Author: Lynden McGriff

Today’s Reading: Psalms 27

As we get older, time seems to go faster and faster. 

We just celebrated Halloween a couple days ago and it feels like two weeks ago was the beginning of the year. 

This realization has shown me that we are moving quickly in time. It also shows the realization that we have this beautiful gift of life as a limited engagement. We know that at one point in time, we will leave this body, but the time and place is uncertain. What do we do in the final time that we are given?

Over the past couple weeks, I had a great opportunity to connect with some younger individuals. Last week, I had the privilege to host a pharmacy student for a week.  During this week, we connected and formed a great  professional relationship. At the end of the week, the student stated that this was one of the most influential times that she has had during her time in graduate school. She learned more in a week with me than in the last several months in school. When she left, she was saddened but at the same time excited about this new relationship that we have created to help her in our future studies.

This past week, I also had the honor to speak to some scholars at a monthly meeting. The presentation  was about an hour.  During this time I gave them a glimpse of my past and what God has done for me over the years from childhood up until now. I thought that the information would be not received, and that my experiences would not help or shape these individuals. But I received feedback that those brief minutes that we had together actually were very impactful.

These are some examples of how a finite set of time may seem somewhat insignificant to us at the moment , but these moments you share and engage with others can have a lasting impact on them. 

In todays reading of Psalms 27,  David states “I’m asking GOD for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate his beauty; I’ll study at his feet. That’s the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world, The perfect getaway, far from the buzz of traffic.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭27‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭MSG‬‬

David is saying that we are going to  be here for a finite  period of time. David also understands that the one thing that will be impactful for him is to be in God‘s presence. No matter how much we are busy with everything else if we take time to be in God‘s presence for any amount of time, this limited engagement will be so much more impactful to us.

We are given limited engagements every day. These limited engagements can change us and change others without us really understanding the true impact. When we are given these opportunities, we need to allow God to work in us to show his goodness. We do not know if that  connection with us will be their last connection ever. We do not know if that connection with that person may create a spark that will grow for generations. We know that we have a finite time.

“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭27‬:‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

David even shows that he knows his time will be limited. We cannot live on this earth forever. During the time that we have let us be an inspiration during this limited engagement.

Today’s Reading: Colossians 3

Groceries 

• Milk 
• Bread
• Eggs 
• Apple sauce 
• Bacon

To Do List 

• Clean the house
• Wash the car
• Now the lawn
• Pick up the dry cleaning 

Bills

• Water 
• Gas 
• Electric 
• Car Payment 

Paul’s lists

• Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: 
  • sexual immorality, 
  • impurity, 
  • passion, 
  • evil desire, and 
  • covetousness, which is idolatry. 
• But now you must put them all away: 
  • anger, 
  • wrath, 
  • malice, 
  • slander,
  • obscene talk from your mouth. 
• Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, 
  • holy and beloved, 
  • compassionate hearts, 
  • kindness, 
  • humility, 
  • meekness
  • patience, 
  • bearing with one another ,
  • forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you

Lists are some of the groupings that we jot down on a daily basis. Many times we use lists to organize our thoughts so that we can become more efficient and effective.  Sometimes we have lists to give us direction or to make priorities for the many ideas that we have in our head.

Over the last several years, I have become a list maker. I jot things down to free up my mind so that I can focus on other things, but not forgetting small ideas. I got this habit from one of my mentors. He always kept a piece of paper and a pen handy, and when he had a new thought, he would jot it down. 

One of the downfalls about lists is you can keep writing perpetually without ever crossing anything off. Other times, the list can just become stagnant and you keep repeating the same things over and over.

In this chapter of Colossians, Paul has several lists that he is showing the church of Colossae  what to be watchful for and to protect themselves. The people of Colossae  were dealing with many things of their old life and it was in conflict with the new Way of living for others and not for self.  In these verses, Paul is telling us what to look out for. Paul also is showing us how to be better people.

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. …

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. …

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬, ‭8‬, ‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Many times we can get lost in our lists, trying to check off the right things and avoid the wrong things that, we forget that God is at the center of it all. Paul also shows us in this chapter that no matter what we do if we do not do it with love and for God it’s not going to work.

