Malleable hearts

Anoint him, for this is the one. (1 Samuel 16:12)

Even from the earliest days, there was a strict hierarchy in every Jewish family. The father was the head of the household, and his eldest son was the heir apparent. All the other sons had lesser places in the home and stood to inherit less than their older brother. 

But Scripture tells us about some people who operated outside of this hierarchy and became powerful servants of God in their own right. For example, Deborah was a woman living in a man’s world (Judges 4–5). Jacob outshone his older brother, Esau (Genesis 27). And Gideon, the “most insignificant” in his father’s house, rose up to become a great warrior and liberator of his people (Judges 6–7). David, the youngest of Jesse’s sons, fits right in that pattern.

By traditional standards, these limitations should have kept these people from rising up to positions of leadership in Israel. But God uses a different method of selection. He places an emphasis on how a person thinks and acts, not on that person’s place in the family or society. As he told Samuel, he looks at the heart, not the appearance.

Even today, God is looking for people with pure hearts, people who will be faithful and obedient. He is looking for people who are willing to be formed by him. King Saul, David’s predecessor, had turned away from God, but in David, God found a man with a soft heart and a willing spirit.

God isn’t looking for the smartest, the wealthiest, the most beautiful, or the flashiest person. He is looking for people who are committed to him and who strive to model their lives after his teachings.

We are God’s anointed ones. He has blessed us and filled us with his grace. May we rise up today and tell the Lord that we want to serve him and honor him with our lives.

“Lord, give me the desire to follow you and the strength to help build your Church.”

~taken from wau.org

Full of grace

Do not be afraid, Mary. (Luke 1:30)

How hard it must have been for Mary to accept the angel’s words! First, he told her that her marriage plans were going to change dramatically. Then, when she heard that she would conceive a child “by the Spirit,” she must have worried that Joseph might leave her. And if she were left pregnant with no husband, that likely meant rejection by her townsfolk and a life of shame and hardship. 

God sure knows how to lay a heavy burden on a person, doesn’t he? Mary was left troubled, confused, and afraid. So why was she able to say yes to the angel’s invitation? Because Mary was full of grace.

Grace is a gift that God has freely given to all of us. There are many kinds of grace. For example, God gives us the grace of salvation, the grace to believe, and the grace to die to ourselves. God gave Mary an “enabling grace,” which moved her to say, “May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

This grace of God acts like the fuel we use to make a car go. It is God’s power at work in us, both to choose and to work “for his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). Now, even with all the grace that God had given her, Mary still needed to take hold of it and apply it to her life—just as a car filled with gas won’t go anywhere unless we turn it on, put it in gear, and begin to drive.

The angel assured Mary that nothing is “impossible for God” (Luke 1:37). Our Father can do whatever he wants, whenever and wherever he wants. But for some reason, he prefers to do his work in and through us. So as we celebrate this great day when Mary submitted to God’s will, let’s make the same decision. Let’s make sure we are open to the possibility that God may want to change some of our plans. Let’s all say, “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word.”

~taken from wau.org

Ask … seek … knock. (Matthew 7:7)

Ask … seek … knock. (Matthew 7:7)

There are a lot of less than ideal things we do just to save time. Fast-food restaurants are convenient, but we know that they’re not as nutritious as a home-cooked meal. Speed-reading courses help us get through a book quickly, but we risk coming away with less depth and clarity than if we had taken our time. If you’re single, you may have even tried speed dating and ended up meeting a lot of people, but only superficially.

Clearly, there are some things you shouldn’t hurry!

That’s also true in the spiritual realm. Sometimes we want something so badly that we try to take shortcuts. Maybe we set out to find peace or fulfillment on our own, when we might do better to listen for what God has to say. Later we realize that if we had taken time out to ask, seek, and knock, we would have found something far deeper, something that doesn’t ebb and flow with our circumstances.

If you want to see good and lasting results, you need to exercise your faith and trust. And sometimes, that means waiting patiently for the Lord to act. When we wait on the Lord like this, it shows that we believe that he hears us. It shows that we trust that he will give us bread, not a stone.

God will take care of you! He will answer you in the way that’s best for you—and at the time that is most helpful for you. A good father doesn’t always give his children exactly what they want when they want it. He knows it is far better to give what that child needs, when he needs it, in the way that will help him the most.

What do you need the Lord to help you with? Go ahead and ask him for it. Tell him that you’re willing to wait for his wisdom and his timing. As you do, you’ll find him eager to fulfill your needs and to further the plan he has for you in just the way he has intended. He really does want to bless you!

“Lord, open my eyes to your wisdom and generosity. Thank you for being not just a provider but a Father who wants the very best for me and for those I love.”

taken from wau.org 

Who am I?

If you are the Son of God … (Matthew 4:3)

Imagine if Jesus came up to you today, embraced you, and said, “You are my greatest treasure!” Wouldn’t you be shocked and speechless? Well, during this Lenten season, you will have numerous opportunities for this to happen. Day after day, in prayer and in the Scriptures, you will have the chance to let Jesus show you your true dignity and identity as his beloved brother or sister. 

