John 12:23 Yeshua gave them this answer: “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Yes, indeed! I tell you that unless a grain of wheat that falls to the ground dies, it stays just a grain; but if it dies, it produces a big harvest. 25 He who loves his life loses it, but he who hates his life in this world will keep it safe right on into eternal life! 26 If someone is serving me, let him follow me; wherever I am, my servant will be there too. My Father will honor anyone who serves me.
27 “Now I am in turmoil. What can I say — ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour. I will say this:
18:33 So Pilate went back into the headquarters, called Yeshua and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
36 Yeshua answered, “My kingship does not derive its authority from this world’s order of things. If it did, my men would have fought to keep me from being arrested by the Judeans. But my kingship does not come from here.” 37 “So then,” Pilate said to him, “You are a king, after all.” Yeshua answered, “You say I am a king. The reason I have been born, the reason I have come into the world, is to bear witness to the truth. Every one who belongs to the truth listens to me.” 38 Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”
Having said this, Pilate went outside again to the Judeans and told them, “I don’t find any case against him.
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Facing the cross, Jesus spoke about the guiding purpose that gave his life focus and clarity. He knew the reason he’d been born, the reason for the choices he had made. So he and Pilate, the Roman procurator, were like two people talking past each other. Pilate was, literally, down-to-earth—“So you are a king?” he asked. But this earth didn’t bind Jesus’ thinking. “I am a king,” he said, “but my kingdom is not of this world.” For Pilate, that was baffling. He may have thought, “What other world than this is there?”
• Jesus lived for a reason: to bear witness to truth, and do whatever it took to save the world. That led him to the cross. But he also said, “Whoever serves me must follow me.” What does it mean for you to “fall into the earth and die” in our time and place, where physical persecution and death aren’t likely to be involved? How does this shape your daily approach to life?
• Like many today, when Jesus spoke of testifying to the truth, Pilate asked, “What is truth?” He seemed to cynically imply that no one knows. Yet Jesus said, “The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.” What do you believe was the core truth Jesus came to testify to? Do you believe it was truth? Can you believe it without falling into pride or looking down on other people?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, empower me as I seek to live a life that draws on the same big reasons that you lived for. And guide me as I seek to think through the details of how I live for those reasons in my daily life. Amen.
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Insights from Donna Karlen
Donna Karlen serves in Communications at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, creating and managing social media content.As a mom I have much to love about my life. The daily miracle of being a part of my children’s lives – loving them with a capacity I did not know was even in me before they came into my life. I am grateful for them every single day (even when they make me want to run screaming away from parenthood). So it’s hard for me to fully embrace the idea of hating my life in this world. My life, my family – they are gifts from God. If I hate my life, isn’t that dishonoring God?
And yet those children who I adore cost me A LOT! I’ve given up career dreams, probably won’t see half of the places that I’d like to visit, denied myself purchases that I really wanted, lost quite a bit of sleep…
And maybe that’s what today’s scripture is about. I could have chosen to live for myself and ignore my children’s needs. But as a mom I was called to something greater. Just as Jesus calls us to follow and serve him – and give up selfishly living only for ourselves.
What if I hadn’t made sacrifices for my children? Where would they be today?
What if Jesus hadn’t gone to the cross to make the ultimate sacrifice for us – if he had said, “Father, save me from this time”? Where would we be?-------
"The good life according to Jesus"
Tuesday, 11 October 2016
Matthew 5:3 “How blessed are the poor in spirit!
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
4 “How blessed are those who mourn!
for they will be comforted.
5 “How blessed are the meek!
for they will inherit the Land![Matthew 5:5 Psalm 37:11]
6 “How blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness!
for they will be filled.
7 “How blessed are those who show mercy!
for they will be shown mercy.
8 “How blessed are the pure in heart!
for they will see God.
9 “How blessed are those who make peace!
for they will be called sons of God.
10 “How blessed are those who are persecuted
because they pursue righteousness!
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
11 “How blessed you are when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of vicious lies about you because you follow me! 12 Rejoice, be glad, because your reward in heaven is great — they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.
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Scholar William Barclay noted that the verb translated “taught” in Matthew 5:2 meant, in the original Greek, “repeated and habitual action, and the translation should be: ‘This is what he used to teach them.’”1 Jesus didn’t just teach this once—he taught it regularly (and still does, thanks to Matthew’s gospel). It quickly becomes clear that he had a startlingly different view of
what a good life looks like.
• The Common English Bible renders verses 3-11 as “happy are,” not the more familiar
“blessed are.” Jesus would have used an Aramaic phrase that carried the sense of a
supreme gift from God, a joy that does not rely on good circumstances or fortune. Scholar N. T. Wright said, “In our world, still, most people think wonderful news consists of success, wealth, long life, victory in battle. Jesus is offering wonderful news for the humble, the poor,
the mourners, the peacemakers.”2 Which of Jesus’ statements ring truest for you? Are
there any of them of which you feel, “I sure wish I had that”?
