November 21 - The Joy of Interruptions

 Read today’s texts first: Matthew 8-10

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

We run short of time for one of two reasons:
mismanagement or doing more than God is asking.

As I read again about this busy time in Christ’s ministry, I recalled an article that had a significant effect on my life.  I read it shortly after a time management course I took at seminary when I learned techniques for keeping time-waster-type people from sitting down uninvited in my office.  This article, entitled The Joy of Interruptions, restored to me a healthy perspective of spiritual time management.

Jesus had 3 ½ years of public ministry, during which time He had to recruit and train disciples to lead churches that would quickly turn the known world right-side up.  This was an aggressive goal for a whole life-time of ministry, but 3 ½ years?  C’mon!  It becomes even more amazing when you read how often Jesus was interrupted.  Even His interruptions were interrupted!  A case in point is found in chapter 9:18-26.  While He was already running late to help Jairus, whose daughter had already passed away, He took the time, after feeling a gentle tug on His cloak, to heal a woman with a chronic blood disease. Somehow He still managed to help Jairus out too, by raising his daughter from the dead!

The article explained that interruptions are often an indication of gifting – people who come to you, seeing in you something you have to offer them.  Helping them is often more important than the paperwork sitting on your desk.

God will fulfill His plan through my life if I am obedient to do what He asks me to do each day.  “Lord, help me to take the time needed to deal with each assignment You give me, whether it seems like an interruption or not.  I know I always have enough time to do Your will.”

November 20 - Living Inside Out

 Read today’s texts first: Matthew 5-7

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

Live from the inside out so you can help
turn the world right side up! 

The thesis statement of the Sermon on the Mount is that Jesus has come not to abolish the law but to fulfill it (5:17).  The law works from the outside in.  For fear of physical punishment, we restrict our actions.  But the law has no effect on our hearts or attitudes.  This is the inherent weakness in a legalistic system, be it the church, a Christian school, or a Bible college.

Jesus knew the only way to truly change behaviour was through a change of heart.  Legalism can curb outward behaviour, for fear of punishment or disapproval, but people will continue to sin in their own hearts or in the privacy of their own homes.  That dichotomy is known as hypocrisy, the word Jesus used to characterize the Pharisees.  But our righteousness as followers of Jesus must exceed that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law (5:20).

And so the attitude behind the action must be adjusted: for murder it’s anger, for adultery it’s lust.  It involves turning the other cheek, going the second mile, loving our enemies, giving quietly, praying in our closets, fasting in secret, laying up treasures in heaven, trusting God for what we need, not judging others, seeking God, and doing what He says.

Such a major attitude adjustment seems impossible – it runs contrary to human nature.  However, Jesus came not only to point out how to live, but to enable us to live that way.  By taking the punishment for our sins upon Himself, He bridged the gap between God and man.  He made it possible for the Spirit of God to live in and through those of us who receive His forgiveness so that we can now live from the inside out!

“Lord, show me when I lapse into legalism, trying to control my own behaviour or the behaviour of others from the outside in.  The only way to live righteously is to allow Your holiness to flow out from a changed heart.  Help me to live from the inside out so I can help turn the world right side up!”

November 19 - A Voice in the Desert

 Read today’s texts first: Matthew 1-4

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

In the desert seasons, when all we think we hear is the Temptor, God’s voice is still speaking to us. 

John the Baptist was the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3: “a voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord” (3:3).  While it may only be coincidence, the next chapter describes Jesus in the desert, which happened to be the launching point for His public ministry.  The experience of His prolonged fast in the wilderness was a spiritual discipline that helped prepare the way through the extreme challenges awaiting Him in the next 3 ½ years.

It was during those 40 days and the ensuing temptation that Jesus remembered His source (“every Word that comes from the mouth of God”), His identity (“don’t tempt the Lord your God”), and the only strategy to dethrone the god of this world (“worship the Lord your God and serve Him only”).  We may think that the only voice He heard in the desert was that of Satan, but there was another voice that He was hearing.  He was still hearing His Father saying “this is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased.”  He also listened to the voice of the Spirit Who led Him into the wilderness.  And, of course, He recalled the written voice of God in resisting the tempter.

It was the convergence of these experiences and His obedience to the process that prepared Him for His destiny.  On the basis of what He heard in the wilderness, He chose His disciples, prepared them for leadership, and wrested the keys of hell and death from the grasp of Satan.

“Lord, when I face my own wilderness experience and think that the only voice I hear is that of my enemy, help me tune in to what you have said in the past, what Your Word says to me now, and what You are preparing me for in the future.  May I respond as Jesus did with obedience to the process so I too can move forward unhindered toward my destiny.”

November 18 - Thrones with Thorns

 Read today’s texts first: Psalms 124; 2 Corinthians 11-13

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

The throne of spiritual authority
often comes with thorns.

Leaping out from the passages today is the red lettering of the Lord’s words, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (12:9).  This statement succinctly explains Paul’s experiences.  Not only was Paul caught up to the third heaven (Paradise), he is clearly co-seated with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), ruling as an apostle with spiritual authority over the Gentile churches.  This power, though, came at a great price.  Not only did he survive 5 whippings, 3 beatings, 1 stoning, 3 shipwrecks, sleep deprivation, hunger, and now false accusations, he also had a recurring infirmity of some kind which he calls his thorn in the flesh. (I think it was some unsightly eye disease from his other comments in Galatians 4:13-15; 6:11).  It was that thorn and the other sufferings Paul experienced that positioned him in a place of continuing dependence on God’s power, the source of his apostolic authority.

