot to others. And as you get in the habit of doing little things, it will become easier to do big things. And through these things God's love will be made complete in you, and even though no one has ever seen God, people will see Christ in your life and in your deeds. And the people you meet will know that they have never been unloved.

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No Sin Is Too Big

"Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses."

Acts 13:38-39 (NIV)

I was talking to my best friend Nate the other night and he asked, "What's the worst thing you've ever done? Whatever it is, it is forgiven." It brought me back to forgiveness and Grace. God's grace cleanses us from all sins - there are no exceptions. There is no sin too big that God will not forgive it. Grace is a wonderful thing.

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And this is my prayer:

⁹And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,

Philippians 1:9-10

Today's passage comes from Morgan Firing's Facebook status. I read it this morning and it touched me, so I decided to use this today instead of the passage I had planned. The first verse is about growing in love. It talks about how as our knowledge and insight grow, our love will also. This is something we definitely experience at youth events, but it doesn't have to stop there. It's just that often we use those events as crutches, and only bother growing in knowledge and insight when we're at them. The rest of the time it's easier to pine for the next event. I know, I've done that plenty of times. It's a trap that's easy to fall into - even when you're an adult. Nothing can compare to the [insert youth event here] experience, so why bother trying?

But the second verse talks about how we are to apply that increase in our lives. We are supposed to use that knowledge and insight to "discern what is best". We know what's right and wrong. We know what we should be doing. This verse is straightforward. It says go out and do it! Stop making excuses! You don't have to turn your life upside down, but apply what you have learned in little steps.

The reward? To be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. This isn't talking about being good so we have no sins. You and I are sinners. We are also saints - but not vecause we try to do good things. No, we are saints because God's grace covers our sins. So what's being pure and blameless? You know that guilty feeling in the pit of your stomach when you're afraid you're goign to get caught for somethign you did? Yhe regret and the remorse? To be pure and blameless is that contended feeling - the absence of guilt. The absence of remorse. It's that happy tummy feeling. The feeling that you did the right thing. It's not for God that we do the right thing. It's not even for our own salvation. It's because it's the right thing to do. And when we do that - we know it.

I pray for those away at New Orleans, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.

I pray this same prayer for all of you at home like me, and I encourage you to pray for those in service this week. Pray that their works will make them to shine like stars in the heaven and make them witnesses for Christ.

Amen

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A Prayer for the ELCA National Youth Gathering

For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Ephesians 2:10

I am praying tonight for all those who go to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's National Youth Gathering. 32,000+ youth and adults descending on the city of New Orleans for a week of fellowship, worship and service. I am sad that I cannot be with all my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, but I am there with them in spirit. I pray that they will enjoy their time there and the opportunities the trip provides; and that they will serve joyously in the tasks they are given, so that the people of New Orleans will see Christ shining in them.

Amen

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Social Bullying: Turning the Other Cheek

39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on
the right cheek, turn to him the other also

Matthew 5:39 (NIV)

I think what inspired today's verse was the new Harry Potter movie. Whenever Malfoy does somethign to Harry, Harry always gets him back, and around the cycle goes. In the sixth movie, Harry spies on Malfoy. Then Malfoy bloodies Harry's nose. Then Harry uses the spell Sectum Sepra to hurt Malfoy.

Today's lesson is part of the Beatitudes, also known as the Sermon on the Mount. It's easy to say, "Turn the other cheek", but as soon as we start thinking about it we think, "I can't do that." So I started thinking, is it really that literal?

Harry Potter reminded me of a term I heard, called social bullying. Social bullying is beating people up emotionally. It's a lot more common these days than physical bullying. So if we turn the other cheek in a verbal engagement, what does it look like? Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. It's a useful comeback in elementary school, but as we get older it seems to lose it's power.

