Upper Loft Meditation - John 15

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. - John 15:7-8

I have not seen before the relationship between asking and fruitfulness. Maybe it is because too often I regard fruitfulness as a result of my hard work. I function as an independent contractor with good Biblical intentions, but I am doing my thing. It is like a little child seeking to please his father. He turns, looks up, and says, “Father, look what I did!”

Fruitfulness is the result of God’s provision, according to God’s plan, through God’s power by the means of his servant. It is ministry that comes out of a relationship with God. The Holy Spirit and His Word are to be operative in all that I do and say.

What is amazing is that God calls us to ask for his acts of grace and mercy to be done among us for His glory. The only guideline given is that our asking should flow out of the ministry of God’s word in our lives.

Today, how have you fed upon the word of God? What have you asked for as a response to God’s word in your life and what you see around you?

On Sunday June 3rd, Oakseed Ministries has issued a call to prayer for Children at High Risk, especially those caught in the web of child labor. (See www.oakseed.org for more information.)

Psalm 10:12 “Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless.”

In response to God’s Word, what will you ask for on Sunday, June 3rd?

Upper Loft Meditation - Psalm 8

“From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.” - Psalm 8:2

This is a verse that Jesus quotes when challenged by the religious leaders (Matt. 21:12-17) who go into a rage over the praise of the children during Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the way to the cross. Jesus has overturned the tables of the moneylenders in the temple and healed the blind and the lame. The children cried out “Hosanna to the Son of David.” What does this mean? Salvation has come! Because of this, the religious leaders went ballistic. Psalm 8:2 is fulfilled with the silence of the religious leaders, those who should have known better.

This is a reminder that God has chosen the path of weakness and vulnerability to accomplish His will. “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”(I Cor. 1:27) Why such a methodology? So that in all things, in all ways, to all ends God would receive the praise and glory.

How often do we respond in the opposite fashion? We want to be clear, calculating, and in control of what we do. We are taught to go from strength to strength. Only the foolish go forward in weakness.

One secret about the ways of Almighty God is that His power is made manifest through our weakness.

Are you willing to serve the Lord in the fullness of your weaknesses? What does your heart yearn for, praise or silence?

Upper Loft Meditation - Psalm 6

O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.
Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am faith; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony.
My soul is in anguish. How long, O Lord, how long?
Turn, O Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. - Psalm 6:1-4

“I know I did it!” David knows he has sinned against God. The Psalm does not tell us what David did. It does tell us what the effect was on his mind, “in anguish,” and on his body, “in agony”. The same word is used in vs 2 & 3 to describe his body and his mind. In the original language it has the meaning of terror, trembling, and being anxious. David’s sin has an impact on his whole being. His mind is in shock and his body feels like it has had an encounter with a speeding truck.

David knows he deserves the punishment of an angry God, the discipline that should come from his hot displeasure. But, in faith he cries out to God for mercy. The root word for mercy means to bend down. “He was asking that God would bend down and look at him - be gracious to him as he lay there in pain.” David is asking for God’s forgiveness and healing presence.

How can David do that? Because he believes in God’s unfailing love for him. Where did David get this idea? It came from God’s revelation to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7. “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.”

Why do we persist in the pain and anguish of our sins when God’s grace and forgiveness are ever before us?

Repentance and forgiveness must be a part of our daily life. It is the way to know more fully God’s unfailing love.

Upper Loft Meditation - Psalm 4

“Why is everyone hungry for more? “More, more,” they say.
“More, more.”
I have God’s more-than-enough,
More joy in one ordinary day
Than they get in all their shopping sprees.
At day’s end I’m ready for sound sleep,
For you, God, have put my life back together.” (Message) - Psalm 4:6-8

This is a wonderful Psalm that gives guidance to a life caught up in stress and trial. Notice the two contrasts here. First, is the captivating attitude of never having enough versus recognizing that God’s provision is always more than enough. Do you notice how people never seem to have enough? Most commercials begin with the premise that what you have will not satisfy you. You will only find satisfaction when you get the new and improved purple-passion gizmo!

The second contrast is a daily life consumed by a hunger which is never satisfied versus having an overflowing joy that is more than enough to satisfy. In verse seven the statement is made that even when highly successful and achieving far beyond their well crafted goals, their joy does not begin to compare to the surpassing joy the Lord gives to his servants.

Augustine in his Confession says, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.”

The result of having God’s sufficient supply is a peace that leads to sound sleep at the end of the day. It is clear from the context that the trials have not been removed. Sleep is assured because God’s peace, care, and provision are given in the midst of the trials. In the midst of the storm, the Lord is your strength and peace.

Upper Loft Meditation - Matthew 27

Matthew 27:22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked.

John Stott is retiring this week. It is amazing to look back on his life and marvel at the way God worked so faithfully through him. During the time he was in school, Stott talks about a preacher named “Bash” who came and challenged the students with a quote from Pilate: “What then shall I do with Jesus, who is called the Christ?”

Stott recalls: “That I needed to do anything with Jesus was an entirely novel idea to me, for I had imagined that somehow he had done whatever needed to be done, and that my part was only to acquiesce. However, this preacher was quietly but powerfully insisting that everybody had to do something about Jesus, and that nobody could remain neutral. Either we copy Pilate and weakly reject him, or we accept him personally and follow him.”

There were times in John Stott’s life when he would actively “do things” for Christ and not just be neutral in his relationship. I think of the stories of disguising himself as homeless and sleeping on the streets in order to find out what it was like and how his congregation would react. He worked hard at remembering names and faces while continuously praying for those people he met. I remember reading that whenever John Stott was thinking about the work of the church he had two key words in his vocabulary: integration & penetration. These two words have lots of action in them. Continue Reading Devotional

As John Stott retires, I find myself thinking… “What am I doing with Christ? What action am I taking? Or am I just sitting back with a neutral attitude like Pilate?”

What are you DOING for Jesus today?