Prayer Practice
Breath Prayer – Take 2-3 minutes today to pray a simple breath prayer. Get somewhere quiet and relaxing. Breathe in deeply, and then breathe out fully. As you breathe in, ask God to fill you with His presence, grace, love, peace, etc. Consider using the list of spiritual fruit in Galatians 5:22-23. As you breathe out, offer to God the things you need Him to take from you – sin, doubt, shame, anxiety, fear, etc. Pray this way for just a few minutes, trusting God to work, and then begin reading today’s Scripture.
DAILY READING
REFLECTION
Listen, Lean In, Ask
by Kelsey Bacon
Imagine being in this crowd, listening to the sparring matching between Jesus and the chief priests and the teachers of the law. These men are admired, revered, seen as the wisest and most powerful among the Jewish people, and here Jesus is making them shake in their boots as they struggle to answer him.
I think there is more going on than just the embarrassment of the pharisees. As Jesus points out their lack of faith in his question about John the Baptist and as he spins the tale of the vineyard owner, I can just picture the faces of the pharisees growing grim, their eyes narrowing, their lips tightening, the cogs beginning to turn in their minds as they place themselves in Jesus' narrative. They are the tenants who have thrown out prophets and priests, ignored messages from God from people like John the Baptist--so caught up in their own self-righteousness that they couldn't see the truth. And now Jesus is calling them out, and telling them their fate: to be crushed by the cornerstone.
Even though Jesus doesn't speak plainly in this passage--by not answering the pharisees' question and by sharing a parable rather than speaking directly--his meaning is made very clear. We see Jesus speak to people so often this way in the Bible, and so often I think to myself, "Come on you guys, how can you not see the truth?! He's CLEARLY the Son of God!!" But if I were there 2000 years ago, I'm sure I would not see so clearly. My opinions of Jesus would be clouded by what others said, what the church leaders thought, and what the crowd around me was doing. It's hard to go against the grain when you're the only one, or one of few.
But that's exactly what Jesus calls us to do, go against the grain. He calls us to listen to him, and not the world around us. He calls us to live by his Word, and not the patterns of our society. He calls us to be careful even of spiritual teachings and leaders in our world who might seem right, but could lead us astray if we're not fixed on him. Jesus calls us to listen for when he is speaking, even if he isn't speaking plainly. It can be so much easier to listen to the world because it's right there in front of us, speaking aloud in sound waves that our ears can register. But that is why God gave us his Holy Spirit, so we can learn to be attune to his voice. Listen, lean in, ask for his voice to come through the noise of the world and speak however he desires. It's not always as loud as the other voices in our lives, but it is much stronger, much more loving, and much more reliable.
Reflect further: Pray to the Holy Spirit today and ask him to help you better learn his voice. Listen for the voice of the Spirit throughout this week--whether it be a nudge, a conversation, a scripture passage, or whatever way Jesus might choose to speak to you.
4 comments:
Kelsey, thank you for your reflections on scripture. You have a real knack for opening my eyes to see things in a different way and today was one of those times. I listen for the audible voice and look for big signs that God is speaking to me. They don't come and it occurred to me while reading your blog that I am probably missing His voice in the little moments of life. Thank you for your insight.
As with the Pharisees we hear but don’t want to change and we can become hardened. Christ speaks softly to us and only ask what we can handle with the grace he has given us. When I hear and fear I immediately ask for His help. I don’t want to lose anything he is teaching me . God help me in those days I am lax and self centered . I really enjoyed today’s devotional , Gods peace and blessings
Thanks, Kelsey, for the great reminder to be aware of the Holy Spirit, to listen to the Holy Spirit, and to walk daily with the Holy Spirit. Jody Slemmer
Good morning, Kelsey. First of all, your blog today is really well written and thoughtful. You have presented a masterful summary of this passage and made clear to me the main propositions of Jesus' purposes in responding like He did to the Pharisees, Teachers of the Law and Elders. What a crowd of vipers! He knew their hearts and their hypocrisy and masterfully set their teeth into" grinding position" and overwhelmed them with His brilliant methodology of turning their question into a direct condemnation of their "religiosity". Wouldn't we all like to believe we would have listened to Jesus and responded in awe and wonder at His core message? I am not so sure I would have, but know if the Holy Spirit gave me recognition of who it was that was speaking and my need of His grace and mercy, maybe, just maybe, I could have the scales removed from my eyes to see clearly His message of truth and love.
You and all of the team or writers have been such a blessing to me during this lenten journey. I thank God for your efforts to bring insight to the Word and its application to our daily lives.
Thank you and God bless you.
Robin Lorms
Post a Comment