Meditation: May 15

 “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (2) And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”  2 Tim 2:1-3

There is a need to maintain the consistency of effort in fulfilling a shared vision. The instructions of Paul were received because he both trained and taught his disciples in the ways of Jesus Christ. If his life contradicted his message, it would have been hypocritical for him to expect more from others than he was willing to do. Not only did they observe his manner of life, his reputation was widespread among many witnesses. It is good to be able to say that your life is a life committed to Christ, but it is far more significant for others to bear witness of your commitment. Therefore he was able to exhort his disciples to commit to others what they collectively were committed to. This is a day where true commitment is needed desperately. The world needs to see examples of committed saints of God modeling before them faithfulness to the Lord and His Word. At that place of commitment, we are given a voice and have earned the right to speak on His behalf. Anything less than this, we become a disservice to the cause of evangelism and discipleship. We duplicate who we are and not just what we say. We must want our lives to speak louder than our words.

Meditation: May 11

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:11

God’s love obligates us without force. We are rather persuaded by His love if it is authentic. As we grow in knowledge of the dimensions of the love released from the Father through the Son to us, our confidence in Him increases. To know His love is to know that He has our best interest at heart. We are secure in Him with a positive expectation of the future. The present challenges are but temporary and momentary while God is working behind the scene for our good. The challenge to love others is usually stifled by our own insecurities. When there is a question regarding our own acceptance, we would have the tendency to hoard whatever we may have the opportunity to either possess or even manage. The knowledge of His love liberates us to love others. If we know that God so loved us, our response that His love is working in us ought to be translated into loving one another. If we cannot love one another, the question is not in relation to them but in relation to Him. To know His love is to release His love towards the objects of His affection.

Meditation: May 9

“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.” Matt 11:19

Sinners flocked around Jesus and loved to be his companions, while the religions found Him to be repulsive and were made to feel uncomfortable. Prostitutes and publicans followed Him around without feeling intimidated, but sought Him out knowing that they would not be condemned. Even though He did not give license to sin, but rather came that all of the works of the devil would be destroyed by Him. He would judge the judges of men who would place heavy burdens upon their shoulders. But He would come into the Temple and turn over the tables of the money changers. His life was paradoxical to most because it appeared as if He would tolerate the very thing in others the very thing that by His nature He despised. Sinners, Publicans, and the poor gladly received the Gospel because they knew that their lives did not measure up to His standard. Therefore, they received Him gladly as one who would be thought of as rejecting Him, while those who are religious often saw themselves as superior to His standard and in violation to it. Jesus loves sinners and saints are to love what He loves. He came to seek and to save that which was lost.

Meditation: May 8

“Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” John 19:27

Jesus made an oral testament to John, the beloved disciple, to provide as He would for her after His death. It was a binding agreement in the company of others if accepted, to care for her needs as the second oldest son. Even though there were other children, his responsibility was to treat her as He would treat her in absentia. John knowing Jesus was to compensate for the void that would otherwise be in her life. This example is a challenge to every son and daughter to consider the needs of parents. To honor our father and mother is to provide for them what is needed. Jesus told John to look intensively at the woman that will become his mother. And He told His mother Mary to look intensively at the man who would become her son. A new relationship was to be forged at that very moment. As we look at our mothers, if we could for a moment see what Jesus saw in His own mother. She was the vessel chosen by God for Him to enter into the earth. We owe a great degree of gratitude to our mothers, regardless of their weaknesses. They were the chosen vessels from which we were born.

Meditation: May 7

“He grants the barren woman a home, like a joyful mother of children.” Ps 113:9

The exercise of affection in guiding the household and caring for children produces a joy in the heart of mothers. She was made to love her children and to maintain the household in which she has the pleasure to occupy. But what if there was no household to care for, nor child to guide? It would leave the woman who has the affection deep within without an outlet to express the innate love given to women. Yet God provides for her a home. Instead of being homeless, her place is in Christ with God. He draws her close to Himself so that nothing is lacking in her life. She will find in Him a satisfaction as joyful as that of a mother of children. It is only when she allow her mind to be influenced by thoughts of being incomplete will she be drawn away from the richness of God’s love. To some the circumstance is temporal until she is granted the privilege of mothering, while with others, her devotion is to be given over to God absolutely with a special grace to be drawn nearer each day. God will give her joy that is equal to what some mothers experience and surpassing many who do not have the right perspective godly motherhood. He has full knowledge of every woman’s lot in life and provides grace accordingly. None is cursed to a state of restlessness if He is acknowledged. He provides a home for those who will to live in Him.

