Achilles was a demigod and Greek hero of the Trojan War, according to ancient Greek mythology. Achilles was a great warrior, without compare, and the hero and star of Homer's Iliad. Having been dipped as an infant in the sacred waters of the Styx river, he seemed an invincible force. However, Achilles has one spot that was unprotected from the river's enchantments, his heel, whereby he was eventually killed by his enemies. I love the message version of Psalm 91. Its as if, behind the words, I can see God smiling and nodding his head and whispering "its true, Lauren; its so true!. From this text, we see that fear has no place in our lives. God guides us and goes before us in order to protect us (Exodus 13:21; Deuteronomy 31:8). He guards us on all sides, covering us from the elements, catching us when we fall (keeping us from falling!), and shielding us from the dangers all around us (Psalm 23; verse 11-13, verse 4). Isaiah also says that God will strengthen us from the inside out (Isaiah 41:10). John Piper, in one of his sermons, uses prepositions to help us truly comprehend the great promises of God's protection. I will use the same to apply to the preceding text: God guides us and goes before us (he is in FRONT of us), God shields us from dangers all about us (he is AROUND, BELOW, and ABOVE us), and he strengthens us and dwells in us (he is INSIDE US). Don't you see it, friend? We HAVE no achilles heel. God guards us on all sides. We are protected because the all-knowing, all-powerful God is OUR protector.  Read less

I think its interesting that scholars labeled or titled this portion of Luke 8: The Parable of the Sower. It seems to me that the story isn't so much about the Sower as it is about the ground. Reading through this passage today, I was remembering all the sermons I must have heard on this parable in my lifetime. Besides the parable of the Prodigal Son, I'm not sure if any story is more widely preached, other than possibly the death and resurrection of Jesus. And yet I realized that we've barely scratched the surface of the deep meaning that this story actually holds. Most sermons put this parable into a box; one is either the path, the rock, the bristle, or the good ground. The rock, the bristle, and the path are all nonbelievers who can't accept the Truth for various reasons. Believers are then said to be the good ground (of course!)-- those who hear and believe. Once this earth-shattering connection is made for the congregation at the end of a 30-minute long build up (ok yes that's sarcasm), the preacher then slowly turns to the congregation, with sorrow and concern in his eyes, and asks the heart-wrenching question: "why type of ground are you?". And the song leader stands up, walks to the front, to start the last hymn, something along the lines of "Why Not Now?" or "Delay Not, Oh Sinner, Draw Near". That's it. There is nothing more to it. 'Thank God, I'm a believer!' most of the congregation says to themselves. I am convinced, however, that it is not that easy. One area of ground is not always the same. Today, one can find the remains of seashells in the deserts of Arizona, land that used to be submerged underwater. Where it was once was teaming with life, the land now is parched and lifeless. For most people it is no surprise to hear that land changes over time, cycling through different stages of life. Why, then, are we surprised to hear that we as Christians, as "soil" for God's Word, also adapt or evolve? For us as Christians, these seasons may last weeks, months, or years. Or... they may last hours or minutes. And some seasons we are simply more receptive. Think about it, some DAYS we are more receptive. A lot of that depends on outside factors, such as: our mood, are we mentally awake?, are we stressed or focused on other things?, the list goes on... So in that regard, let me say that the Parable of the Soils is JUST as applicable to us as Christians as it is to nonbelievers, lest we get so smug that we forget that being "Christians" isn't a vaccination. It doesn't make us immune to problems and circumstance! TODAY I may be the good soil. TODAY I may be open to letting God's word change me. Or today I may read the bible, write these notes, quote scripture, sing worship songs and NEVER open my heart up to what God is trying to tell me. More often than not, I think this is the case. I may, instead, be more concerned with "living" my life, whatever that means. I may be more focused on my work, my workouts, my back pain, or my relationships. In this case, my busyness and self-centeredness and "live for the moment" attitude may by the thorns that choke out the Word of God from reaching and transforming my heart. On another day, my heart may be the rock, it may be hardened to God's Words and hardened to the Spirit's direction, simply because having a tender, receptive heart everyday is hard work! Having a heart like Jesus' day in and day out leaves us exposed. We are more susceptible to sadness and disappointment, to the pain of others, to the harsh realities of a world ruled by sin and by Satan. This type of vulnerability is something that years of experience with life has taught us to avoid, for the sake of our happiness. Some days we may be the path. A sermon may never sink in because we don't meditate on it, we don't absorb the message. It sinks in so superficially, that a strong wind could blow it away. We don't fully utilize our mental functions in order to remember what we heard; in less technical terms "it goes in one ear and out the other". We read our bibles, sure!, but we skim the words, rushing through the chapter. Or we catch ourselves thinking "I wonder what's for lunch" instead of focusing in on the task at hand. Have you ever gone to a service on Sunday and 3 hours later you couldn't remember one detail of what the preacher spoke about? You remember the gist. But friend, if Jesus had wanted us to just remember the gist, we wouldn't have been given a bible chalked full of details! The gist is clearly not good enough!  Read less

Luke 3: 10-14 gives practical advice for those who desire to work in a God-pleasing profession. Many people believe that God has even a professional plan for our lives: he wants us working here, or his plan is for us to do this, to get an education in this, and to help these people. Sometimes he does-- Luke 5 is a great example of God having a planned profession for some people. However, other times in the Bible, God is LESS concerned with WHAT we do, than how we do it. In Luke: 12-14, John the Baptist doesn't say to the tax collectors or soldiers, "guys this isn't the profession that God wants you in," or "ya'll need to pray really hard to see if this is the profession God has planned for your lives." No, he simply says: do all that you do in a godly way. Do you all you do RIGHT NOW for the good of others and for the glory of God.  Read less

Landry made the point tonight in small group that John the Baptist was the first person to be blessed with the Holy Spirit for the entirety of his life. Commentaries suggest that individuals in the Old Testament were blessed TEMPORARILY with the HS, for certain specific God-ordained tasks. Also, we see that the disciples were blessed with the HS in the upper room following Jesus' return, however, John the Baptist was the VERY FIRST individual blessed with the Holy Spirit by the Lord from birth.  Read less

I've been noticing a cycle in my own marriage lately. Both Blake & I, despite the efforts and intentions of the other, struggle feeling unappreciated, unsupported, and unloved. In short, we're exhausted and run down by the monotonies and day in and day out stresses of life-- that stresses that just seem to pile up and compound over time. Laundry, bills, work, maybe even a little seasonal depression sprinkled in there somewhere.... God created marriage as a refuge from the world, a shelter from the storm & the stress. In Isaiah 4:6 God is called our shade from the heat of the day, the shelter that covers us from the elements and the outside world. Our relationship to our spouse is supposed to mirror Christ's love for us, for his church (Ephesians 5:22-32). In this way, we can infer from Scripture that we are called to serve as a refuge, a comforter, to our spouse (Romans 12:15). But what happens when both spouses are dealing with their own storms, when both need comfort but both are simply too exhausted, their tanks too empty, to serve as the comforter? In this case, both spouses end up with less than they need, and feelings of resentment and loneliness will inevitably creep in. What an opportune time for Satan to whisper in our ears, to distort our thoughts! He does, after all, wait for the moments when we are at our weakest (1 Peter 5:8). Then, we start to point fingers. Instead, of feeling out the needs of the other, we focus on what we're not getting. And so we stop giving to other altogether. We justify our inaction and selfishness with a "well, I'd be more ___________ if he/she was more ___________." ...... What if Jesus had said that on the cross. "Well, I'd get up here and die for their sins and give them the chance of redemption, if they'd just _________." What? If we'd just remained blameless, if we'd just believe completely in his promises, if we'd devote ourselves entirely to his work, if we'd listen to his calling, what? But Jesus never does that. I was reading a marriage blog earlier (ref: http://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/2012/05/the-root-of-marriage-problems-selfishness/) and stumbled across this same principle: selfishness in the marriage. The writer referenced to Matthew 7: 1-5. I've NEVER considered that verse in application to marriage before- but oh how well it fits!! "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your (spouse's) eye and pay not attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your (spouse), 'let me take the speck out of your eye' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plant out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from you (spouse's). WOW! That hits me hard. How often do we worry so much about how our spouse is acting and treating us, that we are blinded to our own selfishness and our sin? How often do we fail to see the plank?-- whether it be lack of empathy, lack of compassion, nitpicking our spouse's behavior, complaining & negativity, the list goes on... God promises to refresh us, to relieve us of our stress if we bring it to him, to surround us with peace and comfort in our distress and exhaustion (Matthew 11:28; Exodus 33:14). Even when our spouse can't carry our load, someone can and someone will, if we ask them to-- God has the strength to carry our load AND our spouse's load (& everyone else's for that matter!) and never tire. If we notice our exhaustion as well as our selfishness and seek God for our restoration and aid, he will give us the strength to carry on and to be the spouse that our spouse needs us to be. But first, we have to let God remove the plank in our eye (our self-centeredness), so that we may see clearly the rest that he provides, how best to walk in his footsteps, and how we may become a servant, a shelter, for our spouse.  Read less

How can an all-loving God allow difficulties and hardships in the lives of the children whom he loves? I remember a very odd Bayou scene and a hard-hitting quote from watching Blues Brothers 2000 as a kid: "The Lord works in mysterious ways" Elwood said. Isn't that the truth? Perhaps, though, if we look close enough, we will see a glimmer of God's mercy and love even amidst the trials in our lives. I don't know how I never considered this before. Mary gave birth... IN A CAVE! Perhaps being young, I was never struck by how unsanitary, uncomfortable, and downright distressing this must have been for her and Joseph. Sleeping in a barn after a long journey is one terrible thing, in and of itself, but GIVING BIRTH to a baby is something completely different. Labor can take days. The bible doesn't go into detail, but we can imagine that her child birth was like any other. It isn't as if she walked in, squatted down, squeezed a baby out, wiped the sweat from her brow, and strolled off down the street, baby in her arms, for coffee or juice with Joseph. No she TOILED for a baby that wasn't technically hers. A baby that had already alienated her from the townspeople and caused her shame as her and Joseph weren't yet married when she conceived. I know what would have been going through my head upon seeing the "No Vacancy" sign on the door: "Really? And this isn't even my fault or my thing, you know? I was a good girl, I saved myself. God literally put a child in my womb. And, as if the shame of having a child out of wedlock wasn't enough, the one who impregnated me can't even provide me a decent shelter to HAVE this baby." I'd be ticked. I imagine that Mary is probably a better person than me- however, it MUST have crossed her mind. But as always, God had a plan. An angel appeared to a group of shepherds by night. "You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger", he said. "he is (the) Christ". This was a sign. Had Jesus been born in a room at the inn, under normal circumstances, this wouldn't have looked so much like a sign. Women have babies all the time and with the crowd gathering for the census, it wouldn't be too unusual to have a pregnant woman in the mix. How could the shepherds really know that the message they heard was divine if the angel predicted an everyday occurrence, ordinary and unimpressive. That's like someone saying- 'drive down this street in mid-may and you will find a child playing in the yard.' Big deal. But if that someone said 'drive down this street in mid-may and you will find a child roofing a house', you might begin to think that that person is either crazy or is really on to something. Jesus' birth was important, and it needed to be recognized as such. People had waited hundreds of years for the prophecy of Jesus to come about; it should be shouted from the rooftops, not kept hidden. By all accounts, Mary and Joseph also were very poor and probably needed help. They offered up a pair of doves in keeping with the Old Testament Law instead of a lamb or a more substantial animal. Perhaps, the shepherds and other townspeople were able to assist them during their time in Bethlehem- monetarily, emotionally, physically. Perhaps, they got the help they needed ALL BECAUSE an angel prophesied to a group of shepherds about the Christ being born in a manger. Or, God's reasons could be more amazing than that.... but I rest assured that he had his reasons. Of course, hindsight is 20/20. It's easy to see God's purpose when the story is already laid out for you, much more difficult when you are in the process of living that story. May this account serve as encouragement to us when things become difficult. We can rest assured that God's 'mysterious ways' always have our best interest at heart.  Read less

I love the story of Simeon. He is described in Luke as being a righteous and devout man, waiting for the consolation of Israel. I, admit, that I am a bit jealous that he was favored so highly by God so as to be told and allowed to live long enough to see the birth of our Savior. WHAT a privilege! However, verse 27, speaks to me in a different way. Its message is simple: Simeon was moved by the Spirit to go the temple courts- nothing more, nothing less. I must have read this numerous times before and not been convicted by it. I'm sure these promptings seemed like a somewhat trivial request to Simeon. However, from what we can tell, Simeon didn't ask God WHY he needed to go to the temple courts, he just went and trusted the Holy Spirit's guidance. I have no doubt that Simeon was VERY glad that he listened to the Spirit. After reading this, however, I can't help but wonder how often the Spirit prompts us for seemingly minor things? To go somewhere? To call someone? I think that it happens a lot today, that the Holy Spirit moves in us to encourage us to do things that may seem trivial to us. Do we hear him? Or do we dismiss that small voice as a pointless, silly, fleeting thought. I know I do that, probably fairly frequently. I never consider the fact that that small voice may be the Spirit working in me for a purpose bigger than I can fathom. It reminds me of Isaiah 30:21: "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." (NIV) When we normally read this passage, we think God means the bigger picture-- keeping the straight and narrow, keeping our eyes on him. But isn't any bigger picture just made up of all the small details? Keeping our eyes on him, in this case, can mean more than just not making mistakes or letting Satan entice us into sin, it can mean being like Jesus, and performing godly acts for the benefit of those around us and for the glory of God. As I've learned from CS Lewis' The Screwtape Letters, often Satan is equally as motivated to keep us from doing good as he is to tempt us to do bad. Because that good can be for the benefit of another Christian or another lost soul- he wants me in hell just as much as he wants you, or her, or anyone. Listening to the DAILY promptings of the Spirit would be for OUR benefit as well as someone else's. So Satan often convinces us that the voice in our head is our own, and probably not that important anyway. There are many Christians who have difficulty with the concept that God prompts us, or that God gives us a spiritual nudge, so to speak. How might these Christians respond, then, to Luke 2:27? What about the following verses?: 1 Kings 19:12 (NIV) "After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper." Acts 10:19-20 (NIV) "While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” Acts 8:29 (NIV) "The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”" We are given both old testament AND new testament examples. Though promptings may come with/or without any knowledge or preparation of our own. Promptings may also come through gaining an understanding of the character of God. John 10:27- "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me". Here is an example: Growing up, I learned through years of exposure what my parents' expectations were for me on right and wrong. They didn't have to be present in every difficult situation telling me what I should/ shouldn't do for me to know what they would think. I knew THEM and so I knew where they would stand on almost any given issue. It is the same for us. John 14:26 “The Holy Spirit shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance”, meaning, as you read about God, you will be better able to understand and live out God's will for you. But God all never yell at us. I imagine that he will never appear to me in a burning bush, or as an Arc angel. So I have to be willing to listen HARD each and every day so that I don't miss out on the perfect and awesome will of God.  Read less