The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Jeremiah 29:10–14 (day four)

There are some who believe God to be like a watchmaker – he sets the “watch” or the world in motion, and then walks away. No longer intimately involved in the world or in our lives, he simply allows time to tick on. Then there are some who think of God more like a character in Greek mythology – constantly meddling in human affairs for their own gain and getting caught up in earthly drama, punishing his people when he has a bad day. Passages like this remind us that neither of these theories are true.

Our God’s character is unlike any other. Only Yahweh is both holy and loving, omniscient and intimate, just and merciful. Only he can stand as Lord of Lords and creator of all the earth while also speaking kindly to the specific circumstances of his people. Only he can exist in perfect holiness while turning his face to sinful people, offering hope and restoration and wanting to be found by them.

Our God is intimate enough to set hopeful plans for us, and he is powerful enough to see them to completion.

Re:Verse passage – Jeremiah 29:10–14 (day three)

“When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill my good word to you, to bring you back to this place.”

When every conceivable calamity has crashed down all around, when waking up doesn’t end the nightmare, when nothing remains of all you called valuable, when people you have loved the most have become the source of your deepest heartache, when you have asked yourself how you got to this place of misery – hope itself seems like an exercise for fools only. Has God too lost track of you? It feels like it, and no word to the contrary from well-meaning folks will change what you feel all the way to your marrow. You need others to sit with you until your dying day if need be and quietly hope when you cannot do so for yourself.

Re:Verse passage – Jeremiah 29:10–14 (day two) 

Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. vs. 12

As Pastor Chris said yesterday in the re:vlog video, 70 is a lifetime. Jeremiah contains many words of warning and admonition to kings, leaders, and people of every station. The Lord had been speaking to the people through prophets for generations, and this exile was not a surprise to those who were listening.

That’s the key to this passage; listening, keeping alert, and not straying from the path. There are many instances where people go through hardship, and they turn to every possible source of help and hope, and in their desperation they finally turn to the Lord. This is not one of those times. The Lord, in his mercy, had promised a time of hardship and exile because of the  people’s sin. There were, however, a remnant who remained faithful throughout the struggle. God reminds us of his presence throughout the trial. In this case he gives a timeframe, just like he did to Moses. Struggles can be a part of a larger narrative that the Lord is teaching you, and others. Sometimes, your job is to endure. You are to remain faithful. The Lord is not absent, he is always at work.

Re:Verse passage – John 10:10 (day seven) 

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 

“Living your best life” is a phrase our household has adopted to describe someone who is living carefree and thoroughly enjoying themself. For instance in the picture below, we would say “Brock is living his best life!”

Jesus came so that we can live our best life.  Through Christ we are provided an opportunity to have a life that we never could on our own: a life of encouragement, not shame. A life of comfort, not worry. A life of peace, not fear. He can provide all those things and so much more.

This week I will be living my best life. I will have 120 teenagers from our church at Impact Youth Camp. Will you pray with me for them? Will you pray that God will bring them encouragement, comfort, and peace? Will you pray that students will walk away from the things that are stealing their life and walk with Jesus? Will you pray that our students will see that living their best life is to realize that we are made in the Image of God?

Re:Verse passage – John 10:10 (day six)

³ So Jesus told them this story: ⁴ “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? Luke  15:3-4

The thief will do whatever it takes to keep you alone. That’s the strategy: isolation. Being made in God’s image, we were designed for fellowship with God and others, so it makes sense that the enemy would scheme to lure us away. He successfully convinces us that we don’t need anyone or have time for them, especially God. He does this subtly, of course; never out in the open. He will whisper things like,

“Listen to your heart.”

“You do you.”

“The Bible is so difficult to understand, plus where would you include it in your life? You are too busy.”

Some of his whispers almost sound noble and lofty, and most result in positioning ourselves over others rather than with others.

The thief’s deepest desire is to keep us alone, but abundant life is found under the care and provision of the shepherd, who leads you to green pasture along with other sheep. You can’t get there on your own.

Re:Verse passage – John 10:10 (day five) Another “Coffee Cup Verse” this week. Most Christians have memorized this verse at some point in their lives. We use it and quote it often. What struck me this week were the mission and purposes of the thief and of Jesus. Both have them. As much as we count on Jesus to save us and give abundant life, we can count on the thief to steal, kill, and destroy. Feel the tension and conflict in this verse?  Do you see the battle taking place over the sheep?  Yet, Jesus describes the ability of the thief- “only”. And He also describes His capability- “abundant”. Now, the struggle doesn’t seem even or balanced anymore does it? The abundant life consists of eternal things like salvation, joy, hope, love, strength, courage!!  What a really, really “Good Shepherd”!

Re:Verse passage – John 10:10 (day four)

Jesus gives this invitation into abundant life in the middle of a parable. In this parable, he identifies himself as the Good Shepherd. He is the only shepherd who knows his sheep by name, the only one who goes looking for the sheep that is lost, the only one who will lay his life down for the sheep. Only through him can the sheep go out and find pasture. When he uses this language to describe himself, he not only shows how intimately he loves his people, but he also reveals his divine nature.

When Jesus calls himself the Shepherd who offers abundant life, he identifies himself with God the Father. In Genesis, Jacob states that Yahweh is his lifelong shepherd. David calls God his shepherd in Psalm 23. In Ezekiel 34 God proclaims himself to be Israel’s shepherd. Jesus’ words in John 10 reveal his identity as the Son of God, the flesh-and-bone shepherd of the people of God.

So, in the context of God the Shepherd, what does abundant life look like? It looks like living without fear of thieves and wolves, it looks like fresh green pastures and peaceful quiet waters, it looks like restoration and righteousness, perpetual goodness and lovingkindness. Abundance of joy, abundance of peace, abundance of love. Sounds a lot like Revelation 21-22, doesn’t it?

Re:Verse passage – John 10:10 (day three)

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Thievery occurs when there is shortage, and shortage occurs when people are attempting to gain power over one another, and power grabs occur when people are insecure about their existence. There is no thievery in a way of life in which people are counting on God, because there is no insecurity. Jesus lived with complete confidence in God, and he teaches you his way of life so that you can do the same. A life in the way of Jesus is a life in which there is no shortage because there is complete security. That reality gets muddled by so much heartbreak – cruelty, abuse, trauma, etc. – and those feeling the weight of that distress need tenderness from the church.

Re:Verse passage – John 10:10 (day two) 

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 

Abundant life sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Rich, full lives is what each of us desire at some level, and although the definition will likely differ for each person, we want some measure of abundance. As we study this oft quoted verse, we should remember that an abundant life is not simply the absence of the ‘thief’, but more importantly the presence of Jesus. His nearness is fullness. To know him should color what it means to be full. If we long after him in all things, it should change what we mean by abundance. May each of us seek to be in the presence of Jesus today.