Archive for the ‘Heartlight’ Category
The 11
What? Yep, they are called the eleven!
Doesn’t sound right does it? We’ve heard of a baker’s dozen (13) and we’ve heard of the twelve (apostles), but what in the world we do with the eleven?
Twice in Luke 24, as he is sharing the story of Jesus resurrection, Luke refers to the apostles as the eleven (Luke 24:9 & Luke 24:33). Ouch! We feel the deep wound in even saying the number 11. This number is a reminder of the night of failure – the night that Jesus’ closest three friends couldn’t stay awake with him in prayer (Peter, James, & John in Gethsemane), and Judas betrayed him, and Peter denied the him three times, and the rest of the twelve abandoned him to die alone. It is most clearly a reminder of Judas, the betrayal for thirty pieces of silver and the suicide in sorry for what he had done and how the apostles were left incomplete after the horrors of it all.
The term 11 reminds us of the flawed nature of our best intentions to never forsake the Lord. The number 11 is a reminder of our brokenness and incompleteness and failure. Even the mere thought of the number 11 is the jarring number reminder to us of the wounds in Jesus’ side and even deeper wounds in his heart. And, 11 reminds us that the account of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection does not sugar coat the unfaithfulness of the early church’s greatest heroes. So 11 reminds us to be humble about our biggest promises to the Lord.
The Bible is filled with all sorts of great numbers:
- 3 for divinity
- 4 for creation
- 7 for perfection
- 10 for greatness
- 12 for the twelve tribes of Israel, the people of God, and the apostles
- 40 years for the lifetime of a generation
- 1,000 for an exceedingly long time or large amount of something
But 11 is the perfect number for us.
- Flawed people , but remade by God’s grace
- Disciples carrying the scars of our own failures, but made whole by Jesus’ sacrifice
- Followers who are broken, but forgiven and called back to service
- Worshipers who are wounded, but being healed by the Savior’s touch
- People who can be crushed on their darkest Fridays, but for whom Sunday is coming
11!
The Weather Here Is …
NUTS! Yes, the weather is officially off it’s rocker here in Abilene. Of course we can have weird weather in the spring. Yes, we can have a cold spell. But come on … 90’s yesterday, blizzard warnings today … now it’s sunshine but windy enough to blow the paint off our cars. I just saw a weather warning: “The National Weather Service has issued a severe winter storm warning to all pet owners: keep cats and small dogs inside today or else they will blow to Brownsville.”
Weather has always been hard to figure out for us mere mortals. I guess that is why I love Nahum 1:3 and the images it evokes. I felt like it was an idea to pursue with a Scripture graphic. The image and message seemed to go with where a whole lot of us are, caught up the whirlwind of uncertainty about the road ahead. So, hope you are blessed by the image and the thought. Oh, and don’t go outside with your cat today!
You can get free 1024 X 768 versions of this image and two related ones for free download from Heartlight.org:
You can find thousands of other free Scripture graphic backgrounds and a search tool to find color, theme, or Scripture reference at Heartlight Backgrounds.
Living Upstream!
We live in a time of growing hostility to the Gospel of Jesus — pending U.N. resolutions to make sharing our faith illegal in any country in the world, legislation in the USA hostile to churches and religious non-profits, a hostile press, growing world persecution of believers, and a wave of public sentiment against Christianity in the culture. (The following discussion comes from my Heartlight.org article for this Monday.)
So how are followers of Jesus going to live in such times?
Can we find something to do besides whining and combatant hostility?
Look at the following Scriptures and then make a short summary statement of your convictions on how you are going to live!
Principle One: We live before five audiences and I have a responsibility to live with purpose before each audience! (John 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 14:23-26; 1 Thessalonians 4:12; 1 John 3:13)
- Believers, our brothers and sisters in Christ, whom we are to love.
- Inquirers, those who are seeking to learn more about Jesus, but are not yet disciples. These we are to lead to worship and honor God.
