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

The Body of Christ キリストの体

The church is ...

(Family)

The church is the body of Christ　教会はキリストの体です

Romans 12:1-21

Do not judge... story (picture)
 

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. -- Matthew 7:1

1. United but diverse　一体性と多様性

corporation == becoming a body

Ephesians 4:1-6, 7
one body, one spirit, one hope of calling, one lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father

but different in function
The church is a place to discover who you are... god has a plan for you, he's given you unique gifts and character,

1 Cor 12:14-27

Disunity: Copying, comparing, judgement (without the full story), unforgiveness, jealousy

Ephesians 4:14-16

Psalm 133:1-3

James 3:13-18

2. Full of life but broken for the world 命に満ち溢れて、世のために砕かれる

Same DNA... the gospel, the 3 commands, three blessings...

John 10:10

1 Corinthians 11:24
A body broken for the world...(broken hearts)

Isaiah 53:4-5
It will be for healing

God will truly get all the glory. Wonders. Wonders. Wonders.

Rough outline and message notes by 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

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit 心の貧しいものは幸いです

Maturity is Freedom - 成熟した自由

Donkey (Bearer of Christ) - ロバ (キリストを運ぶもの)

You will Never Be Alone あなたは決して、ひとりぼっちではない！

今日この御言葉が実現しました Today This Saying is Fulfilled

The Deer - 鹿

Rain of Grace 恵の雨

神の手 Hand of God

Loving God 神を愛する

Jesus is the Word イエスが言葉です

The hope of his calling 召しによって与えられた希望

What do you want Me to do for you?“ わたしに何をしてほしいのか