get in step

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Galatians 5:25

This simple verse calls me to an entire lifestyle. It encourages me as I hear the Word of God, belonging to the Son of God (Galatians 5:24), to live by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is supposed to lead my life, set my pace, show my way, and be my life. He does this through leading me to apply the fruit of the Spirit in my character and actions. He calls and convicts me to put to death what is wrong and to live in what is right. These are active things: putting to death, and walking in the Spirit. I don’t just sit and wait. I am convinced and then obey.

And keeping in step with the Spirit begins right now. Every time I am in scripture, the active and powerful Word of God can be put into use in my life through the Spirit of God. He shows me the way. I walk in line after Him. And in this way the Lord will lead me... day after day... all for His glory.

To live by the Spirit is to then visibly and radically obey the Word of God as clear instruction comes to me. It is lived out, not just filed away. A Christian life is not hidden, but known, as the Spirit of God walks Christians through holiness and change.

the centurion’s faith

And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Mark 15:39

The centurion was a hardened soldier assigned to lead a death squad of Roman executioners. They were ruthlessly, bloody efficient. He had doubtless crucified more Jews than he could remember. He was used to it. It was his job to do Rome’s dirty work of securing the “Pax Romana” at the cost of the fear of state execution. Brutality was his business. And his crew was mercilessly efficient at the grisly torture of crucifixion.

But this tough warrior has an unexpected tender moment of faith when witnessing the death of Jesus. He saw something very different in the way that Jesus died. It got his attention. He is convinced that this man who didn’t just die a criminal’s death, but gave up His life to the last breath, was very different. This was the Son of God! He blurts it out in astonishment.

The text does not tell us that the centurion knew all the details of Christ’s ministry, teaching, healing, or confrontations with the Jewish religious leaders. He may have connected some of those pieces through rumors he had heard, or through what he had seen over the hours of Jesus’ testimony and trials. But what changed this man’s heart was the way that Jesus died. He recognized a saving truth: Jesus died as the Son of God. This is the gospel we believe today. And the centurion’s words rightly summarize the life, the identity, the mission, and the death of Jesus.

O Lord Jesus, Son of God,

You are indeed the only Son of God. Your death confirmed it. Your resurrection forever makes You Lord and Judge over all of us. And like the centurion, I look on Your sacrifice and in praise I know You truly are the Son of God... my only hope... my only worship... my Savior!

Amen

worship now and forever

But we will bless the Lord

from this time forth and forevermore.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 115:18

Worship is what my heart was made to do. I am always worshiping, the question is: Am I praising the Lord when I do? I was created always worshiping, always adoring, always longing for something greater, always looking to something or Someone transcendent for my fulfillment. But my heart does not always worship God. I can be an idolater.... all too easily. That is a foolish part of human nature and you can see the folly of it in the description in Psalm 115:4-8. It is foolishness to be worshiping anything that is not God.

I must consciously resist my heart’s longing for improper worship. I must repent when I want things, or other people, or my own desires to give to me what I can only truly have in Jesus. I must turn from my idols to serve the loving God! And when I do, my course is set free in glorious worship forever. I will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! I will praise Him at my morning time in His Word. I will worship Him as I work. I will rejoice in Him in the joys and pleasures of life that He showers upon me, feeling His love and finding my pleasure in His delight in me with those good gifts of life! I will wander woods, lakes, rivers, mountains, canyons, and valleys knowing the God Who made them has given me the joy of being with Him in all places. I will go through dark times, tough climbs, painful lessons submitting to His loving care in worship. I will bless the Lord as I worship with His saints, submitting to His Word, being led by His Spirit, and obeying the call to let His gospel be known. I was born to worship the Lord and it is what I do.

Lord Jesus,

May my praise-filled heart worship You. Thank You for this call to worship this morning. I will bless Your great name now and forevermore. Thank You for ALL Your blessings in the possession of my good gifts from Your hand! I praise You. I worship You. I confess my heart does wander to useless idols. And in repentance I return. You are my only true praise forevermore!

Amen

Only Jesus is the true king.

And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” And they cried out again, “Crucify him.”