• The Message paraphrases verse 8 as “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—
your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.” What are
some of the major influences that have helped to put your inside world right? In what ways
do you “see” differently now than you used to?
Prayer: Dear Jesus, putting my inside world right isn’t a one-time challenge. Help me keep listening to your voice above all the others that clamor for my allegiance, to keep treasuring the wonderful news you bring me. Amen.
1 William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Matthew—Volume 1. Philadelphia: Westminster John Knox Press, 1976, p. 87.
2 N. T. Wright, Matthew for Everyone, Part 1. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, p. 37.
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"Living the good life as a nomad for God"
Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Genesis 15:1 Some time later the word of Adonai came to Avram in a vision: “Don’t be afraid, Avram. I am your protector; your reward will be very great.”
5 Then he brought him outside and said, “Look up at the sky, and count the stars — if you can count them! Your descendants will be that many!” 6 He believed in Adonai, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
13 Adonai said to Avram, “Know this for certain: your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs. They will be slaves and held in oppression there four hundred years. 14 But I will also judge that nation, the one that makes them slaves. Afterwards, they will leave with many possessions. 15 As for you, you will join your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.
25:8 Then Avraham breathed his last, dying at a ripe old age, an old man full of years; and he was gathered to his people.
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We might be tempted to think, “Of course Abraham was content—everything in his life had worked out well.” Not actually—God promised him a land, but when he died he was still a nomad. God promised that he’d become a great nation, but when he died that hope rested in his one son Isaac (cf. Hebrews 11:9-10, 13). Genesis 15:6 provided the key to Abraham’s good life—he “trusted the Lord.” And that was enough.
• What are some ways your life has been better because of choices your grandparents or other people who lived before you made (e.g. someone who set up a scholarship program that helped you)? Do you believe they could have felt a sense of contentment and
satisfaction about those choices, even if they did not specifically get to see you benefit from them?
• Are there ways in which you need to trust God because you do not see particular promises or life directions “paying off” immediately? What opportunities do you have to invest time, energy or material goods in ways that will help others in the future, even if you are not around to collect the award(s) or hear their gratitude expressed?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, teach me how to view life through the lens of eternity, as you do. Help me to trust that there are vast spheres that lie way beyond my immediate ability to perceive. Amen.
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"The good life: Spirit-guided, not selfishly guided"
Thursday. 13 October 2016
Galatians 5:16 What I am saying is this: run your lives by the Spirit. Then you will not do what your old nature wants. 17 For the old nature wants what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is contrary to the old nature. These oppose each other, so that you find yourselves unable to carry out your good intentions. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, then you are not in subjection to the system that results from perverting the Torah into legalism.
19 And it is perfectly evident what the old nature does. It expresses itself in sexual immorality, impurity and indecency; 20 involvement with the occult and with drugs; in feuding, fighting, becoming jealous and getting angry; in selfish ambition, factionalism, intrigue 21 and envy; in drunkenness, orgies and things like these. I warn you now as I have warned you before: those who do such things will have no share in the Kingdom of God!
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 humility, self control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things.
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In Roman times (and today) some people think the outcomes and qualities Paul listed in
Galatians 5:19-21 are part of a good life, either as “fun” or as side-effects of the pursuit of “fun.” But the apostle sketched a different vision, saying “you shouldn’t do whatever you want to do.” He vividly contrasted a Spirit-powered life with the negative outcomes produced when we live solely to satisfy our selfish desires, and left no doubt which life he believed is better.
• With gentle irony (and deep seriousness) Paul followed his list of the fruit of the Spirit with the phrase “There is no law against things like this.” Why would anyone make a law against qualities that make life so much better? When have you let go of your own agenda, and found that God had given you something better, deeper and more freeing than what you thought you wanted?
• In The Message, verse 16 says “My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit.” Have you found freedom from some of the areas that result from doing
whatever you want, from living as though you were your own God? Can you list areas
where the Spirit has animated and motivated you to a better way of life?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, through your Spirit continue to animate and motivate me to live beyond and above just my selfish desires. Guide me to that wonderful life against which there is no law. Amen.
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"A compelling, God-given purpose for life"
Friday, 14 October 2016
Acts 20:17 But he did send from Miletus to Ephesus, summoning the elders of the Messianic community. 18 When they arrived, he said to them, “You yourselves know how, from the first day I set foot in the province of Asia, I was with you the whole time, 19 serving the Lord with much humility and with tears, in spite of the tests I had to undergo because of the plots of the unbelieving Jews. 20 You know that I held back nothing that could be helpful to you, and that I taught you both in public and from house to house, 21 declaring with utmost seriousness the same message to Jews and Greeks alike: turn from sin to God; and put your trust in our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah.
