A Closing Word from Faron

During my devotional time on Friday, January 22, 2010, I wrote a simple question in my journal. “God, what are You calling me to do?” It was a frequent question, especially in January. The question is appropriate for all followers of Christ as we consider the coming year. How does God want us to make a difference as individuals? How does He want to use our congregations to change the world? I promise, if we will ask the question, God will answer. Sometimes it is quick. Sometimes it is slower than we want. Regardless of the time frame, it will always be answered. Eight years ago, my answer came immediately. The line in my journal following the question was, “A Lenten devotional keeps popping in my mind, but what?” Asking that question and being obedient to the still, soft voice of God led to this project.

I always fancied myself as a reader, not a writer. I had written papers, sermons and even blog posts, but I had never undertaken something of this magnitude. In my own power, I never would have been able to see it through to completion, but when God calls you to do something for Him, He will always show up with power, grace and glory. Before this devotional was ever for the readers, it was for me. I needed to be reminded of the transforming power of God. I needed to be reminded that He is faithful. I needed to be reminded that no matter how we might feel as we sit in the fishing boats of our lives with no fish flopping around our feet that God is still with us. He pursues. He loves. He calls us to be the kind of people upon which He can continue to build His Church. I needed to be reminded that not only does God transform, but also that He has already transformed. He transformed Peter. He transformed Paul. He transformed countless disciples over the last two thousand years. He transformed me. It is by no means complete. He still has a long way to go, but He has been changing this heathen, beer drinking, prideful, arrogant, self-centered, valueless young man into someone in whom, on his best days, people can glimpse the glory of God. This devotional, much like the Season of Lent, is about transforming and recognizing transformation.

I am privileged to look out from the pulpit each Sunday at God’s garden of transformation. I get to see His sanctifying work in my congregations. It always inspires a simple pray of gratitude, “Lord I have such a long way to go! Thank You for filling my life with models of Your transforming power. Thank You that they let this imperfect person lead their church. Thank You that they lead me deeper into Your love and grace.” Jesus is my strength but the followers of Christ are my inspiration; for that, I thank each and every one of you!

This devotional began with a little piece of my story in apartment “R” in Landstuhl, Germany. If you will grant me the privilege, I would like to end it with another piece of my story that stretches from Washington D.C. to Kenai, Alaska. God spoke to Peter in “Three.” This is my “Three,” and I tell it in hopes of each of you finding yours.

I was born the year after the UMC was formed and grew up in the very traditional side of the United Methodist Church. Worship music involved pipe organs and pianos. “Thee, Thou and Thy” resounded from scripture and hymns. Long and even longer prayers, inspired church pew cat naps.  Time and again, I received Holy Communion at an altar rail that separated me from the holy things of God. Those experiences formed a rudimentary understanding of who and what were holy and who and what were not. It would be years before I realized my understanding was deeply flawed. For me, Church was boring. I went out of obligation, more to my parents than God. It was what I DID on Sunday mornings, on Christmas Eve, at sunrise on Easter. Prayer was what I did before dinner and before I went to bed. That I had a relationship with Jesus and a community of His followers never occurred to me. By the time I was sixteen, I came to the conclusion that I was unholy and church wasn’t for me.

Eight years later I lived in the suburbs of Washington D.C. One Sunday, in a school cafeteria, I saw a set of drums in worship for the first time. Suddenly “Church music” sounded more like “My music” and it was fun. Maybe I had been missing something? I was there because of a fellow named Phil. He was a six inches shorter than me, a bit heavier than me (that was younger, skinnier Faron), and he invited me to hear him sing. For reasons I cannot explain today, I went and listened. The song was Shepherd Boy by Ray Boltz. The lyrics told the story of God using ordinary, unexpected people to do extraordinary things. When the world sees shepherd boys, God sees kings. As I walked in church that morning, I felt like a nasty, smelly, old sheep. I would never have thought myself a shepherd boy much less a king, but as I listened, a chord of hope struck in my heart. Maybe there was more to me than what I saw in the mirror. I kept going to church with Phil and his family. Church was fun but I also began to understand that there was more to following Christ than just going to church. God didn’t want names on a membership role, He wanted a renewed relationship. Phil helped me begin to live into one, but it would be a while before I completely understood what that really meant.

