Mission Faithwalk

  You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. (Psalm 139:1-6)   It's been a while since I’ve looked at this psalm. It’s probably my favorite. Today as I look at it, the idea that comes to mind is slowness. The searching mentioned isn’t yanking open drawers and throwing things around in hopes of finding some piece of incriminating evidence of sin. Instead, it’s a slow meandering, full of the thoughts of what potential room has, or that window. This recalls something I’ve shared before. There’s an old booklet that compares our “hearts” to a house. And whenever I think about the idea, I remembe...

                 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.    “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.                  Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them,    and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. (Matthew 4:18-21)                  Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you...

                 If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.  (Matthew 18:6)                  If we would imitate Christ, we must protect those who are weak, like children. In the first half of the 1990s, counselors found a remarkable number of children, teens, and adults who, under their care, recovered lost memories of abuse as children. The problem is that the events in question never happened. The memories were implanted in their minds by the very people who were trying to help them. It’s not the psychiatrists were nasty folks intent on messing with the minds of their patients. They were honestly trying to help, but the result was catastrophic for the patients and those they accused.         ...

                 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.    “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you,     and they will lift you up in their hands,     so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”                  Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test. (Matthew 4:5-7)                  Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. (Deuteronomy 6:16)                  As has been noted many times, Satan doesn’t have to flat-out lie. He can quote Scripture, but it tends to involve luring the v...

                 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. (Hebrews 5:7-9)                  Uh oh.                Submission.                Obedience.                If we are going to imitate Jesus, eventually, we have to face this aspect of His life. He faced things He didn’t want to have to face. He did things He probably would have preferred not to do, and didn’t do things He probably would have liked to. And when He said, “I don wanna,”...

                 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  (Lamentaions 3:22-23)                  Last night, it occurred to me that imitating Jesus in showing grace would be a good idea. This verse passage came to mind, but when I looked it up this morning, it doesn’t use the word grace. That led me to wonder. Grace is used 10 times in the Old Testament (according to the NIV translation.)  The only times it means something that God gives are in Isaiah 26:10 and Zechariah 12:10. There are other terms (e.g.,  forgiveness, hesed, or lovingkindness ) that are used, but eight times out of ten in the Old Testament, it has little or nothing to do with God. On the other hand, grace is mentioned 114 times in the New Testament. That’s today’s trivia.   ...

                 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.” (Matthew 13:34-35)                  I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old— (Psalm 78:2)                  Parable: a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels.                  To begin, Psalm 78 was written by Asaph, who (as nearly as I have been able to figure out) was a musician contemporary with David. It’s interesting to note that Matthew describes Asaph as a prophet. He didn’t write any of the...