“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. …

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭14‬-‭15‬, ‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬  (Paraphrased : Do your work as if it was for God and not man) 

The main thing is to remember loving each other the way God loves us. When we start to take ourselves out of the equation and put God in the equation. That’s when we can truly understand how to live the way Paul tells us with kindness and meekness and bearing each other up. Not focusing on ourselves with our lust, sexual immorality, impurity, anger, and wrath. This selflessness is not an easy thing to do, but with God all things are possible. 

When we acknowledge God and know that love is connecting us together with others then we can have peace, shalom (the filling of the void that we all have).

 

Today’s Reading: Psalms 86 

“For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. 

Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. 

For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. 

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. 

Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.”

‭‭

Psalm‬ ‭86‬:‭5‬, ‭11‬, ‭13‬, ‭15‬, ‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We play very complicated and complex mental gymnastics daily.  We can be our best cheerleaders and we can be our worst critics.  

Inside our mind we can have conflicting ideas.  We have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit in us and  we have our flesh.  Sometimes we allow our mind and flesh to be influenced by the enemy. 

This is a constant battle. 

The flesh can be used by the enemy to become selfish and self-focused and focus only on us and not on God.  This can allow us to be focused on the situation and not on the revelation and change that God has in store for us after the situation.

We can listen to the Spirit and be able to see our true self in the light of God. When we allow God to create opportunities in us.  This can be fascinating at what we can achieve.

 

Sometimes there can be conflict inside of us where the enemy tries to overcome the Spirit and then this makes us question our own worth and make us think that we are not the best. We allow the enemy to give us lies about our potential. We allow the enemy to take our past mistakes and failures and create disillusioned reflections of ourselves.

 

These are lies. 

God has such amazing things that are ready for us. God’s steadfast love conquers all of the lies and confusions.  Because of his steadfast love, God allows us to resist anything that the enemy can put into our mind. 

We have the ability to channel the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit,  to create these new ideas from these lies. God does not allow these lies to take root. God can clear and evaporate all these misconceptions of ourselves. 

When we are going through these battles within ourselves,  we can see the prayer that David has here in Psalms 86 and see God’s steadfast love and remember…

“For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭86‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Today’s Reading: Acts 2 

Community can be viewed as a group of individuals that are coming together under a common cause or goal. Many times we think of community as our neighborhood. A group of individuals who live together and some sense of peace and tranquility. 

As we have grown, the community has decreased with the connections. Many times we can live in the same neighborhood or community and not know who lives next-door to us or who lives across the street from us. 

Several decades ago everybody knew who lived next-door and across the street and three streets over. At that point in time, the community had a connection. This is something that we have lost. I have made intentional connections with my community. Not just my neighborhood, but also the schools that my children attend and the sports teams that we participate and engage in. 

Just imagine if you do not have connections in your community. How long would you be in a community? How long could you survive? How long would you be able to engage in the community without connections?

In today’s reading, we see a community that has increased and has grown tremendously because of their connection through communication.

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.””

‭‭Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭7‬, ‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

During the day of Pentecost, which is the 50th day after the Resurrection, many of the pilgrims and disciples were in a place together worshiping God. The group of travelers were subgrouping into their similar languages groups. This grouping happens with us all the time, we group ourselves in like sub-groups to feel connected. The individuals were in their subgroups and not connecting with the other subgroups. They were all Jewish. They were abiding by the Jewish law and the Jewish customs but their place of origin were all  different.

 

To put into the perspective it’s as if you were at the United Nations and everybody is speaking their native tongue. Then when the Holy Spirit came in, everybody could understand each other in their own tongue without a translator. This allowed them to connect and further their community to a deeper level. They understood each other’s accents and nuances and specific words. There was no confusion. They had a community with the connection.

I love to connect with people. I love communicating and community.  I have been given the gift of being communicate with people when I do not know their language. This also fueled my quest and want to communicate with people in their own languages. From early age, in middle and high school I studied French.  In college, I studied Japanese and traveled to Japan. In grad school,  I studied Spanish and conducted several clinics in Spanish speaking countries. 

