November 14

Another Sunday jewel! Jesus washed the disciples feet. This doesn’t affect us too much because it isn’t that strange to us – although a little strange. To them it was incredible! The thing I saw was right before Jesus did the washing.

John 13:3 (NIV)
3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;

If we know who we are and who God has called us to be, then we will do ANYTHING no matter how low or high it may be.

November 13

When I have the faintest hint of the fear of man, of what people will say or the price I will pay for doing such and such, I am going to be diving into unbelief. I realize that I am not a Pharisee, however it is a principle that God showed me. Consideration of man before God is a trap that sends you towards unbelief. First you are really trusting man more than God for the outcome, and you certainly are not fearing God which produces faith. Whatever consideration of man I have must be what God would have as well – my heart and His heart have to line up. I really want to stretch and believe for things that I have never seen before and God has showed me today one of the keys to getting there. Don’t be a people pleaser, be a God pleaser.

November 12

There are two things that spoke to me. First there was the “worthless” servant. Did you get that? Worthless! What did he do to be called worthless? He didn’t do anything with the gift that God gave him. He is lazy, unmotivated, unaware of the impact he could have, and even if he was aware, he was unwilling to do anything beyond normal living. He just lived his life and did nothing with what God have him. Hmmm….

The second thing was that righteous people are known for what they do and not what they don’t do. It wasn’t there moral way of life (not doing all those things a Christian shouldn’t do) that was a factor in this parable, (although the righteous would certainly live morally), it was what they DID. They did have mercy, they did help the needy, they did care, they were hospitable. For me it is not how good I preach or lead worship that God is making me aware of, it is how I treat the individual and care for their needs. I will start by supplying a Thanksgiving dinner to someone needy. God help me to have a lifestyle in which I give to you through the people on this earth.

November 11

Jesus is stunning the Pharisees with blow after blow. First He answers all of their questions with words of wisdom, then he talks about them in parables, and then he goes into what we call the 7 woes. Jesus is not out to win friends, He is here to preach the truth! Although this truth has been truth (about the Pharisees) since the beginning, it is now time to let it loose. (Timing) He is not afraid – Jesus make me like that.

I was talking to a friend of mine about some hard decisions he had to make at the church he pastored. He had to tell another church which was renting their building to leave. I said, “that would be awful, I would hate to do that”. His reply was, “I am Kingdom focused, so whatever it takes to expand the Kingdom of God, I am willing to do – no problem.” I want to be more like that, more like Jesus.

Please notice what Jesus said at the end of the woes, He said He LONGED to gather Israel in His arms. What He said to the Pharisees was not because He hated them, it was because He loved His people. His motivation is always love. Jesus make mine love too! Don’t let me rise up in some fake righteous indignation to reprove people, let it be for the sake of love only.

November 10

Jesus talked about believing (acting out what has been revealed to you) while you still have the light. Darkness will come in the future so do it now! That was interesting to me. He seems to be saying that even though they had the revelation about Him that NOW was the time to act on it and not later. Later was going to bring darkness, which I believe was a swayed public opinion which made it much harder to believe (the acting out of what has been revealed).

When God gives me a revelation in regards to my life, family, ministry or anything else, I need to act on it immediately. Those times when I haven’t, that instruction got a little cloudy and much easier to refuse. The further you get away from the revelation or instruction or opportunity, the harder it will be to step into. Terry – act on it immediately! Don’t wait! When it is from the Lord, then do it!

November 9

“I came to serve, to give my life as a ransom for many.” Our lives can’t ransom anyone’s life like Jesus’ could. However our lives can make an impact! John and James were going to be baptized like Jesus, but I don’t think that was talking about the kind of death since John didn’t die a martyr. It was a baptism of different proportions of sacrifice. It was thinking long and hard about the phrase, “to give his (my) life”. What does that mean? I think that I have given my life – at least most of it. Then the recurring theme this year came to me; minute by minute give your life away. What time I wake up, what I do, when I go to work, what I do for a work out, what I do when I go to work, when do I answer the phone and when do I study for the next teaching – I must give every aspect of my life to Him who has sent me to serve and give my life as a gift to the church.

Lord, I know I do sacrifice but I feel like I fail most days on the minute by minute thing. I feel like the minutes rush towards the meeting that night or the dinner time at home. I start out well and well intentioned, but I end being pulled by demands. I am asking for your strong intervention – I want to be like you, maximizing all that you have given me.

November 8

Jesus delayed on purpose so on his arrival, Lazarus was dead. He delayed 2 days and Lazarus was dead for 4 days and probably more because the Jews didn’t bury people right away. The fact of the matter was that Jesus did delay and that delay meant more suffering. In fact Lazarus had to die twice for this God glorifying act. That is a bummer! Dying of any disease isn’t easy – I was thinking about the suffering he must have gone through and how hard it may have been. God didn’t rescue him from his suffering, but Jesus did raise him from the dead. God didn’t save Mary and Martha from their suffering/mourning either. That is what I was thinking about while I read. In fact I think this fact really hit Jesus and he broke down in tears twice! Even though He knew He was about to raise Lazarus up from the dead, He was overwhelmed with the thought of all the suffering. He doesn’t like us suffering, but He knows it is necessary at times. His heart aches when we suffer.

Thank you for your constant revelation Papa.

November 7

I usually don’t blog on Sunday, but there is something that just has to be said. Jesus said, “I will heal and cast out demons today and tomorrow and the 3rd day I will reach my goal.” Jesus had goals in ministry. I don’t think it was a number, but rather time. My time must be my Father’s to do with. Not even a threat of death would persuade Jesus to move on early. Don’t let anything persuade me to move on early Lord, not until my goal (your goal) has been reached.

