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I'm sharing this journal entry from one of our sheep / shepherds for your encouragement and invite you to share your stories to keep us connected David
Thursday April 2, 2020: A journal entry:
JESUS WEPT.
A Morning mist of low cloud wrapped soft around the hills.
I read John 6 and tried to ponder on Jesus the living bread. But the mist beckoned and drew me outside, quickly enfolding me in its clammy embrace.
There was no pausing to choose direction. I headed straight up the hill blanketed in the foggy stillness, only birdcall echoing the inner certainty – she’s coming to pray.
Pray up the hill. I haven’t prayed up there for a while. I’ve prayed. But not there on God’s hill, my place of retreat.
At the summit, as cloud drifted and lifted, it was my heart that rained out its anguished plea, the cry for help with COVID19: LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER. Help us Jesus.
That was it. No wordy waffle. I perched on the rim of the damp bench, poised in grief and need; heart, mind and spirit turned to God, “Yet still do I praise you Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Living God.”
A lull then settled over me, like a mute button had been pressed to hush the turmoil of my distressed thoughts and wretched emotions concerning the plight of the world’s people. Wait. Be quiet!
Jesus wept. The words from last Sunday’s reading came to mind loud and clear.
33 When Jesus saw her crying, and the Judaeans who had come with her crying, he was deeply stirred in his spirit, and very troubled. 34 ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked. ‘Master,’ they said, ‘come and see.’ 35 Jesus burst into tears. (John 11:33-35 NTE)
I too burst into tears, and as I wept, there at the top of the hill, I knew he was weeping with me. Weeping with all the world. Weeping for us all.
Turn to me. And I, turning, vision all awash, could see clearly, he was there. Feed my sheep. To this I shook my head, and thought, I’m no pastor. You are a minister of my word. Therefore, speak my word to others. Speak my word to one another. And suddenly understanding dawned. “You aren’t just saying this to me, are you? It’s your call to all of us: Feed your sheep. The responsibility is ours collectively.” And I pictured the scattered sheep, isolated from one another but belonging together and needing creative new ways of being church and speaking grace and hope to one another and others.
I plunged, then, down the hill, not following the worn paths but winding down the steeper slope, weaving through knee high weeds, around rocky mounds and patches of slippery flattened grass, to emerge at the wider base track.
Now is the time to forge new paths. Jesus is still the Way, the “base track” of my faith remains the same. It’s the network of familiar paths that represent how we have lived out our faith, that have fallen away, not God’s word or his kingdom, or his love.
I am thankful for this love that comes to us where we are: scattered sheep weeping in the mist of uncertainty. I’m thankful that Jesus wept and that his way isn’t set in stone. That he comes and calls us to discover a new and living way, today and tomorrow and the next day. Hallelujah! This is a new day! And the Jesus who weeps with us in our distress will renew us and lead us on beyond COVID19.
JESUS WEPT.
The autumn sun filtered a pale ray through the drifting grey. A reminder that the God who weeps, also sheds light as well as tears.
‘Who do you say that I am?’
by Ruth Olsen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say that I am?’ (Luke 9:20)
Read Luke 9:18–26
In this passage, Jesus moves from a general knowledge to the specific. Therefore, I put it to you also: What do people around you say about Jesus, and who he is? Who do you say that he is? Our answer to that determines what can unfold from there. We each need to give our answer.
Peter’s immediate response was, ‘The Christ of God’, in other words, the Promised Messiah! It may seem strange that Jesus then warned them not to tell anyone. The people were waiting for the Messiah, but their expectations of the Messiah were very different to those Jesus had from the Father. Peter recognised but did not understand. The people didn’t recognise or understand. They needed further teaching before Jesus could publicly identify himself. He had a crucial schedule to keep and would not be interrupted by premature and superficial reactions. Yet immediately, Jesus started predicting his death.
Words matter. Words are important. They carry life – and/or death. What you say about Jesus determines whether your life is lost or saved.
When we want to hold on to our lives, we can easily forfeit the life that really matters. When we are willing to let go of our lives, to place them and ourselves in the Lord’s hands and be available to him, we are likely to discover the fullness of life that Jesus alone can give us. We won’t find that by grasping, but by yielding to him, surrendering our will to his will for us. That is the risk and response of faith.
To follow Jesus requires self-denial, self-surrender and the obedience of faith that enables us to endure suffering, building our character through perseverance and hope that holds on to God’s love by the power of the Holy Spirit within us (Romans 5:1–5). Being available to him, the Spirit can work the Father’s purposes in us and then through us to others around us.