Mark 15:12-13

Political expediency was one of many complicated factors that led Jesus to His death. Of course it would be wrong to blame either Pilate’s fickle politics, or the Jewish leadership’s hatred of Jesus for what Jesus came to willingly do. In the sovereign plan of God, the Lamb of God had come to be slain in order to carry away the sin of the world. The politics and the hate among human institutions were just more sins for which Jesus would die.

Between the hard-nosed right wing politics of the Jewish Sanhedrin and the fickle power politics of oppressive Rome, Jesus hung on the cross. And there the true King became Lord of lords and King of kings. By dying to defeat death, atoning for all sin, and three days later rising from death the victor over all, Jesus now reigns over every human institution. He is in control. Jesus rules and reigns, and one day He shall return to set aside all the mess that human beings have made in our self-governing failures. And every knee shall bow to the rule of Jesus. And every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

I do not wonder why our present politics worldwide are such an insane mess. They always have been. Yet no supreme leader, no dictator, no king, no president, no scientific bureaucracy, no business genius, no gifted artist, no congress or parliament can fix the world’s problems. Only Jesus transforms lives on a global scale. Only His rule in His body, the Church, makes people one in Him to the glory of God. Only the gospel can be the good news this world needs most to hear and believe. And only Jesus is the King!

distributing freely

He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;

his righteousness endures forever;

his horn is exalted in honor.

Psalm 112:9

I’ve learned the hard way that following the middle class herd in the American Dream is a path to bondage and frustration. 

Generosity is what pays. The dividends that return when we share with others far exceed the cost of what we gave. Kindness is satisfying and rewarding. The righteousness we show as Christ empowers generous lives endures long beyond the gifts we may give. We make an impact for eternity. I’m so into that vision!

Christ commissioned His apostles to preach the gospel accompanied by generous lives... “freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). He wants the gospel to be accompanied by kindness shown to others in generous love. He wants His followers to share all that they have been blessed to share. He wants the blessing of giving to those in need to be known in the lives of His people as the gospel message is accompanied by truly good works. We will be blessed if we follow Jesus’ lead and give our lives to this vision with no reservations about it!

I will give of my life freely. I will sacrifice when needed. I will order my income, abilities, and resources around kingdom priorities and NOT the selfish appeal of the American Dream. I want the blessing of truly blessing other people to keep blessing me. I reject personal wealth creation as my vision for life. I run from frustrating debt, a lazy retirement scheme, and materialistic pressures. I seek to live with simplicity, kindness, and generosity as my companions for all my days.

God provides and remembers.

He provides food for those who fear him;

he remembers his covenant forever.

Psalm 111:5

From the most basic of my needs, to the most important eternal purpose for this world, God is completely gracious. I write these words as a rainstorm waters the earth here in east Kansas. God is providing, through the power and the beauty of the storm, what we need. I will finish up my time reflecting on this truth, and start my day. A hearty breakfast in next on my Friday agenda. God provided the means and the menu for me to enjoy. His provision is constant. I’ve never known homelessness, or extreme hunger, or crushing poverty that could not meet my needs. God provides.

God also remembers in love. His finest and first provision of care was given to me by Jesus when He died and rose so that my sins would be paid, my eternal life secured, and my life transformed by His grace. I praise Him for this great love for me! Forever in Christ I am remembered in gracious love!

Lord,

I thank You that both now with my daily bread, and forever, in the Bread of Life through Jesus, I am loved and remembered by You. I do not deserve this, for I am a sinner. But by trusting Christ Who is my righteousness, all this is given by extreme, generous, undeserved grace! You are committed to me forever and I am worshipful now and forever.

Amen

grace & peace

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Galatians 1:3-5

Grace & peace came to me

from the Father

through the Son

Whose life was given to set me free

Grace & peace by God’s will

Who sent His Son

to deliver me

from sin saved and kept even still

Grace & peace from an evil age

I am preserved

I am made holy

Praising Jesus... I am saved!

Grace & peace to God the glory

let all praises sing

always to Jesus our Savior

as we proclaim salvation’s story!