March 11: Deuteronomy 16-18; Psalm 38; Galatians 2

What a change!

Scripture: Galatians (NIV) 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Observation: As a child I remember my dad pastoring a small church and working as an automobile mechanic during the week. Many times I would be around the shop and even got a job in the gas station out front. I learned that some motors were to be repaired, others upgraded, but some had to be totally replaced.

Application: My life had been ruined by sin and had to be replaced. As my dad replaced an old engine with a new one, so God has replaced my life with the life of His Son, Jesus! Wow! And although everything is not yet wired perfectly and there are aspects of this new life I am still discovering, I for sure do not want to go back to the old life.

Prayer: Lord, having you living inside me! Wow! Like the song says, Jesus on the inside, working on the outside; oh, what a change in my life.” Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

March 10: Deuteronomy 13-15; Galatians 1

Change

Scripture: Galatians (NIV) 1:23 They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."
24 And they praised God because of me.

Observation: After his conversion, Paul left the area around Jerusalem where he had been persecuting the church. The people in the churches that had been persecuted by Paul heard the amazing report about the change in his life and praised God.

Application: I need to be open to the changes God brings to my life. They are changes that make my life more useful in serving Him and serving others. God wants to continue to make changes in me that will cause others to give Him praise.

Prayer: Lord, I belong to you. I may not be comfortable with change, but I am willing to let you make the changes you know are best for me. Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

March 9: Deuteronomy 10-12; Mark 16

The Perfect God for me!

Scripture: Deuteronomy 10: 17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.
18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.
19 And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.

Observation: The Lord had told Moses that his death was near, so Moses was reviewing all that God had done in delivering them from bondage in Egypt and being with them as they traveled in the dessert. In repeating their history and the commands God had given, Moses gives them some key information about the One Who is leading them.

Application: I am so glad to know that Israel’s God is my God!!! He is mighty and awesome; he cannot be fooled. He is impartial and cannot be bribed; He is absolutely just. He is kind and compassionate! He is the perfect God for me!

Prayer: Lord, You are the perfect God for me. You know me completely. You know my needs and how to take care of those needs. I am blest to belong to you. Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

March 8: Deuteronomy 7-9; Mark 15

Never at HIS expense!

Scripture: Mark (NIV) 15:15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

Observation: Who was in charge, Pilate or the crowd? Pliate abdicated his authority to the crowd. What a mistake! It is not always wrong to satisfy others, but never at His expense!

Application: Who am I trying to satisfy? When I please myself or please others am I doing it at His expense?

Prayer: Lord, at the end of today, may we both look back and smile at a day well lived. J Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

March 7: Deuteronomy 5-6; Psalm 43; Mark 14

She did what she could.

Scripture: Mark 14:8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.

Observation: This lady had a great appreciation for Jesus and while he was reclining at a dinner table in a wealthy home in which he was a guest, she broke open a jar of very expensive perfume and poured it over his head. As the odor filled the room everyone present became aware of what happened, and this lady was criticized for the “waste.” It could have been sold and the money given to the poor. But Jesus defended her. “She did what she could.” He said she did it in preparation for his burial. In a few days some ladies would be arising early to go to a tomb to anoint the dead body of Jesus, but he would already be raised to life. Only this lady had the privilege of serving Jesus in this way.

In so many of the miracles in the Bible we see both man’s part and God’s part. The miracles cannot be understood as coming about because of man’s part—only because of God’s part. Man’s part always came before God’s part. And man’s part was always something that he could do. “She did what she could.”

Application: I must be willing to do what I can. I can pray. I can reach out and touch in Jesus name. I can give what I have. I do what I can do in humility and in trust that Jesus will do what He can do!

Prayer: Lord, I do what is possible for me to do all the while trusting you to do what is possible for you to do. Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

March 6: Deuteronomy 3-4; Psalm 36; Mark 13

Priceless & Unfailing

Scripture: Psalm (NIV) 36:7 How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Observation: In the surrounding verses the song writer praises and worships God by verbally expressing different aspects of God’s character. In this verse he describes God’s love as both unfailing and priceless. It is impossible to put a value on unfailing love. Of all the love songs ever written, the greatest songs are those about the greatest love—the love of God!