22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Yerushalayim. I don’t know what will happen to me there, 23 other than that in every city the Ruach HaKodesh keeps warning me that imprisonment and persecution await me. 24 But I consider my own life of no importance to me whatsoever, as long as I can finish the course ahead of me, the task I received from the Lord Yeshua — to declare in depth the Good News of God’s love and kindness.
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Does living a “good life” mean avoiding danger? Not always. Paul and his colleagues were traveling to Jerusalem to deliver an offering from the Gentile Christians of Greece to help their suffering companions in the faith there. He told the elders of the church in Ephesus that he was sure arrest and prison awaited him in Jerusalem. Yet he concluded his witness about how he lived with a sense of well-being and “success” by saying, “Nothing, not even my life, is more
important than completing my mission.”
• Think of a time when you gave up something you valued to help someone else (e.g. money,
your time, your caring attention to someone who was hurting, etc.). Then recall a time when you pursued an item that you prized solely for yourself. Reflect on how the two experiences affected you. How lasting was the joy and well-being, the sense of a good life, in each case?
• Do you have a life mission? If you’re like many people, your first thought may be, “No—I
really don’t.” But Paul’s words can help nearly all of us begin to locate that “mission” (even if we haven’t consciously chosen it). Of what would you say “Nothing is more important than ____________”? As the answer to that comes into focus, prayerfully consider whether it better fits God’s definition of a good life, or that of the society around us. Ask God to help you make any needed course corrections.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I do not want to miss out on the mission you call me to, the most
important reason that you’ve given me life. Give me a clear sense of what that mission is, and the strength to live into it. Amen.
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"An Rx for the good life"
Saturday, 15 October 2016
Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in union with the Lord always! I will say it again: rejoice! 5 Let everyone see how reasonable and gentle you are. The Lord is near! 6 Don’t worry about anything; on the contrary, make your requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. 7 Then God’s shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with the Messiah Yeshua. 8 In conclusion, brothers, focus your thoughts on what is true, noble, righteous, pure, lovable or admirable, on some virtue or on something praiseworthy. 9 Keep doing what you have learned and received from me, what you have heard and seen me doing; then the God who gives shalom will be with you.
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Do you want a good life? From a Roman prison cell (cf. Philippians 1:13-14), the apostle Paul bore radiant witness to the quality of life God offers us. As we hand over our anxieties to God in prayer, he said God’s peace, purity and contentment flow in and through us, no matter what our situation. If we have any question about whether the apostle believed he had had a good life, we can read what he wrote to his young friend Timothy, again from a prison cell: “I have
fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith. At last the champion’s wreath that is awarded for righteousness is waiting for me” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
• Paul connected our ability to live a good life, filled with God’s peace and joy, with the mental “diet” we choose. Like a spiritual nutritionist, he advised, “If anything is excellent and if anything is admirable, focus your thoughts on these things: all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise” (verse 8).
With reality TV, tabloids reporting who was seen with someone they weren’t supposed to be with, negative political ads and celebrity tweets seemingly everywhere, does that strike
you as naïve, idealistic and impossible to follow? Or might it hold a key to helping you live with more peace and a stronger connection with God?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, remind me to bring my anxieties to you, not to my well-worn escape
mechanisms. Focus my thoughts on all that is true, holy, just, pure, lovely and worthy of
praise. Amen.
Family Activity: Gather or create the following: play money, pictures of items a child might want to buy (toys, vacation, junk food) and pictures of ways to give (missionary, charity, church). Assign a pretend purchase price to each of the items. Pass out play money, giving each family member different amounts. Show your family members their choices of items to buy and ways to give. Invite your family to spend their play money however they would like by
purchasing the items on pictures or giving to the places/people in need. After each person has spent their money, discuss the choices people made. Discuss the importance of a God-given life mission for each person, and for you as a family. Ask God to help you each pursue a truly good life.
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Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
• Eileen Markley and family on the death of her brother Gerry Cromwell, 10/1
• Jerry Lesjack and family on the death of his brother-in-law Bill Koresky, 10/1
• Van Torian and family on the death of his mother Joan Torian, 9/27
• Libby Hawkins and family on the death of her father Gene Bowling, 9/26
• Joy Wheeler and family on the death of her mother Beebs Downing Wheeler, 9/25
• Page Campbell and family on the death of her sister D’Arlene Aldrich, 9/24
• Charlene Perry and family on the death of her mother Marcella Karel, 9/17
• Carolyn Barnette and family on the death of her brother-in-law Martain “Keith” Croft, 8/24
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