DAY 114 - Going Public or Staying Private?

Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV) ²⁴"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

I Corinthians 2:9-10a, 11-12, 15-16 (NIV) ⁹ However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"— ^10a but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. ¹¹For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹²We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹⁵The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: ¹⁶"For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

We live in a society that gives strong support to the pride that tells us we have got to go it alone. We like our privacy and may build a kind of invisible wall around our life and prize our independence. And yet, God surrounds us with different people with a variety of gifts who help us in many different ways.

Jesus is sympathetic to the need to be alone, and understands and affirms the importance of getting away from people to regroup in strength and to regain a right perspective on life. Jesus valued privacy. But, He knew not to make privacy a permanent retreat from the world, from people, from the difficulties that faced Him, and from the work He had been called to accomplish. He warned those who wanted simply to study His teaching privately and analyze it.

If we only hear the Word, if we simply study the Word and never attempt to do what we are clearly told, Jesus says we are mixing a mortar of sand to hold our life together. It will not stand when the pressure comes. The house that stands is the one that has been made rock solid by years of acting on what we have heard, however faltering and failing we or our actions may have been, sinking the anchors of our life into the very life of God. We are called by Christ out of the privacy of our inner world into the world of action. We are to risk doing with others and for others as Christ directs us. We all have the mind of Christ to inform and inspire us in the attitude we are to have and the actions we are to take.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope September 22, 1991

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles

DAY 113 - Lose to Win

Genesis 32:22-31 (NIV) ²² That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. ²⁴ So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak^{. 25} When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. ²⁶ Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." ²⁷ The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered. ²⁸ Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." ²⁹ Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there. ³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared." ³¹ The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.

Galatians 6:2-3 (NASB) ²Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. ³For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Jacob is one of the great achievers in the Scriptures. Born the disadvantaged younger brother of Esau, Jacob connives to take the blessing from his older brother, and he succeeds. Later, to escape Esau’s revenge, Jacob finds refuge with his Uncle Laban. Jacob prospers and even out swindles his uncle for just about everything Laban has. But then a restlessness sets in. Jacob was not entirely satisfied. He wants to return home.

What happens when an achiever like Jacob meets Jesus who seeks success as ardently as any high achiever? Jesus gave Himself tirelessly to the task of accomplishing God’s will for His life, a mission some people deemed impossible. He even built up an organization to carry on His work after He was gone. Jesus had a different understanding of success than most achievers. For Jesus, success meant in every circumstance to choose the will of God and to choose it regardless of the results. For Jesus, success was sought with a yielding spirit, a commitment to be sensitive to the voice of God, a willingness to decide in the face of doubt with an obedience of heart, mind, and will.

One night, by the Brook of Jabbok, Jacob met the spirit of Christ in a confrontation with a mysterious Stranger. The wrestling match between himself and the Stranger brought to a head Jacob’s life long struggle to get the blessing. "I will not let you go unless you bless me." When Jacob was broken of his striving, the gift of the Blessing was given, a sense of wholeness, health, and well being that nothing in life can take away or ultimately destroy. In his striving to achieve, Jacob was resisting the gift he could not earn and did not deserve. The Blessing is a gift, and the Blessed are a gift to others.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope September 15, 1991

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles

DAY 112 - Living to Please or Pleased to Be?

Luke 10:38-42 (NIV) ³⁸As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" ⁴¹"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴²but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

We might easily imagine what must have been going on in Martha and Mary’s home the day of Jesus’ visit. Martha began the day by getting the house ready. Mary got herself ready. Martha began preparing the meal for Jesus. Mary began preparing herself for the visit. Martha was excited over the opportunity to be a gracious host. Mary was excited about the opportunity to visit with Jesus. Martha worried if things would get done. Mary wondered at the things Jesus said.

As the mealtime grew closer Martha’s efforts to please put her in a place of anger because Mary had not done anything to help her. She was caught between the guilt of saying no to all she was trying to do, and the anger for having said yes. That is not a happy place to be. What happens when Martha comes to Jesus with these feelings? She found someone sympathetic to her plight who offered words of warmth, not a cold rebuke or fiery rebuttal. But, what He does say to Martha is that what He needs most from her right then was her time and attention. In a gentle, caring way, Jesus asks Martha to give up her need to please for the one need of listening to Him, learning of Him, and being willing only to do what He asks of her, nothing less, and nothing more.