Currently in my current job I have a lot of Spanish speakers and love connecting with them. One of the nuances that I’ve learned over the last year is each country has a different form of Spanish and they have different words. So even though I know the basic Spanish, each interaction can be challenging to connect. 

Because of my passion for my patients in my passion for connecting, I cherish each interaction.

One of things that we have lost is the connection in our communities. One way that we can reconnect is by allowing God to open up our hearts to be connected with the community and be willing to be open to the opportunities. Each day you have been given some opportunities to connect. Will you be willing to open up your heart in your communities and connect with each other on a different level. How much more rewarding and fulfilling would you be with opening your connections in your community? 

Be Blessed 

Today’s Reading: Psalms 27

“Light, space, zest— that’s GOD! So, with him on my side I’m fearless, afraid of no one and nothing. When vandal hordes ride down ready to eat me alive, Those bullies and toughs fall flat on their faces. When besieged, I’m calm as a baby. When all hell breaks loose, I’m collected and cool.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭27‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Many of us are celebrating Labor Day. This is the day that has been categorized as the last day of summer. The beginning of the fall. This day is also become synonymous with final barbecues and family gatherings outside while the weather is nice and warm (hopefully not too hot) 

One of the true meanings of Labor Day is the celebration of the protections that we have as workers and laborers. Because of Labor Day, we have a weekend and a five day work week. Because of Labor Day, we have children who get to go to school and who are protected from industries and exportations at a young age. We are protected from employers over utilizing us without the complete and fair compensation. Even though it’s not at its  completion or perfection, it is still a work in progress.

In Psalms 27,  God is showing us our protection in many ways. David is worshiping God because of his protections. David’s heart is for God. The one thing that David wants  most of all in the world is to be with God. He does not want the fame and fortune and the esteem of being a king or a hero, he only wants to be close to God.  

“I’m asking GOD for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate his beauty; I’ll study at his feet.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭27‬:‭4‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Because of David’s  love and his want to be with God, God answers David with protection. This protection is just not for times of heartache, or times of trouble or times of distress. 

• This protection is for peaceful rest at night. 

• This protection is for being able to walk without fear of retribution or death at anybody’s hand. 

• This protection is long lasting because of his relationship with him. 

The good news is that we have the same protection from God. We are able to be protected from things we cannot even see. There are many issues and problems that we see daily, but God protects us from the things that we do not even know we need protected from. He sees the things that are in front of us years from now. We are living in protection of things that could have harmed us today, but because of his protection, he shielded us from these things.

When we have a relationship with God, he protects us. He protects those who are near us. He even protects us when we go against His will. He protects us because he loves us. This is a reason to celebrate him daily. He has protected us from so many things that we didn’t even know we needed to be protected.

Allow us to enjoy and celebrate the protections that we have been granted:  be safe and blessed.  

 

Today’s Reading: Luke 18 

The definition of persistence means continuing to do something or carry on in spite of hard times, problems, or people telling you to stop.

In this chapter we have the essential individuals that are in the most need of peace, justice and mercy:  the widow, the tax collector, the blind man, and Christ himself.  These individuals show an unyielding amount of persistence.  

He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

In the beginning of this chapter, the widow is persistent. She’s so persistent that she allows the judge to overturn and get her justice. We do not know how long this widow has been asking for justice. We do know that it’s been such a long time that the judge who does not “ fear God nor respect man “ , finally gives her justice against her enemy because of her insistence.  Persistence is continuing on in spite of difficulty and hard times.

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The tax collector is persistent by being humbled every day. He knows his work is hard and difficult, but  he also knows God’s purpose in his life. He understands that his profession is hard and challenging daily.  He understands that he will be shamed and mocked and despised, but he continues to faithfully ask for forgiveness and for mercy. God gives him justice and mercy through his continuous and persistent cries for himself.  Do we have a situation that we are constantly in and can not grasp the full function and purpose God has for us?

As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him.

The blind man when he is informed that Jesus is passing by, he calls him by his family name, son of David. He insistent in his call for Jesus. He continues to push in spite of others telling him to be quiet and to go to the back line. Because of his persistence, he is blessed with his sight again, and he continues to glorify God.

See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.”

