Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Thursday, 1 May 2014 "The Lord says, 'Sit right beside me'"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Thursday, 1 May 2014 "The Lord says, 'Sit right beside me'" 
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Daily Scripture:  Psalm 110: A Psalm by David.
1 Yahweh says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand,
    until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.”
2 Yahweh will send out the rod of your strength out of Zion.
    Rule among your enemies.
3 Your people offer themselves willingly in the day of your power, in holy array.
    Out of the womb of the morning, you have the dew of your youth.
4 Yahweh has sworn, and will not change his mind:
    “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
Reflection Questions:
Scholars call Psalm 110 a "coronation psalm," a hymn of blessing originally written to honor a king's coronation day. Archaeologists have found similar coronation poems written among Israel's neighbor nations. Jesus himself claimed the language of Psalm 110 to describe his reign in Luke 20:41-44, and the early Christians took their cue from him (cf. Acts 7:55–56; Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12–13; 12:2; 1 Pet. 3:22).
•Any nation, any king (including those of Israel's pagan neighbors) would like to think that the deity holds the ruler close in approval. But as with most of the other Old Testament passages we're studying, only Jesus, the "king of kings" (cf. Revelation 19:16) could fully claim to sit "right beside" God. In what ways does the picture of Jesus "having God's ear" strengthen your faith and bring you comfort in hard times?
•Psalm 110:4 added a note of mystery and power, speaking of Melchizedek, the king of Salem (peace) who greeted Abraham with bread and wine in Genesis 14:18-20. Hebrews 7 expanded on this picture, comparing Jesus in various ways to the figure of Melchizedek. How open are you to accepting the mystery of the divine/human person of Jesus? In what ways does that which is mysterious deepen your appreciation of his power and lordship?
Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you are the King of kings, you are the Lord of lords. I cannot fully understand you, but I can and do ask you to be Lord of my life. Amen.
Insight from Shawn Simpson
Shawn Simpson serves as the Director of Technical Arts and Operations at The Church of the Resurrection’s West campus in Olathe, KS.
I haven’t had anything near the level of theological training that a lot of our staff has, so this is actually a difficult GPS for me to really offer insight into.  What follows is a lot of amateur conjecture and is probably incorrect in many ways.  Please accept my apologies in advance for the mistakes that I’ve made.  So…
It’s really easy to accept the forgiveness and grace without really doing anything.  The surface level is calm and the dangers are few and far between.  We aren’t required to offer sacrifices in order to be in God’s favor, only to ask for it and to accept it.  Jesus has paid the bill; we just have to be willing to sit down at the table. The first mystery about God that I ever consciously pondered was this: whose hands are preparing the blessings I’m receiving?
Pastor Adam has said in sermons several times that when there is need; it’s not a band of angels that show up to provide blessings.  It’s the church, and the people within, who are going to be there.  It’s the people who have decided that even though the grace is free, you are able to more thoroughly explore God’s mystery by getting up from the table and allowing God to use your hands to serve up blessings for the next set of “guests,” who may be coming to Christ for the first time, or in need of a helping hand to get back to the surface where there is safety.
Where I’m drawn is in the concept of the mysterious deepening my appreciation of the Christ’s power and lordship.  This brings me to a thought that, even though grace is free, by definition, the true relationship with God requires that we pursue what we find mysterious. The further reward as we discover answers to some of our mysteries is that we uncover an even greater mystery.  What we thought was the answer was really only another question.
My prayer for today is that I will always seek to find mystery as I strive to walk with Jesus.
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