The Donkey Stole My Joy !

The donkey stole my joy!

“But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” Luke 19:40

How can stones cry out? They have no life. So how can Jesus think that if the crowd is silent that the stones will cry out?

Jesus enters the city and the crowds are crying out their praises to Him. The Pharisees tell him to make the people stop blessing him as a king. He answers with the above statement. On Palm Sunday as Christ rode in on a young donkey, the people, at that moment, recognized His sovereignty and shouted Hosanna! Hosanna!

Now imagine if you will, that Christ and His disciples come into the city, and the crowds are gathered, but they are silent for the Pharisees have done their own crowd control, knowing what a spectacle this man that called himself Jesus would cause. The twelve disciples are stealing glances about the crowd and at one another, looking to see what Jesus will do. There is a feeling of discord in the crowd. They begin to grow restless as the donkey slowly makes his way into the city. You can hear the occasional clipping of the hoofs and see the puffs of dust as his hoofs strike the ground.

The donkey begins to move a little faster, and the clipping becomes louder. He strikes his hoof on a stone, and the sound rings into the silence. The donkey's lumbering pace is quickly turning into a trot. Moreover, he seems to be intent on striking every stone as he moves through the silent crowd. Before long, the donkey is prancing among the stones. The sound from the stones is musical. In the silence, they seem to be shouting out. This little donkey, a beast of burden, is prancing and full of joy. He is making the very stones shout out praises to Jesus. The crowd stirs, yet they remain silent for fear of the Pharisees. Behold a little donkey came prancing along the city street and stole the joy of praising and shouting Hosanna! Hosanna!

Do not let the donkey steal your joy. Do not let the stones shout out your praises. Raise your voice. Lift your hands, and shout unto the Lord. Praise Him. Feel the joy that is in the Lord. Be like the crowd on Palm Sunday. Sing Hosannas to the Lord, for He is sovereign.

The Lord's Table

Passover is an 8-day celebration for the Jews. This is the freedom celebration from slavery. It is a time of rejoicing over their freedom. The Exodus story. Reflect on the mindset of the disciples. They are in festival mode, granted it is low key but, nonetheless, it is a time of joyful freedom. Now think on what weighs on the mind of Christ. He is soon to be facing betrayal, denial and lack of support by those He loves. He is going to be striped, humiliatingly broken, beaten and his blood will be spilled for all those that He sits at the table with. This is our Lord's last supper. This is the last moment of fellowship before the brutality of the cross and the heartbreak from those He loves.
I wonder which pain was the most unbearable for Him? Think on it. Christ's last meal was a celebration meal. Thus His disciples, unaware of the events that would be soon transpiring, had a light and happy heart. However, Christ was all too aware of what was going to happen to them and to Himself. He knew one would betray him with a kiss and another would deny him thrice before the cock crowed. Yet he still sat in their company and loved them.
 I wonder if He even partook of the food? However, I know what he did do. He broke the bread, blessed it, and told those at the table that this is the body broken for you, even the one that would betray and those that would deny. And they ate the bread. He then took the wine and blessed it. This is the blood that is spilled for you. Once again, it was for all that sat at the table. He excluded no one. Even the three that cannot give him an hour of their time.
This was the beginning of an evening of humble servitude. He removed his clothing and garbed himself in servant cloth. He took on the lowest position and washed their feet, knowing the heartbreak that was soon to come. The pity of it is that the disciples had no idea, no understanding until after. However, we do understand. We know. So why have we lost the reverence of communion, this time of worship and reconciliation, this time of refreshing ourselves in the holy presence of our Lord?
Too often when we come, we take a piece of cracker and our cup,  go back to our pew,  and have a moment of prayer. Our minds begin to wonder, and then our words start to do the same. We have reverted to the idleness of the disciples during the Passover meal. What excuse have we for this? We are not ignorant. We know what happened. This is the time when we stop hiding the part of our soul that has rejected the bread of the broken body from entering. Let it in. Let it bind the brokenness in our soul. Take the juice. Let it refresh you. Let it reconcile you into the embrace of Christ.
This is not intermission. This is the time to enter into the Holy of Holies. This is coming into the courts and worshiping in His presence. This is loving the one that betrays you. This is loving the one that denies you. This is loving the one that wants from you but does not give back. There is nothing that is hidden that will not come into the light. The table before us may be small, but the broken body and the blood that was spilled is mighty and great. Remember this love, this sacrifice. Stay in the refreshment of reconciliation and the reverence of worship of our Lord and Redeemer.