Jesus still asks those of us who are frayed and frantic to come to Him, to give up our need to Him, to receive from Him a daily list of people we can help and a daily menu of people who can help us. In the presence of Jesus we lose the need to please and are pleased to be and to do whatever Jesus asks. This is what Jesus was doing with Mary and what He wanted to do with Martha. He wanted to invest Himself in them, that they might invest themselves in others.

When we think back on the people we feel most indebted to and grateful for, are they not the ones who somehow were able to share themselves with us, whether by the hospitality of their home, or work done together, by time spent together? We need people whose own needs have been met well enough that they naturally invest themselves in the lives of others. Do we help others out of a need to please, or because we are pleased to help? Do we often have so many things going that we are really not doing justice to any of them? Let us bring our need to Christ, give up the need to please, and receive from Him the orders for our life.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope September 8, 1991

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles

DAY 111 - Perfectly Right or Rightly Perfect?

Psalm 119:129-130,133-134 (NIV) ¹²⁹ Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them. ¹³⁰ The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. ¹³³ Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me. ¹³⁴ Redeem me from the oppression of men, that I may obey your precepts.

Matthew 5:17, 19-20, 48 (NIV) ¹⁷"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁹Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴⁸Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Perfectionists are hard working people always ready to put in great effort to do things well, especially in giving attention to detail. Perfectionists may be demanding of other people, but usually they are equally, and sometimes more, demanding of themselves. They carry with them an inner critic who constantly tells them what they must do and how they can do it even better if they just try hard enough. And that is where the problems begin. Perfectionists are continually frustrated by their own failure, and the failure of others as well.

What happens when a perfectionist comes to Jesus? Jesus said outright “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” and demanded conformity to the Scriptures. Now we begin to see some light. We must be as right as our Father in Heaven, we must be as perfect as our Father in Heaven who makes it rain on the just and the unjust, the good and the not so good people of this world.

The Rightness and Perfection of our Father in Heaven refers to the wholeness of God’s compassion for people, compassion that can be expressed as being against what is evil and destructive, and for what is good and healthy and whole. Jesus brings us face to face with a whole new meaning of the word perfect. It means whole-souled commitment to do what we are told in Scripture. It means a complete keeping of the promise that with God helping us we will never betray others, will not do anything to hurt or harm others, we will not lash out in anger, nor faithlessly slip away, nor speak deceitful words. Of that kind of rightness and that perfection we can always use more. Jesus spoke of a perfection that makes the will of God the pinpoint focus of what we are to move toward. Nothing less will do, but that is enough.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope September 1, 1991

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles

Day 110 - Tough and Tender

II Samuel 12:15-16, 19-23 (NIV) ¹⁵ After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he became ill. ¹⁶ David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. ¹⁹ David noticed that his servants were whispering among themselves and he realized the child was dead. "Is the child dead?" he asked. "Yes," they replied, "he is dead." ²⁰ Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate. ²¹ His servants asked him, "Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!" ²² He answered, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.' ²³ But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

Psalm 51:1-4, 17 (NIV) ¹ Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. ² Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. ⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

When we rationalize that our actions can’t possibly hurt anyone, the truth is that they hurt Jesus Christ. In Psalm 51 David confesses the wrong he has done: the iniquity of distorted thinking, the transgression of deliberately going against God’s gracious will, and letting his life be sabotaged by powers bent on destruction. He accepted the hurt, but he did not stay stuck. The servants were shocked and disturbed that David got over his grief so soon. People who take their sin to God, honestly acknowledging them and humbly accepting God’s work will sometimes appear almost callous to those who have never experienced grace and forgiveness, removal and restoration.

