Day 13: Salt Of the Earth

Get some salt.  Taste it.  Read the scripture below from Matthew 5:13.  Now taste the salt again.  When people "taste" you do they get the "flavor" of Jesus?  Salt changes the taste of everything it touches.  Do you?  This world we live in is in need of change.  Are you an agent of change for Jesus?  Or have you already been "trampled underfoot?"  Are you WIDE OPEN to letting God use you to bring a better "flavor" to this world?  Pray this simple prayer:  God, make me salty; make me an agent of change in your world.  Amen

Day 12- The Rock of Ages

Today you will need to leave the friendly confines of your computer table and go outside for a moment.  Find a rock.  Any old rock will do.  Hold it in your hand.  Think about how it feels.  Think about how solid it is.  Think about how old it could be.  Try to break it; go ahead, give it your best shot!  Strong, isn't it?  Remember that Jesus is your rock.  He is strong.  He is the same today, yesterday and forever.  He has always been; He always will be.  Be WIDE OPEN to the fact that Jesus, the Son of God, came to die for YOUR sins.  Pray that it is upon the "Rock of Ages" that you will build your life.  Keep the rock by your bed to remind you each night how much Jesus loves you!

Day 11- Sing Praise!

Today's Act of Worship is simple and basic- shout for joy to the Lord!  Sing praises to Him!  But since not everyone can sing, try this.  Shout out to God by reading aloud Psalm 100.  Read it with gusto!  Read it with your heart WIDE OPEN!  Praise God!

Psalm 100 (New International Version)

A psalm. For giving thanks.

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 
 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and not we ourselves ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

This Week- Acts of Worship

Our theme scripture from 2 Corinthians 6:11

For those of you who may not know, Sundays are not counted in the 40 days of Lent, and therefore not counted in the 40 days of this adventure. Each Sunday I will provide you with the theme of the week to come. This week, each day I will present you with a brief, simple act of worship through which you can offer praise and glory to the God of grace.  I hope each reader will find themself WIDE OPEN to these opportunites to draw closer to Jesus as we continue our walk to the cross.  Have a blessed Sunday everyone!

Day 10- Ragamuffin Thoughts

Today's "words to soak in" are excerpts from the first chapter of Brennan Manning's classic book The Ragamuffin Gospel (1990, Multnomah Press).  It could also be called The Official Guide to Living Life WIDE OPEN- or maybe that's just me.  Enjoy.

Something is radically wrong.

The Christian community often resembles a Wall Street exchange of works where in the elite are honored and the ordinary ignored.  Love is stifled, freedom shackled, and self-righteousness believed.  The institutional church has become a wounder of the healers rather than a healer of the wounded...  Put bluntly the American Church today accepts grace in theory but denies it in practice.

Our culture has made the word grace impossible to understand.  We resonate with slogans such as:
"There's no free lunch."
"You get what you deserve."
"You want love?  Earn it."
"You want mercy?  Show you deserve it."
"Do unto others before they do it unto you."
Though lip service is paid to the gospel of grace, many Christians live as if it is only personal discipline and self-denial that will mold the perfect me.  The emphasis is on what I do rather than on what God is doing.

Our approach to the Christian life is just as absurd as the enthusiastic young man who had just received his plumber's license and was taken to see Niagra Falls.  He studied it for a minute and then said, "I think I can fix this." 

We believe that we can pull ourselves up by our bootstraps- indeed, we can do it ourselves.  Sooner or later we are coonfronted with the painful truth of our inadequacy and insufficency.  Our sercurity is shattered and our bootstraps are cut.

God of grace have mercy on us- again.

Day 9- Prayer 101

Matthew 6:9-13
And Jesus said "This, then, is how you should pray:"

Jesus gives the disciples this prayer so that there will be no doubt about what prayer is to be and not be.  It is not to call attention to yourself, by praying on street corners or using lots of pious words.  You should pray "like this" (not necessarily this prayer, but like this!) because God already knows what you need before you ask Him. Give praise to God.  Pray this HIs will be done.  Pray for your needs and the needs of others. There is nothing too large or too small to pray about.  Take everything to the Father.

Questions:
1)  What does "hallowed" mean?  Do you keep the name of God and the name of Jesus full of meaning, or do you use it too casually?
2)  We know we need daily bread.  What else do we really need?  Do you pray for need, or for want?
3)  When we pray for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, what are we really asking for?  Are we willing to do our part?  It has been said we are God's Plan A for taking Jesus to the people, and there is no Plan B.  Are you praying to be a part of that plan?

Day 8- The Beatitudes

The late Rich Mullins once called this scripture the condensed version of everything Jesus taught.  Yet most of its concepts are so foreign to us today, even in the church. Our culture is not fond of the meek, the merciful or the peacemakers.  We certainly don't understand being persecuted for Jesus' sake.  Read this a few times.  Soak it in.  Commit these verses to memory.  Only when you begin to understand how out-of-step Jesus was (and IS) with society will you begin to feel WIDE OPEN to all He was trying to teach us, and will you begin to understand why He would go to the cross for us.

Questions:
1)  Our society tells us we should be powerful, in charge and famous.  What does this text have to say about all of that?
2)  Does our culture value mercy?  Can mercy be seperated from forgiveness?
3)  We are told that the pure in heart shall see God.  What does it mean to be pure in heart?  What does it mean to see God?