Author: Don Guthrie

” SIN IS LAWLESSNESS.”  (1 John 3:4)  Good morning.  I am at youth camp.  Thanks for your prayers for our teenagers and hundreds of others from around the state.  I am teaching (in the evening sessions) on the 10 Commandments.  In our first session (last night) I noticed a pronounced heaviness.  Many or most of these teenagers have never thought or talked about “the Rules” that God set down for our welfare.  Consequently, they  frequently have never considered the regular resistance that we all express toward God’s commandments.   We are lawless. We do not like to be told what to do.–  This week we are reading the book of Amos.  The prophet says that “the Lord ROARS”. (1:2)  It is an unfamiliar image. A terrifying sound.  Menace.  Danger.  It speaks our failure. It speaks His anger.  When the Lord taught us to pray “forgive us our sins”, He was thinking of this same reality.  To receive God’s mercy, we must first recognize our failure.

Good morning dear friend,  If the first Commandment is that we should not have OTHER gods. (Exodus 20:3), the second Commandment is that we should not make IDOLS. (Exodus 20:4)  These are similar thoughts but not identical.  The first points to a SMALL NUMBER( one God, not many, one focus, not several, one supreme love!)  The second points to a BIG SIZE ( a God not limited or contained by what we can imagine or think.  He is not like us.  He is MORE).  Perhaps thay is why Jesus wanted us to pray “our Father WHICH ART IN HEAVEN.”  As you pray today, will you lift up your eyes to a BIG God?  Mysterious? Infinite?  Holy?  It is His commandment that we do so.

Good morning!  It is nice to be back with you in “real time”.  Our vacation was a gift.  Time to read and pray and run and rest and be with Miss Holly.  Thank you.  This week our church family begins reading the book of Amos.   I hope you will read reflectively every day. I hope you will scan the whole book.  Amos declares the judgement of God on the nation of Israel.  “The Lord roars from Zion. . .the summit of Carmel dries up.” (1:2)  His words sound like our nation.  A drought of rain.  A drought of energy and hope.  Things are dry!  As you pray the Lord’s prayer this morning, will you do so with the awareness that many others are seeking the Lord with you?  We are praying in concert!  Many voices. . .forgive us OUR sins. . .deliver US from evil.  We are in this together.  He promises to hear us.  I am praying with you, dear friend.

When Jesus said, “lead us not into temptation”, He was teaching a healthy fear of sin.  “Not only are we sinners, but we are desperately afraid that we should be even more sinful”–Alan Redpath.  Today, ask God for His leadership!  Confess your attraction to things and people that are contrary to His will.   Ask Him to guide you in a path thatavoids contact with the things that drag you down.  ”Make NO allowance for the flesh” Roman 13:14.  Don’t “get as close as you can without stepping over the line”. If sin is the enemy, treat it as such!  This prayer teaches us to be honest with the Father (and with ourselves) about the need for a new intentionally innocent path.  Lead me, Lord!  I will follow.

(re: post from Jan 16)

At first glance, lead us not into temptation seems like an unnecessary prayer.  The Bible says that God never tempts us.  Isn’t this a given? It helps me to remember that  the word for temptation is the same for trial and God does lead us on a path that tests and purifies our faith.  “If we are to share His glory we must also share His suffering” (Romans 8).  “He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil”  (  Matthew 4:1).   So, our attitude toward problems and pressure should be, “Lord when I can and should avoid a situation( ie when it is a temptation) help me to do so.  When I can and should face a situation (ie when it is a trial), give me the family courage to do so with dignity and uncomplaining joy”. When I pray to be spared, it is because this is the default position that God wants for me.  When I get something else, I realize that I am in one of those situations when what I asked for is not what is best.  Either way, it is an answer to this prayer.

(re: post from Jan 15)

I’m thinking this morning about thinking. Time-consuming, life-giving, the secret work of the mind.  Pondering, questioning, understanding, feeling.  Who has time?  Who doesn’t?  “As I mused, the fire burned” (Psalm 39:3). “Mary pondered these things in her heart” (Luke 2:19).  I am grateful that you are joining me in thinking about the Lord’s prayer.  It gives me joy to think about you thinking about the words of Christ. Thank you for your comments too!  I believe that correct thinking, deep thinking is one of the Lord’s ways of fueling our passionate love for Him and for others.  Sunday night I will lecture on the words of Jesus in His prayer.  God willing, it will give us alot to think about.  “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord” (Psalm 19:14)

(re: post from Jan 14)

“Do not squander time, for that is the stuff that life is made of” — Ben Franklin . I was praying this morning, thinking about this day. How God made it the basic unit of time. (“there was evening, there was morning, one day”, Genesis 1)  I was thinking how satisfying it would be if I could focus my expectations and energies on just the next 24 hours.  What would happen if tomorrow I could report to the Lord that today I looked up,  didn’t worrry, served others, was generous with my time and my words.   And isn’t life, ultimately,  just the aggregate of many days?  When I pray the Lord’s prayer, I ask Him to give me what I need. I am wondering what life would be like if I gave Him what He deserved . . .just for today.

(re: post from Jan 13)

If the Jesus prayer begins in Adoration (Our Father, Thy Kingdom, Thy will), it moves eventually to Asking (Give us, Forgive us) and I am not sure which takes more faith.  Asking is hard for me.  It feels selfish.  It opens the possibility of rejection. So sometimes, I don’t (unless you count complaining and hoping that the Lord takes the hint). BIG MISTAKE!  Yesterday, I was driving home.  Traffic was stalled on 281.  I needed to change lanes for my exit.  Rather that “force my way” into some opening, I put on my blinker.  Ok, it’s a mild ask, but still an ask.  The result?  Some kind soul paused and let me move on.  It really does work! “If you being evil know how to give good gifts. . .how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him” (Matt.7:11)  Keep praying, dear friend.  We still have much to learn.

(re: post from Jan 12)

I woke today with anxiety– many things to do, concern for time to do them.  I don’t often wonder where the food I need for a particular day will come from.    I do often wonder where I will find enough time or energy or wisdom.  My sinful tendency is to “internalize” these needs, to find an answer within the very “small circle”  of my own abilities.   What I don’t  naturally do, and never would have without the instruction of Christ, is to ask for help.  Maybe I feel guilty asking for more, when He has already given so much.  Maybe I don’t know whether I need something or just think I do.  Or maybe, I need to learn the Jesus-life of open dependency on God.   No secrets, no pride, no anxiety, no “days off” from trusting Him.  Who knew that the everyday prayer would teach me everyday trust? More on this tomorrow. . .

(re: post from Jan 11)

I can never tell, when I pray these words, whether the Lord wants me to emphasize thy will (as opposed to my will) or be done (as opposed to just talked about or considered).  Perhaps  both.  Today, I am thinking of the second.  I am asking Him to move me to action,  to see His will and do something about it.  And not only me but the whole human race. (Here the prayer will move back toward the desire for all to hallow his name, for allto do his will.)  I wonder what life on this planet would be if we prayed this prayer and He answered with a fresh wave of energy for obedience.   Jesus said “my food is to do His will and finish His work” (John 4).  Heavenly Father, make me like your son!

(re: post from Jan 10)