If it takes a certain kind of tenderness to ask for God’s help, it also takes a certain kind of toughness to believe that our sins are forgiven and then to get on with the responsibility that is ours. For it is God’s will and desire to fill us with joy and gladness so that the life that has been broken by sin may once again report for duty to God. This is the life we see in Jesus. He lived under the shadow of the Cross, yet called life good. He was surrounded by the blundering confusion of the disciples, yet called them His very best friends. He was beset by temptation, harassed by opposition, yet uttered no complaint. And Jesus told us about a God who saw His child returning home beaten and bruised and empty in soul, and had compassion for the child who had chosen to come home. This, too, was the spirit David brought to God, a broken and contrite heart still confident in a God of steadfast love and tender mercy.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope August 4, 1991

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles

Day 109 - A Hole in the Soul

II Samuel 12:5-7, 9a, 12-13a (NIV) ⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity." ⁷ Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ^9a Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own… ¹² You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.' " ^13a Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin.

Matthew 16:26 (NIV) What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?

King David did not want “the whole world.” He only wanted one woman, Bathsheba. Unfortunately, she was married to another man. But never mind, where there is a desire, there is a way, and David found it. He’d let Uriah make a valiant sacrifice for the army, then comfort the grieving widow. Sure, it bothered David at first – the lies, the trickery, the hypocrisy, the treachery, and the fear of being found out. But all of that was behind him now and Bathsheba was his wife. Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. David condemns himself and finds that in his headlong desire for Bathsheba he had lost his sense of compassion, his sense of mercy and pity for underserved affliction he caused to come upon someone.

Compassion is a saving attribute of God, and describes the caring of Jesus for people. Compassion is to hurt with someone else’s pain. When we lose the ability to hurt with the hurting of others we invariably cause harm, becoming tuned out to the needs of wife, husband, children, friends, parents. We simply do not see the needs in others we care about, and we do not see the hurt, whether caused by ourselves or by vagrancies of life. We also become turned off to what is happening inside us, handing over our soul to deceit and compromise.

When compassion is lost, God in compassion sends a Nathan to crack the concrete that has grown slowly but surely over our heart. How many of us have had a Nathan come into our life? How many of us welcome him or her with regular visits? Do we recognize these agents of God’s goodness and saving grace to us? Jesus not only forgives sin but raises awareness of sins that we have successfully anesthetized in our soul. Repentance is the honest recognition of the wrong we have done. It is the cracking of the concrete, the recovery of the hurt we have caused others and the harm we have brought on ourselves. It may not be a very pleasant experience. Surgery of this sort seldom is. But it is necessary if we are to remain sensitive to God and compassionate toward one another. And, most of us are not very good at doing surgery on ourselves. Will the Nathans that God sends find us ready and willing to recognize the wrong we have done?

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope July 28, 1991

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles

DAY 108 - What Is the Meaning of This?

Matthew 9:35 (NIV) Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

Matthew 10:1, 8 (NIV) ¹He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. ⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

Matthew 12:22, 24 (NIV) ²²Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. ²⁴But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."

Miracles were part of the mission of Jesus, but the Pharisees were skeptical, thinking Jesus was the devil in disguise trying to trap the people into believing He was the Messiah. Can we blame the Pharisees for their skepticism? Do we not often do the same? What we call the Fall of man and woman from the Garden of Eden not only alienates us from God, making God seem unreal and irrelevant, but infects all of life with the destructiveness of sin. Physically, we are subject to disease and death. Emotionally, we are driven to do things that bring hurt and harm to others and to ourselves. Intellectually, our minds distort the truth and feed our pride or brand us with low self-esteem.

As Jesus walks down the back roads of Palestine healing the blind, feeding the hungry, and raising the dead, we are given a sneak preview of God’s intention for human life. Whenever Jesus makes a twisted body whole with His touch, or releases one possessed with a demon of destruction, whenever He forgives a sinner, we see what God desires for human life. But, why do we get only a glimpse of the way God wants life to be? Why doesn’t God go ahead and restore the whole thing so that there is no more sickness, disease, hurt and harm between people, death and destruction?

