All posts by ljmonson

Devotions, Ministry, Prayer

PINOGAM: Person in need of Grace and Mercy!

Psalm 23:6  “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

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The 23rd  Psalm has been called the Psalm of faith, and certainly with great reason. Each line captures a sense of serene and happy confidence undisturbed by a single doubt. Included in these words of King David, are pictures of punishing rods and staffs, enemies, and foreboding valleys. Yet, each is coupled with mercy. Every possible fear is covered over by a faithful prospect of mercy and grace. 

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Dear Lord, my prayer this morning for those who are struggling, those who would simply give up, will be strengthened with a new resolve to find the true, sure, and available in every situation. Please, Lord, help us keep our eyes on you and not our problems.

Devotions, Motivation, Personal

The reason for Mercy

Ephesians 2:4-5 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

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The world seems not to have changed from the days I was growing up in a town next door to a military training base. My father was in the Naval reserve and so our home was to be shipshape.  Everything had its place, and everything should be in that place. I grew up with an expectation of proper behavior.

I have spent years living and breathing in the world of expectations of other people. Living in constant threat of disappointment of the socially acceptable norm.  My ingrained nature is one of trying to live up to someone else’s imposed expectation.  I failed a lot. Trying as I might, I could not be what the world expected because their expectations never included mercy. Now I live in mercy. I have experienced it.  I have cultivated it.  I have a great need for it. I cannot exist without it. And when it becomes a part of me my life finds truth, purity, holiness, peace wisdom, completeness, delight, joy, and victory. My years of living in this great mercy causes me to show mercy.

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Lord, remind me again and again that in your mercy I need to show mercy.

Devotions, Life, Motivation

I have decided!

Romans 8:35, 37-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.:

Paul decided.  Facing persecution, arrest, deprivation, and worldly uncertainty, he decided not one of the things in his life that would destroy him would separate him.  He decided there was nothing that would be a valid reason for separation.  He was convinced.  Yet, there are many Christians walking around like the walking wounded.  Head held low, hoping against hope that the day ends without calamity. Living as if hell is greater than heaven.  Sure, the world tries to separate. But for me, I refuse to live like a zombie crying and growling, stepping through life without hope. I refuse because I have decided. I stand up, put on a smile, and am well assured. I decide to open the gates of hope and assurance. I choose to make a fundamental decision to accept God at his word.

Lord, I have decided that you are able to keep to that which I have committed to you. I will walk in that assurance.

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Assurance, Devotions, Personal, Prayer

Devotion for April 20, 2022

Romans 8:1-3 “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.”

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Discouragement is that palpable thing that seems to sour all that it touches. Discouragement so easily comes to us in a whisper or even in a small task. There are times I raise my hands in surrender and shout to all that would hear, “It is simply too much.” “Forgiveness of my enemies is more than I can do.” “I cannot write one more line.” All my efforts frustrate me. Each morning I rise to a haunting thought of my words making no difference. Discouragement comes in so many flavors. Yet there is only one solution. There is now no condemnation, no discouragement, no reduction, no ill, no sin, no sliding back for me. The Spirit gives me life. And that is good enough for now.

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LORD, today is a new day for a reflection of your grace. I will not stop. Help me to see the right reason for doing it. I will keep on keeping on.

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Devotions, Life, Personal, Ramblings, Theology

I Can’t do it!

Titus 3:7 “When the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

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I can’t do it. If I depended upon my own merits, I would never make it. It just is not enough to overcome the negative ledger of my life. Fixing myself, again and again, to straighten my soul out, will never be sufficient. I must resign to the failure of every effort to measure up.

Jesus told the story of two men in the temple. One said, “God, here I am—all fixed up. Every hair is in place!” The other said, “Oh God, I just crawled in off skid row. Have mercy on me!” God forgave the skid row bum, but sent the other man away, hardened, unrepentant, and unforgiven.

When I come to God, I must know that all that is provided is out of God’s mercy.  It is not my work.  It is not a clever well-turned phrase that earns my mercy. It is not my effort to work out my own salvation. I come to Him just as I am in humble repentance.  When the human spirit comes to God knowing that anything it receives will be out of God’s mercy, then repentance has done its proper work! God promises to forgive and forget and to take that man into His heart and teach him that all of God’s kindnesses are due to His mercy. What more can a sinner ask?

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Dear Lord, You know me as I really am, yet You extended Your great mercy toward me. Thank You for Your divine love and forgiveness. I come to Jesus as I am!

Devotions

Dark and light

Romans 6:22-23 “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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In my darkest times, the smallest light becomes the most noticeable. I acknowledge life can be tough.  Aches and pains, financial distress, strained relationships, and a pandemic, all seem to darken our lives.  In the darkest of places, it is simply easier to huddle away from the cold of worldly reality, close my eyes, and just give up.  Yet, God is still there shining in the darkness. God loves me in the middle of my darkest nights. He is the still small candle that brightens with each looming cloud. He will give me a path to follow.  He will give me a solution to my problems.  He gives me relief from my darkness. God never disappoints those who place trust in Him.

My prayer:

Lord, at this moment I open my eyes to see the light that is revealed to me. Teach me again of your gifts to me of light, justice, and life. 

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Church, Ministry, Ramblings

The Word or the song?