Verbal abuse hurts, and it stays with us. What does turning the other cheek have to do with this? Jesus goes on in the following verses to tell us to go beyond, and to offer them more than they're asking for. I don't think he means that if someone makes fun of us we should tell them our deepest, darkest secrets so they can hurt us more. But he is telling us to not retaliate. He asks us to be the better person by not fighting back? To be kind to people who are mean to us.
Does this mean we don't have a right to be hurt and angry? That we should just be able to let it all wash away? I don't think so. We shouldn't keep things bottled up inside. Jesus is always willing to listen. We should also talk them out - preferably with the people who hurt us. If we can't so that, we can confide in someone we can trust.

If you think about it, talking about things like this allows us to get them off our chest. It keeps our feelings from being bottled up, and it keeps us from exploding when the next person comes along and hurts our feelings. So turning the other cheek means a lot more than just dealing in the moment. It has to do with how we deal afterwards - and how we prepare for the next time.

If you would like to read more on this subject, I found a three-part article on turning the other cheek when we are "emotionally slapped". It's a pretty short read, and I strongly encourage girls in particular to read it. You can find it here: http://www.gospel.com/blog/index.php/2007/09/14/turning-the-other-cheek-when-youve-been-emotionally-slapped/

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And be thankful.

¹⁵And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. ^{16 16}Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

Colossians 3:15-16

Today I was thinking about being thankful. I was reading the warm-fuzzies I got at Kairos, and I was thinking how thankful I am for the encouragement I get from youth and adults in my ministry. You'd be surprised how often you have no idea if anything you're doing is making a difference! I picked this passage because it relates to what I've been talking about this week - teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom. I also though it was appropriate for Sunday, as it talked about singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to God with grattitude in your heart.

I really love the artfulness of these verses as well. They paint a vivid picture with words. "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." I imagine peace ruling me like a sovereign. A kind monarch that has my best interests at heart and is always serene, wise and free with his guidance.

"to which indeed you were called in the one body." Like a siren call, peace calls to us to become one in Christ. Like a body at rest in physics, we rotate around Christ until we come to rest peacfully in Him as one body.

"And be thankful." This to me is the centerpiece around which these verses rotate. Be thankful. For everything around you - the air, the sky, the grass, the birds, your house, your fellow Christians, the list goes on and on... Be thankful.

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." Don't just let the word dwell in you, but let it do so richly. Like the deliciousness of rich chocolate, let it make your whole self better. And those around you will taste that richness through your words and deeds.

"teach and admonish one another in all wisdom;" In both teaching and correcting our fellow Christians, we should do so with wisdom. We should think before we speak and seek to build each other up always.

"with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God." Don't just sing songs in church, or where ever, but sing them with gusto! Sing them at the top of your lungs! Revel in the sounds of otehrs singing around you. Enjoy not only your own singing, but the chorus of those around you, and do it with a joyous, grateful heart.

For those of you preparing to leave for National Youth Gathering, I pray that you will have thankful hearts for the experience you are about to have, and that you will sing praise to God with gratefulness, and that you will be lights shining in the world for all those you serve this week.

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Carry Each Other's Burdens

¹Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. ²Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ

Galatians 6:1-2

Yesterday our verse talked about what to do when we fail. I thought it appropriate today to look at a verse that talks about when others fail. It's very popular to say, "Let people do what they want as long as they're not hurting anyone else." What people also mean though is, "You have no right to determine right and wrong for anyone else." Do we?

Today's verse says that we should help others when we see them sinning. It doesn't say we should accuse them of wrongdoing or that we should avoid them because they're filthy sinners. What it says is that we should gently point out the problem and help that person to make a change.

If you see someone doing something they shouldn't - take on their burden. Consider it your problem too and figure out how you can help them to stop doing whatever it is that they're doing. Offer your help. Don't be afraid of rejection. Most likely despite any shame they might feel, they will welcome someone else's loving help. And even if your help is rejected - you will know that you have done the wrong thing and that you tried to help out of love and not judgment.

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Sinners, Saints & Fellowship

⁵This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

⁸If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

1 John 1: 5-10

This verse follows yesterday's verse. You will probably recognize the second part from church. We say it every Sunday as part of our corporate confession. Part of having fellowship with others is recognizing that we sin - that we are all sinners. As Martin Luther put it, "We are both sinners and saints." We must recognize that in ourselves, and in other people. No person is perfect except Jesus. He rocks like that.

