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Devotional Guide
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Dr. Jack Graham's daily PowerPoint
Third Sunday in Lent
"What do you want me to do for your"
SCRIPTURE Matthew 20:29-34
On
the way to Jerusalem two blind men call out to Jesus. They recognize
his power and authority, and believe he can make a difference in their
lives. Jesus has just tried to teach his discipies about the land of
love that characterizes his kingdom. Now he shows it to them in all its
healing beauty.
Jesus' poignant question makes us wonder how we
would answer. What do we really want from him? What would we have
courage to ask for if we truly believed that we would get it right then
and there: Would we treat the question like a cosmic lotto win? Or
would we have the courage to ask for real healing, for true sight?
Ponder Jesus1 question: "Do you really want to follow me with eyes wide
open?"
PRAYER God, sometimes we long for more of you in our
lives, for deeper understanding, for more powerful experiences of your
presence. Sometimes we just want a quick fix. Please give us insight
and courage to act. Amen.
Monday
"Why do you trouble the woman?"
SCRIPTURE Matthew 26:6-13
Jesus
and his friends are at a banquet, but the mood is subdued. The
disciples do not yet understand the necessity of the cross. Jror them
there is still time for a miracle, a revolution, a vindication. Only
one woman, whose name was not recorded, seems to sec the truth that
Jesus will soon die. She foresees a saving action like none the world
has ever known. And she pours out all she has of value to make her
point and pledge her homage. The others are outraged. They don't want
her truth-telling.
Do you ever find that you want Jesus' way to
be different? Would you rather he tampered less with your assumptions
and values? Are your values really the same as his: Ponder Jesus'
question: "Why do you protest against ray hard truths?"
PRAYER
God, sometimes your ways are hard to hear and harder still to live.
Help us open ourselves to you and offer all we have to your service.
Amen.
Tuesday
"Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand?"
SCRIPTURE Mark 4:21-25
Jesus
wants his diseiples to see that his teaching must be understood and
shared. Even then some people wanted Jesus for what he could do for
them rather than for what he longed to do for others through them.
Jesus
is not a secret that we keep or control. Jesus is an illuminating force
of love that cannot be stopped. A flame cannot continue to burn when
deprived of oxygen. When we practice A private and self-centered faith,
concerned only with our comfort or blessing, we find our passion dimmed
and our witness hidden. Ponder Jesus' question: "How does the flame of
my love shine in you for those who live in darkness?"
PRAYER
Cod, build up the fire of your love and presence in me today. Shine
through me into the dark pain ofijie world. Amen
Wednesday
"Why are you afraid: Have you still no faith?"
SCRIPTURE Mark 4:35-41
Caught
in a terrible storm, Jesus' friends are terrified and wonder if Jesus
cares. Often storms, or the sea itself, are symbols of chaos in the
Bible. At Jesus' word the chaos calms and the threat lifts. But he is
amazed that his friends' fear still clings when the danger is past, and
that they still have trouble trusting him.
Have you ever felt like
you were drowning in the chaos of lifer Have you wondered if Jesus
cared about your fears? This passage reminds us that Jesus cares about
and conquers the threats to our peace and security. Ponder Jesus'
question: "Do you not yet trust me?"
PRAYER God, it is a
stormy day inside us. We are overwhelmed. Calm our stormy seas and
teach us to trust you more each day. Amen.
Thursday
Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"
SCRIPTURE Mark 5:1-20
Legion
has given up on life. His tormented mind convinces him that the best
place for him to live is among the dead. So that is where Jesus finds
this tortured man, whose very name reflects his affliction. In the
Bible a person's name both describes and creates his/her character and
situation. To share one's name is an act of intimacy. To
know another's name is to have a measure of power over that one.
In asking for his name, Jesus is asking how Legion understands himself
and his problem, Understanding how we see ourselves is a precondition
for healing. How do yon see yourself? Have you let your pain define
your What names do you wear?
