My Daily Pause

Rembrandt – Prodigal Son

Forgiveness is a tough work. It’s a Christ-like trait and a trait Christ told us to have.

To not exercise forgiveness so that it comes easy and a way of life, to not give someone another chance every time they ask is to test the grace that God has shown us.

The Master Teacher shows us this in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. (Matthew 18:21-35) Here he compares God’s forgiveness of insurmountable debt to how we treat relatively insignificant debt. Here’s the takeaway Jesus intended:

• In the same way that God is forgiving, he expects that from us (Matthew 18:33)
• A lack of mercy is considered wicked (Matthew 18:32)
• If we fail to offer mercy like God did, we can lose it (Matthew 18:35)

This isn’t just some command that God gave without demonstrating it himself. We can see throughout the Old Testament how quick he is to forgive his children. Literally every time they fell away he took them back – just for the asking.

That’s why God’s kingdom is such a good place to be.

Daily Bible reading for July 9

Ecclesiastes 5:8-17
Joshua 7
Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
Matthew 18

Influence Through Consistency

Ecclesiastes 5:1 KJV says to “Keep thy foot” when you go into the house of God. It’s a shame that later versions changed that. Keep thy foot is an expression of maintaining yourself in your usual pattern of life. In the context of Ecclesiastes 5:1-7, Solomon’s instruction was to be godly all the time. Not just when you enter worship.

In fact the heading on my Bible in that spot say Fear God. That’s as good of a summary as can be given of the paragraph.

As we plan our day, remembering how we carried ourselves into worship and looking for ways to apply the lessons we learned is a great way to “Keep our feet” before others. We are after all, to be the salt of the earth by flavoring the world with our influence. (Matthew 5:13)

And to freshen up … going back often to God in prayer and reading from his word is a great way to keeping that godly attitude all week.

Daily Bible reading for July 8

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
Joshua 6
Jeremiah 1:11-19
Matthew 17

Did you ever notice how small special interest groups gain momentum and eventually get what they want? They don’t really need to be in a majority, they just have to have plenty of support. They eventually are able to withstand all opposition and over power it.

Solomon compares this to a three-fold rope. (Ecclesiastes 4:12) A length of rope is made from a number of smaller strands twisted together. The total strength of each small strand is less than the strength of all of the strands working together as a unit.

Good rope has many small fibers twisted together to make it strong and flexible

• Rope works as a unit – The weight a rope bears is distributed across all the strands
• Rope is strong. – The weakness of each small strand is hidden by the others
• Rope is dynamic – it can be stretched and the it returns to its original state
• Rope is dependable – Mountaineers rarely attribute falls to their rope. When they do, the rope was often not maintained properly.

God gave us a gift that operates just like a rope. He gave us the church.

Your attendance, participation and contribution to the work of the church is how it grows (and therefore growing God’s kingdom.)

Just like the fibers that are wound into strands, that are wound into rope, your small contribution becomes huge to the group at large. That little bit of weight you bear could be enough to keep the whole operation running well.

If you are trying to decide whether or not to go to church today, I hope you’ll think about that.

Daily Bible reading for July 7

Ecclesiastes 4
Joshua 5
Jeremiah 1:1-10
Matthew 16

Last night a group from my church and some guests from some other congregations sat down together and read Genesis. This is our no discussion, no commentary group reading I’ve written about before. We call it Biblepalooza to contrast our love for God’s word against the worldly activities that use up our time. These long sessions always take me through a new depth of understanding that I have never experienced before.

A quilt has hundreds of seems and edges pieced together for a single beautiful pattern

Last night I saw God’s plan unfold. It was almost like stepping back and looking at the big picture beside God.

Despite the efforts to tear down and defile God’s creation, he showed us over and over again that his will is going to win out in the end. Even to the extent of using evil men, God can make good come out of even the worst of situations. (Genesis 50:20)

When we take a Christian look at current events, it is easy to get shaken up. Sometimes we even ask, what has happened to “God’s people?” Our view might be described as that from the underside of a patchwork quilt. The rough edges of the seams, the hanging threads and faded colors do not do justice to the beauty on the other side.

Ecclesiastes 3 helps us understand a few things:

• Man cannot circumvent God’s time and seasons
• Man should accept that God’s will is beyond his control
• Everything has a purpose in God’s scheme
• Sometimes it is good to pull back and look at things from the perspective of eternity

It is God’s intent to use us in his kingdom. He wants us out there teaching and being an example as close to Christ-like as we can humanly be. (2 Timothy 2:2, Philippians 4:9) His plan will be complete in his time. It is good to know that the path we are on right now might have something to do with that.

Daily Bible reading for July 6

Ecclesiastes 3:9-22
Joshua 4
Zephaniah 3:9-20
Matthew 15

Peter looked around and saw the waves and felt the wind pulling at his cloak. Then he saw how far away the shore was and that was enough.

Do you feel the disappointment in Jesus’ voice as he reaches out and grabs Peter?

Matthew 14:22-32 is the account of Jesus walking on the water. That Jesus could walk on the water isn’t the surprising part. What is surprising is even after all that Peter has been through with Jesus – after being able to heal the sick, just like Jesus – his faith faded.

Wouldn’t Jesus be disappointed in us if we let our faith slip a little bit? Doesn’t our situation often worsen when we forget to give our fears and doubts to him? Some of the little things we do (or forget to do) is a symptom of that happening.

• When our giving isn’t at the top of our budget, our faith has slipped.
• When we worry about the little things in life, our faith has slipped.
• When we don’t pray regularly and earnestly, our faith has slipped.
• When we choose not to mention Jesus when given an opportunity, our faith has slipped.

Just as when he got into the boat, when we let Jesus in our lives, the winds cease.

Daily Bible reading for July 5

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Joshua 3
Zephaniah 3:1-8
Matthew 14