The first part of this passage talks about how we must strive to walk in the light instead of darkness. We should try to avoid temptation and sin by replacing bad habits with good ones. We should distract ourselves with things that will build ourselves and others up.

The second part of the passage talks about what to do when we fail. Note that I said when - not if. We are sinners by nature and saints through God's grace. God gives us His grace freely. There's always enough to cover our sins. So then why strive to keep from sinning? Simply because we want to do and be good.

Once we recognize that our fellow Christians are sinners and saints, our fellowship deepens. Think back to Kairos and small group. It was a place and time where you had fellowship - where people could share freely about the stuff they normally might not share. Why is that? Because of the fellowship you had with your small group. As we take that back into our home churches, we can create an environment of fellowship that provides us the same opportunities that small group at Kairos does.

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Fellowship

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:3 (NIV)

When I talk to people about why they don't go to church, they often tell me something like, "Church is just a place. I don't need other people to believe in God." Usually this comes from people who were disillusioned by people in their church. somehow they were hurt, and they feel that their experience proves why churches are a bad thing. And they feel that they don't need anyone else, and so avoid churches altogether.

Our verse today talks about fellowship. We go to church for fellowship among other things. It's there that we can worship with others every week. It's there that we can be encouraged. It's there that we can have fellowship with God. That fellowship is worth a lot. In these days of online relationships - and I don't just mean dating - it is easy to feel there are other ways to get the needs of fellowship and companionship met without going to church.

The fact is that's not true. If you find a place in your local church you will find that you look forward to being there with the people and the fellowship. It isn't the same intensity as a youth event, but it is spiritually fulfilling in its own way. God gives us others to lean on and to support, like the lap sit game where everyone gets in a circle and sits on the lap of the person behind them. You are supported and support.

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Encourage One Another

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Encouragement, like growth in faith is a two-way street. When we give, we get. When we encourage others, we are encouraged by them. When we help others in their faith walk, we too can be helped. Being faithful is setting an example - not only for those that don't believe, but for those who do. You can help your fellow Christians by setting a good example, for being there for them, and for telling them you appreciate them. Even when someone teaches you something and you feel you have nothing to add, telling someone thank you can mean a lot. You always have something to offer, and something as simple as thanks can be the encouragement someone else needed to keep doing what they're doing.

Encouragement can be difficult sometimes though. You have to break down barriers. You have to take chances. You have to risk rejection. You also have to take that risk, not because of the possible reward, but because it's the right thing to do. Praying for someone is hard, but if you ask them if you can pray with them - it can be a powerful experience. It can also get you a weird look. So why bother? Even if it doesn't seem worth it at the time, it usually is, and regardless of the results we see, it's what God calls us to do.

Try being out there with your faith. Start with other Christians. Support them. See what happens.

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Forgiveness

¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;

² O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.

³ If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?

⁴ But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.

⁵ I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.

Psalm 130: 1-5 (NIV)

I was driving to work today and got cut off by someone today. It made me angry, and I remembered what I had written only an hour before about being a Christian. So I let it go - after I yelled a little. However, I didn't honk or try to cut him off. Instead I took a deep breath and let it go - eventually. Still, I was reminded of times when I haven't let it go.

It's easy to say, "I'm gonna be a good Christian today!" It is another thing entirely to actually do it. In the end we don't always succeed. The psalmist tells us in today's verse that God forgives us and we should put our hope in Him. This isn't to say that we should sin willfully and then ask for forgiveness. We're not mobsters, and God isn't a car wash for our sins. But when we do try and fail, we ask for forgiveness and help. And we can be encouraged by the fact that we can do better next time. The clock restarts every time we mess up, and not just on Sunday mornings when we confess our sins and take communion.

