The Message (MSG)
Matthew 9:11-13 (The Message)
10-11Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew's house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus' followers. "What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riffraff?"
12-13Jesus, overhearing, shot back, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: 'I'm after mercy, not religion.' I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders."
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Abandonment
For several weeks, I’ve been meeting with the Lord over The Message’s translation of Psalm 40.
Perhaps the hardest part of belonging to God is deciding to lay down the right to defend ourselves [in the flesh], when people are mean.
In Psalm 40, King David calls on us to “abandon ourselves to God” and “enter the mystery.”
I’ve been meditating on the meaning of abandonment. We can abandon all hope, we can abandon spouse or children, we can abandon jobs. What does it mean to abandon something or someone?
To give up the rights to, to deliberately fail to defend, to deliberately refuse to provide for. If we are incapable of defending someone, that’s not abandonment. If we are somehow incapacitated, we can neglect others or ourselves. But abandonment implies a deliberate choice to give up something.
As ministers of the gospel, we are called to make a deliberate and conscious choice to abandon ourselves to God. The mystery King David references is what happens when we abandon ourselves to God [give up our right to defend ourselves, to be ambitious for ourselves], and in so doing, we find we are safer because God is our defender.
He will not be moved. He will not be defeated. He will overcome.
That’s why Jesus tells us to pray for those who persecute us; those folks need our prayers because they are not striving with us, they have to deal with our Big Daddy, Who is God Almighty. In Isaiah, God tells us, His people, “He who touches you touches the apple of my eye.”
We know how quick we are to defend our children when they are threatened. Imagine how quickly then God will jump to our defense, even if we cannot see Him doing so.
We need to get out of God’s way, and let Him do the defending.
That requires trust, and self-control that is beyond my fleshly ability. The Holy Spirit must empower me to do so.
Let’s pray that the Holy Spirit will reinforce our trust in God by reminding us daily of how God has come to our rescue in the past, and how God has never failed us in the present. In other words, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Amen.”
Perhaps the hardest part of belonging to God is deciding to lay down the right to defend ourselves [in the flesh], when people are mean.
In Psalm 40, King David calls on us to “abandon ourselves to God” and “enter the mystery.”
I’ve been meditating on the meaning of abandonment. We can abandon all hope, we can abandon spouse or children, we can abandon jobs. What does it mean to abandon something or someone?
To give up the rights to, to deliberately fail to defend, to deliberately refuse to provide for. If we are incapable of defending someone, that’s not abandonment. If we are somehow incapacitated, we can neglect others or ourselves. But abandonment implies a deliberate choice to give up something.
As ministers of the gospel, we are called to make a deliberate and conscious choice to abandon ourselves to God. The mystery King David references is what happens when we abandon ourselves to God [give up our right to defend ourselves, to be ambitious for ourselves], and in so doing, we find we are safer because God is our defender.
He will not be moved. He will not be defeated. He will overcome.
That’s why Jesus tells us to pray for those who persecute us; those folks need our prayers because they are not striving with us, they have to deal with our Big Daddy, Who is God Almighty. In Isaiah, God tells us, His people, “He who touches you touches the apple of my eye.”
We know how quick we are to defend our children when they are threatened. Imagine how quickly then God will jump to our defense, even if we cannot see Him doing so.
We need to get out of God’s way, and let Him do the defending.
That requires trust, and self-control that is beyond my fleshly ability. The Holy Spirit must empower me to do so.
Let’s pray that the Holy Spirit will reinforce our trust in God by reminding us daily of how God has come to our rescue in the past, and how God has never failed us in the present. In other words, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Amen.”
Monday, July 6, 2009
Enter the Mystery
Psalm 40 (The Message)
A David Psalm
1-3 I waited and waited and waited for GOD. At last he looked; finally he listened.
He lifted me out of the ditch,
pulled me from deep mud.
He stood me up on a solid rock
to make sure I wouldn't slip.
He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,
a praise-song to our God.
More and more people are seeing this:
they enter the mystery,
abandoning themselves to GOD. 4-5 Blessed are you who give yourselves over to GOD,
turn your backs on the world's "sure thing,"
ignore what the world worships;
The world's a huge stockpile
of GOD-wonders and God-thoughts.
Nothing and no one
comes close to you!
A David Psalm
1-3 I waited and waited and waited for GOD. At last he looked; finally he listened.
He lifted me out of the ditch,
pulled me from deep mud.
He stood me up on a solid rock
to make sure I wouldn't slip.
He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,
a praise-song to our God.
More and more people are seeing this:
they enter the mystery,
abandoning themselves to GOD. 4-5 Blessed are you who give yourselves over to GOD,
turn your backs on the world's "sure thing,"
ignore what the world worships;
The world's a huge stockpile
of GOD-wonders and God-thoughts.
Nothing and no one
comes close to you!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Isaiah 40:31 (The Message)
27-31Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,
or, whine, Israel, saying,
"God has lost track of me.
He doesn't care what happens to me"?
Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?
God doesn't come and go. God lasts.
He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.
And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
27-31Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,
or, whine, Israel, saying,
"God has lost track of me.
He doesn't care what happens to me"?
Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?
God doesn't come and go. God lasts.
He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.
And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Psalm 91 (The Message)
You who sit down in the High God's presence, spend the night in Shaddai's shadow,
Say this: "God, you're my refuge.
I trust in you and I'm safe!"
That's right—he rescues you from hidden traps,
shields you from deadly hazards.
His huge outstretched arms protect you—
under them you're perfectly safe;
his arms fend off all harm...
Yes, because God's your refuge,
the High God your very own home,
Evil can't get close to you,
harm can't get through the door.
He ordered his angels
to guard you wherever you go.
If you stumble, they'll catch you;
their job is to keep you from falling.
You who sit down in the High God's presence, spend the night in Shaddai's shadow,
Say this: "God, you're my refuge.
I trust in you and I'm safe!"
That's right—he rescues you from hidden traps,
shields you from deadly hazards.
His huge outstretched arms protect you—
under them you're perfectly safe;
his arms fend off all harm...
Yes, because God's your refuge,
the High God your very own home,
Evil can't get close to you,
harm can't get through the door.
He ordered his angels
to guard you wherever you go.
If you stumble, they'll catch you;
their job is to keep you from falling.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Ephesians 5:25-26 (The Message)
Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They're really doing themselves a favor—since they're already "one" in marriage.
Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They're really doing themselves a favor—since they're already "one" in marriage.
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