Antipodes (Psalm 103.11-12)

Good morning all,

The word of the day is “antipodes.”  I think one of the most reassuring parts of our realationship with God is that he allows us to remove sin from out lives by trusting in his son, without anything more than having a relationship with him. I remember as a young Christian in high school wanting to know more about this unbelievable grace that God wanted to extend, especially to someone like me. But that's exactly what we are told in the Bible that God takes the sin of those who are guilty and removes those inequities through the blood of Jesus.

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” ~Ps. 103:11-12

My question is: what comes to mind when you think of the way that God has extended grace in your life? I think that early on in my relationship of Jesus, I never really thought about what it meant to live in his all-encompassing and endless grace. However, as I have moved through the years, I realize that I need to view both myself and others with more grace and acceptance. My prayer is that you allow God to change your heart today to move them closer in that kind of deep relationship, knowing that the sin in your life and the grace of God are antipodes, as far apart as one could imagine.

Praying for you,

MO

Blarney (Ephesians 4:29)

Good morning all,

The word of the day is “blarney.”  I think one of the most important parts of growing up is learning how to interact with other people.  We learn at a young age, without anyone really having to tell us, how to deal with people.  It doesn't take too long for little kids to understand that there are rules within society.  Pretty much, words matter.

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” ~Eph. 4:29

My question is: what do the words that come out of your mouth say about you, and your character?  Are you the kind of person where people know you as a person of your word?  My prayer is that in a world of lessening morals and restraint, that you become a person who serves God both in word and in deed.  Take the opportunity to become more like Jesus, as the apostle Paul recommended, and engage less in flattery and nonsensical blarney.  You can never go wrong with allowing helpful speech and all of your relationships.

Praying for you,

MO

Fritter (Luke 15.11-32)

Good morning all,

The word of the day is “fritter.”  One of the more prominent stories in the Bible is that of the prodigal son.  This tale of two brothers gives us perspective on how they respond to a relationship with their father.  There are quite a few things that we can learn from this story, depending on where we stand in our relationship with God the father at any given moment in our lives.  I remember reading it for the first time when I was pretty young, and related to the younger brother.  And now, because I have moved along in my faith over these years I sometimes relate also with the older brother.

“So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any.” ~Luk 15.12-16

My question is: where is your standing with God in the beginning of this New Year?  As we see in the above passage, the younger son caused quite the fiasco for this father. Later on in the story is when the older brother gives his thoughts on the matter, not understanding why the father would eventually take the younger son back in, after he had just frittered away his portion of the inheritance.  There is so much going on in this parable that I have continued to study it over the years. My prayer is that you take some time to gain perspective on where you are in relationship to God.  Whether you are doing awesome, horrible, or somewhere in between, it’s always good to know so that God might be able to guide you through each season of life.

Praying for you,

MO 

Accidence (Ephesians 2:6-10)

Good morning all,

The word of the day is “accidence.”  There is a lot of stuff that we need to know in life.  It seems like you are always trying to stay ahead of the learning curve.  With all of the technology, changes in education or business or whatever, we need to be focused on staying at the top of our game.  The apostle Paul knew what it meant to connect with others at a deeper level… it seemed he was always at the top of his game.  As his life became more in-depth and complicated, he made sure that the word of God stayed simple and easy to understand.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

~Eph 2:8-9

My question is: is your life simple, or complicated?  The good thing is, no matter what the answer is to that question, God can fit in somewhere.  It’s good to know that we don’t really have to work our way into God’s favor.  We have been given grace from God because we choose to believe.  So, my prayer is that you take hold of this full faith and let God bestow this gift upon you.  God’s grace is one of the essentials, or accidence of our faith.  Allow the Maker to work in your life… that you might boast in his power in your life.

Praying for you,

MO

Gracious (Romans 3:21-23)

Good morning all,

The word of the day is "gracious.”  I have been in a study of Romans lately and love to read about the stuff that Paul has to say to the believers in Rome.  He spends the first few chapters talking about all the stuff that is going wrong.  But then he gets to the good news.  The reason we know that God's news is so good is because by ourselves we have such bad news.  This is how we know God is gracious. 

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…

~Rom 3:21-23

My prayer this morning is that you learn a little bit more what it means to live a righteous life through faith in the Creator. He is the one who brings that good news as it is explained by at how rebellious gods people are but the cool thing is that Paul reveals and reaffirms to each of the centers in Rome, and us today, that God is gracious and wants to give us his righteousness.

