In Spirit and Truth

"This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Matthew 6:9-15 Jesus, it seems, was pretty serious about our forgiving those who wrong us. He put some pretty strong conditions on forgiving, tying our own forgiveness to how we forgive. We have established that God is not a tyrant, and as such will never ask us to do something that is not in our capacity to do. Unlike Pharaoh in the Old Testament, requiring more bricks, but providing less material, God will always provide for the task he calls us to. Through the grace of our Lord, Jesus Ch

"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." - Mark 11:25 Last week we spoke about the "one" choice. If you missed it, go dig through the archives to the left of the screen. After we've made the choice to obey, every other choice is either made for us, or put into proper perspective. Since we’ve made the choice to obey, let us look at the second most difficult choice we will ever make—the choice to forgive. Before we go any further, though, I would like to revisit the idea of forgiveness. Our culture has relegated forgiveness to an emotional response. We are told that it is only when we have "cooled down" enough, or when the pain has subsided that we can forgive. This picture of forgiveness is nothing but a lie. If we could not forgive until such time as we "felt ready" then God would be a tyrant for commanding us to do something we were incapable of

"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life." Deuteronomy 30:19-20a We are faced with a daily onslaught of choices—from the trivial choices of restaurant or brand of food at the supermarket, to choices of actions that hold our marriages, jobs, families, and lives in balance. There are life-choices, somewhere in between, that consume so much energy just in the choosing, that we may or may not have the energy to implement the action once we choose it (if we ever actually decide.) In our passage of scripture this past Sunday, we heard that we shouldn’t be anxious about anything, but in all things with prayers, supplications, and with thanksgiving we should make our requests known to God (Philippians 4). How do we reconcile the anxiety

"Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God." -Exodus 23:19a From time management gurus, to accountants, to my own mother—the phrase "First things First" is a favorite. It seems simplistic and trite at first glance. Obviously, you have to put on your socks before your shoes. First things have to go first. But as simple as the phrase seems, it is often exceedingly difficult to implement in our lives. I don’t know about you, but I have a list of books a mile long that are waiting to be read. I have a list of home improvements that I’d like to make. I have a list of lists that I need to complete. And with all these lists, it seems they never get any shorter. It seems that the longer I look at the long list, the longer I can put things off. In order to make any progress, I have to forget the lists, and focus on one line. I, personally, can only do one thing at a time. I have to take one thing at a time, and put first things first. I