"Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise... your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery..." -- Deuteronomy 8:11-12; 14

Have you ever gotten out of the habit of turning to God in prayer until something happens that you become desperate and then out of that desperation turn to him?  This chapter goes on to say in verse 17: "You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today."

When things are going well for us, it's easy to wonder what we need God for.  Even Jesus says he didn't come for those not in need of a doctor... so we sometimes pride ourselves on being "self-sufficient"... which we are not.  We don't exist alone in a vacuum.  We need God, and we need each other.  When we remember that, hubris is kept in check and we remain a humble people.  When we forget, we fill ourselves with pride and swagger, and then we fall.  Remember who you are in the eyes of God today.  Give thanks for the life he gives you.  

Readings:  Deuteronomy 7:1-8:20; Luke 7:36-8:3; Psalm 69:1-18; Proverbs 12:1

"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates." -- Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Appearing one chapter following the 10 Commandments, verse 4 of chapter 6 says "Hear, O Israel: The Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."  And then is given the instruction to tie these commandments as symbols on your hands, bind them on your foreheads, and write them on the door frames of your houses and gates.  While some understood these instructions to be figurative, and took it as emphasis to learn and teach these laws, others took it literally.  To this day some wear what are called teffilin to hold certain writings.  Inside these boxes attached to their foreheads and arms are contained four sets of texts (Exodus 13:1-10, 11-16; Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21).   Here is a link for further explanation:


http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/tefillin.html

Enjoy reading about teffilin.  Even though as Christians, we don't wear them, do not miss the point in the value and importance of learning and teaching the contents of Scripture.  We yet have much to learn.

Readings:  Deuteronomy 5:1-6:25; Luke 7:11-35; Psalm 68:19-35; Proverbs 11:29-31

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." -- Luke 6:41-42

Whenever we read a good book, see a great movie, or hear a cool song, the first thing we often want to do is share it.  Because we love those people in our life, it's right to want to share those things we take pleasure in.  But there's another side to sharing in which we must take caution.  We hear tips on how to lose weight, how to organize, how to be a better __________, and we think of that person close to us, and say, "Here you gotta hear this!  When I heard it, I thought of you..."  Or we sit in church and listen to the preacher speak and in our minds think, "and of course they didn't come today... this sermon is for them.  I'm going to get a recording of it so that they can hear it."  Forgetting of course, that there is a message for us.

It's easy to look and find how the things in your life are messed up, and how the people around you are messed up even more.  It's easy to feel unease in life, and in your dissatisfaction, blame the circumstances and the people in your life instead of yourself.  If you want want change, don't focus on changing others, change yourself instead.  If you want someone to be better, inspire them, don't judge them.  Trust me, you're messed up too.  If you don't think you are, ask around, people will be glad to show you in what ways.  The beauty of it though, is that we're all in need of work.  We're all broken, imperfect, and in progress.  Once we accept that truth, we'll be more compassionate, grace-filled, and patient with one another.   Help each other, don't judge each other.

Readings:  Deuteronomy 4:1-49; Luke 6:39-7:10; Psalm 68:1-18; Proverbs 11:28

"Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." -- Luke 6:37-38

As people, we love stories.  Whether books, movies, someone telling a story, a game... whatever... we love stories.  And good stories often pit a good guy against a bad guy-- a good person or group against a villain or evil force that threatens destruction-- something or someone that people can rally against together.  For the story to be good, the villain has to be really good-- that means really, really, bad.  And when you have a great villain, the audience is united.  We want more than anything to see that bad guy go down.  He doesn't deserve any mercy... and we want to see him hurt when the good guys take him... we want to see karma in action.

Caricatures are easy to get our heads around.  But in real life, we don't deal with caricatures.  We deal with people who are much more complex.  Jesus' instruction in this text is for us... not the bad guys, not the good guys... but us, who are a mixed bag of all of it.  And while we're complex creatures, the teaching is quite simple.  If you want to be one of the good guys, then don't judge or condemn.  Forgive and give.  Whatever measure of goodness you share, that will be the measure given back.  It's karma.  It's "what goes around comes around".  If you want a friend, then be a friend.  So simple... simple-sounding that is.

