enlightened hearts

Good morning friends,
Today's reading is short, and I'd recommend taking a moment to digest between paragraphs. Paul prays for the church that each of the believers would grow in their knowledge of God. As part of that he prays that God's "spirit of revelation" would enlighten their hearts to know the hope of our calling and the greatness of God's power for us. That's a great prayer that I join in enthusiastically for each of us. 


May God bless us with enlightened hearts today and every day,
Sam

Ephesians 1:15-23

¹⁵I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason ¹⁶I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. ¹⁷I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, ¹⁸so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.

²⁰God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. ²²And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, ²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

commitment and faithfulness

Good morning friends,
Our Deuteronomy passage comes near the end of this great book. Deuteronomy as a whole is a series of sermons Moses delivers on the border between the desert and the promised land. He has been leading Israel for many years and knows that he will not be with them as they make the transition into a land of their own. This passage boils his message down to the essentials: if the people are faithful to God, they will thrive in this new land. If they turn away from God they will find that even great blessing can be a curse.

Our passage from Matthew speaks of love and commitment going beyond the commandments. Being faithful to a spouse doesn't just mean not cheating, it also means keeping our mind faithful. Likewise, faithfulness to God requires deep and radical commitment.

God bless,
Sam

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

15See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. 16If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.



17But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, 18I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, 20loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.





*Matthew 5:27-37

27“You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall not commit adultery.’ 28But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

31“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

33“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ 34But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”

Getting our heart right

Good morning friends,
Today's reading from Jeremiah could come right out of the Psalms. Through Jeremiah, God compares trusting God to trusting in human things. The foolish trust in themselves, in wealth, or in other material things. The wise put their trust in God, and because of that they thrive even when things get rough or go wrong. Jeremiah's words are beautiful, with striking images that almost show the lesson he is trying to communicate. I particularly like the image of the heart being perverse and devious. Sometimes our desires fool us or make us see the world in twisted ways. No matter how we fool ourselves, God is not fooled. God sees what is really in our hearts and through God we too can unwind the lies that make us do what our better part doesn't want to do. May we seek God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength, and may we come to be like a deeply rooted tree beside the living waters.

God bless,
Sam

Jeremiah 17:5-11

5Thus says the Lord: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord. 6They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.



7Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.



9The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse— who can understand it? 10I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings. 11Like the partridge hatching what it did not lay, so are all who amass wealth unjustly; in mid-life it will leave them, and at their end they will prove to be fools.