Praying for you,

MO

Accrete (2 Peter 3:17-18)

Good morning all,

The word of the day is “accrete.” Each of us has probably had a person or persons in our lives that have pushed us to the next level. You know, whether in sports or music or whatever.  It is important that we are encouraged by others to keep on, or else we would have never learned how to walk. We would all just be a bunch of adults crawling around. That would be pretty silly, don't you think? Well, we have to approach our relationship with Jesus in the same manner.

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

~2 Peter 3:18

I think the key word here is "grow." My question for you is: on the scale of 1 to 10, how well are you growing in the knowledge of your Lord and Savior? If we choose to be lacksidasical concerning our growth and knowledge of Jesus, how can we expect others to come into a relationship with him? A challenge for each of us this morning is that we take all of the guesswork out of people making the decision for Christ. If we continue to accrete, or grow in our relationship with God and each other, we will be a fragrance for Jesus and others will have no choice but to make a decision one way or the other. And, my optimistic inclination is that we will begin to win more souls for him.

Praying for you,

mo

Dyslogistic (Matthew 23:1-39)

Good morning ladies,

The word of the day is “dyslogistic.” I have been talking a lot lately about the relationship between law and grace. I love Jesus and the New Testament talking to the Pharisees and the Sadducees because he always had something intriguing to say. I think that I forget sometimes how smart and learned Jesus was. If you think about it, as a Rabbi he had to know all of the Old Testament, pretty much verbatim. You can imagine all of these guys ganging up on him and trying to make him say something wrong or screw up in the things that he said; kind of like a politician that always has to walk back certain statements that they say that are pretty dumb. The cool thing is, Jesus never runs into this problem.

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them…”

~Matt 23:13-14

I love reading this entire passage. Jesus takes some time to regulate on these guys who are pretty much the smartest dudes around. My question is: from where do you see approval? I think that when we are in school, or a job, or in a family with people over us, we tend to act in accordance of the approval that we need to seek from others. This is all good and fine, and even Jesus said to do what the Pharisees said. That's not what was wrong. What they screwed up was they did not practice what they preached. The Pharisees were very dyslogistic, or disapproving, of Jesus and his followers. They were concerned with making sure that they looked right, not that their actions were right. My prayer is that you seek approval from above, understanding that God has called you to a higher purpose. God approves of his people, and only asks for the simple obedience of one who loves him.

Praying for you,

Mo

Allocution (Matthew 5:1-7:29)

Good morning all,

The word of the day is “allocution.” Every few years we have the opportunity to hear the inauguration speech of either a new or current president. These are known as some of the most listened to speeches by people from not only our country, but all over the world. On the morning of this year's presidential inauguration I am inclined to think of one of the greatest speeches ever given. The Sermon on the Mount was given by Jesus a couple thousand years ago, yet it still resonates with people today. Even though most of us would not even realize it, people often use parts from the Sermon on the Mount in present day speeches and every-day conversations. Jesus was speaking to a crowd of people, including disciples, and others who chose to follow him. He chose his words carefully, knowing that these words should and would resonate with those who heard.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

~Matt 5:13-16

My question is: what are some of the greatest speeches that you have ever heard? In all of my years of ministry I have heard a ton of great speeches, sermons, and other allocutions. And, I have to say that I am really proud that my Savior gave perhaps the most moving challenge of all with the Sermon on the Mount. My prayer is that each of you takes heed to each section of this encouragement by Jesus. Take time today to read through this particular sermon, and give thanks for a God who reaches out to love us continually.

Praying for you,

mo

Probity (Psalm 36)

Good morning all,

The word of the day is “probity.”  Every time it rains it causes me to think more deeply about God's character. I'm not really sure why, but probably because we see so little rain here in California that I remember that God controls everything, even the seasons. When speaking of the righteousness of God we should remember that our Lord is above all. Previous words of the day have highlighted Jesus calming the storm and God controlling nature in other ways. We see in today's passage that giving credit to God's righteousness is a tough thing to do because it is almost unspeakable and powerful.

“Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.”

~Ps. 36:6

My question is: What are some of the words that you would use for God’s righteousness in your own life.  When have you seen God’s justice in your dealings with others and in situations when you called on him?  The cool thing is that God does not only give justice through his righteousness, but he also displays grace and mercy when dealing with his people. My prayer for you this morning is that you remember that God is mighty to save, and his righteousness is like that of the mountains. We can take comfort in God's love and care for his people.

Praying for you,

mo