Day 1: Jesus coming is predicted: Isaiah 7:14; 9:1-9; Luke 1:26-38

I am hurried man who lives in a fast paced world.  I hate it.  I am so shallow, there is no depth to me.  I do 1,001 things rather cruddy instead of 5 things really well.  What is it that I want to do that will allow me to be a deeper man, a man of God?

1.Lead a slower, less cluttered life-style.  There are many things pulling at me every day.  What is it that matters the most.  First it is God and then people.  I want to sit in silence before God and listen for His small still voice.  I live in town and find it hard to hear Him through all of the distractions.  Next, I want to love people.  I had an old lady smile at me at the gym today.  I smiled back but didn’t say a word to her.  I knew she desired small chatter and it was because of the heavy weight she was lifting.  It was impressive.  Instead of speaking to her I just gave a polite smile and moved on.  Father help me to seek you and to be salt and light to people.  Help me to love you and my neighbor as myself.

2.Be a man of the Word.  I want to speak from the overflow.  In other words I want God to permeate every part of my being.  I want to read, study and memorize God’s Word.

3.I want to raise awareness that God and His Son are available to the lost.

4.I want to be a godly husband and father.

5.I WANT TO SLOW DOWN AND KNOW THAT YOU ARE THERE!

I have loud annoying kids outside my window, so it is really difficult to pray.  Thank you father because you don’t rebuke me in your wrath but rather in your mercy.  Help me to be merciful to others when they have wronged me… or even when there are loud kids outside my window.  Forgive me Lord because I don’t hardly ever feel worn out from my groaning.  I am not even sure that I groan.  Lord please show mercy to me and help, give me strength when I am tempted to not follow you.

Father help myself as well as others to take you more seriously.  Help us simplify our life and get rid of distractions.  Help us to walk the narrow straight path.  Not because we are afraid of your wrath but that we are adore your mercy and because we love you.

God, thank you for your awesome mercy!

Psalm 7

Father open my eyes to those who want to harm me.  Help me to see them clearly.  I don’t take refuge in you because I don’t see my enemies like I should.  Help my wife and I to begin to have a more scriptural world view.  Help us not to accept the world’s norms.  Rescue us from the world’s norms.

I know as I am that you couldn’t vindicate me Father because of my righteousness.  Father I want to be holy sometimes, help me to want to be all the time.  Probe our minds and hearts Father.  Help us to see the world as you see it and respond accordingly.

Father help me to know your righteousness, help me to long after it like nothing else!

Psalm 8

Help me to slow down and see every natural thing around me.  Every natural thing you have made.  Heck, everything you have made but man has figured out a way to distort your beauty.  Father thank you for your creation, especially your last one.  She completes me.  Help me to become the man she desires me to be.

Psalm 9

I am amazed at how often David wanted you to light a fire under his enemies just so they would recognize you.  I don’t pray like that.  I always want you to show them your love.  Of course David was a man after your own heart and I am more or less just a man.  Father help me to get the log out of my own eye.  Help me to pray for my enemies.  Help me to know what to pray.  Thank you that you don’t ignore those who are truly seeking you.  Father give your people a sense of urgency to go to those who don’t know you.

Thank you for your justice.

Psalm 10

Father help me not to be like the prideful that are described in Psalm 10!  I know too many people like this and I really don’t want to be like them.  Show me mercy God and help me to also show mercy to others.

Onto the rest of my prayers that don’t get put in the journal.

For those who are sermon buffs I know I did a big no no.  I prepared the sermon introduction before I actually wrote a sermon.  I wouldn’t normally do this but I already know what point I am trying to drive home to my audience.  I should say that I do know that I shouldn’t read anything into a text but only preach what the text clearly says.  I have done some studying of the text and think I know what it says.  I just wish I had the sermon done so I could tear it apart.  This time I will refine my sermon but I won’t chunk it in the garbage.

Onto Praying the Psalms

I don’t want to hate the construction of sermons but I do.  I am not a very good sermon maker because I think too much, I believe.  I overly criticize my work.  I also have a difficult time with just outlining a sermon.  I have been looking at sermons online, reading books on how to prepare Bible messages and looking at other books on sermon prep.