For right now Jesus wants to give us the responsibility to be agents of the power of that Kingdom and calls us to be co-workers with Him. Jesus gives us modern day disciples the authority to do something about all the suffering and pain and distortions of life. He gives us the authority to be what He has been. You and I have been vested with the power and the authority of the Kingdom of God. What exactly are we supposed to do? We are to exercise the authority Jesus has given us, to bring healing to relationships, to raise dead hope into new life, to break through the paralysis of present disappointment and past regrets, to set the prisoners free from pride, greed, and fear, whatever Jesus gives us to do by opportunity, by promptings, by a community who cares for us, by power within us. We limit ourselves only by our refusal to accept.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope March 3, 1991

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles

Day 107 - Down and Out As The Way To Get Up

Matthew 5:1-3 (NIV) ¹Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ²and he began to teach them saying: ³"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus constantly encountered people on their futile search for happiness. He offered them hope for what they were looking for and a new way of finding it, but that way was met with skepticism, puzzlement, and rejection. The Sermon on the Mount is a summary of the happiness that Jesus offers which is so radically different from what we have been taught by our culture. Jesus says we are to hope for the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven speaks to that joy we find in living under God’s rule, like the experience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before sin came in. The Kingdom of Heaven is like those moments when we experience life just like it should be, as we hope it always will be. The moment may pass, but it leaves a residue of hope in our life.

The Kingdom of Heaven brings to us more than a fleeting moment of happiness. It builds into our life a kind of permanence that no hell on earth can destroy. The pains of failure and disappointment may be great but they cannot squash our confidence in God’s providential care. We may hurt with the emptiness of being single or the frustration of being married, but nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. We may not have achieved our potential. We may be broken in body or cripple in spirit and yet still know that life Jesus called abundant.

Those who experience the Kingdom of Heaven are the poor in spirit, which is the opposite of what the Scriptures call pride. Pride is an inner attitude of overconfidence in ourselves. Pride is a kind of stance in life that says we can handle life by ourselves, fight the battles by ourselves, and that we want no handouts.

Poor, in this passage, literally refers to a beggar, who in Jesus’ time knew survival was utterly dependent on the generosity of others. Each day was lived in dependence on unearned gifts received from others. The poor in spirit are those who recognize that they are helpless without God’s help. They are dependent on God in whatever way God provides for them.

To be poor in spirit is to recognize our beggar status before God. To some of us that may sound like having low self-esteem, an inferiority complex, or a lack of confidence. But, that is not the way the poor in spirit look in real life. All around us are calls to recognize the truth about ourselves. There is the sheer drudgery of life. No matter what status the world gives to our work or life, the sheer wear and tear of the routine can begin to make us poor in spirit. When we realize how fragile the gift of life is, when we see our hopes and dreams go unfulfilled, when we have achieved all or most of what we hoped for and realize we have come up empty the experiences of life will constantly be giving us notice that we are poor in spirit. Will we heed the message? Will we give in to the truth?

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope April 7, 1991

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles

DAY 106 - Temperance

Hebrews 12:1-3 (NRSV) ) ¹Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ²fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Temperance is not a goal in life, but the way of reaching a goal. Temperance is what we do so we can run with endurance the race that is set before us, to accomplish the will of God in all of our life and to follow the example of Jesus. Finding and fulfilling the will of God seems to be the only goal large enough to encompass our whole life and challenging enough to bring our life into balance.

It would be great if the race alone brought such order and balance to our life that we never had to give a second thought to falling prey to excess that our human spirit is vulnerable to. But, most of us know from experience that this is not the case. Our commitment to do the will of God gives us the motive and the desire to lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, but it’s like trying to run a race with a long flowing robe on. We are committed to the race but keep tripping over the flowing robe. We may even like the comfort of the robe despite the problem it gives us, and is a fair description of those habits that so engulf our life we cannot shake them off.

We need some power if we are going to run the race with joy. We can do it because we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, heroes of the faith meant to give us inspiration so that we might be faithful in doing God’s will and discover the joy. They are like the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day that went before the people of Israel on their journey to the Promised Land. We have a cloud of witnesses in the special people God provides for each of us who inspire us, encourage us, and empower us with a sense of God’s commitment to us.

