November 21: Matthew 8-10

Fallen birds and fallen hair

Scripture: Matthew 10: 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Observation: Sparrows are of little value to me. I hardly notice when they die. But I am so important to God that He notices everything about me, even the number of the hair on my head. I just realized that more and more of my hair is joining the fallen birds on the ground.

Application: If the God of creation is so interested in me that he even knows the number of hair on my head, surely there is nothing about me that he does not know. A doctor may read all the lab reports but he cannot tell me anything that my God does not already know. And if God is not worried, neither should I be. He notices the sparrows, but He lives in me!

Prayer: Lord, being in your thoughts and under your care is a wonderful place to be! Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

November 13: Job 39, 40; 1Corinthians 13, 14

Scripture: 1Corinthians (NIV) 13:6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

Observation: My attention is drawn to the word “delight.” This week our granddaughter’s school was out for a day and we were privileged to have her in our home. While she was painting some plaster-of-Paris things “Nandi” had prepared, she was quite critical of her own work and told us how a teacher had criticized her art work in school before the class telling her how bad it was. She had worked very hard on it and she felt quite hurt. The Lord brought her to the right place because the true art experts, Nandi and Papa, took great delight in the work of this budding artist with so much talent.

Application: What a wonderful thought to know that my Heavenly Father delights in me as I delight in my granddaughter. Also, when love reigns in my life, my delights will not be in doing evil or in hearing evil reports but will be aligned with God’s delights.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, please check me when I begin to take joy in things that displease you. Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

October 30: Job 21; Mark 5-6

Scripture: Mark 6:51 (NIV) Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed,
52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

Observation: With five loaves and two fish, Jesus had just fed 5000 with 12 basketsful of left overs. Then He had sent the disciples across the sea. During the night and in the midst of a storm, Jesus comes walking on the water to them; He gets into the boat and the storm subsides. They were completely amazed because they could not connect the feeding of the 5000 with the walking on water and calming the wind. They could not connect their past with their present.

Application: It is so important that I connect what God did for me yesterday, last week, or last year with what I am going through today. What He has already done for me is proof that He cares for me and that He will work on my behalf. God’s interaction in my history is proof that He is with me in the present and has victory for me in the future.

Prayer: Lord, sometimes I need to be reminded of what you have done for me in the past. I know you are just as faithful now as then. Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

October 25: Job 16; Acts 21-22

Scripture: Job 16:19 Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.
20 My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God;
21 on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend.

Observation: Job’s suffering had brought him to a place where he needed someone to take his cause before God. For some reason his prayers were not getting through. He could not trust his visiting friends to take his cause before God, for they obviously did not understand it either. Somehow it was revealed to Job that he already had what he needed. He had a “friend” in heaven who would speak on his behalf. This “intercessor” would not represent Job as a hired lawyer, but passionately as a friend!

Application: When I read this passage, I wish I could be there to tell Job about this “friend.” I would tell Job that our “friend” did not only intercede for us, but came to earth to die in payment for our sins. I would tell Job that our “friend” is also a “friend” of the court. Oh, there are so many things I would like to tell Job. I would tell Job, “Our ‘friend’s’ name is Jesus!”

Prayer: Lord, I am so grateful that you are not a lawyer who represents me as a friend because you love or need the money; you are my friend who represents me as a lawyer because you love me! Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!