Ironic Sermon Prep

Right now I am trying to do a sermon based on John 15:1-8.  God is the gardener, Jesus is the vine and I am a branch.  I’ll bear much fruit as long as I remain in Him.  I wonder if I can’t prepare a sermon because I don’t take as much time as I should to remain in Jesus?

I am working my way through the book James.  For today’s observation of James chapter one I was able to get through the first 4 verses in an hour.  Am I being too tedious with the where, what, why, who, when and how?  Well I can’t say I haven’t learned anything.

James is the half-brother of Jesus, yet he calls him Lord.  He also calls himself a bond-servant to God and Jesus.  This is somebody who willfully serves another.  The focus is more on the relationship than the service.  James is writing to Jews who are scattered among Greeks.

Words I looked up today in my concordance: perfect, complete and faith.

Perfect: brought to its end, finished; wanting nothing necessary to completeness.

Complete: Every grace present in Christ should be manifested in the believer.

Faith: Reliance on Jesus for salvation.  Trust.  God can be relied upon.

My Thoughts

The word faith really stuck out for me in my study today.  After looking the word up it wasn’t what I thought.  I thought faith meant that we believe Jesus is who he says he is.  It is more than that.  We know who Jesus is.  Our faith is reliance on Him for our salvation.

Okay, so I prayed through the psalms for today.  Next I am supposed to do an inductive Bible study.  I haven’t started yet, why?  I have some excuses.  One I keep looking at the clock and it is getting closer to when my spouse gets home from work.  But she is not here for long because then she goes off to another job.  I can do this right?  I can get started on my Bible study.

Then there are doubts.  How long will it take to figure out observe, interpret and application.  It seems so simple but then again so hard to master.  Shoot, master i just want to attempt to gain a bit of mastery.

Then there are all these distractions that surround.  One is the fact that I have 100 thousand blogs that I maintain.  Okay not that many but it is quite a few.  Then there is facebook.  Tell the world how I am doing then make comments on other people’s facebook status.  Then there is twitter.  Same thing as facebook sort of.  Then there is the XBOX.  I say I will play for just a bit but just a bit turns into 3 hours.

I must man-up and get to God’s word!

The first thing I noticed was nothing but then I saw three words that really stuck out.  The three words are walk, stand and sit.  We are blessed by God when we don’t walk, stand or sit the way the wicked do.  These three words have everything to do with their actions.  Are my actions like their’s?  What does a wicked person do that makes them wicked?

It’s clear what the righteous do.  They delight in the law of the Lord.  They love His word.  They think about and ponder God’s holy word.  They not only think for thinking’s sake but they think to do.  What do the wicked do that makes them wicked?  They do what is contrary to God’s law.

Psalm 2

This psalm doesn’t make a whole lot of since.  I have read through it several times and still there are questions I have.  I know that people plot in vain because God has 100% control.  We should respect and love Him.  My questions: who are God’s anointed in this context?  And why are they wearing chains?  Who is it that wants to break their chains and why would they want to do this?  More research is needed.

Psalm 3

David is running for his life.  Instead of whining out to God he cries out for God to deliver him from his enemies.  I don’t have King David’s problems.  The only enemies I can think of that surround me are Satan and his angels.  I do ask that God protect me from him and surround and fill me with His Spirit.

Psalm 4

Lately I haven’t been peaceful at the end of the day.  This is because I don’t do what I should do during the day.  I don’t want to be the same person I am now in 20 years.  I want to be more holy and have more godly wisdom.  There are certain things I need to pursue during the day and certain tasks that must be completed before I will experience peace.

Psalm 5

How much do I listen to what the world has to say.  How about America?  I think I am conservative but can I really say that when I don’t know 100% what conservatism stands for?  Is conservatism biblical in its thinking?  People have agendas they are trying to push on me.  These come impersonally and personally.  I must put their agendas next to scripture and see if they match.  I want to be a man of scripture not a man of the world!

Paul seemed a tad bit upset at the church in Corinth because they should have been eating meat but were still sucking on bottles of milk.  I think it is time to set the bottle down or better yet through it in the trash, fire up the grill and start cooking steaks.