April 29 | John 12:1-8

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DAILY READING

John 12:1-8

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REFLECTION

Who Does the Convincing?

by Pr. Dave Mann

This passage has some well-known characters: Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. Yes, this is the same trio of siblings who played parts in the dramatic events of the death and raising of Lazarus from the dead. (See John 11:1-44.) These were no doubt the same Mary and Martha who were featured in Luke 10:38-42. Martha, who was doing all the prep work for the meal, expressed her irritation to Jesus concerning Mary who was not helping in the kitchen, choosing rather to sit at Jesus’ feet, listening to his teaching.

In this event of John 12, Martha is preparing the meal again. Mary performs an extravagant expression of love and honor as she breaks open a pint jar of nard (expensive perfume), anoints Jesus’ feet, and dries them with her hair. Martha’s reaction to Mary’s unusual gift is not specified this time. Rather, it is Judas Iscariot who protests such an overly generous gift.

What is the message for us? We are not to judge or criticize others for their giving practices. There is not one sole way or one certain amount that we are to give to the poor or to the church. Each of us has unique circumstances in which we live. We are called to give sacrificially but not to judge others in what they give or fail to give. Ours is not to critique others; that is the task of the Holy Spirit. He—no human—will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. (See John 16:8-11.)

We often get confused about who should do the challenging and convicting. We think that others should listen more intently to the Spirit. Or perhaps, we think that the Spirit needs our help in chastising others for the size of their gift or the manner of the giving. On the contrary, we should ask the Lord for a pliable heart and a sensitive spirit.

The challenge is to go to the Lord regularly in prayer, asking him for guidance as to the amount of sacrificial giving that he is calling us to donate. We follow our Lord who gave his all for us. As we listen, confess, and follow him, we will sense his leading to become more Christ-like. The Holy Spirit will do his work within each of us—convicting, convincing, and challenging. We can trust the Spirit of Jesus to do this same work with others.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, grant me an open heart so that I can hear what you want me to give to your Kingdom work. Grant me also a trusting heart so that as others follow your Spirit’s leading, I can rejoice in the many ways and means that you direct your people to give, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

April 28 | Matthew 6:19-34

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DAILY READING

Matthew 6:19-34

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REFLECTION

Light!

by Elaine Pierce

My husband really loves flashlights. Now he might not agree with that statement, but he has flashlights stashed in lots of places: on his nightstand, in the guest room, in the car, at our lake cottage. I'm not sure where this interest in flashlights started (maybe as a boy scout?) but I

never worry that we will be without light when there is a power outage.

Verses 22-23 focus on light and darkness: "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"

Jesus follows up this description of light and dark by reminding his listeners that "no one can serve two masters....You cannot serve both God and Money." (v. 24) Why do you suppose he talked about light and dark and God and money so closely together? Perhaps he wanted people to think about the fact that God knows what we do in the darkness, even when we think we are hiding from him. The light shines in the darkness, and what is hidden is revealed.

Our relationship to money can be complicated. We need it to exist in society. We earn it, we spend it, we save it. But whose is it ultimately? We know that all we have comes from the Lord. We know that we can serve him through our financial resources, and we know that we can make bad financial choices that don't honor him. The bottom line is that he wants us to put him first - to shine a light on our money, and our motivations for how we use it.

When the lights go out, and we don't have power, at my house we will have flashlights to guide us. How much more does God want us to "seek first his kingdom" and look to the light of his love and mercy as we go through our lives? May we have hearts that serve him first, last, and always.

PRAYER

Lord, you shine a light in the darkness, and you long for us to seek your face. Help us to give our time, our talent and our treasure to you, knowing that you will bless us beyond measure as we grow in our relationship with you. Help us to seek the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. All we have is yours, and we thank you for the gift of mercy and grace you so freely bestow. Amen.

April 27 | Luke 3:7-16

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DAILY READING

Luke 3:7-16

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REFLECTION

Who's Your Daddy?

by Mary Alice McGinnis

Try to imagine yourself in today’s scene. John the Baptist had just begun his mission. He was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, preparing the way for the Messiah. Imagine you are part of this large crowd who was curious about what this “prophet” would have to say. Then, the first words out of his mouth are, "You all are a brood of vipers, born from a whole family line of venomous snakes!” How would you react?

Soon after God created all things, Adam and Eve turned their backs on God their Father, and followed the lies of Satan, who came in the form of a deceiving snake.

Genesis 3:1 says, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other of the wild animals the Lord God had made.”

Why does John start with such harsh words, saying that they all were snakes, coming from a long line of snakes, with the father of all snakes (Satan) being their bloodline? As a forerunner of Jesus, John needed to prick the hearts of his listeners so that they understood the gravity of their condition. We all, born of a sinful nature, are ALL in Satan’s grasp. Our natural bent is to be evil children of the devil. Not a very pretty picture.  

We can try to excuse ourselves, thinking that we are exempt from this dire condition. The Jews thought that since they were Abraham’s children; they were safe, and could never fall out of favor with God. Yet the truth is we all have fallen short of the glory of God.

John says, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”

What is repentance anyway? We often think of it as feelings of guilt, being sorry for what we have done. Have you ever said you were sorry, even asked for forgiveness, only to go back to doing the exact same thing again and again? The word repentance in the Bible is more than just feelings of guilt and sorrow. It is a turning or a change of the mind. Turning from what once held our affections and hating it. Then setting out on a different way of living. “It embraces both a recognition of sin and sorrow for it and a hearty amendment, the tokens and effects of which are good deeds.” (Josephus, Antiquities 13,11, 3)

But a snake cannot produce anything but other snakes, right? So our fate seems sealed and hopeless. The crowd, feeling the weight of this message, in desperation ask, “What should we do then?”

The reality is we cannot conjure up enough sorrow or repentance in our hearts to turn ourselves around. It is impossible.

Jesus tell us, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit." (John 3:5) We must be born again!

How is fruit produced? Does a tree decide, “Today I am going to produce an apple?” No! Only through being grounded in the promise of redemption, being bought back from the grips of Satan, being filled with the Spirit, dying to our old self, and being raised again to new life, are we born anew.

Romans 9:8 says, "It is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring."

How will the fruit of this turning around, this Spirit filled changing of our hearts, show itself in our lives? How will our living be different as "children of the promise"?

Often God calls us to walk in His ways, follow Him as a Father, in integrity, honesty and compassion in the ordinary things of life. In how we live our day-to-day lives, in our occupations, in the ways we share our money and possessions, being fair and kind in how we treat those around us, and being content with what God has given us.

In what practical ways is God calling you to display His heart changing work in your heart today?

PRAYER

Jesus, you have called me Your own. You have purchased me back from death, into true life. Help me live my life as a reflection of being Your child, in real tangible ways, even in the ordinary everyday pages of my life.