Monthly Archives: February 2008

The Value of Preparation

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The Lord often teaches us when things go wrong.  So it was for His first disciples and so it is for us.  A valuable lesson on preparation is found right after the Transfiguration.  Jesus, Peter, James and John get down from the mountain to find a crowd gathered and Christ’s other disciples in the midst of a dispute.

And He asked the scribes, ‘What are you disputing about with them?’ Then one of the crowd answered and said, ‘Teacher, I brought my son to You, because he has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, and gnashes his teeth, and he becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they might cast it out, but they were not able.'” – Mark 9:16-18 (M-Text)

So Jesus, as usual, solved the problem, but the disciples were left wondering as to just why they fell so short. 

And after He entered into a house, His disciples asked Him privately, ‘Why were we not able to cast it out?’ So He said to them, ‘This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.'” – Mark 9:28-29 (M-Text)

Opportunities for ministry often come at unexpected times.  When they do, it’s important to be ready.  Fasting and prayer should not only be something we engage in at a time of great need – though there is nothing wrong with that.  It should be a form of preparation for the needs that are yet to come.

Encouragement from the Lowest Pit

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Bad experiences make us twitchy.  The more of them we have, the more we tend to expect them.  The more often we fall, the harder it is to look up.  The lower we get, the more we need some form of encouragement – someone to give us a reason to be brave.  If people cause our bad experiences, people begin making us twitchy.  As bad experiences multiply, so do our fears.  If we have a wide assortment of difficulties, it’s easy to believe that God Himself is behind them.  With relief we can say that He’s not.

When things were at their worst – and then got even worse than that, our hero Jeremiah prayed and heard God’s voice in response to his desperate cry.  As he shares his story, if we identify with his trouble, may we also take courage as we share his encouragement.

My enemies without cause
     Hunted me down like a bird.
They silenced my life in the pit
     And threw stones at me.
The waters flowed over my head;
     I said, ‘I am cut off!’
I called on Your name, O Lord,
     From the lowest pit.
You have heard my voice:
     ‘Do not hide Your ear
     From my sighing, from my cry for help.’
You drew near on the day I called on You,
     And said, ‘Do not fear!'”
                    – Lamentations 3:52-57 (NKJV)

Palmer St. Podcast: John 2

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This week we’ll see Jesus perform His first sign or miracle, in which He turns water into wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee.  Then He’ll go up to Jerusalem for Passover and, while there, He’ll get angry with those who are  profiteering off people at the temple.  He’ll drive out their animals with a whip of cords, pour out the changers’ money and overturn their tables.  The notes and audio recording are both in place below. 

John02.mp3

John02.pdf

Inevitable Compassion

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When things are looking very bad, the one thing we perhaps fear the most is that they will never look good again.  Diving into this bottomless pit of awfulness is is self-destructive.  We have permission to rejoice.  As long as we’re looking to the Lord for help, this worst case scenario will never be true. 

Once again, Jeremiah leads the way in seeing light at the end of a seemingly endless tunnel of gloom.  If it was bad, he saw it.  If it was difficult, he endured it.  And he was no superman – he cried and griped often along the way.  But when it was all over and he was right in the midst of a well-desevered lengthy lament, he just couldn’t help but observe the following, leaving us with a profound message of hope: 

God’s compassion is inevitable.

“For the Lord will not cast off forever.
Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.
For He does not afflict willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.”
– Lamentations 3:31-33 (NKJV)