So even when we do yell at someone while driving, or lead a less than Christian example, we can still take a deep breath and try again - right then and there. God is always ready to forgive.

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Encouragement and Prayer

¹¹Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹²Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Romans12: 11-13

Today's verse follows yesterday's. It starts with encouragement. Keep your spiritual fervor. Keep your passion. Then the verse talks about more things you can do. Today I am going to encourage you to pray. Say this prayer with me.

Dear Lord, you give us so many gifts - hope, faith, love. We thank you for those times when can so readily see and feel them. We pray that today you will use us in your service no matter where we are and what we're doing. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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Putting Others First

⁹Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Romans 12:9-10 (NIV)

I think this verse is like a mirror. When we are at a youth event, it is easier to act this way. Small groups are safe places. You can trust people who were strangers yesterday with secrets you can't tell anyone else. Why is that? Because you're in a safe, intentional christian community. Beyond that, everyone does act in brotherly love. They do think about one another.

When we go back to our lives it's like a bubble popped. At Kairos we were protected. Back in our lives we don't feel safe again. Then you long for Kairos or WC, or whatever the next event is that will allow you to feel safe and secure again.

Today's verse tells us: This is what you did at Kairos - do it all the time! You can bring Kairos back by being devoted to those around you in brotherly love. How does that work? Think about the things that make Kairos - and small group - special.

In small group you can trust others with your secrets. Be someone others can trust with their secrets. Don't gossip. When someone talks to you about something sensitive, even something as simple as who they have a crush on, assure them that you will keep their confidence. The honor one another above yourselves part comes in here as well. Don't keep the secrets that you think need to be kept. Keep the ones that they want you to keep. Put them above yourself.

Love must be sincere. Honor one another above yourselves. If you put others before you, then your love will be sincere. And the people around you will notice. And you will have brought Kairos to the people around you.

Putting God First

Now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 (NIV)

I found this verse yesterday and saved it for today, because it's a good reminder that Jesus didn't just start preaching new things. When he was asked what the greatest commandmant was, he referred back to the verse above. One of the difficulties we face in today's world is the number of religions. So many of the things we hear sound like good ideas. Who's right? More importantly, who sounds right, but isn't?

When someone talks to me about theology, I try and reference the Bible when I can. I have a horrible time remembering chapter and verse however. So this blog is my attempt to get better at that. It started as a series of verses every day for a youth. In looking up daily verses, I've gotten a lot out of what other people had to say, so I decided to make mine public as well. Hopefully they will have value. I don't have all the answers, but you are welcome to my research. :)

Today's verse is a reminder that we are supposed to turn to god first. This is something I have had difficulty doing in the past. I always put my family first. It seemed like the right priority. What I've learned however, is that putting God first doesn't mean I have to take anything away from my family. Putting him first has helped me when I am frustrated or being lazy. God kicks me in the butt and helps me to be a better father. My kids don't lose out, and neither do I.

So try putting God first. You may find that you have more time for the things you want to do instead of less.

Be Content

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

Philippians 4:11 (NIV)

I really like this verse, because it talks about the fact that all we need is God's grace. It's not what we have, but what we do with it that matters.

But for us, coming off Kairos, it takes on additional meaning. We can be content in what we have. Yes, we miss Kairos, but we have the memories. We have the growth in our faith. We can be content in that growth and nurture it by going to church, being involved, having fellowship with others.

Even though we aren't at Kairos, we carry it with us. A tangible piece of that is the relationships we take back. The people from our small groups that we meet. The people we stay in contact with. We go to church because we are social creatures. Some people like more contact, some less, but everyone wants to be part of a group that accepts them, and that is what is so wonderful about Kairos.

We can be content in what we have. I'm happy with what I have. The best part of Kairos is the relationships that I develop. They are a large part of what sustains me both in my faith and in my life.

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Saved by Grace

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:4-9 (NIV)

This is one of those Lutheran passages - it talks about grace. I found it because I thought yesterday's was mis-referenced. So I looked up this one. Then I realized this was a different passage, but I really liked it.