I read one well-known word-faith preacher’s comments on Paul’s thorn in the flesh that shocked me.  She explained the reason why Paul could not have victory over this affliction was because he sought the Lord 3 times.  Her solution: pray only once in faith believing and then confess God’s healing.  To pray again is a sign of unbelief.  I think she missed the point of Paul’s epistle and maybe forgot that he was inspired by the Holy Spirit when he wrote it.  She also may have forgotten the miracles that flowed through Paul’s ministry where even handkerchiefs he touched brought healing.

The throne of spiritual authority comes with thorns, or whatever it takes for us to be aware of our own weakness and reliance on Christ’s all-sufficiency.  David connected with that theme as well when he talked about the Lord on our side: “our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

“Lord, as I face my own struggles, may they continue to force me to my knees, the position of real power.  What I have to do in the assignments You’ve given me is far beyond my abilities, but nothing is too hard for You!”

November 17 - Give So-So or Sow-Sow?

 Read today’s texts first: 2 Corinthians 7-10

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

Rather than giving so-so, try giving sow-sow,

and see how God blesses the harvest! 

Sometimes I get uncomfortable reading these chapters.  Paul seemed to almost overdo his appeal to the Corinthians for money.  I guess I’ve become jaded by televangelists who do overdo their pleas – offering pre-blessed holy water for a certain donation to the “ministry.”  The difference here is that Paul was not raising money for himself or his ministry.  He was teaching them and us something so important it simply can’t be overemphasized: the principle of sowing and reaping.  If the Corinthian church was going to grow in numbers and influence, they simply had to learn to give.

That truth applies to PLBC and to me personally.  Several years ago we faced a challenging season for the college, with enrolment and tuition increases barely keeping pace with rising cost-sharing expenses. Instead of rewarding our staff with much-needed pay increases, I had to lay off a valuable member of our team.  Add to that the largest capital campaign in our history and it was difficult to plan for giving more away.  At the same time, I was facing a similar dilemma personally with my own finances.

When I compared that situation with what I was seeing at my then home church, Northside, I learned a valuable lesson.  Our church also faced enormous challenges, with building projects looming and video and radio ministries beginning, and yet we gave more and more away.  The church set what I thought was an overly aggressive goal of raising $400,000 for PLBC’s new Learning Centre and miraculously met it!  It seemed that the more we gave away the more God trusted us with additional resources.

So I applied this lesson at PLBC and to me personally, and to make a very long and exciting story short, saw the miraculous result of sowing generously!  “Lord, help me to continue being “faith-full” in my giving.  I ask for clear direction and an accompanying gift of faith so I don’t act presumptuously or carelessly with the resources You have entrusted to my care.  But rather than giving so-so, I want to keep on giving sow-sow!”

November 16 - God Can Use “Crack Pots” Like Me

 Read today’s texts first: 2 Corinthians 3 - 6

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

When God’s light shines through our broken lives,
He gets the glory. 

“We have this treasure in earthen vessels” (4:7)

The real treasure is in us.  We take great care in adorning the outside, but it’s not our good looks or designer clothes that will attract people to Jesus.  When Moses encountered God, it was an external experience because Christ had not yet come and made an internal transformation possible.  He kept his face veiled, not because his face was glowing too brightly, but because it was fading every day.  The glory could not abide.

For us, since Calvary, the glory not only abides, it intensifies, “from glory to glory” (ch. 3).  This glory doesn’t depend on our lives looking perfect and glorious on the outside.  Paul talks about persecution, affliction, distress – in another word, brokenness (ch. 4).  When God’s light shines through our broken lives, He gets the glory.  It wasn’t until Gideon broke the pitchers that the light emanated, scattered his enemies, and advanced the territory of God’s people.

People around me will see the light and be reconciled (ch. 5) when they see God shining through my humanity.  “Lord, teach me to not cover up my humanness with a veil or mask, but to humbly admit my weakness and my great need for Your grace today. To God be the glory!”

November 15 - The Comfort Connection

 Read today’s texts first: Job 41-42; 2 Corinthians 1-2

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

The most dangerous times in our lives
are when everything is going right.

God comforts us so we can comfort others with the same kind of care (1:4).  It is fascinating to read Paul’s explanation of the benefits of suffering right after I finished reading Job’s story.  Obviously, Job’s “comforters” didn’t understand the concept and God pointed that out: “you have not spoken of me what is right” (42:7).

I’ve lived most of my life trauma-free.  With the exception of my mom’s early departure from this world, dying of cancer when I was 13, things have gone very well for me and my family.  I think that may be why I’ve lacked the ability to empathize and show compassion toward those who face real challenges.  I tended to respond like Job’s friends when people shared their struggles with me.  That all changed when I faced the challenge of a year-long period of burn-out.  Suddenly I was able to notice and help so many other people with the same problem.  I also had the capacity to care for other hurting people as well, simply because I had experienced some suffering.  That’s why we are to share in Christ’s sufferings – so we can also share in His comfort, and pass that comforting touch on to others.

Paul went through some incredible challenges: shipwreck, snakebites, stoning, slander, false accusations, imprisonment and ultimately martyrdom.  And yet, Christ’s strength was made perfect in his weakness.  It’s the difficulties in life that keep us close to God.  The most dangerous times in our lives are when everything is going right.  That’s when human pride and self-sufficiency can begin to surface.

When I taught Spiritual Formation at PLBC I would explain to the students that the purpose of spiritual disciplines, like solitude, sacrifice, and fasting, is to defeat our own pride and increase our reliance on God.  The disciplines are a form of voluntary suffering to keep us close to God even when everything is going well!

“Lord, help me to stay close to you at all times, good or bad.  The joy that comes at the darkest times is always the most profound!  Lead me to others who need to know that joy so I can share mine with them.”