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The minutiae of life…. (devo reflection)

Luke 21:5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said….

The disciples, when talking about the temple, remind me a little of children who are easily distracted by shiny objects. Jesus is quick to remind them of what is important, lasting, eternal. He reminds them to put their faith, trust, and hope in Him and to be vigilant for His return.

Luke 21:6 “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

And when I got all the way down to verse 34–“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with … the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap.”—I realized He was talking to me, too. This is another loving reminder that my trust must be in Him alone. Worries and anxieties will distract me, weigh me down, steal my focus from Him.

Luke 21:7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”

Lord, It’s so easy to be anxious and fretful. It truly takes no effort at all to let the minutiae of life consume me, but that way lies destruction. Help me focus solely on You, cling to You, live for You, in You, with You. Always. Amen.

Luke 21:34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap.

Have a blessed day.

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Freely giving…. (devo reflection)

Mark 12:41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.

Scripture about giving—freely giving, cheerful giving—always makes me think of my husband, who is one of the most generous people I know. If someone is in need and he can help, it’s second nature for him to help—without reservation or hesitation. I wish I were more like him in that regard.

Mark 12:42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

For me physical giving always feels more complicated. There’s always a scarcity mentality at play—What if I need this resource, this item, this money someday? But giving time, encouragement, prayers, support—those things I can easily, freely give. When I see someone hurting or struggling, I am compelled to reach out and try to assist or encourage. That’s giving freely, right?

Mark 12:43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.

Lord, Thank You for giving us many ways to give, to serve You. I absolutely have areas of shortcoming when it comes to giving. Help me to get better at those. But thank You for my compassionate, encouraging heart. Thank You for the insight that encouragement is a form of giving, too. Help me, Lord, to give freely out of a heart of love for You. Draw me closer. Always. Amen.

Mark 12:44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Have a blessed day.

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Therefore…. (devo reflection)

Matthew 23:33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?

*Therefore* is an adverb, meaning (according to the dictionary): for that reason; consequently. I find that adverb, that transitional expression at the beginning of verse 34, extraordinary in light of verse 33.

Matthew 23:34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.

Jesus knows that there is no other way for this “brood of vipers” to “escape being condemned to hell.” For that reason, *therefore*, He sends “prophets and sages and teachers” even though He knows how they will be received. This is His tremendous love for His creation in action, His justice coupled with His mercy.

Matthew 23:37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

Lord, I am fully deserving of Your judgment and not at all deserving of Your mercy, but Your fierce love for me, for all of Your creation, prompts You to be merciful. Thank You. Help me to be merciful and compassionate to others, even when I don’t feel like it and they don’t deserve it. Help me to be more like You. Amen.

Matthew 23:38-39 Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Have a blessed day.

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The desire for recognition…. (devo reflection)

Matthew 23:2-3 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.

We are a very showy society. Appearance is important. But the Pharisees have forgotten that appearances aren’t everything. Jesus holds them up here as an example of what not to do. They do things to be seen and recognized by others, not to draw closer to God.

Matthew 23:4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

My heart understands their desire for recognition. It probably started innocently enough: “I’m working so hard. Is anybody paying attention? Does anyone appreciate what I’m doing?” My heart and mind often clamor for that kind of recognition, but the Pharisees show that that is a very slippery slope.

Matthew 23:5-7 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they…love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.

Lord, You call us to be humble servants. You call us to work for You and not for human praise. But my pride wants recognition, Lord, and it’s pulling me away from You and towards the desire for earthly recognition and reward. That way lies misery, Lord. Help me to surrender my pride and to choose You. Always. Amen.

Matthew 23:11-12 The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Have a blessed day.

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Preconceived notions…. (devo reflection)

Matthew 22:41-42a While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”….

Jesus turns the tables and asks questions of the Pharisees in today’s scripture. He asks a pretty simple question, yet He’s trying to show them that their thinking is too limited. They *think* they know who the Messiah is and how He will act. Man, those preconceived notions will get you every time.

Matthew 22:42b-43 …“The son of David,” they replied. He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’?…

Again, as I sit in judgment of the Pharisees, the thought hits that I am just as guilty of consigning Jesus to a smaller role than the one He intends to fulfill in my life. And just like the Pharisees, my error is based in my preconceived notions of what I deem to be the right path or solution, how *I* think Jesus *should* act. Jesus, Help me.

Matthew 22:45  If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”

Lord, Forgive me when I limit Your power to work in my life because of my preconceived notions of how You should work. Help me to put aside those notions so that You can work freely in my life and through my life. Draw me closer. Amen.

Matthew 22:46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Have a blessed day.

