Something to think about as you start a new week

Monday Meditations are quick posts designed to get you thinking about God. They provide a fresh perspective as you jump into your routine.

Newness

By Paula

[J]ust as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4

Not new like my running shoes which are just like my old ones except for the color.

Not new like the year, or the month, or the week which are just marks on the calendar.

New like heavens and earth cleansed and reformed (2 Peter 3:13)
New like the song of the redeemed (Revelation 5:9)
New like the creation in which the old is passed away (2 Corinthians 5:17)
New like the heart and spirit God Himself gave us (Ezekiel 36:26)

The resurrection makes everything new.

Has it made me new?
Does my life reflect that newness?

Or is it like everyone else’s life except for the “color”?
Is my walk about keeping a schedule or checking a list?

If it is, that’s not the newness of life He gave me.

They Recognized

By Paula

And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. Luke 24:31

A careful reading of the gospel accounts of Jesus’s crucifixion gives a probable identity to the disciples on the road to Emmaus – Cleopas and his wife, Mary.

She had stood at the foot of the cross with Jesus’s mother, Mary, with John, with Mary Magdalene and Salome.
She had watched Him suffer.
She heard the blasphemous insults hurled at Him.
She felt the earthquake and the darkness.
But it didn’t click.

Jesus joined them as they walked home.
They rehearsed for Him all that had happened.
Jesus a Prophet, mighty in word and deed …
We were hoping He was the Redeemer …
There is a rumor He was alive …
But it didn’t click.

Jesus explained the Old Testament to them.
The prophecies.
The types.
The fulfillment.
It still didn’t click.

Until they invited Him to stay.
Until He broke the bread.
Until the moment of intimate fellowship.

If we are only observing, no matter how closely …
If we are only discussing, no matter how passionately …
If we are only hearing, no matter how attentively …

It is only in intimate fellowship that we recognize Jesus for who He truly is.

Still Hosanna

By Paula

Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!” Matthew 21:9

Hosanna is a Hebrew word, a prayer.

Save now.

It is a call for God to do what only He can do.

In the first century the Jews cried out for Jesus to deliver them from political corruption and oppression, from the curse of sickness and disability, from a religious system that replaced intimacy with God with ritual and formalism.

But Jesus came to deliver them from sin, not Rome. From sin, not disease. From sin and not religion.

The crowds couldn’t grasp that their biggest problem was not the world around them. It was much closer to home.

It was sin within their own individual hearts.

Like the crowds, we cry out for the same things. Deliverance. Relief. Restoration.

Good things, serious needful things.

Could it be that we also miss the fact that our greatest need is deliverance from our sin and not our situations?

Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

If – Then

By Paula

If the LORD is God, follow Him… 1 Kings 18:21

It’s a simple condition. An if-then statement.
Is the Lord God?
Yes or no.

There are further implications.
If He is not God, don’t follow Him.
If we aren’t following, He must not be God.
If we say He is God but don’t follow, then He is not really God.

Notice, it’s all or nothing.
Not if God is mostly God, mostly follow Him.
Not if God is God except for these few things, then I’ll follow on everything but these few things.

Is the LORD God?
Follow Him. Obey Him. Emulate Him.

Is the LORD God?
But the people answered him not a word. (1 Kings 18:21)

I think I know what their answer was.

Peter’s Principles: Leaders

By Paula Wiseman

The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; 1 Peter 5:1-3

Peter gives 4 principles for leaders.

(Specifically pastors/elders,
but, by extension,
anyone in a leadership position
in the body of Christ.)

Shepherd the flock of God
Do the job.
A challenging, frustrating,
Exhausting, bewildering,
Blessed calling.

Not by compulsion but willingly
Serve with pure motivation.
Not out of guilt or obligation.
Not for personal gratification or adulation,
A willing servant.

Not for dishonest gain but eagerly
Focus on the correct goals.
Not influence, prestige,
Money, power, acquisition
A trustworthy steward

Not being lords but examples to the flock
Lead by example.
Not domineering or abusive
Authoritarian, manipulative, or intimidating.
Leading like Jesus Christ

Peter’s principle: Be the kind of leader Jesus was. A shepherd. A humble, willing, trustworthy example.

Peter’s Principles: Living in the End Times

By Paula Wiseman

But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 1 Peter 4:7-10

Peter gives 4 principles for living in the end times.

Be serious and watchful in your prayers.
Don’t be overcome by emotion and worry.
Don’t be discouraged by sin and evil.
Keep your focus on eternal things.

Have fervent love for one another.
Don’t hold grudges or play favorites.
Don’t collect wounds and insults
Keep others’ spiritual good as a goal.

Be hospitable.
Don’t grumble or complain.
Don’t see it as a burden or an imposition.
Keep love as an action, not a feeling.

Use your gifts.
Don’t get a big head or an inflated ego.
Don’t ignore needs and opportunities.
Keep ministering to each other and those outside the kingdom.

Peter’s principle: It’s the end times. That means it’s time to double down on what Christ instructed us to do, not slack off.