Lord Jesus, thank you that you ask me also who I say you are. Here’s my response to you [tell him in your own words]. Amen.
Ruth lives in Adelaide, South Australia, with her husband, Steen. Peritoneal dialysis at night is now their settled ‘new normal’. Ruth says, ‘It is in the challenges of life where we grow in recognising the Lord’s enabling and faithfulness. Like the psalmist, we grow in knowing the goodness of the Lord’s love and his great mercy. All praise be to him!’
Heart – attachments
by Ruth Olsen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Peter answered [Jesus], ‘We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?’ (Matthew 19:27)
Read Matthew 19:16–30
What is it that your heart holds dear? Is it your loved ones, career, body shape/appearance, reputation, bank account, mobile phone, health or faith? It can be different for each of us, likewise at different stages of life.
I have probably moved through each of those stages; however, my faith – my relationship with Jesus and, through him, with Abba Father and the Holy Spirit – has been central since I was about 18 years old, with much growth, development and adventure along the way.
Whatever our heart is focused on will absorb our attention. And if there have been hurts and wounds along the way, leaving us broken-hearted, then our focus is much more muddied. But it does not have to stay that way!
The wealthy young ruler in our Bible passage thought he had it all together except for the surety of eternal life. Jesus replies to his question with a question, to which the young man replied, ‘Which commandments?’ Had he not heard that if we break one of the commandments, it is the same as breaking all of them? Jesus then challenges the young man on his ‘heart focus’ to ascertain whether he was really seeking eternal life.
Then comes the conversation about a camel passing through the eye of a needle as a descriptor of the immense pull – and even addiction – that material wealth and possessions can have on our hearts’ priorities. This led to Peter’s spontaneous question voicing what was probably on each of their minds – and most likely on ours too! ‘What about me/us?’
We like being first. We do not like being last. Yet God’s perspective and priorities are very different to ours. For us to settle with his priorities, we must surrender our heart’s desires to Jesus and ask him to be central in all we are and do. If we are willing to let go of our grasping after the things of this life, we will discover the joy of a bigger picture and purpose to our life with him here on this earth.
Lord, help us be real and honest with you and with ourselves. Search our hearts; enable us to recognise our priorities and change them where your Spirit prompts. Amen.
Ruth lives in Adelaide, South Australia, with her husband, Steen. Peritoneal dialysis at night is now their settled ‘new normal’. Ruth says, ‘It is in the challenges of life where we grow in recognising the Lord’s enabling and faithfulness. Like the psalmist, we grow in knowing the goodness of the Lord’s love and his great mercy. All praise be to him!’
Ask for workers?
by Ruth Olsen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Ask the Lord of the harvest … to send out workers into his harvest field (Matthew 9:38).
Read Matthew 9:35–10:8(9–23)
Jesus, with his disciples, has been traversing the countryside, teaching in the synagogues, healing people and spreading the good news and life of the kingdom. People were responding hungrily. They saw that the message was not empty words, and they wanted more. Jesus had compassion on them. His strategy for dealing with the abundant harvest and shortage of workers: ‘Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field.’
Take the situation to the Lord of the harvest. Ask him for whatever is needed, for workers, resources and favour. It is his harvest field wherever he sends us. He has delight in the harvest coming in, and he knows who may be open to his message at present. His healing, wholeness, light, love and truth can still touch many more lost people.
Jesus gathered the 12 disciples and told them they were the workers! He gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. Then he gave them instructions: the good news of the kingdom was to be proclaimed first to Jews only. Later, it will be taken out wider. To start, go local, wherever you are. Don’t take anything … But remember that it was he who was sending them out, with his authority. They can rely on him and God for provision. But to take with them the message of the kingdom of heaven. Words that carry and communicate life.
If you were standing in the disciples’ sandals that day, what might have been happening in your thinking? Are you ready for his challenge afresh now through this Bible passage?
Father, by your Spirit, open the eyes of our hearts to see people around us through your eyes of compassion. Touch our hearts afresh with the message of your kingdom among us, and move us to share naturally wherever opportunities open. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.
Ruth lives in Adelaide, South Australia, with her husband, Steen. Peritoneal dialysis at night is now their settled ‘new normal’. Ruth says, ‘It is in the challenges of life where we grow in recognising the Lord’s enabling and faithfulness. Like the psalmist, we grow in knowing the goodness of the Lord’s love and his great mercy. All praise be to him!’