SAD (SOUL Affective Disorder)

Many of us are suffering from SAD (Soul Affective Disorder).

 Soul Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that's related to changes in seasons of life. SAD begins and ends at various seasons in life. If you're like most people with SAD, your symptoms start when you have fallen away from relationship with the Light. This disorder will continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you worry, stress and suffer from feelings of disconnectedness. If left untreated SAD can and will cause depression, darkness and in some cases lifelessness.

Good news, there is a cure for SAD.

 First step: Light Therapy. “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.'”(John 8:12)

 Second step: Prayer. The Lord is my light and my salvation: My God shall make my darkness to be bright. Blessed are you, Lord God, creator of day and night. To you be praise and glory forever. As darkness falls, you renew your promise to reveal among us the light of your presence. By the light of Christ, your living Word, dispel the darkness of our hearts that we may walk as children of light and sing your praise throughout the world. In Jesus name. Amen.

Third step: Daily reading and meditating on the Word of God. ”Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer." (Psalm 19:14)

 Fourth step: Share your light with another that is suffering from SAD. ”For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:9-14)

Do not brush off that feeling of SAD as though it is only a passing thing or a seasonal life funk. Do not attempt to fix it on your own. Take the above steps ASAP. This will keep you in the light and your steps steady throughout all seasons. “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” (1 Peter 2:9 )

Logos

Logos

God spoke the world into existence. He spoke. He used words. Words, He spoke into nothingness and the nothingness became the very words that He spoke. There is great power in words. Words can build up or take down. They can glorify or they can denounce. Even the words that are kept inside have power. Words form and shape. They are a reflection of the condition of the heart. Even Satan knows the power that is in words. God’s spoken word created the world into the void. He brought forth life. Satan used words to bring the fall of man, to bring death. There is great power in words.

Sticks and stones may break bones but words, they can kill or they can bring life. I see words being used to take pieces out of another’s soul. I see words that are used to lift another up.

 Choose this day the words that will bring life for yourself and share the life giving words to another. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16

Abba Father may Your words be the balm for my heart. May Your words become the condition of my heart so that when I speak, aloud or in quiet, that You are what my words are. Thank you Father for Your words that became flesh. Thank you for Your words that bring eternal life.

Casting the net into life's waters

Luke 5:1-7 NKJV

So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2 and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. 3 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

     I love the interaction between Jesus and Simon. Simon, a master fisher, he knows the waters and that there had been no fish for the nets. He talks back to the master of all creation telling Him that there are no fishes to catch. I can imagine the doubt and perhaps some exasperation in his voice as he was telling this to Christ. I can imagine that Simon gave a heavy sigh looking Christ in the eye and saying, “nevertheless at Your Word I will let down the net."

      I can think of how often in my own life that I have cast my “net” out into this great lake of life only to have it come back empty. I have been “fishing the waters” of my life for a very long time. I know better than anyone does where there “fish” are or are not. Like Simon the master fisherman I am the master at knowing where the bountiful catches of “fish” are in my “life waters”. 

      I need not just to remember the lesson of Simon casting out His nets I need to act on it. The glorious thing about Simon aligning his will with Christ he had more than what he could take in by himself. He had enough to share with many others. I want to be obedient when Christ tells me to go back into the waters that I have already fished and came up empty. How glorious it will be to have enough to share the love of Christ with many more. When it happens, I know I will talk back, perhaps shake my head and roll my eyes, but I will answer, ”Nevertheless, at Your Word, I will let down my net.”

God my creator thank you for my life’s waters, the times they have been empty and the times they are bountiful. May I always respond with yes to your bidding of me to cast my net into all the waters of my life, especially when you call me to cast where I have fished in what I thought have been barren waters. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.