PRAYER God, sometimes I am so hard on
myself. I call myself stupid, or silly, or a failure or unloved. Help
me hear your names for me— Beloved, Friend—and be transformed by your
grace. Amen.
Friday
Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?"
SCRIPTURE Mark 5:24-34
Not
only has she suffered from bleeding for 12 years j the woman who
touches Jesus is an outcast from her family and community as a result
of her illness. At die end of her rope, she finds within herself the
courage to hope one more time. Seeing her last chance for wholeness,
she reaches out to Jesus and is healed. But she is not allowed a
solitary healing. Jesus searches diligently for the woman so he can
make her healing complete in a living relationship.
Today when we
reach out to Jesus to be made whole, he wants to be in face-to-face
relationship with us. Fonder Jesus' question: "Will you be in
relationship with me, or do you just want to use me?"
PRAYER
God, we need your healing, but fear the change that wholeness brings.
We are afraid of the honest}' of being in relationship with you. Thank
you for searching for us until we are readv to be found. Amen.
Saturday
And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation ask for a sign-"
SCRIPTURE Mark 8:11-13
The
Pharisees are testing Jesus. They think they know what. God wants and
how God will act. They want incontrovertible proof from Jesus that he
is Messiah. Even as they ask for a sign, they have already made up
their minds that this troublemaker cannot produce one. He is not what
they are looking for; they are locked into their expectations. Jesus'
deep, weary sigh speaks volumes. He is the sign. There is no other. He
will not be baited into providing a concrete sign that they wouldn't
believe anyway.
Do you sometimes put Jesus to the test? Do you want him to prove beyond a doubt that he is \vho he says he is?
PRAYER
God, why is what you offer not enough for us? Help us see who yon are,
take your hand and rejoice that that is enough. Amen.
Fourth Sunday in Lent
"What were you arguing about on the way?"
SCRIPTURE Mark 9:33-37
Jesus
is ready for some private time with his disciples so he can teach them
the meaning of disdpleship. But they have been arguing about who is the
greatest, about who really "gets it," about who should have the power
to say how things will be. We can almost hear Jesus1 despair at their
foolishness as he lifts a powerless child in front of them and says,
"It is the vulnerable, the weak and the outcast who have the real power
in my realm."
Don't we, too, spend an inordinate amount of energy
arguing about who is right or wrong, who is the best, who gets to make
decisions? Do these things really matter?
PRAYER God, help us not be concerned with who wins, but only with how we can be faithful servants. Amen.
Monday
"Which of these three, do you think,
was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?"
SCRIPTURE Luke 10:25-37
Jesus
and a lawyer (an expert in the Law of Moses) are having a conversation
in the typical question/answer style of the day. The lawyer is
questioning Jesus about what one must do to inherit eternal life. He
already knows the answer, but hopes to find a way to justify the fact
that he has chosen not to "live" it. Jesus tells him that active,
concrete love of God and neighbor is the answer. The lawyer tries to
weasel out of this truth by arguing about who qualifies as "neighbor."
Jesus tells the story of the good Samaritan, to make his point:
compassion and service make a neighbor, not nationality, proximity or
homogeneity. A neighbor is one who acts in love.
Ponder Jesus' question: "Who are we to love?"
PRAYER
God, sometimes I feel that 1 should like all those you call me to love.
Teach me that love is bigger than my feelings and grander than my own
designs. Amen.
Tuesday
"Do you thinly that I have come to bring peace to the earth?"
SCRIPTURE Luke 12:49-53
In
this day and age when we are torn apart by war, violence and division
even in the church, what do we do with a Prince of Peace who says, "I
come to bring division"? Here, again, we find no hint of "gentle Jesus,
meek and mild." The critical moment in
Jesus' life and ministry is
at hand. It is decision time. Jesus needs his friends to understand
that peace, in the sense of the status quo, crumbles in the presence of
the power of God at work.
The gospel has always had enemies and
always will, as long as people are being transformed into the likeness
of Christ. Following Jesus to the cross will not leave us unchanged.
And change often meets with resistance. Ponder Jesus' question: "Do you
think I came to make you comfortable?"
PRAYER God, your ways
are so radical, your love so profound, that it disturbs the world and
unsettles us. Help us risk the discomfort of conforming to your will.
Amen.
Wednesday
"Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?"
SCRIPTURE Luke 13:1-5
In
Jesus' day many believed bad things happened because God was angry over
sin. But the formula didn't always seem to In. Jesus doesn't answer the
disciples1 concern directly, but tells them to live, repentantly and
carefully so that whatever happens, their relationship with him comes
first.
In the face of tragedy, have you ever wondered if you were
being punished for something? Have you ever feared a loved one was
taken from you because of something you did to anger God? In times of
trial many of us think like this, even if we don't believe it to be
true.
Ponder Jesus' question: "Do you really think that all people who suffer deserve it?"
PRAYER
God, some questions are fruitless to ponder. Why do the good suffer?
Why do the evil prosper? Help me to look to my own life, confess my own
sin and live in thanksgiving for vour grace. Amen.
Thursday
"Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?"
SCRIPTURE Luke 17:11-19
This
is a strange, two-in-one story. First, it is the story of the healing
of 10 men with leprosy, a painful affliction that resulted in social
ostracism. Second, it is the story of one of those healed. This
Samaritan, a double outcast, is made whole—in the broadest sense of
conversion—and returns lo Jesus in gratitude.
Jesus' gentle question
about why the others did not return to thank him is a reminder that we
often take blessings for granted, as if we somehow deserve them. Yet we
are quick to go to God with needs or complaints. We may also be quick
to say "thank you." But the true gratitude that takes us out of our way
to offer thanks in service or compassion to others is •another matter
all together. Ponder Jesus' question: "Where is your gratitude?"
PRAYER God, we are grateful for your healing wonders in our lives and world. Help us to act on our gratitude. Amen.
Friday
"And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?"
SCRIPTURE Luke 18:1-8
The
story of the widow and the unjust judge is told to encourage believers
to pray persistently. A judge's duty was to insure peace and fairness
and to decide disputes, including those that resulted from the basic
inequities of the community itself. Widows could not inherit a
husband's property or wealth, but the law insisted that they be treated
fairly. Apparently this judge is so unfit that fairness cannot be
expected. Yet the widow persists and eventually wears him down into doing the right thing by her.
The
story does not mean God is an uncaring judge that we must badger into
justice by our prayers! Rather, the point is that if even this judge
could be persuaded to do what is right, certainly God will attend to
our earnest prayers. Ponder Jesus1 question: "Don't you think I have
your best interest at heart?"
PRAYER God, sometimes we give up too
soon on justice, and on the intimacy with you that prayer provides.
Help us to come to you with all our needs, trusting that you are
already at work with answers. Amen.
Saturday
"For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves?"
SCRIPTURE Luke 22:24-27
Jesus
has just told his friends that one of them will betray him. They are
incredulous, scandalized. They cannot believe they are capable of such
an act. And so they go back to llicir same old argument; who among them
will be the greatest. In their inability to see themselves as capable
of betrayal, and their unquestioned assumption that one can be greater
than others, the disciples display a stunning hick of self-awareness.
Still, Jesus tries once more to help them understand that to follow him
means to serve others, not to wield power over them.
Ponder Jesus1
question: "Who do you think is greater, the one who lives by the
world's power or the one who lives like a servant?"
PRAYER God,
sometimes the world's power, wcaith and privilege look pretty good. No
matter our station in life, help us conform ourselves to the model of
your life of service. Amen.
Fifth Sunday in Lent
Do you want to be made well?"
SCRIPTURE John 5:1-9
The
man by the pool at Bcthxatha has been lying there, ill, for 38 years.
