Day 123 The Lost sheep Matthew 18: 10-14, Luke 15: 3-7

Guided reflection:

Luke 15 is the “lost and found” department of the gospels.  A shepherd has 100 sheep and one gets lost… he searches and searches until he finds it… and when he does, he lays it around his shoulders.  I have heard that it means he broke its little leg so it would need to be held to be healed, and in the healing time it would become so close to the shepherd that it would never run away again.   Have you lost your way… and now you are hurting from the consequences.. could it be that this is the very time you can learn to know the very heart of the Good Shepherd – while exhausted from your wandering away from God.  Do you know that there is a party in heaven when you choose to be found and learn from your wandering ways?  Jesus’ focus is always looking for those of us who are wandering off.  You are the one that moves – not the Good Shepherd!

Guided Prayer:   

“Savior, be like a shepherd to me and lead me. Early, before I get to wandering away, early help me to seek yoru favor and to know your voice.   You have loved me, even when I go astray… and you love me still.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.”

Day 122 Temptations Matt 18: 6-9; Mark 9: 42-48; Luke 17: 1-2

Guided reflection:

This passage is not about being tempted, but about being the one who is the source of someone else’s temptation… not the drug user, but the drug pusher!   Have you ever done anything that causes another to be tempted to do something that is wrong or hurtful?   In your own life, is it your eye or foot that causes you to sin!  Do something about it!  Stop being a tempter!  Make a list right now of ways you could actively be tempting another person…leaving yourcomputer open to young ones without safeguards… giving someone something that you know is not good for them…go on, make your list.  Jesus says here that it would be better to hang a weight around your neck and down yourself rather than hurt one little one.   What we do and say DOES affect others.

Guided Prayer:

“Heavenly Father, could I be doing something that is causing another person to be in harms way by tempting them?  Is there any part of me that keeps me on a merry-go-round of unhealthy patterns?   Change my heart, O God, and may I be more like you.  Amen.” 

Day 121 An Exorcism Mark 9:38-41, Luke 9:49-50

Guided reflection:

The disciples found a man they did not know, who was speaking in the name of Jesus!  They thought they had a corner on that market!  After all, they followed Jesus and they were with him all the time, so this guy must be a fraud.  Jesus gives a great line: “don’t say no to him… if he is for us at least he is not against us!  God will honor him!”   Have you ever thought that someone is not “of Christ” because they worship differently, or use different phrases… yet call upon the name of God?  Are there people in your life that you are excluding who are advancing the gospel - just in a different way?  Could Jesus be calling His disciples to a more open mind?

Guided prayer:

            “O God, as United Methodists, we like to think we are of the church that has open minds, open hearts,

and open doors.   Loving God, are there people to whom I am not open, my heart is closed and I would like to slam a door in their face?  Forgive me and help me to see that if they are FOR you, then they are not against us.  Amen.”

Day 120 Power games among disciples Matt 18:1-5; Mark 9:33-37; Luke 9:40-48

Guided reflection:

I like it that the gospel writers included stories about real times with the disciples.  Here they are fighting over who is the greatest.  Now, that seems silly, but do we not play those games of one up man? Jesus reminds them that it is not about being the proud and haughty and “great” … but about being like a little, accepting child.  Where are you “full of yourself” and grasping at greatness?  What would it mean to “humble yourself”?

Guided prayer:

Loving God, I admit my tendency to want to be better than everyone else.  There is a part of me that wants to be more important than anyone else.  Help me remember that there is enough love in your heart for me and that I do not have to participate in power games.  Remind me again that my strength and my worthiness comes from you, not from myself.  Amen!” 

Day 119 Temple Taxes Matthew 17:24-27

Guided reflection:

Taxes – ugh!  These were temple taxes that everyone was expected to pay…. To be given to God.  The tax collectors want their money!  Jesus points out the silliness of the Son of God having to pay tax to God… but he tells Peter to go catch a fish … there will be money in his mouth.  Sure enough, the fish had enough money to pay the taxes.  Once again, Jesus points out that His source for resources comes from God, not from his own efforts!  But also notice, the Jesus went along with paying the silly tax.  The thing that lifts out to me today about this story is Jesus lack of anxiety about money and taxes!

Guided prayer:

“Giving God, I can get so caught up in the laws and taxes and how to pay for it all.  Give my heart a bit of how Jesus looked at things… you are my source, you are my strength, and all that I have comes from your loving heart.  I give to you my anxiety over little things.  Amen.”

