SEARCHLIGHT

  JUNE 30, 2023 Luke 5:16 Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. When Jesus began His earthly ministry, word quickly spread of His incredible miracles, and people began flocking to Him. Jesus would see people deep into the night- endless days that would leave Him, and the disciples worn-out. Even good solid ministry involvement can make us feel depleted. Yet, we learn in today’s passage Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. He wasn’t available to all people, at all times, in all places. He limited the access people had to Him in order to stay connected to God, His Father. This enabled Him to, despite the chaos and commotion around Him, remain at peace. He was as one author put it “unapologetically unhurried.” The invitation to us yesterday from Jesus was “Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.” Our reading above shows us two important things about Jesus that we need to put into practice if we want to live in that space of the unforced rhythms of gra

  JUNE 29, 2023   Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message) “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”   Well, the day has just begun and I'm already running late With too many irons in the fire and too much on my plate I'd be pulling out my hair if I could just get one hand free And I'd stop this world if I could find the key STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN, (King of the Jungle)   Do you ever get tired of trying to do it all? Running, running, running, packing as much stuff into each day as you can. The pace. Is. Exhausting. Maybe early summer is the time to be reminded "running, running, running" is not the life Jesus has intended for us. Jesus invites us to live in t

  JUNE 28, 2023   Psalm 139:7-12 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. Over the last couple of days, we have noted that as humans we have the tendency to want to hide from God, Adam and Eve did. When you really think about it, it is quite ridiculous to think that we can hide from our creator. It’s kind of like playing with a child, and you walk into child’s room and seeing a lumped form under the blankets, and child thinking they are invisible to you. One of God’s profound attributes is His omnipresence. This theological w

  JUNE 27, 2023   Luke 19:10 "For the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." The gospel says that God, in his incredible love, seeks out humanity. It's not the other way around. Many religions are trying to find God, trying to seek God, trying to understand God. The gospel says God knows you. God understands you. God seeks you. God fully knows where you've been and what you've done, and God loves you still. That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. You don’t need to hide from God, but be assured; if you do, God will come looking for you.   REFLECT How have you experienced God seeking you out?  

  JUNE 26, 2023 James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed…” We were created to be fully known and fully loved. But the world we live in tells us that we can’t be fully known and fully loved. According to the world’s pattern, if you want to be fully loved, you must be only partially known, because if people knew everything there was to know about you, they're not going to like you, much less love you. So, we believe this lie and we hide our true selves through many creative and guarded practices. I know this is true because I have lived there. Have you? Living in this guarded space can cause us to live in great tension and fear of someone finding out the things we wish to keep concealed. But this is not what God intends. His intent is that we receive healing and wholeness from confessing our sins to one another, allowing ourselves to be fully known. It is only by being fully known that we can truly be fully healed and fu

  JUNE 23, 2023 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Have you ever noticed how people who live with gratitude seldom complain? They may very well go through difficult circumstances, but they still seem to be able to hold onto hope in the midst of those circumstances. We see that a lot in the Psalms, particularly in the songs of lament. As Matt Redman says in The Unquenchable Worshipper: “A true lament never challenges or questions the worth of God. Instead, it reveals that His goodness and greatness are the only hope for a bleak situation.” You can cry out to God amid your struggles and still be grateful. After all, "God isn't in the grumble. God is in the gratitude." Reflect Try this, as you wake each day for the next five days, before you get out of bed, give thanks to God for five things for which you are grateful. May you have a wonderful weekend  and remember  YOU ARE LOVED.

  JUNE 22, 2023   Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” When Adam and Eve committed the original sin, the scene described for us in Genesis 3, they immediately felt a separation from God. We know this because they hid from God in the garden. What would God do to them? Would God’s love and affection be withdrawn? I believe that they recognized that their choice to go against God’s command had ruined the perfection God had created. But what they failed to understand is that God is love. His love is not dependent on our behaviors. He loves because that is His nature. We may make the choice to sin, and that certainly affects our relationship with God. But because of Jesus’ sacrifice, for those who believe, it does not change our standing

  JUNE 21, 2023 Exodus 2:23-25 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. Psalm 6:3-6  My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long? Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. Among the dead no one proclaims your name. Who praises you from the grave? I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. Numbers 11:1-2, 4-6  Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire

  JUNE 20, 2023 Deuteronomy 1;21, 26-27, 34-36 “See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged… But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You grumbled in your tents and said, “The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us… When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore: “No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.” Yesterday I suggested that it seems we’ve evolved into a culture of complaint, if you are anything like me, it can be very easy to let the world around us squeeze us into its mold. (Romans 12 JB Phillips) Today’s passage reve