Readings:  Deuteronomy 2:1-3:29; Luke 6:12-38; Psalm 67:1-7; Proverbs 11:27

"Then Jesus said to them, 'I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?'" -- Luke 6:9

Jesus is getting heat from the religious elite in this text.  In the preceding paragraph, he just got chewed out for plucking grain on the Sabbath, and now, all eyes are on him to see if he's going to heal a man with a shriveled right hand on the Sabbath.  He's on the verge of seriously breaking Jewish law, which is sin, and which in some cases, is punishable by death.  So Jesus turns it back to them and asks, what's legal to give life or to take it?  They miss the point, because as soon as Jesus heals the man, instead of celebrating and giving thanks to God for this miracle, the Bible tells us that they're "furious" and begin their plans on what they're going to do with this sinner.

There's the letter of the law, and then there's the spirit of the law.  Jesus reminds us that the law was made for us; we were not made for it.  Extreme legalism is the same as fundamentalism.  And it chokes the life out of, well... life.  


Readings:  Numbers 36:1-Deuteronomy 1:46; Luke 5:29-6:11; Psalm 66:1-20; Proverbs 11:24-26

"After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. 'Follow me,' Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him." -- Luke5:27-28

There was Levi-- Matthew-- the tax collector, sitting at his booth doing his thing that everyone despises-- collecting taxes.  It wasn't that he was hated because he worked for the IRS, it was because the way he and other tax collectors did it.  You see, they were given authority by the government to collect whatever they wanted from the citizens.  They were obligated to pay a certain amount to the government, but whatever they could collect above that, they were allowed to keep.  This made them despicable to the people around them.  Here was Levi, a Jew, but working for the Roman government.  Not only that, he did it in a way that was counter to the teaching of God.  Levi had wealth, but not a lot of love from the people.  Politically, he would not be one to align with if you're trying to win the hearts of those around you.  But Jesus doesn't care.  He sees him for who he is, and bestows love and honor upon him.  The other religious leaders are aghast.  How can this man hang out with tax collectors and sinners like this?  And Jesus shows us a different path.  By his modeling, he asks, "how can you not?" It's not about conforming to the ways of that person (Jesus didn't become a tax collector), but building a relationship so that they might see a different choice in the way they live. Next time you find yourself avoiding another person because you're just too good for them, let your mind go back to this scene, and ask yourself, "what would Jesus do?"

Readings:  Numbers 33:40-35:34; Luke 5:12-28; Psalm 65:1-13; Proverbs 11:23

"When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 'Put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch.' Simon answered, 'Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.' When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break." -- Luke 5:4-6

Have you ever fished?  If so, have you ever fished for hours without catching anything?  Most likely, when you fish, you do so for sport.  You might eat the fish you catch, but if you're reading this, you probably aren't depending on your catch for your livelihood and your survival.  I imagine those of you in sales understand the frustration, though.  It's easy to get discouraged after going so long without landing one.  Simon Peter and his companions had been fishing all night.  They were tired.  They were wrapping things up and ready to go home for some much needed rest.  But Jesus says, "one more time... throw them from the other side of the boat this time..."  Had it been anyone else, Simon would have probably said, "do it yourself!"  But because it was Jesus, he complied.  Shocked, they caught more fish than they could imagine.  Next time you get discouraged because you're having trouble meeting your goal, ask yourself these questions:  1)  Is what I'm trying to do aligned with God's will?  2) If Christ were here physically, would he encourage me to keep trying?

If you can answer yes to both, keep going.  Don't give up.  It might be a dry spell now, but if this is what God desires for your life, believe it will come to pass.  You don't want to miss the big catch.  You see, the old cliche' you have to believe to achieve is yet relevant.

Readings:  Numbers 32:1-33:39; Luke 4:31-5:11; Psalm 64:1-10; Proverbs 11:22