Four years later I was living in Hot Springs Arkansas. I was divorced and remarried with a step-son, a son and a daughter on the way. We hadn’t found a church yet, so my wife’s future brother-in-law invited us to his to hear him sing. Richard was shorter but only a little heavier as my “married with children” waistline was growing. From the first note of the accompaniment track, I knew Richard was singing Shepherd Boy. Like Phil, it was his favorite song. Richard was different than anyone I had ever met. He devoted his entire life to God. He had no television and only went to “G” rated movies because he didn’t want to expose himself to anything ungodly. He spent hours each day in devotionals, read book after book on his faith and if he wasn’t at church he was with friends from church. He didn’t drink, smoke or cuss, yet having given up all of this “fun” stuff his life was still filled with a joy that I had not known for quite some time. While Phil introduced me to the concept of relationship, Richard showed me a life of devotion. My understanding was growing, I got my first hint of a call, but I still had a lot to learn. The idea that God would want someone like me to be a pastor terrified me, so I fled to Kenai, Alaska and stopped going to church.

I threw myself into my job and pushed the budding, devoted relationship into the shadows of my mind. I didn’t need a relationship with a God who thought I was pastor material, but God never gave up on me. Into my office walked Terry. He was shorter than me, but thanks to my waistline outpacing my age by a factor of ten we were about the same size. Terry worked for the local radio station and was there to sell me advertising. As we talked music, I discovered his favorite song, Shepherd Boy. Can you seeing a pattern here? Officially he was on a sales call, but Terry came back each week to talk to me about God. He introduced me to two Christian authors, Joseph Grizone and Max Lucado, who would completely transform my understanding of and relationship with God. In the mirror, I saw a smelly sheep, a dirty sinner, a failure, and someone God wouldn’t love. I knew with certainty that I was the kind of person Jesus would have shunned. Through Terry’s books, I learned that I was wrong! I was Jesus’ kind of guy. He would have hung out with me. He could even use a guy like me to build His church. God loved me the way I loved my children. There was nothing they could ever do to make me love them any less. Understanding God’s love for me ignited my relationship and devotion. I was back in church, worshipping, giving, serving and listening to His voice, but that sense of calling still scared and confused me.

That was my state of mind in April of 2001 when the phone rang. My younger brother Neil died unexpectedly. The red-eye out of Alaska was the quickest way to unite with my family in Louisiana. I arrived to parents and a sister who were emotionally distraught, so my first task was planning a funeral, especially the music. I wanted Shepherd Boy. It was an appropriate song to describe Neil’s life, but Bill didn’t know it, couldn’t find it, and wasn’t going to perform it, so we instead got Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven. We read in this journal that while the world may be finished with something, God may not be? That was definitely the case here. My desire for Shepherd Boy to be sung was apparently God’s desire. Throughout the funeral God spoke to me. It wasn’t an audible voice. It came from that still, small certainty inside. He wanted me to sing it. My answer was “NO! I can’t and won’t sing!” Who knew an internal argument could become so heated. My refusal was met with a reply, “I didn’t ask if you could sing, I told you to sing it.” I renewed my objection, but He would not be quiet and wore me down. I agreed if He would just stop talking.

Now there are two things you need to understand before we finish the story. First, a singer I am not. That reality was confirmed after the funeral when an old family friend told me to keep my day job. Second, I had sung this song to my children every night for the last six years as I put them to bed. While I didn’t possess the vocal prowess to sing in public, I did know every word by heart. In obedience, I stood, apologized in advance to the 150 people gathered at the graveside, placed my hands on the end of Neil’s casket and began to sing. As I was finishing the first verse, my voice began to crack and the tears started to pour. My career as a vocalist was coming to a screeching halt. It was at that very moment the Holy Spirit showed up. Loud and strong, I finished the song. I was shaking and they had to guide me to a chair. Never in my life have I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit as strong as I did at that moment. It was the first time in my life, I obeyed God’s call to do something that I was incapable of doing in my own strength and skill. I was uncertain, but obedient, and God showed up. In that moment I was taught the foundational truth I needed to follow His call. My time with my family ended with an afternoon flight on which I fled God’s voice telling me it was time to preach. A few months later, I finally surrendered to the call that led me to writing this devotional today.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, let me make it clear: my “three” is Shepherd Boy. Just as God continued to approach Peter with groupings of three; God continued to approach me with this song. Just as Peter found healing for his past, strength and help in his present and hope for his future in “three,” I found the same things in the words of this song and in the lives of the men who kept sharing it with me. God’s will for Peter’s life was for him to be The Rock upon which He would build His Church. He communicated that in threes. God’s will for my life was for me to be a preacher of the Gospel. He communicated that to me through a song.

Even if nothing spoke to your heart while reading this devotional, please accept this one truth, “God is calling you to do something incredible for His Kingdom. Your strength will not be enough to successfully fulfill His call. You must depend on His and He will never disappoint. Listen for His still, small voice and you will hear your unique call.” Peter had his threes. I had Shepherd Boy. How is God calling you?

God sees in each of us so much more than we see in the mirror. His will for our lives is to transform us into that very image. Lent is a time when we prepare our hearts by inviting Him in to do some spring cleaning; this devotional has been about facilitating that process. In closing, I invite you to listen to Shepherd Boy. May God bless you this Easter morning with a life filled with joy, hope and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

Shepherd Boy: 

EASTER: Gone To Another Place

Easter

Scripture: Acts 12:16-17

NRS 16 Meanwhile Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. 17 He motioned to them with his hand to be silent, and described for them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he added, "Tell this to James and to the believers." Then he left and went to another place.

Devotional: Thus ends the mention of Peter in the historical books of the New Testament. He will be mentioned by Paul in his letters and he will author two letters of his own, but this is the last we hear of him in the Book of Acts. He had escaped jail with the help of an angel and returned to the gathering place of believers.  He knocked and knocked before they finally opened the gate. They stood in utter amazement at his presence as he recounted the story of the angel and instructed them to tell James and the other believers of his miraculous escape. Then, he left for another place. Where did he go? Why did he go? Why was this the last mention of Peter when there was so much left to record about the early Church? Based on the Biblical account, we don’t and won’t ever know; however, Church tradition fills in some of the gaps. It records the martyrdom of Peter in Rome around 64 A.D. That was where he fulfilled his bold promise from the Last Supper table. During Nero’s persecution of Christians, Peter was crucified just like his Lord. Tradition holds that he had them crucify him upside down because he didn’t feel worthy enough to die in the exact same manner as Jesus. This tradition completes the transformative tale of Peter. Called from his fishing boat, he followed boldly and impulsively. He walked on water. He cut off an ear. He made boastful claims that he would fail to fulfill. He cowered before a rooster and left an empty tomb only to return to his old life. At that moment he failed as both a disciple and a fisherman. That failure was not the end of the story. In that humbled state, Jesus met him on the beach. He offered forgiveness. He offered the power of the Holy Spirit. He commanded Peter to continue his ministry out of his new found bold humility. Their encounter on the beach was the beginning of Peter becoming the person Christ saw in him on the shore of Galilee the day He first called him. In the upper room, he assumed leadership of the disciples and began to care for the flock. Under the power of the Holy Spirit, he preached his first sermon and the group of disciples became the Church. He was The Rock.  He led. He healed. He was the first to bring the Good News to the Gentiles. The same man who couldn’t catch a fish caught thousands of people at a time as he proclaimed Jesus Christ. His story ends with him laying down his life for another. He laid his life down for Jesus. He embodied agape. The story of Peter is a tale of transformation. It began as the story of the person upon whom Christ would build His Church, but it continues as our story. The story of each and every Christian, like Peter’s, is the tale of an ordinary person called by Christ to first be transformed and then empowered to do extraordinary things. Jesus calls us from fishing boats, office desks, hospital shifts, and even assembly lines to follow Him and to change the world through His love. As we read the story of Peter we know that if God can transform him into a leader of the Kingdom, He can surely do something with each of us. Now that is the Good News of Easter!

Prayer: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The three-in-one God. Holy Trinity, today we again ask for transformation in each of our lives. Transform us into the disciples You need to change the world. Use us to bring healing, help and hope in Your name for it is in Jesus’ precious name that we pray all of this, and all of God’s people said, AMEN!