  JUNE 19, 2023 Philippians 2:14-15  “Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” We start our devotions this week addressing something we all deal with to some extent: complaining. Culturally, it seems we’ve evolved into a culture of complaint, and with this has come less respect for others, anger, and less courtesy. The new normal, seems to be an acceptance to give full vent to every grievance one has. As followers of Jesus, how do we resist this? How do we carry out Paul’s exhortation to do everything without complaining, that we might stand out as bright lights in a dark world ? This week, as we look more closely into the history of God’s people and their tendency to complain, and a few of the examples that God gives us in Scripture, my prayer is that we will become more aware of our own tendency to grumble and that we will

  JUNE 16, 2023 Philippians 4:11-13 “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Contentment is a powerful defense in the battle against comparison in our lives. When you’re content, you can rejoice with others in the blessings they experience because you are enjoying the blessings in your own life. It seems to me that at times we resent God’s goodness in the lives of others, while ignoring God’s blessings in our own lives. A lack of contentment in life does that. I have noticed, maybe you have too, that when you are content, comparison rarely happens. To be sure, the temptations to compare still come, but when you’re satisfied in life, you’re less likely to give in.

  JUNE 15, 2023 John 21:19-22 “Then he said to him, “Follow me! “Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”2 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” In the story of the disciples, particularly from the perspective of John, (who also happened to be the youngest of them all) you’ll see a little “brotherly comparison” going on between Peter and John. In John 13:23 we see John identifying himself (he wrote this Gospel after all) as the “disciple Jesus loved” and there he was reclining next to Jesus, as though in the seat of honor. On the morning of resurrection, after the women’s report, we’re told in John 20:3-4 that Peter and John raced to the tomb and John beat Peter to it. And just in case you missed this little det

  JUNE 14, 2023 1 Samuel 18:6-8 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres. As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands.” Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” In the story of David, Goliath, and Saul, God provided victory for the nation of Israel by empowering David, a young shepherd boy, to kill the Philistine giant Goliath. Goliath was so imposing that he left Saul and his entire army “shaking in their boots.” We notice that David’s faith was stronger than his fear and he refused to allow the giant and the Philistine army to mock his God. David’s courage and faith enabled him, this so-called underdog, to do what seemed im

  JUNE 13, 2023 Genesis 4:3-8 “In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.” Cain and Abel. The very first siblings we encounter in the Bible. Do you ever wonder how the first humans went from eating forbidden fruit to murdering their own brother in such a short time? I feel that their story is meant to serve a

  JUNE 12, 2023 2 Corinthians 10:12 “We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.” 2 Corinthians 10:12  (The Message) 12 We’re not, understand, putting ourselves in a league with those who boast that they’re our superiors. We wouldn’t dare do that. But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point. Comparison. It can be somewhat of a contradiction. On one hand, comparison is necessary in our everyday lives. We compare prices to get the best value. Wise Stewardship. We compare how we were doing last year, to how we are doing today, to measure progress toward our goals. These kinds of comparison and measurements are healthy and good. But there’s another type of comparison and measurement that is not so healthy and good. And it’s not healthy and good for two reasons: We tend to identify our worth and performance and val

  JUNE 9, 2023 Matthew 10:2-3 2  These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John;   3  Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;  4  Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. John 13:34-35 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” In this life, there will always be something to be offended about. Don’t you find that to be the reality? Whether it’s a contentious news headline, a differing opinion, a minor traffic incident, or a yielding in a construction zone, we will have no shortage of reasons to take offense each day. I saw a post a few weeks ago that said Think about the last time you took offense at something. Did it make your life better? Or did it make you bitter? Here’s the t

  JUNE 8, 2023 John 10:10 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. Ephesians 4:21-26 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, Matthew 5:43-47 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on

  JUNE 7, 2023   LUKE 22:31-34 31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” 33 But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” 34 Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” Ephesians 2:4-10 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we

  JUNE 6, 2023 2 Timothy 3:1-4  But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. I would say that the chances are that we are going to encounter people who display the tendencies listed in today’s passage from 2 Timothy 3. Our encouragement today is 1) to avoid being one who displays these tendencies, and 2) to deal with those who do with love. Let us be honest the “way of Love” is not always easy. I would think we all have noticed, especially in the last few years, that our culture is becoming increasingly lacking in respect and graciousness, and the behaviors described in our reading seem to be on the rise. Yet, what a great opportunity as a follower of Christ to shine brightly

  JUNE 5, 2023 James 1:19-26 19My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. 26Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. It seems like all it takes to

  JUNE 2, 2023 Matthew 1:18-24 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wi