Missing the Mark

All have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.

Romans 3:23-24

          When a person competes in the pole vault, he is focused on doing one thing - jumping higher than the mark where the pole's been set. Once he has jumped, there can be only two outcomes. He either cleared the mark or fell short. If he failed in his attempt to clear the pole, whether he missed by an inch or a foot doesn't matter. He still failed.

          The same is true with sin. The Hebrew word for sin literally means "to miss the mark." Everyone sins by choosing to go by his own way instead of God's way. Some people miss God's mark by an inch; others miss by a mile. How close you come doesn't matter. Close isn't close enough. The moral pole God has set for you to clear is a high one; it is so high that it's impossible to continually clear it on your own. A perfect, holy God can't embrace anything less than perfect. The good news is that this perfect and faultless God is also perfect and loving. That's why he provided a way for you to clear the bar more consistently, as well as a means for you to avoid a penalty when you miss the mark. 

          It is important to recognize that everyone sins. Shift your focus to the future, not to the past. Because of Jesus, guilt and the fear of punishment no longer weigh you down. You are free to jump higher than ever before. 

         When you miss the mark, ask for God's forgiveness, learn from your mistake, and keep moving forward. 

          Pray to God to lead you in every footstep you may take, make him your life coach always providing you a gentle and loving counsel. ~ MME Team

Joint Venture

What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own.

1 Corinthians 12:20

         Your body is the perfect picture of how God designed community to work. Every part is interdependent and is vital to the health and strength of the other parts. If your lungs took the day off, your brain would cease to function. If your muscles went on strike, your feet wouldn't be able to get you out of bed and off to work. 

         Paul's picture of the cooperative human body illustrates how every individual is vital to the health of God's church as a whole. It also demonstrates how every part is significant. One part isn't more important than another. You should not regard the person who preaches on Sunday morning as more important than the one who cleans the building before the service. Each individual is necessary. Every gift God gives has a purpose a place to help fulfill his perfect plan. 

         People often encounter two pitfalls when they evaluate their significance by comparing their gifts with others': (1) they believe their gifts are too small or too big, or (2) they feel that what they do really doesn't matter or that everything would fall apart without them. Paul's words in 1 Corinthians guide you toward the true measure of significance. Through you are of eternal significance to God, your significance on this earth comes solely from what you are a part of - God's body here on earth.

         Understanding your significance, and the significance of others, will help you keep a humble, realistic view of yourself. It will also enable you to work more harmoniously in community with others.

         Pray for grace and mercy in all that God provides you to do as a community - as the body of Christ. For all that is done is for his glory and honor. ~ MME Team

Heart Transplant

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26

          A beating heart is a sign of life. Physically, your heart beats regularly. But spiritually, until you get to know God firsthand, your heart is flat-lining. God promised the prophet Ezekiel (along with everyone who chooses to follow God) the ultimate heart transplant - replacing stone with  flesh. This "flesh" is humanity as God originally created it, which is  more than simply being human. It is the promise of being fully alive - physically, emotionally, and spiritually - in both this life and the next.

          The people of Israel believed a person's "heart" reveals who a person really is. The heart cannot put on airs or be something it is not. It is the emotional and spiritual center of every individual. When God's Spirit becomes the center of people's lives, the Bible says that they are "born again." Along with a new heart comes a new start.

         However, this heart transplant is possible only through the power of God's Spirit. Trying to become more loving, generous, and kind through self-effort can never bring a heart of stone to life. Only God's gift of his presence can  jump-start a heart into permanent change. God's Spirit at work in you enables you to hear God's voice as he guides your decisions, to see his hand as he moves through circumstances, and to fulfill his plans for you to become the person he created you to be.

          Through God's words to Ezekiel, you are given a beautiful metaphor to help your understand what happens when God's Spirit comes into your life: you are fully alive for the very first time.

          Pray for faithfulness as God's Spirit works a transformation in your heart. Keep yourself in the word and confess all shortcomings so God may be alive in your heart. ~ MME Team

The Peril of Pride

Through the LORD is supreme, he takes care of those who are humble, 

but he stays away from the proud. 

Psalm 138:6

          In the ancient Middle East, there were many myths about powerful monsters and primeval sea creatures. One Canaanite legend told of a sea monster named Rahab who fought against God's creation of the universe. The word rehab is Hebrew for both "acting stormily" and "arrogance." In the same way that the sea creature refused to believe God's power could be greater than its own, arrogant people believe they can succeed in life solely by their own strength.

          The bases for human pride are as much a myth as that sea creature. Physical abilities, IQ, talents, and accomplishments are all God's gifts. You can add effort to what God has given you, but the basic building blocks are all courtesy of him.

         Basing your life on a myth is bad enough. However, the most destructive thing about pride is that it acts like a God-repellent and pushes God away form the center of your life. As God keeps his distance from the proud, his gifts of guidance, wisdom, and comfort move out of reach. While God notices pride right away, you may be unaware of its presence. Ask a close friend if he or she sees evidence of pride in your life. Ask God to help you become more aware of your true motives, and then battle pride with the truth of who God is. The more you come to know and understand him, the more accurate a picture you'll have of yourself - and the more humility will replace pride in your life.

         Whenever you feel pride raise its arrogant head in your life, picture the sea monster, Rahab, battling - and losing to - God's supremacy.

         Pray for humility, that your relationship with God may be without barriers created by pride. Thank God for the gifts and talents he has granted you and ask for wisdom upon how to add efforts to those gifts to glorify him. ~ MME Team

Jesus' Legacy of Peace

Jesus said, "I leave you peace; my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does. So don't let your hearts be troubled or afraid."