November 6

Will I ever read the account of Martha and Mary without hearing God’s voice instructing me to choose the “better” option? I guess it is a character flaw of mine that is very resistant to the Holy Spirit. I would like to explain it away by stating that hyper Type-A people like me get things done, invent things, start businesses, etc…, but the words of Jesus seem to indicate that there are better things, like sitting at His feet and listening to Him. That was Mary’s choice, the question is will it be mine or will go I go out and work for God? For me, I choose God – again! It is easier to work and accomplish, not because I don’t like being with Him, but because I like accomplishing. I am afraid that for many in the body of Christ, they don’t spend time with Jesus because they are uncomfortable with it.

Our prophetic call jumped out at me. We are obviously all called to evangelize and heal the sick – right? How about when we enter a house “saying” “peace on this house”? How about that? That is crazy radical. I determine whether a house receives a blessing of peace or not! How about my own house? If it is crazy and the kids are going wild and out of control (never my children – it’s just an illustration), maybe, just maybe if I would wear my mantle of prophet, speak peace (command), the household would “chill”. I don’t use my privilege enough! God help me to see all my benefits in you!

November 5

God give me miracles! Work signs and wonders by my hand! Glorify yourself and your Son with healings and deliverances! Those who doubted couldn’t argue with the eyes of a blind man being opened. BUT, they still wouldn’t believe. YET, there were plenty of others who saw and heard and did believe!

The familiar shepherd passage stuck out to me, especially where Jesus said that the hired hand flees when the wolf comes. Am I a hired hand? Will I flee in the face of opposition? I don’t want to – that is for sure. Then I began to think about it… I am not a hired hand, I am one with the shepherd! I have the shepherd’s heart for the sheep and within me is the propensity and ability to stand up to the wolves and lay my life down for the sheep. Jesus, I want to be like you – able to say it so straight that people want to kill me, but willing to lay my life down for the sheep.

Acts 4:29-30 (NIV)
29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

November 4

Do nothing to honor myself but do everything to honor God. That is easily said but hard to do. I do want to honor God with my life – so much! Yet there is that “guy” in me that wants some honor too. I am not talking about the healthy honor that one deserves because of his position in life, I am talking about that the desire for others to approve of you and give you accolades for being funny, working hard or witty and things like that. As I read today I just got the sense that God was stressing to me, “honor me in all you do”. That means that I must lay down my life, even more than I have, and give every moment to the honor of the King. I want to Papa, and I will – strengthen me to do just that.

Did you notice that Jesus went to the feast when it was the right time? He delayed but then left at the right time. At the feast they tried to arrest him and wanted to kill him, but it wasn’t the right time. We can have the right idea at the wrong time. We also should take heart that when we are doing the unpopular thing at the right time, God has got our back! When my life is given to God, I am immortal, until the right time.

November 3

There were 2 things that really popped out to me today and I am not sure if I have the answer to my first question. Why did Jesus have Peter get the coin for the temple tax out of a fish? Was it that he knew the fish had swallowed a coin and with the Father's help would bite on Peter's line? I was thinking, he had a treasury, He could have pulled it out of the treasury. It was a cool miracle, but Peter had to work for it. Hmmm... One thing it says to me for sure, God cannot be predicted! He will supply how He supplies and we cannot formulize Him for one second. It is all about obedience to His Spirit and trusting God for the results. God help me do whatever you tell me to do, even if I think it is dumb.

The second thing was in the story of the unmerciful servant. When the servant that had been forgiven a million dollar debt (I wonder how he got that?) was choking out his fellow servant, the other servants were "greatly distressed". Unforgiveness greatly distresses everyone around us along with the Lord. God started a pattern in my life many years ago that I would inventory any bitterness on a daily basis and forgive. It's a good pattern. God bring anyone to mind that I need to forgive today and I will release them.

November 2

Sometimes I think that the disciples are so dull! I think that I would have been saying, 'are you going to do the multiply the loaves thing again!!!!' However, then I think of all the times that God has come through for me and when the chips are down, I myself have doubted that God will come through - again - again. We are cut out of the same chord, me and the disciples. We have short memories, but as they grew and especially as they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, they became different - me too!

Have you noticed that Jesus has used many different methods of healing so far? I don't think that is coincidence. I think we would clone the method and use that method as a formula instead of the power of God. He spit on people and stuck His fingers in ears and told people to go home and it was done. For me, it is about doing the will of the Father. Not just the big "W" will, as in mission, but it is the moment by moment obedience that He requires. Scary but comforting. He wants to lead me moment by moment.

November 1

Here they go again grumbling against Jesus. They are amazed at what He says but then they start thinking that they know Him, that He is just a regular, maybe even less than regular guy. It is no wonder that pastors are aloof and distant from their congregants. They fear that if people got to know them, they would lose respect. Unfortunately, I have had it happen to me. People love my humanity and transparency, but it has proven to be too much for some people. I am reminded by the passage that we have already read that says that Jesus didn't give himself to any man, for He knew what was in a man. There is a delicate balance of not giving man an opportunity to trounce on your identity yet remaining vulnerable. Jesus was so compassionate and open to the plight of man yet He knew His source - it wasn't man - it was His Papa. Although He faced personal let down and disappointment from man He knew His mission and He knew His Papa in whom He trusted in wholly. God, I want to be like your Son in this. Help me remain open and vulnerable, yet trusting in your for who I am.