But, to lay aside these encumbrances and sins we need the power of Jesus Himself, fixing our eyes on Him in devotionals and scripture reading, looking at Jesus intentionally and as intently as possible. Watch the economy of His language and the potency of His action. React to His reactions to people, to friend and foe alike. Get a feel for His emotions, the reason for them, and the way they are expressed. Experience the peace, the joy, and the heartache of His life. And most importantly remember that no matter how well we get to know this Person, there is always more to know, and that knowledge will open up new vistas and vision for our life. And, look to Jesus in public worship. Surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, we neither deny nor focus on our personal weaknesses. We simply ignore them and give our attention to God, pushing aside all the clutter in our life for a moment and making room for God at the center.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope February 3, 1991

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles

DAY 105 - Truth or Tolerance

I Corinthians 8:1-4, 7-8 (NIV) ¹Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. ²The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. ³But the man who loves God is known by God. ⁴So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. ⁷But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. ⁸But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

II Timothy 2:15-17a (RSV) ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ¹⁶ Avoid such godless chatter, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, ^17a and their talk will eat its way like gangrene.

Is it possible for truth and tolerance to meet? Can we give expression to our convictions in ways that also show respect for the rights and views of other people? That task requires the skills of a moral artist of the highest caliber. Paul is helping Timothy develop the skill of truth and tolerance when he says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.“ Truth refers to God’s master design for human life, and the moral artist begins here, with the conviction that truth about the way we are to live is found in Scripture as a whole, and in Jesus in particular.

I believe the key to rightly handling the word of truth is to stand under the Word of God. To stand under the word of truth is to discover that the Scriptures do not step politely into our life and sit down where we direct. Rather, we find that Scripture is often “the troubler of Israel,” and we are Israel. When we stand under the word of truth, it can wreak havoc with our comfortable faith, overturning our pet truths, and piecing our best-laid defenses.

If standing under the Word is the key to rightly handling it, how then do we do that? It requires vulnerable listening. We all come to the Word with pieces of armor on. Vulnerable listening is the willingness to let the Word strip that armor from us. The most common piece of armor we wear is sheer “busy-ness.” We become so wrapped up in all the things we have to do that we forget to give first and foremost attention to listening to the voice of God in the Word. Paul himself is an example of truth and tolerance meeting. He could denounce in some of the strongest language found in Scripture those who were vying for personal power and undermining the gospel of grace just as it was beginning to bear fruit in the lives of men and women for years lost to the love of God. At the same time he could call for tolerance of those who ate food offered to idols for the very same reason. Don’t damage the delicate flower with something that is not important.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope January 27, 1991

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles

DAY 104 - Acquiring A Taste For Humble Pie

Philippians 2:1-9a (NIV) ¹If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ²then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. ³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ⁴Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: ⁶Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! ⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name

Jesus did not grasp for the power, prestige, privileges or popularity that could have been His. He did not pull rank because He would not buy into the ranking system of this world. Rather, He emptied Himself that He might humble Himself and submit Himself to whatever God wanted.

To be humble is to submit our life to God. Humility does not grasp for rank, nor feed on the empty opinion of others. Humility has an attractiveness about it and a power to it. The main power is to make peace, because humble people are not vulnerable to many of the weaknesses that make for conflict. It is hard to drive wedges of blame into the hearts of humble people because they are ready to absorb the blows and to accept whatever fault is really theirs. This is the irony of humility. By submitting to God we rise above the pettiness of people.

Now, lest I paint too perfect a picture of the humble, it does not mean to be without struggles. Moses was said to be the most humble person upon the face of the earth, but he had his struggles with Pharaoh, he had struggles with the people of Israel, he had some struggles within himself, but the struggle that redeemed him again and again was the struggle to remain submissive and compliant to the will of God.

Don’t try to be humble. Just remember what you have received from God and that will make you humble enough. Look back and remember. Look ahead in obedience and praise, and the gift of humility will come gently and genuinely into your life.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope January 13, 1991

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles

DAY 103 - For Heaven’s Sake

Matthew 24:36-44 (NIV) ³⁶"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴²"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

There are times when God seems beautifully present to us but there are also times when God seems totally absent. We are responsible to and accountable to God even when God seems absent - especially when God seems absent. The only calling worth our whole life is to be responsible to and accountable to God. Every other goal will simply run out on us or fall short. The promise of Jesus’ unannounced coming is not meant to petrify us, but to electrify us with a sense of meaning and purpose in the ups and downs of life, as well as in those many days we spend in the plain routine of our everyday lives.

