Lent 2018 - Red Letters - Day 14 - John 14:17

the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you. -- John 14:17

The world cannot accept him, because it does not see or know him. This means to recognize him, I need to wait until I see him. Like a sculptor looking at a piece of stone and visualizing the statue inside that no one sees, have I stopped to consider my situation until I see the Spirit of truth. The reality of God at the center of everything at all times. Then I no longer see a blank page, but something like a backwards coloring book with the colors already there just waiting for me to outline the shapes of.  

Prayer: Holy Spirit, help me to see you today. I want to know you. Reside with me. Be in me. Forgive me for when I have not acknowledged you. Help me see the Spirit of truth that hovers above the surface of the waters of my life, so I can rest in and speak to my storms with authority. 

Red Letters is a devotion for Lent 2018 by Chris Michael Moore of His Call Church - ヒズコールチャーチ

Lent 2018 - Red Letters - Day 13 - John 14:16

Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever -- John 14:16

The Παράκλητον (Paraclete), my advocate. What a job description: my intercessor, my comforter, my helper, my defense lawyer. But it's not just what he does on my behalf, it's the confidence of having that presence in my life. Walking together with me. Speaking to me and advising me. Working behind the scenes to help me get just what I need, even when that's a warning, a rebuke or a struggle. But never so hard as to break me, just the thing that will help me grow more into the image of Christ, one day at a time. 

Prayer: Holy Spirit, thank you for your presence in my life today. Forgive me for when I let other voices drown yours out. Guide me. I'm waiting. I'm listening. Come and counsel me in my every moment today. 

Red Letters is a devotion for Lent 2018 by Chris Michael Moore of His Call Church - ヒズコールチャーチ

Lent 2018 - Red Letters - Day 12 - John 14:15

If you love me, you will obey my commandments. -- John 14:15

The question to love him is a trick question. The greater one is, "which commands?" Fortunately he told me, and it is all good news. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. Go and make disciples [as a team]. (The verb conjugation is plural.) Even in making disciples, the motivation, method and goal, is all love. It is one thing to know this intellectually, but do my words and actions reflect the love I have been shown?

Prayer: Jesus, forgive me where I have been judgmental, bitter, too tired and too wrapped up in myself to reveal your love to the people around me. Help me strive to see with a bigger heart so I don't judge. Help me to forgive as I have been forgiven. Help me take the effort to make people feel special even when I am tired. Help me turn my eyes outwards to the hurts and needs of others. Perform a miracle of love in me, so that I can do the same to others.

Red Letters is a devotion for Lent 2018 by Chris Michael Moore of His Call Church - ヒズコールチャーチ

Lent 2018 - Red Letters - Day 11 - John 14:13-14

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. -- John 14:13-14

Jesus. イエス. ישוע. 예수. Ιησούς. 耶稣. Jesus... Is he glorified in me? Has my life reflected him in all things? My life must be realigned more into that beautiful name. Do I long know his heart, his character, so that when I call on him it will not be in vain?

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. As I call on you, help me to recognize that means more of you and less of me. As you make me more in your image, forgive me where I have fought against the process. That means, your will must be done, not mine. That Christ in me is the only hope of glory. That you alone are strength and shield. That you are Lord and I am not, and there is no changing that. 

Red Letters is a devotion for Lent 2018 by Chris Michael Moore of His Call Church - ヒズコールチャーチ

Lent 2018 - Red Letters - Day 10 - John 14:12

I tell you the solemn truth, the person who believes in me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing, and will perform greater deeds than these, because I am going to the Father. -- John 14:12

Have I engaged in the miraculous recently? To do the deeds Jesus did, the miracle of love? If my actions are simply keeping up to the day to day, I have failed in my higher calling. His greater deeds are not merely works of faith, but also of hope. Of righteousness, peace and joy. May this season of Lent cause me to readjust my priorities along these lines.

Prayer: Jesus, forgive me where I have forgotten your call to higher things. I desire to do greater deeds. Thank you for your promise to do the work if I would simply trust in you. Use my every word, my every moment to do the work of love, hope, faith, righteousness, peace and joy bringing the miracles of these into people around me. Give me serendipitous kairos encounters to be your hands and feet.

