November 01 - 06, 2010

Monday November 01, 2010
Look for the plank
Read Matthew 7:2-5

“First cast out the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to cast out the splinter from your brother’s eye.” In the end, we are supposed to help our brother remove the splinter from his eye. In fact, that is the purpose of removing the plank from our own eye. There are three parts to this illustration of judging. First, the Lord calls us to notice when we are looking at a splinter in our brother’s eye despite the plank in our own eye. Second, He tells us to cast that plank out of our own eye. And third, He encourages us to use our new clear sight to cast the splinter out of our brother’s eye.

We all have a tendency to focus on the faults of others. And sometimes we see the most faults in the people closest to us – we see the splinters in our brother’s eye. If we know someone very well, we come to see their shortcomings; and because we see these so closely and so often, we can make them out to be larger than they are. We pay inordinate attention to the minor faults – the splinters – in the way our friends and our neighbors see the world, the way they act. Maybe they have a tendency to gossip. Maybe they complain too much about other people. Maybe they don’t seem to take religion seriously.

When we are looking at others from a judgmental place, we are looking at a minor fault from a “huge evil of falsity” in ourselves. There are many kinds of evil intentions and false thoughts that go along with the attitude of judging another person. If we look at another person with contempt, we are in evil from falsity. We are in evil – in contempt, or hatred, or derision, or self-righteousness – from falsity. This is the kind of judging we are forbidden to do. While we can judge a person’s actions to be good or bad, we can’t judge someone else’s motivations – we can’t judge what he is like in his hearts.

We are not supposed to judge – therefore, we shouldn’t acknowledge that anyone else has a splinter in his or her eye. But that’s not what the Lord says. The Lord says, “First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.” We are told that we should try to remove the splinter from our brother’s eye – but first we have to remove the plank from our own. Remove the plank from your own eye. How do you do this? It’s easier said than done, and it can’t be done in an instant. It is a lifelong process. The Lord is talking about the process of self-examination and repentance. If you want to help others remove splinters from their eyes, you have to dig those planks out of your own eye.

Only then can we remove the splinter from our brother’s eye. And we should seek to remove that splinter. Remember, the Lord said, “Judge righteous judgment.” We need to acknowledge that certain things really are harmful – both to society and to the person himself who is doing those harmful things. This is why we lock up criminals: not because we want revenge on them or believe that they are going to hell, but to keep them from harming society, and so they do not hurt their spiritual lives by continuing to act in evil. And if your brother has a splinter in his eye, that splinter is hurting him. If you have shunned the evil of arrogance and contempt, you can see clearly to help him remove that splinter.


Tuesday November 02, 2010
Hurt No One
Read John 12:47-50

If anyone hears what I am saying and doesn't take it seriously, I don't reject him. I didn't come to reject the world; I came to save the world. But you need to know that whoever puts me off, refusing to take in what I'm saying is willfully choosing rejection. The Word, the Word-made-flesh that I have spoken and that I am, that Word and no other is the last word. I'm not making any of this up on my own. The Father who sent me gave me orders, told me what to say and how to say it. And I know exactly what his command produces: real and eternal life. That's all I have to say. What the Father told me, I tell you." John 12:47-50 (The Message)

The purpose of Jesus’ first mission on earth was not to judge people, but to show them the way to salvation and eternal life. Scripture tells us it is not our place to judge others, but to show them the way. Often we are so quick to jump at the opportunity to judge, the opportunity that we should take is the one that shows our brothers and sisters The Light!


Wednesday November 03, 2010
Overwhelm With Love
Read Philippians 2:1-14

If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

What I'm getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you've done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I'm separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.
Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering. (Philippians 2:1-14, The Message)


Thursday November 04, 2010
Focus On The Positive (pt 1)
Philippians 4:1-9

Beliefs are causes. Stop believing what causes worry. Instead, believe that everything contributes to your success and use every experience as a learning experience. Affirm daily that you are a positive and worthwhile person. What you focus on you get. Create your own positive affirmation and use it throughout the day. An example of a positive affirmation is:"I am one with God.

"Take steps to make sure positive changes happen. Select a goal and "act as if it was so". Read your Bible more and strive to develop your relationship with the Holy Spirit. Focus on the positive aspects of your daily life. At the end of each hour or day, review all the things that happened and be thankful for them. Thank God for your blessings. Be happy and supportive for those people you are around. Give honest compliments. Be happy for another's success. Listen to a friend who needs to talk without judging the friend.


Friday November 05, 2010
Focus On The Positive (pt 2)
Read Colossians 3:12-17

Do not use destructive criticism on anybody, including yourself. Focus on solutions, not problems. Remember that everybody wants to be successful. If they knew another way to act, they would do it. Show them, rather than tell them, a better way to do things. Believe that you truly have the power to change for the better; the Holy Spirit lives in you. Change is an ongoing process.

Your day (your life) will be built on your ability to like yourself and to like others. Help yourself by helping others. Remind yourself who you are in Christ. Do something nice for another person without expecting to receive anything in return. Show your love for others just as Jesus did. Follow your heart. Trust the Holy Spirit. He will guide you towards your heart's desire. When in doubt pray for guidance. Be grateful for your success. Keep a journal so in times of doubt you can look back and see the successes and how God has moved in your life on you


The Weekender November 06, 2010
Living Harmoniously
Read Galatians 2:16, 19-21

Paul was a Jewish theologian. Naturally, he thought about Jesus and his life from that background. And, as you might expect, his ways of looking at things is not always obvious to us. The term justify that he uses in writing to the Galatians may leave us scratching our heads.
A good way to understand the word justify is to see it as harmonize. Our faith in Jesus brings us into harmony with God. Accepting Jesus’ vision of life, what it can be and how we should live it, aligns our will with God’s will. As a result of this harmony we work for the same goal that God works for. The insight of justifying or harmonizing is that having faith is not primarily a state of being. It’s a way of acting. When you first become a Christian is like being chosen for a team or landing a new job that we really want. It’s a neat thing and we can revel in it for a bit. Then we have to focus on the task. We weren’t chosen to boost our egos or to move us into a higher tax bracket. We were chosen because there’s work to be done and we can help accomplish it. What’s the work, we might ask. What God is doing, is the answer. Jesus taught that God is saving the world. And that’s what we’re given faith for: to save the world: to help pull it out of its very real pain and loneliness.

If that sounds both overwhelming and presumptuous, it will help to remember that each of us is just one cog in a very large, divine wheel. But that’s why we’ve been given faith and that’s the task to which we’ve been asked to contribute. What a great idea: let’s live harmoniously!