My Daily Pause

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  • Avoid Being Caught Short at the Judgment

    We are what we think about
    We are what we think about

    Debauchery.

    Drunkenness.

    Worry.

    In Luke 21, as Jesus is foretelling Jerusalem’s destruction and his return, he suddenly warns against these symptoms of lifestyle and what to do about them – Be careful of what weighs down your heart. (Luke 21:34)

    At some point, our time will run out and all we will have is the stuff we are made of to offer up in the judgment. That offering will be the direct result of what we put in our heart.

    God made our heart (or mind, or soul) in such a way that it returns exactly what we put in it. Fed one way, it returns the things Jesus warns about in Luke 21:34. Fed another way, we would be godly people able to avoid the “trap” of death.

    In summary, we actually become what we think about.

    Look at what the Proverb writer says:

    Be careful what you think,
    because your thoughts run your life.

    Don’t use your mouth to tell lies;
    don’t ever say things that are not true.

    Keep your eyes focused on what is right,
    and look straight ahead to what is good.

    Be careful what you do,
    and always do what is right.

    Don’t turn off the road of goodness;
    keep away from evil paths. – Proverbs 4:23-27 NCV

    He is showing us that we have control over what we think about. Some may be out of practice, but we have the ability to feed our minds with good. When we do that, our decisions and conversations and attitude will begin to reflect godly things. The kind of things we want to present to Christ when he returns. (Luke 21:36)

    Paul gave us a number of lifestyle directions in just about every letter he wrote. One of my favorite being Philippians 4:8:

    Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. – Philippians 4:8 KJV

    If Jesus comes right now, will your heart be full of what is in the Luke 21:34 warning or the Philippians 4:8 exhortation?

  • 3 Ways to a Giving Heart

    The Widow's Mite - João Zeferino da Costa 1840-1916
    The Widow’s Mite – João Zeferino da Costa 1840-1916

    Jesus talked a lot about money. (In fact the whole Bible does throughout the Old and New Testaments)

    I think it is interesting that the account of the widow’s mite is the last recorded teaching Jesus made in public. (Luke 21:1-4) The timeline from this point leads quickly to his crucifixion.

    Why would the widow’s giving be Jesus’ last words on how to please God?

    Because her gift told us much about the proper attitude of a Christian. I can think of at least three reasons for us to give like her:

    • It demonstrated trust in God – When we budget our giving, it needs to be at the top of the list. How can we say we trust God to provide when we pay our cable bill first and give him what is left over?
    • It was sacrificial – The kind of heart God wants us to have is one willing to sacrifice for him. Our giving is not a sacrifice unless we actually sacrifice something.
    • Presumably, it was cheerful – Since Jesus new her heart and still praised her gift, we can assume she gave in a cheerful manner. Who wants a gift that was only presented out of duty?

    The kind of giving we see these days is nothing like the widow’s giving. The giving we see by philanthropists is often a spectacle. It certainly doesn’t cause any harm to the finances of the giver.

    They should enjoy the praise of men while they can, because God will not give them any credit for it! (Matthew 6:2)

    Those of us with more modest means have the ability to give so much more than they. It all starts with showing God a little trust.

  • Cherry Picking God’s Word

    We have a bad habit.

    Without thinking about it, we have gotten good at hearing only what we want to hear.

    Here’s a picture I drew as a joke:

    Our habit of listening and repeating looks something like this

    Jesus once quoted Psalm 110:1 to the Sadducees to make the same point. (Luke 20:41-44, Matthew 22:41-46, Mark 12:35-37) How can the Christ be both David’s son and his Lord? Christ was calling them out because they were choosing ignorance of the scriptures for their own convenience.

    In all three accounts, Jesus follows up the discussion with a warning about the Scribes. They had gotten a little too used to their lifestyle so they were ignoring God’s word and hoping it would go away.

    Christians and non-Christians alike have carried that tradition all the way until now. If we spent more time with the Bible, we would not have so many various “truths.” By doing a better job of reasoning what the Scriptures say, we could all eventually come to the same conclusions.

    Jesus never made any bones about it: we are responsible for all of God’s word. Sometimes we have to make hard decisions. Sometimes we have to relearn what we were once taught.

    But … so many debates could be eliminated with everyone taking an honest approach to the Bible!

    Challenge: Pick one typical day in your life and consider whether each action you take would harmonize with God’s word. If you don’t know, make a Bible study out of it.

  • How to get Jesus’ Attention

    Zacchaeus (Kristus og Zakæus) - 1913 - Niels Larsen Stevns 1864-1941
    Zacchaeus (Kristus og Zakæus) – 1913 – Niels Larsen Stevns 1864-1941

    Jesus will look straight at you.

