Scripture:
Luke 12:34 “Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be.”
Observation:
Initially this made me ask “Where is my treasure.” As I consider the verse more, I guess the questions should be “Where is my heart?” and “Where are my thoughts?” There are dozens of places my thoughts linger … it would be interesting to see a pie chart. Regretfully, aside from this hour, I can’t say I really spend much time considering God, his ways, or his direction. I try to align my heart and my actions with God – the manner in which I perform and the focus of my tasks. Perhaps that “counts”?
Application:
I’m visual – perhaps I need more visual reminders or … I don’t know, things to not correct my thoughts, but to refocus them back to Christ – back to where my treasure is.
Prayer:
I love you Lord – help me focus on you – refocus my thoughts to yours – help me think only about the things you want me to think about.
Scripture:
John 13:3 “Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.”
Observation:
We just did a mini study on this verse working through Leadership Essentials, a workbook the staff is going through. The focus was about the servant heart of a leader. The author used this verse to point out that, to truly serve, the leader must have a firm grounding in his identity. Finding that identity in God, realizing our value as a child of God, gives us the ability to serve. Why? Presumably because the intrinsic value over-rides the value derived from what we do. I’m not sure this is necessarily the primary motivation for service. Actually, come to think of it, the motivation comes from verse 1 in this chapter: “…Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world … [and so] he now showed them the full extent of his love.” Christ didn’t serve because of his value to God, but because of deep love for those around him. Whether we are fully aware of and embrace our value as children of God is less relevant to our ability to serve than our love for the other. Further motivation could be better found in grasping that those around us are children of God.
Prayer:
Lord, give me true, deep love for those around me.
Scripture:
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
Observation:
This verse struck me because the contrast of timidity and discipline. I guess the same goes with love. So Paul’s response to fear would challenge the love shown, or the discipline practiced. If I’m really loving those around me, any fear or timidity would melt away as I consider their needs more important than my own – when I don’t do this, I’m loving myself. The discipline part encourages me that this is something I can practice. Acting differently can lead to a different outlook.
Application:
Are there ways I can practice this? Can I place myself in situations that force me to be sacrificial of my fear for self? What are those situations?
Prayer:
Lord – give me these opportunities, point them out to me and remind me of this verse.
Scripture:
Ephesians 3:16-19 “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
Observation:
This passage reminded me of yesterday’s study in Leadership Essentials. Greg Ogden, the author, wrote about the importance of a full understanding of our value as a child of God. I appreciate Paul’s prayer the we are God would “empower you with inner strength.” The author asked us to rate our awareness of how much God loves us; in my head, though I could never fully understand, I am deeply aware that I am a beloved child of God, yet I am often disappointed in my lack of “inner strength.” One of my group members posited that inner strength is a by-product of a complete understanding of our value … I’m pretty sure I disagree. I think the lacking part of the equation is not my understanding of God’s love, but, ultimately, the value I place on it. Ouch. If I truly and deeply value God’s love, and root myself there, my “inner strength” will overflow. When I don’t place enough value there, then I am concerned with the love of others.
Application:
This step is so hard for me so often. I wish there was something I could just … do, be done, and move on. However, as this is not the case – what steps can I take today to move my value toward God’s love, and away from the love of others? There’s certainly the base “awareness” that I hope will affect change. Perhaps this is an instance where having a scripture or two memorized could come in handy?
Prayer:
Lord – thank you for a complete love, and thank you for valuing me beyond my value of you. Please forgive the inaction caused by this misalignment, and help me remember what it means to be your child. I love you Lord!
Scripture:
Luke 11:39-41 “Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.”
Observation:
I think today this would look like sitting down and immediately eating without washing your hands and praying before the meal. Jesus was looking for this conversation. What throws me off is that the thing he identifies as unclean about them is that they “neglect justice and the love of God.” It’s as if he’s telling them “you talk too much.” In order to be clean, they need to give to the poor. Not a particularly complex command.
Application:
Embarrassingly there is no meaningful area of my life which intersects with the poor or oppressed. That ought to change.
Prayer:
Lord – help me figure out what that looks like for our family.