This passage talks about the fact that it's God's grace, not the things we do that save us. The question then is if we can't do anything, why bother doing good deeds? The answer is that he gives us a new heart - one that wants to do good things. We help others not because we need to, but because we want to.

It's also good for our egos because it says, "No matter how awesome you are, you're not awesome enough." We all fall short, and that's a reminder that's good to have, along with the knowledge that he picks us up and carries us when we do fall short.

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Bringing Kairos to the Real World

But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

Revelation 2:4 (ESV)

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

- Revelation 2:4-5 (NIV)

I found this one today and it is interesting because of what someone wrote about it. This was written to the church in Ephesus, and it is a call not of judgement, but of love - to come back into the fold. As we get farther away from Kairos, it is a call to remember not just the feelings of Kairos, but why we felt that way and to hold that in our heart as we deal with people in our daily lives.

We have been given a gift of Christian fellowship at Kairos that let us break down barriers. Now that we're in the real world, we can remember that and try to do the same, or at least not erect the walls so high as last time.

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Adding to Your Faith

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:5-8 (NIV)

The web page I got this from said this: "You have a choice about whether or not you're effective and productive." This honestly goes with the previous verse rather well. I kind of think that the whole thing isn't a perfect string. Like one doesn't depend on the other - to a degree - because I find certain of those things easier than others. self-control and perseverance are kinda my weaknesses. I am a huge slacker - as evidenced by my dirty kitchen. I get myself into trouble putting things off and procrastinating - but I still do it.

What makes one godly? Goodness, knowledge, brotherly kindness, love - these are a bit easier for me. Knowledge is an ongoing thing, and I can always work on the loving my enemies thing more. For you, these things may be quite different.

So then this verse is kind of some steps for the previous. Not like do A then B, but here's a way to get from one to the other and you don't have to perfect A to move on to B, and you can always go back. Like the 2 Cor verse from last week (2 Cor 12:9-10) said though, His grace is enough. Just gotta trust in it. "Let go and let God." Seems a lot harder to do than say doesn't it?

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Submitting Ourselves to God

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.

James 4:7-8 (NIV)

Temptation seems to be everywhere lately because I don't have much to do. Summer is a lazy time. So I end up going out, spending money - which is ok to a point. But it's like the old adage, "Idle hands are the devil's playground." I feel like I could be doing more with my life, but I'm not. This passage is about how to keep that from happening.

How do we submit ourselves to God? Come near to God. Seems like that means spending more time doing churchy stuff, and less doing stuff we know we shouldn't. Simple? Yes, but it's a good start. Talking about verses (or writing about them - or reading about them) is a good way to focus our thoughts on God for a little while during the day.

Spend some time with God today.

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Don't Stop Believing

Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Hebrews 6: 9-12 (NIV)

This passage was inspired by Small Group 9's song at Kairos. This was their proclamation passage. This speaks to me about how even though Grace is a gift and there's nothing we HAVE to do - God knows that we have done good, and that we have tried - and that it DOES make a difference.

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Judging Others

1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Matthew 7:1-5

I picked this verse after I saw a picture of a tatoo on someone. When I was younger I was not a big fan of tattoos, to the point they bothered me. I still don't get them, but I'm really just indifferent to them now. When I saw that tattoo though, the the verse that came to my mind was the above from Matthew - about not judging. I have found that one of my huge stumbling blocks is that I judge people easily. I have gotten a lot better at not doing that, by just taking a step back. But it's sometimes difficult. So the whole tattoo thing reminded me of how I often need to remember that different people like different things. This is the thought I pass on to you tonight - to think before you judge.

This doesn't mean that we should never have opinions, or that we should never share them. But when we DO share them, we should be doing so from a place of love.

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God's Grace is Sufficient

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)

This is from the second lesson this upcoming Sunday. I've been thinking about it a lot since I'm giving a sermon on it this Sunday. The first verse is about God's grace, and the second is Paul saying that we are strong when we are weak because God gives us strength. I've been clinging to that a lot this past week.





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