Unless our life is lived for the glory of God it becomes very difficult to sustain a sense of satisfaction and a commitment to the good of others. Even the hunger for money, as strong as that is, begins to go flat. Unless we are somehow doing God’s work and serving His will we conclude life is “just not worth it.” Something of God’s purpose for our life has to be seen calling us beyond the tasks of daily life.

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Worship is one way we keep watch. Another way is our reaction to the daily experiences of life, which we can let lull us to sleep or beckon us to awaken. When we are batting our head against a wall of frustration it can also be a call to look up and see the higher vision. When we are bombarded by a barrage of responsibilities or are irritated at another person it can awaken us to our truthful inadequacy and turn us in trust to God.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope march 10, 1991

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles

DAY 102 - In Your Honor

Matthew 23:1, 11-12 (NIV) ¹Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ¹¹The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹²For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Luke 6:27-31 (NIV) ²⁷"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. ³⁰Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.

I Corinthians 7:23a (NIV) You were bought at a price

Honor, as it has been understood and practiced over the centuries, presents us with a peculiar dilemma. Life without honor robs us of high standards and moral ideals. On the other hand, our defense of honor becomes itself a source of conflict, strife, and even of war.

Jesus warned us about the perils of seeking honor, and by His life and by His death gave a whole new meaning to the word honor. Honor is not a possession to be earned and defended. Honor is a gift from God to be given to others. Jesus taught honor. When He said, “if someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also,” this was more than a lesson on avoiding a fight. Jesus is saying return their insult with an act of respect and honor.

Jesus lived honor. Jesus healed bodies but also showed honor and respect as he healed shame. Jesus bestowed honor upon people, and it was primarily through His death on a Cross that Jesus bestowed honor on you and me. The Cross is the price, the value, and the worth that God has placed upon our life. We do not fully understand why the Cross was necessary or chosen by God to bestow worth and honor upon us. We do know that when the realization hits home with us that “Jesus died for me,” there is received a sense of being of infinite value, of immense worth, and humbly honored by God.

Whenever people find themselves honored by Jesus this way there comes that inner desire to show honor to all people. Honoring one another is one way we can all be servants. Honoring one another is one way we fulfill the command to love one another. We cannot honor one another unless and until we know in our heart the infinite value and immeasurable worth on our life. Have we received the gift? Is it our desire to share the gift?

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope January 20, 1991

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles

DAY 101 - How Can I Ever Pay You Back?

Romans 15:14, 20-22, 25-28 (NIV) ¹⁴I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. ²⁰It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. ²¹Rather, as it is written: "Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand."²²This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you. ²⁵Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints there. ²⁶For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. ²⁷They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. ²⁸So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this fruit, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way.

Giving as an outward and visible sign of appreciation for the inward and invisible gifts of spiritual blessings seems to apply to giving as Paul describes it when he says, “For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.”

Paul brings two spiritual blessings into focus for the Christians in Rome. The first is goodness. Real goodness is the power to rise above the coldness, cruelty, and crassness of our world as well as the corruption of our own lives. The second spiritual blessing is knowledge. Knowledge is more than knowing facts or being able to reason things out, but is what enables us to see beyond present pressures to know that God is still sovereign.

I suspect that for some of us “spiritual blessings” has a vague, nebulous sound, a kind of misty meaning. Spiritual refers to the work of the spirit. Blessing refers to the good work of God in our life. Spiritual blessings are the good works of God’s Spirit brought about in our lives. For the Christians in Rome, those spiritual blessings were clear, concrete, and manifold. For them, spiritual blessings meant being delivered from the iron fist of fate, and discovering that they were gifted and called to fulfill God’s purpose for human life. These spiritual blessings included freedom from the useless rituals of cleansing from sin and receiving real forgiveness through Jesus the Christ. And they included seeing death in a new light, no longer as the great abyss, but as a movement into the fullness of eternal life made clear and believable through the resurrection of Jesus.

A heart aware of spiritual blessing is grateful and ready to respond with material gifts. Are we willing now to express our gratitude and our commitment to God through giving? They received spiritually, they gave materially. That is the heart and the soul of gospel giving. Are we prepared to give in that manner and with that spirit?

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope November 18, 1990

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles