Archives for March 2015

John 12:20-26

20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival.21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

Chuck McKinney
Valley Christian Church – Concord

Observation: Hmm. Some Greeks going to worship the Jewish God asked about Jesus.

Action: Am I too comfortable with people like me? I am going to carefully watch for opportunities to share with people from other backgrounds and understandings. God, help me see through Your eyes.

John 12:9-19

9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”

16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

Dean Honnette, Senior Pastor
Hope Center Covenant Church – Pleasant Hill

Observation: Lord Jesus, I see people praising You, which is good. But it is also clear that they were focused on the physical miracle You had done for Lazarus and were missing the significance of Your larger mission of spiritual salvation. I am afraid I do that way too often also.

Action: I will seek Your spirit’s help during Lent to see and praise You for both Your physical gifts to me and to see and praise You for Your deeper spiritual work in me and our community.

Mark 11:1-11

11 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”

4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it,5 some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,

“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

Jeff Reed
Hillside Covenant Church – Walnut Creek

Observation: I am struck, Jesus, that when You instructed Your disciples to borrow the unridden donkey, You also told them to tell the donkey keepers that You would send the donkey right back to them (verse 3). What politeness. What sensitivity. What integrity. What thoroughness.

Action: I am going to imitate You by following through today on small details, whether it is answering an email promptly, returning what I have borrowed, picking up a piece of trash on the sidewalk, verbally recognizing the service of others around me, or completing the chores I have committed to doing.

Romans 9:22-33

What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath–prepared for destruction? 23What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory– 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he says in Hosea: “I will call them `my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her `my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” 26 and, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, `You are not my people, ‘they will be called `sons of the living God.'” 27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,
only the remnant will be saved. 28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”
29 It is just as Isaiah said previously: “Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom ,we would have been like Gomorrah.”30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling stone.” As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

Doug McCoy
First Christian Church – Pleasant Hill

Observation: Lord Jesus, I see that I, a Gentile, have been made a child of God through Your sacrifice. Through nothing but grace alone, I have been brought over the stumbling stone and brought into Your family.

Action: I will remind myself today that my true identity comes from my adoption by grace into God’s family. I will thank God that He has kept me from stumbling over the Stone and praise Him for being so gracious not only to me but to the millions like me who are trusting in Him today.

Romans 9:8-21 (ESV)

8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?

Sharon Wood
New Life Christian Fellowship – Concord

Observation: This passage puts in perfect place who I am, in relationship to God my Creator. What wisdom, power, or talents do I possess that were not given me by Him who created me? And who am I, the created, to think I know better than God, the Creator, as to how and for what purpose He made me?

Action: Humility before God. Today I will spend time on my knees – literally and figuratively – before the Lord. Asking for forgiveness of my pride and stubbornness, worshiping and acknowledging who He is, and thanking Him for loving me and for giving me life.

Romans 8:34-9:7

34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 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.
9 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
6 It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”

Rich Terherst
Harvest Church – Concord

Observation: Thank You Lord that no matter what trouble I’m facing or what is taken away from me, I am loved by and victorious in You!

Action: I am going to spend some time praising God for His incredible love for me and I’m going to be joyful even when things don’t go as well as I hope they will.