Song of praise: Beautiful Messes  by Hillary Scott and the Scott Family

Day 40: Jail Break!

Holy Saturday

Scripture: Acts 12:6-7

NRS 6 The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, "Get up quickly." And the chains fell off his wrists.

Devotional: Considering that trusting in Jesus can lead to suffering, imprisonment and even death, what does it mean to place our full trust in the Him? I think this was the question Peter wrestled with in the courtyard. Does following Jesus Christ and trusting in Him really lead to the same things Jesus suffered? The truthful answer is yes it does. Jesus taught that following Him would lead to the cross, but He still taught to surrender the totality of our will and our lives to the Triune God. It is a call to trust completely, knowing that He is with us in the suffering. In the courtyard Peter had yet to grasp that truth, but today we find a brand new Peter in this final scripture record of his imprisonment. Herod had James the brother of John put to death. The pleasure expressed by the crowds inspired him to do the same with Peter, so he had him arrested. The Rock had become a man with absolute faith in God. Rather than spend the night in jail worrying, he confidently faced his imminent death by getting a good night’s sleep. What a picture of transformation? In the courtyard, when faced with uncertain persecution, he completely denied Christ. Imprisoned, faced with almost certain death, transformed Peter was sleeping like a baby between two guards. When we allow the power of the Holy Spirit to transform us, we too begin to develop a confident trust in God that will never be misplaced. Peter’s confidence did not go unnoticed and it was rewarded with the waking nudge of an angel as his chains fell off. It was only after they had walked out of the prison and the angel disappeared that Peter realized his rescue was real and not a vision. Many people would have fled, but Peter headed to the house of Mary to continue his ministry. Sometimes we find ourselves backed into a corner by the world and we feel like there is no way out, but those are the very places we get surprised by God. He steps in changing everything. His actions spoke to Peter and they speak to us, “I’m not done with you. You still have work to do in My Name.” Today is Holy Saturday, if there was ever a day that is completely about God not being done yet, it is today! The world placed Jesus on a cross where He proclaimed, “It is finished.” It looked like the end. Twenty-four hours later that end seemed certain, but God was not done! He raised Jesus from the grave. It was only the worldly part that was finished, God’s transformation of the world had just begun. That transformation continues in each of us today. God is not done yet, what does He still have to accomplish in each of us?

Prayer: Father, today we give thanks that You are not finished. Not finished in each of us and not finished in the world we live. We ask that You would redeem whatever situations into which the world has backed us and move us into the work you still have for us to do. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit we pray, Amen.

Song of praise:                 We Fall Down by Chris Tomlin

Spiritual discipline challenge: Tonight we await the glory of the dawn and the empty tomb. Let us confess to God all of our failings to prepare our hearts to receive the Risen Lord.

Day 39: Welcoming Gentiles

Good Friday

Scripture: Acts 11:17-18

NRS 17 If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?" 18 When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life."

Devotional: Two thousand years after the church started, Saint Paul’s title of, “Apostle to the Gentiles,” has endured. This was the task to which God called him and he fulfilled it to great success, but Paul was not the first. The one who originally brought the Good News of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles was none other than The Rock. God used Peter to open the Church to Gentiles. The story begins was a vision of a blanket descending from heaven. It was full of slimy, squirming, slithering things. A voice told Peter to eat a critter from the blanket. Once we silence our resounding, “Eeeew, I could never eat a live snake,” we must remember the source of Peter’s, “Eeeew.” The blanket was full of critters that God declared unclean in the Book of Leviticus. This was Torah, the law which Peter had obeyed his entire life. Peter had never eaten unclean food and didn’t want to start. His “Eeeew” reflected a deeper level of disgust than ours, but it was cut off by the voice of his Divine Server, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” Peter was being told to eat and violate the Levitical laws. Three times he was commanded to eat. Three times he resisted. Three times he was told not to call God’s creation unclean. If we haven’t noticed by now, Peter had a certain relationship with the number three. Three denials. Three rooster crows. Three love questions on the beach. One would think he would have recognized the voice of God in his encounters with three, but he was still perplexed after his rooftop vision. It was not until a few days later, when Peter met Cornelius, that he understood God was telling him that no person was profane or unclean. With that new understanding, he preached the Good News and informed them that God showed no partiality. Anyone, from any nation, who fears and obeys the Lord is acceptable in His sight. When Peter baptized Cornelius and his household, the Church received its first Gentiles. The controversy that followed would require the bold humility of Peter. When the church in Jerusalem heard of the Gentile admissions, they protested. It was Peter that convinced them Jesus died for Jews and Gentiles. With this act, The Rock was firmly established as the foundation of the Church. Peter’s obedience and openness to God doing new things, paved the way for the entire world to become part of the Body of Christ. While Paul was still being built up in the Spirit, Peter was opening the doors of the Church to the world. Peter recognized God’s love for the world in his triplet lessons and initiated transformation for the entire world.