Application: I am rich beyond measure; I am love by God! He loves me with a priceless and unfailing love. He loves me though imperfect; with His help I can love others though imperfect.

Prayer: Lord, how can I say thanks for your love. I can only love you in return and try to prove my love by doing those things that please you. Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

March 5: Deuteronomy 1-2; Mark 12

Not going to change now!

Scripture: Deuteronomy (NIV) 2:7 The LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast desert. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.

Observation: Moses is reviewing history with the Israelites. They had been in the desert forty years. God had blest them. God had protected them. God had been with them all the time. Everything they needed (water, food, clothing) God had provided for them. Their history was truly HIS-story!

Application: As I look back over the past forty years, I find the same thing: my story is really HIS-story! He has blest me. He has protected me. He has been with me. He has provided for me.

Prayer: Lord, You proved Yourself faithful to the Israelites 3500 years ago and you have proved Yourself faithful to me during these last 40 years. Surely You are not going to change now! Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

S.O.A.P.

March 4: Numbers 34-36; Mark 11

Fretting or Focusing?

Scripture: Numbers (NIV) 34:1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 "Command the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter Canaan, the land that will be allotted to you as an inheritance will have these boundaries:

Observation: The following verses describe the southern boundary, the western, the northern, and the eastern boundaries. This was the land allotted by God for the nation of Israel.
The boundaries were both limiting and freeing. They limited or restricted Israel. All the land was not theirs; only that which God specified. But the boundaries freed them to focus on what God had given. The boundaries freed their faith. God would help them acquire, develop, maintain and protect what He had given them, but not that outside the boundaries.

Application: God given boundaries limit me. They limit my relationships, they limit business associations, but they are given to help me focus on what God has given. Instead of wasting brain power fretting about what I do not have or cannot do, I must focus on what I do have and what I can do.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, I need you to remind me that limitations can serve to focus me. Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

March 3: Numbers 32-33; Mark 10

MY perspective

Scripture: Mark (NIV) 10: 13 ¶ People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.
14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

Observation: Consider the changes in perspectives of those involved:
– The children from being shunned to becoming the most important people present.
– The parent from having their most prized possession disregarded to having it greatly valued.
– The disciples from trying to protect Jesus from unnecessary distractions to learning his priority.
-Jesus from seeing what he had created in his image being kept from him to not just touching them as requested, but giving them a hug.

Application: As a school bus driver I know that children do not have my wisdom and understanding of driving a bus in traffic. At times I may ignore them to tend to driving, but I do need to make sure that they know they are valuable. In fact, they are the reason for the bus and for my job as a driver! That should be my perspective. My job was not created to give me an opportunity to earn money. It was created to provide safe transportation for valuable lives to and from school. God did not tell me to drive a bus to earn money, but because He loves children and he wants me to love them too.

Prayer: Lord, help me to see things as you see them—especially children. Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!

March 2: Numbers 30-31; Mark 9

Welcoming a child

Scripture: Mark 9:36 He (Jesus) took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them,
37 "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

Observation: United States ambassadors live in foreign countries representing our government. They act in the name of the United States. They represent our government. They speak to national leaders as though our President himself were present and speaking.

Receiving children “in his name” would mean that we are doing it on his behalf. We are receiving the child as His representative and treating them in the way He would treat them.

Application: I am to treat children as Jesus would treat them. On behalf of heaven I am to welcome them into my presence. And in welcoming a child I find that I have welcomed Jesus and the One who sent him. (NOTE: If people understood these verses, churches would have no shortage of children’s workers.)

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the children you bring into our lives. We learn from watching them and we are blest as we bless them. When we receive them in your name, you take it as though we were doing it unto you! Amen.

Pastor Leon

Making friends for time and eternity!