Author: Craig

Don’t Buy The Lie

/ Craig / Leave a comment

Scripture:  1 Peter 2:6-8

6For it stands in Scripture:  “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”  7So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

Observations:

In the Scripture God says He has a plan that involves His people of Israel, “Zion” — to lay down a chosen and precious cornerstone.  Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.  There is honour for those who believe.

Even though they others reject God’s chosen One, He will still become the “cornerstone” from whom their lives will be evaluated.  For those who do not believe in God’s cornerstone this “person” becomes a stumbling block; for they disobey God’s word.

Application:

The “cornerstone” is an architectural term.  The cornerstone becomes the reference point for the whole building.  What are you building?  A life?  A family?  A career?  An organization?  A nation?

Our culture brings tremendous pressure for the person of faith to live an unintegrated life.  Our culture treats faith as an appendix that should be surgically removed if it seems to cause us too much trouble. There is a temptation for leaders (Perhaps you don’t think of yourself as a leader, but you are;  the most difficult person for you to lead is yourself.) to make decisions seeking honour and some kind of vision of success without looking to Jesus.

If we buy the lie we will stumble over Christ and find that we are offended by Him.  We are so taken by the beauty of our own lofty visions that we stumble over the rough stone  on the ground right in front of us.

Seek the grace to obey His Word, and live your life with the confession “Jesus is Lord” as the reference for all the designs of your life.  We need the Joseph Principle(See the story of Joseph in Exodus), to trust that character forged through persistent obedience to God is the better payoff.  Looking to Jesus as the cornerstone of my life creates a longview and protects me from the seduction of short-term gains bought through rejection of Jesus and His ways.

Prayer:  

Heavenly Father have mercy on me.  Extend my view of life by giving me the grace to trust Jesus today.  He is the cornerstone of my faith and my life.  AMEN.

A Living House

/ Craig / Leave a comment

Scripture:  1 Peter 2:4-5

4As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Observations:

Jesus is the “living stone” rejected by people.

Jesus is chose and precious to God.

Now you all, the Church are like living stones…

You all are being built up as a spiritual house.

You all are being built up to be a holy priesthood.

You all are being built up to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Application:

If our Lord Jesus who is the cornerstone of our faith and our life together was rejected by people it should not surprise us that the spirit of our age is to also reject His church.

But now just as precious as Jesus is the Heavenly Father so is the church precious to Him.  And, He is building us, adding to us, and occupying our life together.

We are being built by Jesus to be a spiritual house.  As such a house we are co-creators with Jesus to develop the environments in which God is honoured and people are healed.  Together we offer our lives as spiritual sacrifices to God (See Romans 12:1-4).  Our primary purpose is not to occupy buildings or even to build them.  Our primary purpose is to venture into the world as His people and participate in His occupation of human hearts.  As we are laying down our lives for His Kingdom He is building us up.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, please send your Spirit and build the church of Jesus here so that a people are prepared for your Kingdom.  AMEN.

 

Ruined Appetite

/ Craig / Leave a comment

Scripture:  1 Peter 2:1-3

1So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Observations:

“So” — Why is the “so” there?  The “So” links the Gospel work of Jesus in my life through God’s Word (1:23-25) to make me more loving with some not so loving actions that must be cast away.

Attitudes and related actions to set aside from my life:

Malice–the intent to harm another person.

Deceit–the intent to trick another person in order to get something I want.

Hypocrisy–the often automated approach to life in which we pretend we are something when we are not in order to hide the truth from another person.

Envy–the burning desire to have what other people have; often accompanied by a self-righteous judgment of the person who has what we want.

Slander–the intent to harm another person’s reputation in order to elevate ourselves over them.

Like a newborn crave milk, so that you can grow up in your salvation.  Since you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Application:

It seems mom was right.  Candy before dinner ruins your appetite for the really good stuff that provides the most excellent nutrients for growth.  And yes there are attitudes and actions that ruin my appetite for Jesus and the “simple” truths of His Word.

The problem with malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander is that they are terribly addictive!  They will cover up the true appetite for Jesus and His Word fueled the Holy Spirit’s work in our life.  They seem like powerful tools for getting what we want; but they are actually terrible tyrants.

The first step in setting them aside is to recognize their presence in our lives.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father thank you for the grace of knowing you.  Show me today how I ruin my appetite for you by letting these attitudes and actions so opposed to the love and holiness of Jesus reside in my heart.  I repent of them and ask your Spirit to generate a renewed delight in you.  You are good.  AMEN.

The Acorn and The Promise

/ Craig / Leave a comment

Scripture:  1 Peter 1:23-25

22Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24for

“All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Observations:

The capacity to love come from the new birth we experience in Jesus.

The Word of God is not a perishable seed, it is an everlasting seed.  It is a living and abiding–taking up residence in our lives kind of seed.

The flesh withers like grass and its beauty fades.

BUT, the word of the Lord remains forever.  The Good News is the word preached, and it lasts forever.

Application:

A seed has incredible promise.  Right now I’m carrying around an acorn.  I’m able to look out my window and see the kind of tree it produces.  One seed. Over time. A massive tree–producing thousands of new seeds!  Years ago during university, my friends Jeff and Malea Glenn gave me an acorn as a reminder of what God and His Word can do in our lives.  I carried it around in my coat pocket for years.  Their simple gift gave me courage and hope to keep on trusting God and applying His Word in my life.

Life is short.  But the word of the Lord remains forever and what the Good News does in our lives lasts forever.  And here’s the amazing thing… the Word of God through Jesus is producing love in our relationships where we live, work, and play.

Life is short, so feed on the Word of God.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for this body, that is able to carrying around in it the new life secured for me at Jesus’ great expense!  Now may your Word produce the life of love you intended.  Thank you for the eternal life I have with you now.  Please give me wisdom to prioritize the passing demands of life with the eternal glory of life with you.  AMEN.

30 Day Morning Prayer

/ Craig / Leave a comment

This past week Origin, You Were Born for More began a thirty day adventure in prayer.  We are starting the day with a simple prayer.  Our leadership began praying this a couple of weeks ago after the Global Leadership Summit.  They have invited us all to join in.