Day 118 Jesus talks again about the cross and suffering Matt 17:22-23;Mark 9:30-32; Luke: 9:43b-45

Guided reflection:

The gospels were written well past the time of the cross and empty tomb, so they are writing with some good hindsight, but they remembered that Jesus HAD talked to them about dying and rising again.  Later, after the shock of it all wore off, they were able to remember these conversations.  Jesus had tried to warn them and give them hope, but they could not grasp it.  If Jesus were to tell you about your future, I am sure it would include some tough times (“In this life you will have tribulation”, Jesus says) and some wonderful moments. Just like the disciples, we need to remember that it is after dying times that resurrection happens!

Guided Prayer:

“Loving Lord, sometimes I am glad I do not know the end from the beginning.  Life is full of surprises and twists and turns… and we have lots of questions.  Forgive my doubts, forgive my slowness to remember that you are with me, promising new life out of tough times.  Thank you!  Amen”

Day 117 Jesus heals a young boy Matt 17: 14-21; Mark 9: 14-29; Luke 9:37-48a

Guided reflection:

Read the Mark version – it has the full story.   A father comes to Jesus distraught over his son with epileptic fits that were so horrible that the boy would fall into the fire in a fit!  The Disciples had not been able to free the boy… Jesus set the boy free after a bit of drama.  But the Disciples wanted to know why they had not been successful and Jesus answered: “Because you had lack of faith”   In Mark, Jesus says, “this kind come out with fasting and prayer.”   It seems our effectiveness is related to our faith and spiritual disciplines.  Have you ever fasted and prayed?

Guided prayer:

“Merciful God, thank you for the times when folks are made whole, but I wonder about the times when they are not.  I know it is not all up to me, but do I need to grow in my faith?   Do you want me to fast and pray? I am open, show me the way.  Amen” 

Day 116 Conversation about Elijah Mark 9: 9-13, Matt 17:9-13

Guided reflection:

After Peter, James and John were on the mountain top and saw Jesus talking to Elijah and Moses, they were rather quiet, wondering what they had just experienced.  Jesus calls it a “vision” and to not tell anyone until he has been raised from the dead, but they probably did not get what Jesus said.  As a matter of fact, when they ask about Elijah and the prophecy that he was to return, Jesus implies that Elijah already returned.  They took that to mean that John the Baptist was Elijah in return.  Remember, John the Baptist is heavy on their minds because he had just been beheaded.  Can you just imagine what they were thinking… one minute miracles, the next talk about death… the next minute John the Baptist is beheaded… then they see a vision with Jesus talking to Moses and Elijah…one minute a high and the next a low?  Have you ever been disappointed that your walk with God included times of questions and times of doubt?  That is all part of it!

Guided prayer:

“Holy God, we do not always understand this journey of discipleship.  Sometimes I feel full of joy and hope… and then I find that following you involves taking up a cross too!    Help me to know that questions and doubts are all a part of the disciple making process…. But remind me again that you are not anxious.  You know and you care and you are with me.  Amen” 

Day 115 The Transfiguration of Jesus Matt 17: 1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36

Guided reflection:

I have lots of questions I would love to have answered, like:  How did the Disciples know it was Elijah and Moses?   What does it look like to see someone “transfigured!”   And, what was it Jesus was talking to Elijah and Moses about?   Jesus took his inner circle with him (Peter, James and John) and they saw it all.  Peter, who always opens his mouth and sticks his foot in it, thinks it would be great to build tents right there so they can just stay there.  The voice of God shakes them with this word:  “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, listen to him!”    Jesus knew they were blown away, so he touches them tenderly and tells them to have no fear.  Somehow I think this whole experience had nothing to do with the disciples, they were just spectators in a God moment with Jesus.  But Jesus left that mountain top experience and started toward Jerusalem and all that was to face him there.

Guided prayer:

“O God, I love mountain top experiences.  I would like to just pitch a tent and stay there too.  But I know that it is those spiritual high times that give me the fuel to stay focused on you in the tough times.  Thank you for the ups and the downs of life.  Amen” 

Day 114 The Conditions of Being a Disciple Matt 16: 24-28; Mark 8:34-9:1; Luke 9:23-27

Guided reflection:

Now I can understand why the Disciples were thinking that walking with Jesus was going to be a great high!  Goodness, Peter has walked on water; has seen people healed; watched 9000 people eat food from miracles – quite an adventurous way to life, this walking with Jesus!  Can you imagine what it felt like to hear Jesus tell you that to be his disciple you have to take up a cross… you have to lose your life to save it?    What are you trying to say, Jesus?   What will it profit me if I gain the world… but end up losing my life for it?    The MESSAGE puts it this way:  Anyone who comes with me has to let me lead!   Where are you having a hard time allowing Jesus to lead in your life?

Guided prayer:

“Loving God, show me what it means for me to deny myself and follow you.   What does it mean for me to allow you to take over the driver’s seat of my life?  Show me… I turn the wheel over to you, right now.  I don’t know what end is up and what is down, so give me your eyes to see things from your point of view.  Amen”