Christ is persistent in a chapter as he is reveals to his disciples and apostles about his death. He goes into detail about it. This is the third occurrence Luke brings up about his coming death.   His persistence is trying to prepare them for the future and the change that will come.

Being persistent can be a good thing.  It shows us that we are passionate about something and we are also dedicated to good. But with persistence comes about change. Sometimes change will result in justice, sometimes this results in mercy to us. When we are persistent  and acknowledge Christ in our life we can grow in ways that we can’t even expect or imagine.

 

Be Blessed

Today’s Reading: Psalms 97

“Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 

Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around. 

His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. 

The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. 

The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭97‬:‭2‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The imagery that is conveyed in this psalm is so spectacular. It shows the full power and majesty of God. It also shows his power over all creation. 

There is a beginning of many prayers that also reflects God‘s majesty and raining over everything. 

 Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, which translates to Lord our God, King of the Universe.  

This is the beginning of many Jewish prayers.  It reminds us of the excellence and awesome and awe-inspiring nature of God. The psalms and the prayer beginning reconnect us with God’s place in nature and how he has created everything.

So many times we see these big amazing works of God and then God also shows his majesty in smaller works.  

Just a couple days ago. I had a patient who came in and was ecstatic about the news that he had received from his physician.  Over the last several months, he’s been coming to the pharmacy and picking up medications. Each time he comes, we chat and discuss his plan for his overall health. This past week he came in ecstatic, he had lost over 50 pounds in a couple of months. The physician decreased his blood pressure medication and also stopped using his insulin.  He reset his diet and his exercise plan and went from about 500 pounds down to 450 pounds. 

If I was a typical Pharmacist, this would be a point of congratulations and move on. But God has shown me that he still reigns in “the small things”.  It is not by coincidence that this gentleman has reset his life and has reset his future. God has allowed me to be in his life to encourage him and to give him tough love. This patient has in response has changed the trajectory of his future.  Now this patient can walk several miles without becoming winded, when only a couple of months ago he couldn’t walk to the door without being winded . He can stand at the counter and not have to hold onto the counter for support. His face is beaming with happiness and joy. 

He informed me that so many people in his life have passed away and he has not had that connection. He has found a connection through me. But God has given me the opportunity to be there in his life.  God is showing me how he reigns in everyday life. This is a monumental miracle similar to that of the mountains being melted.

I see  the reflection of God’s reign in seeing my daughter play softball two months after she had a traumatic injury. She was able to play a game this past weekend with the full stamina and energy and resilience that she had two months before. She showed God‘s radiance. God is performing miracles daily. God is showing that he still reigns in everybody’s life daily.

Sometimes it doesn’t have to be a big spectacle to see how God is moving in your life. If we are opening up our minds and our spirits to receive God‘s blessings, then we are able to recognize the miracles that are happening in our daily life.  

Be blessed

Today’s Reading:  I John 1

Who needs me to extend grace?

Over the last couple weeks, we have been reviewing God‘s grace, and how we can extend it to individuals. In today’s question of the prompt it says “who needs me to extend grace? “ To that question, the answer is to everyone. Grace should not be only given to certain individuals, but everyone that you come in contact.

When trying to search for the ones to extend grace to,  I started having certain people in my mind. But then  I understood and realized that grace is something that we give continuously without measure or regard to the individual. Each person needs to have grace. When we start to delineate who gets grace and who doesn’t, then we are not a reflection of God‘s grace to us.

Walk in the Light

5 This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.

6-7 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.

8-10 If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—simply come clean about them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

I John 1:5-10 MSG

In the first letter of  John, chapter 1, it shows that everyone has sinned  and everyone has been given grace. No matter how much we believe that we are not worthy, we are examples of God‘s grace. Each one of us is a reflection of the grace that God has given to all humanity. We all are to be that reflection, and to be the example that God has created us to be.

John is an eyewitness of Christ. He has seen the beginning and the fullness of God‘s love and grace. We have been given the opportunity to open up our hearts and our minds and our spirits. This is an opportunity that many individuals do not understand that they have. We have the ability to brighten up someone’s day and to give hope. 