Meditation: May 2

“For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.” 1 Timothy 4:10

Those who trust in the living God labor with a goal in view that is different from the activities of others. There are luxuries not afforded the faithful for he must live his life with purpose. Every day must have a degree of significance that further sets him aside as God’s representative on the earth, maintaining the course leading to a destination. Kingdom business is his primary business. Now the world system will notice the difference but will not know how to interpret it. His strangeness will be repulsive to many who would much rather he be silent rather than to speak. His activity appears to run counter to values of his contemporaries. Yet he has fully embraced his call and end to suffer reproach because his life is not his own; he has been bought with a price. Therefore he trusts in the living God who is his constant companion to guide him through this maze of life to his eternal home. His life is a gift to the world so that others who would come to believe that Christ suffered for a reason. That reason being the very ones who do not understand.

Meditation: May 1

“So, when you pray in your private prayer language, don’t hoard the experience for yourself. Pray for the insight and ability to bring others into that intimacy.” 1 Corinthians 14:13  (MSG)

True love is never selfish. It takes pleasure in giving more than receiving. God has called us into deeper levels as our hearts are in sync with His own. Our thoughts and His thoughts become the same. Our passions and His passions align. Only then will our hearts soar beyond our intellect, or our abilities to articulate what is burning deeply within it. It is from the overflow of our hearts that a language that is not our own is given expression. Our prayers are in private and our language is privately expressed. Yet we are provoked by the Holy Spirit not to be ascetic with the pleasures of our private devotions. Pray that we may be able to share with others what we have privately shared with God. God is able to unleash within us the abilities to give expression to what He imparts so that all may benefit from the Divine impartation.

Meditation: April 24

“He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Matthew 28:6

He is absent from the place to which He had been carried. His lifeless body lay in a tomb without the strength to either participate or resist. There He was carried and placed by others. But on Resurrection Sunday, the grave was robbed of its victory. The empty tomb served as a witness that He was no longer there. His was not the result of being carried away, for many are absent because they have been carried away by something or someone. “He is risen, as He said.” His Word was confirmed by action. His promise was fulfilled thus giving even greater validity to all that He ever said. The evidence was presented, thus allowing every skeptic and naysayer to see with their own eyes His power to defy death, hell, and the grave. The angel invited them to come inside and see the very place that He once laid. Where a body once laid, and empty tomb reminds us of our own destinies. As we are in Christ Jesus, we too shall be made alive by the same Spirit and power that raised Him from the dead. He is not where men placed Him. For He is risen from the dead!

Meditation: April 22

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18

The question is how can something be foolish to some but so necessary to others? There are some who believe more in their abilities and strength rather than the strength that is ours through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. We were once without strength, dead in trespasses and sins, but Christ died for us. Now as we believe on Him and in His Name, the power of God works within us to the saving of our souls. Both categories have to do with one’s future state of being. On one hand, there are those who are perishing, and on the other hand, there are those who are being saved. The seed of destruction is embedded in the hearts of those who do not believe as it was in us all. Jesus died for sinners before they recognized their need for redemption. Those who reject His offer are perishing. But those who are being saved are in the process of living. The body of sin will perish, but just as He rose from the dead, we too shall be raised in newness of life. Jesus died on the cross that we might live. But there had to be a cross to bear leading to ultimate victory over death, hell, and the grave. Without the cross there can be no crown.

Meditation: April 18

“When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” Matthew 16:13

What men say cannot change the nature of a person or a thing. It has to do with recognizing and agreeing with the truth. Those who know Him merely by reputation can only repeat what they have heard and never share their truest knowledge of Him. Those who see Him from afar and can only see His silhouette may describe it with accuracy without ever knowing those special features that give expression to His passion. Only those who have answered the call to come to Him; to come close enough to see His face will be able to share with others the intimate things that would ignite a fire within the hearts of others to know what they may otherwise would have never known. What they say is not as important as what you say. Jesus Christ came to be known, but not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. The resurrected Christ invites us to come closer and see the nail prints in His hands that His love may be known through the price He paid for our redemption. He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. God is alive and His Spirit makes alive those who receive Him into their hearts.