Prayer: Lord today we pray for recognition of the distinct ways we hear Your voice. Silence the background noise and the shout of worldly voices. Help us to know Your voice and hear it clearly. May we be obedient when we recognize Your sign of three in each of our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Song of praise:                Through All of It by Colton Dixon

Spiritual discipline challenge: Today our challenge is to meditate on our past experiences with God’s voice. I have a hunch that He has already communicated to us in a “Three” that is unique to us. We just need to recognize it. Let us go back to the places we know we have heard from God and see if we can identify our “Three.”

Day 38: A New Reputation

Maundy Thursday

Scripture: Acts 5:14-16

NRS 14 Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he came by. 16 A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.

Devotional: Before he ever preached or healed, Peter had a reputation and public recognition. In the high priest’s courtyard, they recognized his dialect and face as they inquired, “Aren’t you one of Jesus’ companions?”  His reputation as an impulsive sword wielder was recognized by the cousin of Malchus, whose ear Peter had cut off, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with Him?” It was recognition of which he was ashamed. A reputation from which he fled to Galilee and a life of fishing. That was his reputation in the Ancient Near East, but he also has a reputation in our eyes. We know of his impulsivity and boldness, his cowardice and empty promise making, his thoughts of worldly things instead of the things of God. His bad reputation tastes of feet and stinks of fish. If we are generous, we recognize his potential as he steps out of the boat in faith, but that generosity runs out in the courtyard of denial. We struggle to understand why Jesus would pick this guy to be The Rock. In our own lives we too develop reputations. Sometimes the one with our family and friends differs from the one in our communities. Some are good, but some, like Peter’s, are less than stellar. We worry what people who know our reputations will think about the new lives we have found in Christ. Will they accept that we have changed or will they hold fast to who we were?  These are real worries. Peter worries. Christian worries. Worries that cause the heart to tremble. But have no fear! God can overcome even the worst reputation. Peter is all the evidence we need to quench our doubts. In the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, he goes from less than stellar to super nova with his reputation. Rather than looking to arrest the Galilean brigand, the crowds long for his shadow to supernaturally heal as it passes over them. His new reputation is as a mighty man of God, but he never lets it go to his head. He maintains his humble boldness and constantly redirects the adoring gazes to Jesus. The power of God completely changed Peter’s reputation and it can change ours. God calls us to live humbly dependent upon Him without concern for what others think. As we live out such a life, boldly ministering in the name of Jesus, only concerned about the accolades of the Father, our reputations will become ones that bring glory to God.

Prayer: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. The One who Was and Is and Is to come. Today we ask You to change our reputations into ones that glorify You and Your Kingdom. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Song of praise:                 Made New by Lincoln Brewster

Spiritual discipline challenge: Today we read of Peter’s reputation being changed through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. He is not the only one in Scripture whose reputation has been changed by God. Our challenge is to study the scriptures in search of someone else whose reputation was changed by God.

Day 37: Bold In The Spirit

Wednesday of Holy Week

Scripture: Acts 4:8-10

NRS 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.