Red Letters is a devotion for Lent 2018 by Chris Michael Moore of His Call Church - ヒズコールチャーチ

Lent 2018 - Red Letters - Day 9 - John 14:11

Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, but if you do not believe me, believe because of the miraculous deeds themselves -- John 14:11

Jesus understands my struggle to stay in constant wonder of him, so he offers an out. How deep is the water that I am walking on today? So much of my life built and orchestrated not by natural coincidence or chance, but a masterpiece in progress worthy of the master. He's made ways where there were none, and opened doors no man could shut. And yet, do I start to take enough confidence in the footing to break my gaze with him. The moment I do, what seemed so sure a moment ago gives way to the sinking feeling of wind and waves.

Prayer: Jesus, help me to keep my eyes on you. Thank you for the miracles I experience in and around me every day. Forgive me where I have allowed the wondrous has become plain, the demonstrations of your almighty power to seem mundane. Call me out of this boat to walk with you today.

Red Letters is a devotion for Lent 2018 by Chris Michael Moore of His Call Church - ヒズコールチャーチ

Lent 2018 - Red Letters - Day 8 - John 14:10

Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father residing in me performs his miraculous deeds. -- John 14:10

All around me is proof of God's miraculous deeds, yet it is so easy to forget his power. The invisible nature of God requires eyes of faith lest we begin to see all things through natural eyes. The promises that Jesus gave -- of peace, of hope, of love, of healing, of prosperity, of intimacy -- all of it, was not spoken of his own initiative. The Father residing in him did more than just speak, but also performed the miraculous. So as I hope, do I remember these very precious promises, these words of his, will not return to him in vain?

Prayer: Jesus, forgive me for my unbelief. If not in word, but in deed when I try to act to fulfill what you've said you will do in my own strength. Give me patience to know your good, perfect and pleasing will that works all things to my benefit in the perfect season, neither late nor early. I thank you for the model you left of the Father's initiative. Teach me to be more sensitive to these heavenly prerogatives today. 

Red Letters is a devotion for Lent 2018 by Chris Michael Moore of His Call Church - ヒズコールチャーチ

Lent 2018 - Red Letters - Day 7 - John 14:8-9

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be content.” 
Jesus replied, “Have I been with you for so long, and you have not known me, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father! How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
-- John 14:8-9

"Have I been with you so long, and you have not known me..." The question pierces through all excuses and intentions. With me from the beginning, has familiarity with the formality of the relationship replaced the experience? In other words, has "Christianity" replaced "Christ-life"? The words, "so long," raises the question "how long"...? How long since I was overwhelmed with awe and wonder? How long have my passions focused on temporal things when the eternal things are at my fingertips? How long has my true desire for Jesus, been put at second or third rung down? 

Prayer: Jesus, help me find true contentedness in seeing you. Forgive me where I have devalued the sacred through familiarity. Thank you that your passion towards me has never ebbed, even when I made myself busy with other things. Help me to fill my life with wonder and fire again.

Red Letters is a devotion for Lent 2018 by Chris Michael Moore of His Call Church - ヒズコールチャーチ

Lent 2018 - Red Letters - Day 6 - John 14:7

If you have known me, you will know my Father too. And from now on you do know him and have seen him.” -- John 14:7

Jesus tells me that not only, in knowing him, do I know the Father, but that I have seen him also. In examining myself, where have I acknowledged or seen the Father in my life recently? Do I know him in only a past sense, or is the experience fresh? The "from now on" implies this experience is to be ongoing, but too often I am living on the afterglow of encounters that have passed. To know the Father, and see him, is to first know the Son. Knowing starts with the acknowledgement, in faith, of the things in my circumstances that are as a result of him. 

Prayer: Jesus, help me see the Father at work today in me. I thank you for the many ways you are at work in my life today. Specifically ... As I acknowledge your hand help me to know your heart so that mine can be formed after yours. Let my experience of you, Lord, be ever new as I become sensitive to the slightest staleness.

Red Letters is a devotion for Lent 2018 by Chris Michael Moore of His Call Church - ヒズコールチャーチ

Lent 2018 - Red Letters - Day 5 - John 14:6

Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. -- John 14:6

Have I made the ways of Jesus my ways? Is his truth the lens through which I am viewing my problems? When I am drained by the daily grind, is his life the wellspring I turn to for refreshing? Have I been trying to reach the Father's favor, blessings and victory through clever thinking and hard work, instead of through relationship with the Son? Only when I connect to the Son and build closeness to his ways, see the truth of things with his eyes, and stop trying to find refreshment in anything but his life, that I can draw near to the Father. 