MARK 6:34 says,  “And Jesus, when He came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them because they were as sheep not having a shepherd:  and He began to teach them many things.”

I have searched for a place to exercise my spiritual gifts.  I pastored four churches, taught hundreds of Bible Studies, written hundreds of devotions, yet as I sit in my local church as a congregant, I feel there is a gap between my expectations and reality. This situation has caused me to think that there is a pandemic within organized Christianity. The common thread is a subtle change from the centrality of the Word of God to something that could arguably be considered as important. Worship is a good thing but is it enough?  The change is from discipleship to worship.  I deeply understand and seek to worship my God in word and deed but I struggle with the lack of spiritual depth that a constant diet of worship and praise seems to provide.

So what is the reasoning behind this subtle change in style and methodology?  Is it easier to sing and raise our hands than to rightly divide the word of truth?  Is it more palatable to feel good by ecstatically repeating words over and over in the cadence of a snare drum and brass cymbal than to dig deeper into the Word of God and perhaps find something in our lives that requires change.

So who within the church today is supporting this well-meaning paradigm?  Today, in America, churches are full of sheep not having a shepherd.  Within these churches across our country, hungry sheep wait to be fed and to be led into the things of God.  Unfortunately, these same multitudes are being shepherded by someone not willing to, as Jesus stated, “If you love me feed my sheep.”  Barna’s studies state that two-thirds of all those who classify themselves as regular attendees have the primary desire for their attendance is to discover more about God.  But when asked if their last church service meet that need, only six percent responded that the last church service they attended met that expectation.

And, unfortunately, while there is a yearning for God in the pew, there appears to be a falling away in the pulpit.  I not saying that much of today’s clergy is spiritually bankrupt, I am just saying it is easier to go with the flow.

Paul speaking to the Roman church said “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”   I long for the day when more and more preachers begin refusing to “trim the truth in the name of tickling the ears of the people.

Not wanting to be a part of the problem and becoming part of the solution, I have found a better solution to sitting on my holy petard. I am actively finding my place in changing the Church. I must change it from the inside of a church.  I can no longer just point fingers.  I must be a change agent. Spiritual gifts are not to be hoarded or kept to myself.  I will make every effort to stick my foot in the door and make a difference where I can.

I will not do only what is expected but do as much as I can without incurring the wrath of the church hierarchy.

Assurance, Devotions, Motivation

Assurance blossoms in repeated conflict

Ezekiel 36:25-28 “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will be my people, and I will be your God.

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Assurance blossoms in repeated conflict.  The discouragement is caused by losing sight of the promise of God. Stand up, repeat the words of faith. The Lord’s power and goodness are not diminished by your conflict.  When we are torn apart, God still lives.  When we are discouraged, God still loves us.  When we are in danger, God still reaches out. When evil stands in the door, God still is your protector.  When discouragement haunts you, God is there to remind you of his very presence. God is beyond appearances.  You will be my people, and I will be your God.

Church, Culture, Denominations, Ministry, Sermon Illustration

All hail the power of the skeptic

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Close your eyes and imagine a church sanctuary filled with those who all think, believe, and feel the same. They all say AMEN at the appropriate times. They all pay exactly ten percent of their income.  The songs are all well accepted and sung with both bravado and familiarity. The Preacher of the day is recognized with constant bobblehead responses. After service, everyone remains to greet each other and inquire about the glorious victories of overcoming.

Open your eyes and realize this perfected vision is not real.  Christians are not cookies cut out of the heavenly bread of life each perfectly identical to the other. This picture is what Psychologists refer to as groupthink.  It is a place where the congregation values consensus and conformity over vulnerability and self-examination.

The church needs a liberal sprinkling of skepticism.  Without criticism, dissent, and critique, there is no place to grow. There is nowhere to go to be more than the status quo.  An unexamined faith only leads to idolizing an ideal image, a disdain for outsiders, a denial of personal faults, and a lack of growth. Without a dose of dissent, there is no place for healing.

We need a liberal dash of skepticism, uncertainty, critique, and self-examination. Further, this infusion of questioning is to be handled with care and respect.  The number one roadblock to faith for a true skeptic is not a theological stance about Jesus, but the behavior of those who claim to follow Jesus. Those of us who diligently question almost everything find it striking that those who are in the knowing, act as if they have a monopoly on what it is to be proper or good. This ownership comes with dread, a rejection, a fear of any who would ask why.

Those who have doubt or uncertainty should not silence their questions to be accepted by the Body cemented.  We should not silence the skeptic for the sake of the comfortable.  Being a skeptic does not automatically mean heresy any more than the status quo automatically equates to perfection.

Those who are asking questions are vital to the church.  They make the church vibrant, accepting, and accessible.  They give the comfortable a chance to grow a little.

Church, Culture, Devotions, Life, Ramblings

Peculiar

Isaiah 25:9 “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

I am peculiar.  I act peculiar.  I have a belief that is peculiar.  I have a faith that is peculiar.  I am so peculiar that I believe God caused a virgin to give birth.  I am so peculiar that I believe in walking on water, healing the sick, raising the dead, and a man being God simultaneously.  I am so peculiar that I believe that the same man who was beaten, spit upon, and died on a cross was raised on the third day.  I am so peculiar to believe that this same man now sits on the throne of the universe. I invite you to join me in my peculiarity!