Devotional: In the courtyard of the high priest, Peter cursed his denial of knowing the Nazarene. His heart was ruled by fear and pride, but their reign would be brought to an end by a common rooster’s crow. As Peter was being humbled by his failure, Jesus looked him in the eye and Peter began to weep.  That failure was the motivating force in Peter’s life until he shared breakfast with Jesus. The forgiveness on the shore empowered him to lead while the disciples waited for power from on high. The arrival of that power brought about the complete transformation of Peter. The one who feared the authorities was now boldly speaking against the rulers and elders in the name of Jesus Christ. In bold humility he accuses them, “The one you crucified, that God raised from the dead, has healed this man!” The coward has become the proclaimer of glory as he refocuses the crowd’s attention from the power and authority of the Sanhedrin to the power and authority of God’s Risen Son. What has changed? How does the cowardly lion become Simba returning to defeat Scar? The Holy Spirit. When Peter stood in the garden, he stood in his own power with no authority. That is the failing reality of depending upon ourselves. When we depend upon God’s strength, we can accomplish all to which He has called us. In the power of the Holy Spirit, we achieve great success that brings glory to God. The difference in courtyard Peter and the Peter standing before the authorities was the reception of power from on high. When the Spirit descended at Pentecost, it empowered him to do great and mighty things in the name of Jesus Christ. In the Spirit, he was empowered to lead, to preach, to heal and even boldly confront authorities. Such a transformation is God’s will for all of our lives. He wants the Spirit to make us into humbly bold Christians who live in ways that bring glory to Him. Do our lives reflect His will? Do our lives glorify God? Do our lives make it easy for others to believe in Jesus?

Prayer: Lord, today we pray for a renewal of Your Holy Spirit in each of our lives. We ask to feel His power surging through our bodies. We ask You to provide us an opportunity to minister to someone in the power out of this power. In the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit we pray, Amen.

Song of praise:              Holy Spirit performed by Kari Jobe

Spiritual discipline challenge: Today we ask the Holy Spirit for guidance in our lives. How does He want us to minister to the world in bold humility? 

Day 36: A Healer Is Born

Tuesday of Holy Week

Scripture: Acts 3:6-7

NRS 6 But Peter said, "I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk." 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.

Devotional: When we read this piece of Scripture, we tend to focus on the miraculous healing that God does through Peter and John as they tell the paralytic to get up and walk. We are amazed that a healer was born from one who didn’t have enough faith in the high priest’s courtyard to acknowledge that he was a disciple. Sometimes we even rearrange our priorities, as we read the contrast between worldly possessions and faith in Jesus. All of these are appropriate, but they overlook another transformation that has happened in The Rock. The humble boldness required for Peter to proclaim, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk,” is awe inspiring, but what about the first? “I have no silver and gold.” The one who asked Jesus about his earthly reward for following, now has no silver or gold? The one worried about not having enough food to eat as the disciples crossed over the Sea of Galilee after the feeding of the five thousand, now has no silver or gold? The one who returned to his old life worrying about his future, now has no silver or gold? No, he didn’t. Jesus sent the disciples out into ministry without a purse to teach them to depend upon God. Transformed Peter was living out that command. His trust in God was complete. His dependence upon God was absolute. He had no silver and gold because he didn’t need silver and gold. His faith in God the Son, not only healed paralytics, but also provided for his everyday needs. A healer had been born, but he was born out of someone who was humble enough to depend upon God for the smallest things in life. The leader of the church had no money. What a statement? We can wonder why? Did he not have any from the start? Did he give it all away? Was it taken from him? But all of those are unanswerable questions. We cannot know why and Luke didn’t want us to know why. We just need to know that he didn’t have any. His lack revealed a life completely dependent upon the providence of God. That is the message Luke wanted his readers to learn. Transformation in Christ includes embracing complete dependence upon God. Are we living out Luke’s truth? Are we living our Christian walks in a way that reflects complete dependence upon God or are we taking care of ourselves and only turning to God when we are desperate?”

Prayer: Creator of the universe. Maker of heaven and earth. You who put the trees of the garden there to feed us and gave us the animals of the field. Lord we come today asking that You instill in each of us absolute trust in You so that out of that trust we can live completely dependent upon You. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen.

Song of praise: More Precious than Silver performed by Paul McClure, Bethel Church

Spiritual discipline challenge: Today we find someone to serve out of our faith in God. Not in a way that is anonymous like writing a check but one where we come face to face with someone in need. Let us minister to them out of our dependence upon God.