“Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” Luke 12:25
Tag Archives: 31 Days of Questions
31 Days of Questions: Day 10
“What about you? Who do you say I am?” Luke 9:20
It always comes down to this.
Because it doesn’t matter what the latest opinion poll says,
or what the Gallup Daily approval rating is,
or what the New York Times editorial page prints.
Crowds are uncommitted entities.
They show up for parades and free meals,
but disappear when the words “sacrifice” and “deny self” are used.
Crowds can praise you on Sunday and crucify you by Friday.
So it always comes down to a personal, one-on-one encounter.
Jesus wanted to know if the twelve men who had been with him for two and a half years were going along with the crowd’s appraisal based on rumors or forming their own opinion based on truth.
The question had to be asked….
the question had to be answered.
Still does.
31 Days of Questions: Day 9
“Who do the crowds say I am?” Luke 9:18
When I was in 6th grade, the popular girls in my class at school developed a survey that was handed out to all the boys in our room. The slips of paper listed the girls in our classroom with a line next to each name. At the top were the instructions — “Put in order that you like.” Brutal.
This was my first experience with a public opinion poll. There it was, in black and white — my rating according to the studly sixth grade boys. I was usually somewhere in the middle, depending on my status with the “cool” crowd that week. When our teacher found out what was going on, he put the kibosh on all such surveys. Bless him.
Jesus posed a question to His disciples, “Who do the crowds say I am?” Everyone in town had an opinion — some said He was John the Baptist come back to life, others thought Jesus was a prophet, and there were those who believed He was an interesting man with some kind of extraordinary powers. Nobody used the “M” word though. Talk of a Messiah in public could get one kicked out of the synagogue.
Was Jesus really interested in the latest opinion poll? Not in my opinion.
Did He care if He was #1 or #10 on the “like” list? Not likely.
Jesus was giving His disciples a chance to explore the options,
but that can only go on for so long.
At some point you have to answer the follow up question…..
31 Days of Questions: Day 8
“Where is your faith?” Luke 8:25
I am a mom.
Therefore, I have heard these kinds of questions:
“Mom, where is my favorite T-shirt?”
“Hey mom, where did you put my math homework?”
“Ah…mom? Where did my retainer go?”
I am a wife.
Therefore, I have heard questions like this:
Honey, where do you keep the room freshener?
Sweetie, where am I supposed to be at 2:00 again?
Dear, where is that leftover chili?
I am a follower of Jesus.
Therefore, I regularly ask myself:
Where am I being called to serve right now?
Where does God want me to invest my resources?
Where has the time gone?
Sometimes I stop listening to others’ questions and quiet my own soul long enough to hear the voice of my Father.
When I’ve fallen into sin and am hiding from the Lord in the cool of the day: “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)
When I’m feeling alone and distant from a sense of His sweet presence: “Where can you go from My Spirit?” (Psalm 139:7)
When a storm hits, my boat is filling with water and I’m afraid I will drown: “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:25)
When my kids and my husband ask me questions, it means they trust me to have an answer.
When the Lord asks me questions, it means I can trust Him to have an answer.
31 Days of Questions: Day 7
“Do you see this woman?” Luke 7:44
Of course he saw her.
She was right there in his dining room.
Simon, the Pharisee, looked at her tangled hair hanging down, her shabby clothes, the dirt under her fingernails.
He observed her emotional display of tears and was repulsed.
He watched her unclean hands touch the Teacher, kiss His feet, pour perfume on them.
He thought he was witnessing an embarrassing scene, socially awkward and shameful.
But he didn’t see her.
Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the one’s forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
“Give Me Your Eyes” by Brandon Heath
31 Days of Questions: Day 6
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do what I say?” Luke 6:46
PB and I used to sing a song quite often with our kids when they were little. It went like this:
“O-B-E-Y, obey your mom and dad!
O-B-E-Y, it makes them very glad!
Listen to the words they say, obey your parents every day.
O-B-E-Y, obey your mom and dad!”
They were slightly suspicious of our smiling faces, singing a happy, lilting melody with a clearly coercive message. And rightly so. We were unabashedly trying to make obedience sound like more fun than Christmas and Disney World rolled into one. But children aren’t easily fooled. Obeying is hard when you’re two…. or four…. or fifty-four. Jesus doesn’t lead anybody on to believe that a life of obedience is easy.
He also makes it clear that I lose the right to call Him my “Lord” if I refuse to O-B-E-Y.
31 Days of Questions: Day 5
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye
and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Luke 6:41
Forgive me, Lord,
for focusing on other peoples’
specks of sin
while wildly swinging my I-beam
of hypocrisy.
My Carpenter Savior,
take me to Your workshop,
remove the plank,
sweep up the sawdust,
and renew my sight.
Amen.
31 Days of Questions: Day 4
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Luke 6:32
It’s so easy to love PB (Pastor Blake, my hubby). He’s considerate, kind, and fun. He is trustworthy, works hard, and loves God. He also makes me breakfast every Wednesday morning… brings it to me on a tray…. bacon, eggs, English muffin, coffee. I love him.
It’s easy to love my kids. They have grown up to be interesting and enjoyable adults. They are finding ways to make their lives count for the Kingdom. They are giving me grandchildren. I love my kids.
It’s super easy to love my grands. These little people give sloppy kisses and like to rock-a-bye and are so darn adorable. Love oozes out of me when I’m around the babies. I don’t have to try at all.
There’s no pat on the back for loving like this, though. It’s loving the hard-to-love that gives me some heavenly credit. Instead of staying away from unlovable people, it seems I am to seek them out and pour love into folks who don’t care to love me back.
Sounds like Somebody I know.
31 Days of Questions: Day 3
“I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or evil, to save life or to destroy it? Luke 6:9
This sounds like a rhetorical question.
(Rhetorical question — def: a question asked in order to make a point with no answer expected.)
It’s like saying, “Is it right to help a little old lady cross a busy street, or is it better to throw her out in front of a Mac truck?”
Or even, “Is it right to help a little old lady cross a busy street on your way to church on Sunday morning, or is it better to throw her out in front of a Mac truck in your hurry to get your favorite pew?”
Most of these dilemmas come to me with a bit more subtlety.
“Is it right to give my neighbor lady a ride to the airport on Sunday afternoon during my naptime, or is it better to make up an excuse and draw my curtains so she can’t see me curled up on my couch?
Or change that to Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…..
Is there ever a bad day to do something good?
Is there ever a good day to do something bad?
Don’t answer that — it’s rhetorical.
31 Days of Questions: Day 2
Why are you thinking these things in your heart? Luke 5:22
There are some super-hero powers that I would love to have. The ability to grow some extra arms would have been nice when I was juggling babies and toddlers. Being able to duplicate myself would have come in handy when I was running four kids to basketball practices and piano lessons. The power to make myself invisible might have been convenient when my teenagers were out on dates. Maybe not.
One superhuman gift I would definitely not want is the ability to read minds. No sirree. No way. I’m sure I would be appalled if I could perceive the thoughts of those around me. I know that’s true because I am regularly appalled by my own thoughts.
Jesus makes it clear that thinking is a heart matter. The brain can only process what the heart produces.
Maybe the key to right thinking is to splay my heart wide open and invite the All-Powerful One to do some supernatural maintenance.
It’s something to think about.
a small drop of ink 