How can we go intentionally to share God‘s grace? Has someone wronged you and you can give them God‘s grace? Have you hurt someone and asked for forgiveness and grace? Is there a possibility that you have said something or done something unintentional, and has caused suffering? And all these things that we can look at as an examining of our lives in these areas that we can have an intentional deliverance of God‘s grace to others. 

May you have a great and blessed week

Grace is an interesting concept and still a mystery for many.  When you really look at it, we have been given grace before we even knew that we needed grace. We currently are living in a time where Christ has already given us and extended grace to us. 

Over the past week I’ve tried to imagine a world or a life without grace. At one point in time before Christ came and reconciled us to God, grace was not given easily. There was mercy to some.  The love was extended was through the law. 

But we have been given these beautiful mysteries of love, mercy, and grace. Sometimes we forget that we are beneficiaries of Grace.

Grace is defined in religious—particularly Christian—contexts, grace is defined as the unmerited, loving favor and help given to humanity by God. It is the free gift of forgiveness, salvation, and divine strength that cannot be earned by human deeds.

In the Old Testament grace is mentioned about 20 times. The New Testament, grace  is mentioned about 120 times. In Ephesians, grace is referred to 12 times. In Ephesians chapter 2, it is mentioned three times. So overall it’s 10% of time it’s mentioned in Ephesians throughout the whole Bible. When grace is mentioned in chapter 2, it is referred to sequentially about God‘s love and salvation.

“made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭5‬, ‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Even though we don’t see the absence of grace as it had been before Christ, we can see how God uses grace in us in our everyday lives. 

As a father, I see grace through me to my children daily. I use grace daily to comfort them and help them understand life and give them grace.

 I see the grace in individuals who have been hurt and harm, but able to continue little life and showing mercy to others.

I’ve seen grace in the hospitals where difficult news is given, but then grace extends a peace to patent.  Even though the news is hard news, they have some solace to know that God is taken care of them.

Grace is not anything that we can earn.  It’s been given to us before we knew that we needed. It has been given to us without question. So many people do not think that they don’t have grace or have to earn it, but the spirit of God God is giving grace to everyone. They just have to accept grace. If they accept grace, then they will be able to rest easier.

 

 

Today’s Reading: I Peter 5 

So many times in our current society, we have placed a big emphasis on individualism and independence. So many times we try to accomplish things by ourselves and without the help of others. Sometimes we think that this is a sign of strength, but it could also be a sign of weakness.

One of the strongest things that we have as a society is community. Community is more than just the gather of people, but it is a connection in a relationship between individuals.

In these writings of Peter, Peter is telling us how to become a community. He has given us information of how to lead and also how to follow. He is saying that each one is necessary for the growth of the whole.

When God, who is the best shepherd of all, comes out in the open with his rule, he’ll see that you’ve done it right and commend you lavishly. And you who are younger must follow your leaders. But all of you, leaders and followers alike, are to be down to earth with each other, for—

God has had it with the proud,
But takes delight in just plain people.

6-7 So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭4‬-‭7‬ ‭MSG‬‬

There is a native people in Tanzania called the Maasai, these nomadic people have as a right of passage, a hunting of a lion. This is where a young juvenile goes out into the wilderness and comes back with a lion to prove his ability to provide and to protect for the family and for the group. This is a very strenuous and a very powerful ritual. The individual has to prepare his entire life to be ready for this.

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Now, when individuals are not for the Massai group and they are on Safari, sometimes they will gather sharp branches and trees, and around the encampment to protect from lions, leopards, and hyenas.

We see here that with the proper training, the lion’s roar cannot affect a train hunter, but without that training you would be frightened by the prowling and roaring of the lion.   But when you are in community, the lion’s roar would be less threatening. You have other individuals to help you and protect you.  

This is what Peter is alluding to, when we are in community, we can build each other up and not be frightened as easily by the Iion’s roar. When we are community and we understand that we need each other and our different skills and strengths help to make us all better.

The community that we have is through the body of Christ. So many times we can forget through the different dogma of religion that we all connected. The body of Christ is not just for one individual denomination, but it’s for all of those who believe in Christ and the connection that we have through God. 

May we continue to connect and share our love for Christ and each other and our love for community this week. May we be examples of Christ love for us.

Be blessed.

 

Community gathering around a central idea – Hog Roast