Prayer: Jesus, forgive me for trying to live my own life, for trying to be my own way, for relying only on the things I see. Help me to tap into your source of life today. Teach me your ways, so that truly all glory in my life is given to you automatically. Help me to remember to sit in your presence a while, even while I engage in the work that needs doing. Thank you for making yourself available to me today.

Red Letters is a devotion for Lent 2018 by Chris Michael Moore of His Call Church - ヒズコールチャーチ

Lent 2018 - Red Letters - Day 4 - John 14:4

"You know the way to the place where I am going."
“Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” 
-- John 14:4-5

What areas of my life are like Thomas? Jesus has prepared and made both the destination and way to get there. In the face of the declaration, am I still so worried about where I'm going that the step by step directions have not yet received the slightest thought? If that is where I am, it is past time to make time to stop and hear from Jesus the important details. Who am I? What am I called to? Where is God bringing me towards in this new season? What are the goals that I should set out to attain? What are the changes I can make to my WAY of life that will help me get there? It is not surprising that the answers to these questions are hard and narrow and straight, but full of life and hopeful.

Prayer: Jesus, help me to wait on you and listen regarding the goals I should set and the changes I will need to make to get there. The things you ask are easier said than done, but you will help me in the doing and the way. Help me be a person of integrity and commitment to the things I have declared to myself.

Red Letters is a devotion for Lent 2018 by Chris Michael Moore of His Call Church - ヒズコールチャーチ

Lent 2018 - Red Letters - Day 3 - John 14:3

And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too. -- John 14:3

While he goes to make a place for me, he also promises to come take me with him. Jesus himself desires to be near me. When I was far away, he drew close to me. The distance is something he cannot stand. Do I make it through a day where I feel sufficient away from him? The issue is not his availability, since "where I am you may be too." The issue is completely on my end then.

Prayer: Jesus, draw me to you. Take me with you on even greater adventures than I can imagine. You died to be near me, so help me to remember my heart's true desire is to be with you. Even as you make yourself available to me, help me to avail myself of you. 

Red Letters is a devotion for Lent 2018 by Chris Michael Moore of His Call Church - ヒズコールチャーチ

Lent 2018 - Red Letters - Day 2 - John 14:2

There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you. -- John 14:2 

Do I feel insignificant? Like there's no place for me to make a real impact? The father has made a place and Jesus went to make it ready. This is not just speaking to the afterlife, but to our spiritual beings eternally, meaning it affects us in the present as well. Since, "Better is one day in his courts than a thousand elsewhere," what joy it is to know that I can dwell with God, not as a vagabond, but as one that belongs. A private chamber also means that my experience is mine alone, not shared. 

Prayer: Let me dwell in a secret place with you, Jesus. The outside world is full of busyness and doings. Make me a person of influence as you give me a place of standing before the Father. Help me rest in the confidence of belonging to you, and take refuge in my personal experience of relationship with God.

Red Letters is a devotion for Lent 2018 by Chris Michael Moore of His Call Church - ヒズコールチャーチ

Lent 2018 - Red Letters - Day 1 - John 14:1

Do not let your hearts be distressed. You believe in God; believe also in me. -- John 14:1

What are the things distressing me today? It is easy to feel distress when it seems I am carrying it alone. Today, as I start the first day of Lent, I give this season to Jesus, surrendering certain worldly pleasures as an act of humility and adjusting of my priorities. Drawing near to Him means he in turn will draw close to me and I will never need to carry my burdens alone. This is the difference between believing in God in the abstract and walking with Jesus who put aside his godhead in order to come close to me. 

Prayer: Thank you Jesus for reminding me today of my priorities. Forgive me for my doubt and in the same way help me to forgive others. Rather than focusing on people’s opinion, I choose to focus on your opinion of me today. Free me from everything that doesn’t please you and help me to walk with the cross in my heart.

Red Letters is a devotion for Lent 2018 by Chris Michael Moore of His Call Church - ヒズコールチャーチ