John 14:27

          In the Jewish culture, the Hebrew word shalom is a customary greeting form both "hello" and "good-bye." Shalom means "peace" and so much more. It implies a wish for health, prosperity, a wholeness, as well as a wish for an absence of both internal and external strife.

          As Jesus prepared to say good-bye to his closest friends on the night of the Last Supper, he bid them shalom. Jesus' words of farewell were far more than a traditional blessing. They were a gift only the Prince of Peace himself could offer. Jesus offered his followers peace of mind and heart, a peace unlike that of the world they knew, which depended on favorable circumstances. Jesus's offer of peace depended solely on his followers' relationship with him. 

          These words of Jesus are like his Last Will and Testament. In the same way that a will records how to divide possessions among the survivors of the one who died, John 14:27 is a record of your inheritance. Jesus bequeathed a priceless treasure to all those who follow him, including you. In fact, his gift has set you up for life - both this one and the next. That's because the wholeness found in Jesus's gift of peace is at the heart of true happiness. As you pursue peace by pursuing Jesus,  you'll find you are holding the true key to living the good life. 

         Jesus's gift of peace offers you an alternative to fear and worry, a foretaste of heaven available here and now. As with any inheritance, you have to accept it and use it to enjoy its true benefits.

         Pray a prayer of gratitude to God for the gifts and mercy he provides us. Ask for acceptance of peace in your life. ~ MME Team

More Than Meets the Eye

We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

                      

          The apostle Paul had a difficult life. He was beaten, imprisoned, stoned, whipped, slandered, and shipwrecked. Through it all, however, he continued to tell others with joy, hope, and conviction about what Jesus had done. God had called Paul for his purpose. Paul knew God was at work behind the scenes, transforming every circumstance into something that would bring glory to God and good into Paul's own life.

          Paul said "we know" with assurance. He did not write "we hope" or "we feel" or even "we pray." God's loving involvement was, and is, an irrefutable fact. When Paul spoke of those people who God calls for his purpose, Paul was talking about every child who responds to the call of his or her heavenly Father. In the same way that an earthly father cannot show a child something wonderful until the child responds to his call to "come here," God promises to work only wonderful things in the lives of those who follow him.

          The good that God worked in Paul's life, and that he vows to work in yours, is not a promise of perfect happiness. It is a promise of eternal purpose. God's plan for you to know him and to spend eternity with him is steadfast. In addition, God will use the pain and the disappointment  in your life. He will use them to do something beautiful, to turn heartache into strength and sorrow into joy.

          When you are facing difficult circumstances, remember that God is at work transforming everything that happens, both good and bad, into something beneficial for you.

          Pray for obedience to God that you live your life according to his heavenly purpose, to make his pathways straight and for you to glorify him in all circumstances. 

          God bless, ~ MME Team

Fully Forgiven

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9       

                                   

                                                

                Being a scapegoat is not a job most people would volunteer for. After all, it implies taking the blame for what others have done. But in the Old Testament, God offered forgiveness to his people in exactly this way. The priest would lay his hands on the head of a goat and symbolically transfer onto the scapegoat the blame for the sins the people had committed. The priest then sent the animal into the wilderness to take the people's offenses far away. Once the scapegoat removed the people's sins, God in his holiness could once again draw near to the people he loved. 

               In the New Testament, a different kind of scapegoat appeared - Jesus Christ. As God's Son, he willingly chose to bear the offenses of the whole world, to take the blame for everything the people had done against God since the dawn of time and until the end of it. Jesus was innocent of the sins and transgressions of the people, and yet as the scapegoat, he took the punishment for them all so that his beloved people could be spared. 

             The great hope and promise of this verse is that it tells you exactly what you need to do to allow Jesus to be your scapegoat, which opens the door to God's forgiveness in your life. To confess simply means "to agree." Take a few moments each day to agree with God about how well your thoughts, words, and actions have lined up with what he desires for your life. Move forward with confidence, fully forgiven and free from guilt.

             Once God forgives you, all traces of your past offenses are gone. His forgiveness wipes away any feelings of guilt or blame. 

            Pray today to God to teach you how to confess your sins and find eternal love and justice in his merciful presence. 

            God Bless, ~ MME Team

Matthew 6:8

Jesus said, "Your Father knows the things you need before you ask him."

The more you recognize your dependence on God, the more thankful you become, and the deeper your love grows. 

Jesus gave his disciples the Lord's Prayer as an example of how to pray. Right before he spoke those famous words, Jesus shared a few reasons why one should pray. To do this, he provided two examples - negative ones. Jesus said the Pharisees prayed in public because they wanted to be seen as holy by other people. He also said idol worshipers prayed, repeating themselves over and over, because they believed that the more frequently they asked for something, the better chance they had of having their request granted. After those negative examples, Jesus spoke the reassurance that God already knows what you need.

At first, his words may seem to provide a reason why not to pray, instead of why to pray. If God knows what you need before you ask, why bother asking in the first place? Jesus's point is, the purpose of prayer isn't to be noticed by other people - or even by God. God already notices you. He knows everything about you and your life. Prayer is not a way to draw God's attention to your needs. It is a way to draw your attention to how much you need God. 

Your greatest continual need is to better know and love God. Communicating with him about details of your life keeps you aware of how involved he already is. It also helps you see how many of your needs he fills every day. The more you recognize your dependence on God, the more thankful you become, and the deeper your love grows.

The Lord's Prayer teaches you to pray for your daily bread. Jesus's words form Matthew don't contradict that lesson. They're a reminder that God needs to be involved in your life, not merely informed about it.

Pray now and thank him; submit to his will in your life and hold the hand of your Father, the Creator, who made you and loves you unconditionally. 

Amen,

~MME Team

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

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