With immediate insight into his condition, Jesus cuts right to the
heart of the matter with his question: "Do you
want to be made
well?'" The question is not as easy to answer as it may seem. We may
want to stop hurLing, to be cured, but true welluess can be something
else altogether. As we see with Jesus' commands to the man,
being made well means taking some initiative, doing the hard work,
giving up faults' expectations and cherished excuses.
Are we willing
to take responsibility and stop blaming others for our predicaments?
Are we willing to pick up our mats and take charge of our own wellness?
PRAYER
God, our complaints and excuses are so much a part of us that we don't
know what true wellness looks like. Help us do what you would have us
do to claim the wholeness that vou have for u,s. Amen.
Monday
But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, "Does this offend you?"
SCRIPTURE John 6:52-65
Jesus
has just told his friends that unless they eat the ilesh of the Son of
Man and drink his blood there will be no life in them. Whether or not
we take this as a literal saying about the sacrament of Communion,
Jesus' words call the disciples to an intimacy with him that is hard
for them to fathom. Does he mean that he is ihcir only true source, the
only nourishment that leads to life? How must they partake? Must they
become as holy as her Must they become as beloved, as despised?
Whatever
the case, Jesus' command is clear: "Life conies from incorporating me
into the center of your life." We are to feed off of Jesus and not the
sweet allures of power or wealth. This is indeed a hard teaching.
PRAYER God, sometimes your call frightens as. Help us remember that you only ask that which leads to life. Amen.
Tuesday
So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?"
SCRIPTURE John 6:66-69
The hard teachings of Jesus were too much for some of the disciples. They didn't
understand or didn't have the courage, or he simply was not the Messiah
of their dreams. When many stopped following him, Jesus turned to his
inner eircle and said, "Do you wish to go away?" Was that a sad or
discouraged question? Was he offering them a way out: Was he giving
them a chance to prove their loyalty? We do not know. But Peter answers
for all, saying, "Where else could we possibly go to find life?"
Sometimes
life in Christ is hard today. Churches have many needs and we can get
so tired. But where else could we go to find lifer
PRAYER God,
sometimes your way is hard. We prefer the empty tomb to the cross. But
we cannot have the one without the other. Help us stay with you and
follow where von lead. Amen.
Wednesday
"Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
SCRIPTURE John 8:3-11
We
do not know the whole story of the woman taken in adultery. We do not
know if her action was by choice, or where the man was, or how she was
discovered, charged and convicted. The scribes are trying to trap Jesus
by bringing him a case to settle without all of the needed evidence.
She is an object lesson to the scribes. She is a person to Jesus. So he
turns the situation into a teaching moment. Jesus wants the scribes to
look at themselves. Okay, he says, if you are perfect, go ahead and
kill her. Of course none can pick up the first stone.
Sometimes we
pick up those stones though, don't we?
Jesus never does. Refusing to condemn the woman, he sends her home with the caution not to make the same mistake again.
PRAYER God, we have stones in our hands and are ashamed of how often we try to throw diem. We are ashamed of how often we
deserve them. By your grace forgive us and give us a non-judgmental heart Amen.
Thursday
"Where have you laid him?"
SCRIPTURE John 11:17-37
Jesus'
dear friend Lazarus has died. Though Jesus must know that he will
intervene and raise Lazarus, the loss is so heavy that he is in inner
turmoil. Isn't it that way in our grief as well? Even though our faith
assures us that no goodbye is ever a final one, our hearts break at the
time of parting. Knowing what awaits us helps, but it does not stop the
grieving. In this story Jesus blesses the very human pain at the loss
of any great love. He. reminds us that with him all is never lost
completely.
What losses do you mourn? Ponder Jesus' question: "Where are the tombs where you grieve?"
PRAYER
God, when a great love dies, it changes everything and nothing. Thank
you for coming to show us that grief is normal and that hope is
warranted. Amen.
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