- Unbelievers or outsiders, those who do not believe, but who are willing to listen and visit with us. These we are to help to know our hope in Christ and live in such a way they can see Christ in us.
- Enemies, meaning those who count us as enemies. We are to pray for them and live before them in such a way they can see our good and godly behavior.
- God himself, our Father in heaven. We are to live to honor him and reflect his character and compassion.
How to live before a growingly hostile world is an issue addressed repeatedly in the New Testament. I would encourage you to read through the book of 1 Peter, but the following principles are taken from one central passage in this letter (1 Peter 3:9-16). In a hostile environment where our faith is not appreciated, Peter outlines several guidelines consistent with the rest of his letter:
- Honor God while loving your brothers and sisters.
- Live to be a blessing to others, because we will be blessed by God.
- Do good to others, even if they do evil to you.
- Seek peace with others without being afraid of those who would harm you.
- Always be ready to share the reason for your hope, and do this with gentleness and respect.
So what does that say about how you need to live?
Where do you need to change your focus, your lifestyle to impact those who do not know Christ and especially those who oppose Christians?
How can we help each other live without fear and with the integrity needed to display God’s character and compassion?
Perseverance!
I love the following Scripture graphic for Perseverance. The Scripture is from Romans 5:3-4 and the image is right out of a rock climber’s dream. You can download larger versions of this image free:
Keep Reaching Higher
Free download of 1024 x 768 versions of this image from Heartlight.org
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4 tniv)
Sometimes images say it better for me than trying to explain things. The biblical truth is powerful and with the image, I hope it is inspirational for you.
Let’s Do Something!
Church folks and Christians in general have the reputation of being mostly talk and not much action. In fact, Jesus’ three primary criticisms of the religious leaders of His day in Matthew 23:1-4 are the ones most folks make of church folks:
- They don’t practice what they preach.
- They burden people down with guilt and rules.
- They don’t do anything to lift burdens off of people.
Now we can have serious issues with those perceptions, but we can’t escape that they are out there in a growing number of people. But while we can’t control what folks think about us, we can control who we are!
So in my Heartlight.org article this week, “Putting My Life Where My Mouth Is,” I challenge each of us to put our faith into action. I especially love the way James puts it: “I will show you my faith by what I do” (James 2:18b).
There are all sorts of ways to serve folks in the name of Jesus. The key is for us to get out there and start doing it. But here are some questions for you to consider and I’d love to get your insight into them.
Why do you think that most non-believers see church goers as hypocrites who lay burdens and guilt trips on people and don’t do much to help those around them who are broken?
Do you think this is a fair assessment?
What can you do to change people’s attitude about Jesus’ followers today?
What is one specific thing your church or small group or group of friends do to help serve the broken in your community?
What is one specific thing you could start doing to help serve those with whom you work, go to school, or meet in daily life?
What are things that Christ followers you know are doing today to serve the community around them? (This is to help share ideas with other believers of things we can do to help today!)
Comforted
In my Heartlight.org post today, Comfort in the Season of Mourning, I shared thoughts on 2 Corinthians 1:3-4:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
How have you experienced this principle, “we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” in your life?
Were you on the receiving or sharing end of this comfort giving?
How did this bless your life?
Why do we feel that we must defend God when people who have suffered great loss?
In the book of Job, when Job’s life crashes in, sever “comforters” join him in the dust and sit in silence to share his grief. Then, after 7 days of mourning with him in silence, they open their mouths and their comfort turns into an unintended attack on Job because they feel like they have to explain why all this happened to Job.
Why do you think so many people say simplistic and unintended hurtful things to those in grief?
Why do we feel that we must defend God when people who have suffered great loss?
How is sitting and sharing people’s grief in silence better than opening our mouths?
What should we say to comfort people in their grief?
Why do we wait to DO something to help those in grief when we could go buy them groceries, wash their car, mow their lawn, baby sit their children?
If you have suffered deep loss, how did God comfort you and how did He use other people to bless you?