In today’s Gospel, we read how Satan tried to get Jesus to question his identity. He prefaced his temptations by saying, “If you are the Son of God …” He knew that if Jesus became unsure of his Father’s love and wisdom, it was much more likely that he would walk away from the plan God had laid out for him. But Satan’s plan didn’t work. Jesus knew who he was, and he clung to the word of God so that he could stay focused on his Father.

God wants you to stand firm on the truth just as Jesus did. He wants to convince you that you belong to him. He wants to make it clear that he is completely committed to you. It sounds easy, doesn’t it? But we all can point to ways that the devil tries to knock us off our foundation in Christ. There seems to be no end to his attempts to discourage us and trap us in our fears and weaknesses so that we won’t bother to pray.

When these temptations come, follow Jesus’ example, and hold on to Scripture. You are God’s child, born of the incorruptible seed of his own word (1 Peter 1:23). You are part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (2:9). You have been made alive with Jesus (Ephesians 2:5) and set free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). Your heavenly Father will supply all your needs out of the riches of his own glory (Philippians 4:19).

There are so many promises. Hold on to them! Believe them—and watch the devil flee! 

“Thank you, Lord, for claiming me as your own!”

taken from wau.org

This piece reminds me of a song by Casting Crowns, on the same subject:

Choices

have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. (Deuteronomy 30:19)

 

A man and woman say, “I do” on their wedding day. A new president “solemnly swears” to uphold the nation’s constitution on Inauguration Day. A young woman vows to “never do harm” on the day she takes the Hippocratic Oath and becomes a doctor. All of these are pivotal moments in a person’s life, moments when an important choice is made and a new path opens up.

The Israelites faced a similar moment when Moses called them to embrace their covenant with God as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. It was a life-and-death choice, and Moses urged them to choose wisely.

Scripture has countless other examples of people facing important choices: Adam and Eve in the garden; Mary deciding whether to accept the angel’s invitation to be Mother of the Redeemer; Matthew’s choice to leave his tax collection table and follow Jesus. The list goes on and on!

All of these initial, life-altering choices need to be “fleshed out” in everyday life. The newlyweds have to choose every day to uphold their vows, “for better or worse.” Matthew had to reaffirm his choice to follow Jesus, even on those days when he missed his comfortable life back home. And Mary must have prayed, “May it be done to me according to your word” on a regular basis (Luke 1:38).

Especially during the season of Lent, we might want to focus on all the choices we have to make. What should we give up? How much time should we spend praying? What about fasting? But this year, let’s shift the focus to see what God wants to do for us. Day in and day out, we face choices—this is true. But it’s just as true that our heavenly Father is with us day in and day out, offering us grace upon grace so that we can choose life every time. 

God wants to bless you. He wants to do everything he can to keep you on the path of life. That’s why he is so merciful and forgiving. So don’t give up. Choose life every day!

“Heavenly Father, thank you for your desire to bless me! I choose you today. I choose to receive the grace that comes from following you.”

taken from wau.org

The Escape

Come, follow me (Mark 10:21)

In the fantasy film Labyrinth, a teenager named Sarah tries to rescue her baby brother from the evil Goblin King. To reach him, she must make her way through an enormous labyrinth. At one point she meets a character named the Junk Lady, who distracts her by showing her an exact copy of her room at home. She shows Sarah her toys, saying, “Everything you’ve ever cared about is here.” Then Sarah remembers that she still has to save her brother. “It’s all junk!” she cries, throwing one of her toys against her mirror. At that moment, the room dissolves, and she is able to escape.

Like Sarah, the rich young man in today’s Gospel was faced with a decision about his possessions. But while Sarah saw through the “junk” that trapped her, this fellow could not.

We are all faced with the same question that this young man faced: who is Jesus? Is he the eternal Son of God, sent to save us from sin and open heaven for us? Or is he just a good teacher and charismatic leader? Or, to put it another way, is Jesus far more important than our possessions, or is he just one of many equally good things in our lives? This isn’t just an issue of money, either. Many other “idols” can compete with the Lord, including our strongly held opinions, our social standing, and the grudges and resentments we choose to hold onto.

There is an old hymn that says, when we “look full in his wonderful face,” the “things of earth will grow strangely dim.” So today, imagine yourself as the rich young man. Go ahead and say to him whatever you want. But then, when he looks into your eyes, stay there for a minute, and look back at him. Imagine the look on his face and the intensity of his gaze. See his love and compassion for you. See how your heart is moved to love him in return. That’s the moment when you’re ready to give up anything and everything for him. That’s the moment when you have escaped.

“Lord, help me to find my treasure in you. Come, Jesus, and fill my heart with the fire of your love. Lord, I give everything to you!”

taken from wau.org