MATTHEW 6:25-34

MATTHEW 6:25-34

" Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body, more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
     " And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you-you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, what shall we eat? or ' What shall we drink?' or ' What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

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My Personal Space

My Personal Space

An industrial design graduate from a Singapore university was challenged in a workshop to come up with a novel solution to a common problem using only ordinary objects. She created a vest to protect one's personal space from being invaded while traveling in the crush of crowded public trains and buses. The vest was covered with long, flexible plastic spikes normally used to keep birds and cats away from plants.
    Jesus knew what it was like to lose His personal space in the commotion of crowds desperate to see and touch Him. A woman who had suffered from constant bleeding for 12 years and could find no cure touched the fringe of His robe. Immediately, her bleeding stopped ( LUKE 8:43-44).
    Jesus' question, " Who touched me?" isn't as strange as it sounds. He felt power come out of Him. That touch was different from those who merely happened to accidentally touch Him.
    While we must admit that we do sometimes wish to keep our personal space and privacy, the only way we help a world of hurting people is to let them get close enough to be touched by the encouragement, comfort, and grace of Christ in us.
    Lord Jesus, I want to be near You and know You so that when I'm in contact with others they can see You through me.
    A Christian's life is the window through which others can see Jesus.

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LUKE 8:40-48

LUKE 8:40-48

Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl about twelve, was dying.
    As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
    " Who touched me?" Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, " Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you."
    But Jesus said, " SOmeone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."
    Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, " Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."

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MARK 14:1-26

MARK 14:1-26

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. " But not during the festival," they said, " or the people may riot."
    While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
    Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, " Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for than a year's wages and the money given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly.
    " Leave her alone," said Jesus. " Why are bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them anytime you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."
    Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
     On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, " Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
    So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, " Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, ' The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."
    The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
    When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, " Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me-one who is eating with me."
    They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, " Surely you don't mean me?"
    " It is one of the Twelve," he replied, " one who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
    While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, " Taking it; this is my body."
    Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
    " This is my blood of the covenant, which is pured out for many," he said to them. " Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."
    When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

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Who Are You?

Who Are You?

From time to time, we read of people who are offended at not being treated with what they consider due respect and deference. " Do you know who I am?" they shout indignantly. And we are reminded of the statement, " If you have to tell people who you are, you probably really aren't who you think you are." The polar opposite of this arrogance and self importance is seen in Jesus, even as His life on earth was nearing its end.
    Jesus entered Jerusalem to shouts of praise from the people. When others throughout the city asked, " Who is this?" the crowds answered, " It's Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee". He didn't come claiming special privileges, but in humility He came to give His life in obedience to His Father's will.
     The words Jesus said the things He did commanded respect. Unlike insecure rulers, He never demanded that others respect Him. His greatest hours of suffering appeared to be His lowest point of weakness and failure. Yet, the strength of His idenity and mission carried Jesus through the darkest hours as He died for our sins so that we might live in His love.
    He is worthy of our lives and our devotion today. Do we recognize who He is?
    When once you have seen Jesus, you can never be the same.

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MATTHEW 21:1-11

MATTHEW 21:1-11

As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. " Go into the village over there," he said. " As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, " The Lord needs them,' and he will immediately let you take them." This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said, " Tell the people of Jerusalem, ' Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey-riding on a donkey's colt.' "
    The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it.
    Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, " Praise God for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!"
    The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. " Who is this?" they asked. And the crowds replied, " It's Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

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Looking Up

Looking Up

An article in the Surgical Technology International Journal says that looking down at a smart phone with your head bent forward is the equivalent of having a 60-pound weight on your neck. When we consider that millions of people around the world spend an average of 2-4 hours daily of reading and texting, the resulting damage to neck and spine becomes a growing health concern.
    It is also easy to become spiritually bowed down by the burdens of life. How often we find ourselves discouraged by the problems we face and the needs of those we love. The psalmist understood this weight of concern yet saw hope as he wrote about " the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them [ who] remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous.
    When we consider God's care, His great power, and His loving heart, we can begin to look up and praise Him. We can walk through each day knowing that " the Lord reigns forever... for all generations."
    He lifts us up when we are bowed down. Praise the Lord!
    O Lord, lift our eyes to see Your power and love today so we can raise our heads and hearts in grateful praise to you.
    Faith in God's goodness puts a song in your heart.

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