    Just when you think he isn’t paying attention…
    …that he will never have time for you…
    …that you have gone too far…

    …he will be there for you.

    Unexpected Pleasure

    Zacchaeus was a tax collector. He was very rich. He was likely very dignified. He was certainly very hated. (Luke 19:1-10)

    He probably went his whole career believing that he would not benefit from the Messiah’s coming. The Pharisees had specifically excluded the publicans from association with them – so that was that.

    Then, why would Zacchaeus go out of his way to see Jesus?

    Maybe he heard about the publican named Matthew that was traveling with Jesus. Maybe the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector had made its way to him. (Luke 18:9-14)

    Whatever it was, it caused him to seek Jesus.

    Zacchaeus did exactly what Jesus taught us to do: Ask. Seek. Knock. (Matthew 7:7-12) Not only does he teach us to do that, but he means for us to keep doing it. The language in those verses is more like “keep on asking, seeking, and knocking”  – Even when the outcomes doesn’t look promising.

    Climbing into that sycamore tree wasn’t very dignified. It might have been rather comical seeing that short man in business clothes scramble up a tree.

    But it was the right attitude.

    And Jesus saw him.

    Expected Pleasure

    Luke ends the account with Jesus saying, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)

    Just like Zacchaeus, we are not doomed unless we doom ourselves. Like Zacchaeus, we are only lost until we can be united with Christ.

    And like Zacchaeus, that will happen when we take action to seek him and follow him and obey him.

    If you feel like a Zacchaeus, go out of your way to find him today!

  • Jesus Wants You to Have this Attitude

    Pharisäer und Zöllner - Fresko (F3), Basilika Ottobeuren
    Pharisäer und Zöllner – Fresko (F3), Basilika Ottobeuren

    How is your attitude?

    Attitudes seem like they can fluctuate from day to day. That is more likely a reflection of mood than attitude.

    Attitude is more of a long term disposition than a short term measure of how we feel. Our attitude controls whether we always find the negative in a situation or if we are able to find something to learn from it.

    Pilots describe their aircraft’s position in the sky as its attitude. If it isn’t oriented just right relative to the horizon, then it will not fly efficiently. It might get to where it is going, but it will have used more fuel and suffered more wear and tear than normal.

    The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14) is the portrait of attitude.

    “Lord, Look at me!’

    Vs.

    “Lord, I can’t bear for you to see me”

    One has accomplished everything he can…

    …and…

    …one is growing by leaps and bounds.

    Paul reminds us that no one is righteous (Romans 3:10) and everyone has sinned. (Romans 3:23) Yet many have an attitude that causes them to be like the Pharisee and totally miss that point. Even though his attitude makes his sin even more visible to us, he is totally blind to it himself!

    Challenge: In Philippians 4:4-13, Paul lists a numbers of things that will change our attitude. Pick one of the things there that might need some improvement. What is it doing to your attitude and what could you accomplish if you changed it?

  • How to Make the Bible Easy to Understand

    Make a connection with an actual Bible and put its contents to memory!
    Make a connection with an actual Bible and put its contents to memory!

    In our world of search engines, we have the ability to search the entire Bible in seconds.

    In our world of smartphones, we can do it anywhere and any time.

    I know it is a little bit “old school” – but give me a chance on this:

    Bible memory work is still a very valuable part of our growth and maturity in the faith.

    Sometimes it seems a little “old school” to even carry a Bible to church. The Scriptures used during the service are often projected on a screen making it seem unnecessary to open one at any point in the service.

    In order to get to know the scriptures – to get to the point where we know where we stand, we need to get better connected with what it says. I cannot think of any way better to get to know what it says than to memorize the Bible.

    Here’s a few thoughts on why. Memorization will …

    • Clarify the text – When you memorize, the nuances of the text start to appear. The Bible is FULL of great truths that we miss through skimming and mere devotional reading.
    • Grow our faith – If faith comes from hearing God’s word (Romans 10:17) then committing it to memory can’t help but make stronger Christians
    • Clean our mind – Our mind returns what we plant in it. Fill it with the good stuff (Philippians 4:8)
    • Make us ready – We are to be ready in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2) What better way to be make a convincing response than to be able to quote the scriptures?

    All of the cool devices in the world would have a hard time providing these benefits. They make great supplemental study tools but …

    They don’t connect us to or help us fall in love with God’s word!

    Challenge:

    • Take an inventory of Bible scriptures you either know or once knew by heart (There are more than you think!)
    • Try to think of passages that you know where to find if you need them, but don’t really have memorized.
    • Work on memorizing everything on the two lists.
    • By the time you have done this, you will have discovered more passages you want to add to the list. Memorize those too!