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Love others as I love myself…. (devo reflection)

Mark 12:28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

I’ve heard the most important of all commandments short-formed to “Love God. Love others.” And while I really like that wording, it strikes me as marginally lacking because the original tells us to love our neighbors as *ourselves*.

Mark 12:30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

While I think I’m pretty good at being loving, gracious, compassionate—to others, I’m often not very kind to myself. So the directive to love others as I love myself means that I need to do a better job at being loving and compassionate to myself than I currently do. I suspect I’m not alone in this habit and this need.

Mark 12:31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Lord, Thank You for the reminder of what’s important, “Love God. Love others.” Thank You also for the reminder that if I am to love others as I love myself, I need to be kinder and more compassionate to myself than I generally am. Thank You for the certainty that I am Your deeply loved child, even when I struggle. Amen.

Mark 12:33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Have a blessed day.

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The same loving God…. (devo reflection)

Luke 20:34-35 Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage….

In today’s reading, the Sadducees are trying to trip Jesus up in matters of doctrine. Just like yesterday’s political debate, Jesus isn’t having it. But He doesn’t eviscerate them with His reply; He reminds them of who God is and who we are in Him.

Luke 20:36 …and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.

Verse 38 reminds the Sadducees and us that “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” Aside from doctrine and policy and everything else, we all serve the same loving God. That’s the truth to be focused on.

Luke 20:37 But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’

Lord, We live in a world of division and confrontation. It is so easy to get so focused on protecting and defending the tenets of our faith that we lose sight of the important truth that we all serve the same loving God. Help us, instead of tearing each other down in the name of faith to lift Your name in praise and encourage each other. Help us all to draw closer to You. Amen.

Luke 20:38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”

Have a blessed day.

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Pretending to be sincere…. (devo reflection)

Luke 20:20 Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.

The phrase “spies who pretended to be sincere” jumps out at me from today’s scripture. In today’s society, false faces seem to be the norm, but Jesus doesn’t want us to pretend with Him. He wants us to be honest, open, and authentic in our dealings with Him.

Luke 20:21 So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.

Verse 23 tells us that Jesus knew that the spies were duplicitous. He can tell when we are posturing or pretending. He wants us—all of us, the real us, the messy, inconvenient, uncomfortable bits included. We are His beloved children, fiercely loved exactly as we are, and He wants us to draw closer to Him.

Luke 20:22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

Lord, Forgive me for the times when I pretend to be sincere. Sometimes I’m frustrated, sometimes exhausted, sometimes distracted, but I don’t ever want our time together to be insincere. Help me to always be present and honest with You. And thank You for Your fierce love, even when I’m not at my best. Amen.

Luke 20:23 He saw through their duplicity….

Have a blessed day.

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Praying you through…. (devo reflection)

Mark 2:2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.

To know that you are deeply, fiercely loved by the Creator of the universe even when you don’t feel like you have any value, to know that God is making a way in your wilderness, even when you can’t fathom any way out, these are important and powerful truths. So when I offer to pray for or with someone, these are the primary things I want to remind them: 1. God loves you. Period. Full stop. 2. He is in control. Even now. 3. He’s making a way, a perfect way through whatever wilderness you are facing, even if you can’t yet perceive it.

Mark 2:3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.

Saying that I’ll pray for someone is a promise I take very seriously. My sisters and I call it “praying you through,” and I’ve seen the power of prayers for others more than once, and I know that when I’m at the end of myself, the end of my faith, just knowing that others are lifting me up, praying me through, is incredibly powerful.

Mark 2:4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.

Lord, Thank You for the power of prayer and for the ability to lift each other up to You in prayer. Thank You that the ability to pray each other through the trials of life is one more way that we can glorify You and encourage each other in this life. Help us never to forget the power of prayer. Amen.

Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Have a blessed day.

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A beautiful example…. (devo reflection)

Matthew 21:23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

Commentary says of Jesus in this section that he does not engage in their argument. Something about the word engage really captures me here. As a society, we are all about engaging in the argument these days. A quick look on any social media platform will show copious examples. And the heart of each is about pride. “I’m right. You’re wrong. Let me destroy you publicly.”

Matthew 21:24-25a Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

Jesus knows He is right. He avoids the Pharisees’ trap, and He leaves them with their dignity. Commentary says, “…He does not clamor for the pride of winning a debate.” Pride. There it is popping up its ugly head. Again.

Matthew 21:25b-26 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

Lord, Thank You for reminding me to keep my pride in check. Thank You for providing me with a beautiful example of how to glorify You without engaging my prideful nature. Help me to lay my pride at Your feet and to glorify You in all things. Amen.

Matthew 21:27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

Have a blessed day.