Emmaus at Pilot Mill

Today I am very weak--
weak body,
weak heart,
lacking ability,
devoid of resolve,
little anticipation,
waves of discouragement,
whispers of fear,
dreading a sleepless night,
expecting the pain of the morning,
wishing to run,
nowhere to hide,
feeling sentenced to what I cannot survive.
Wondering, “How long?”
Questions--
no answers.
But I have come to understand
that my weakness is a grace,
that hopelessness is not a prison.
Hopelessness is a doorway.
There is no shame in weakness.
I was created weak,
designed to be dependent.
To confess weakness
is to own my humanity.
To own my humanity
is to embrace my need of help.
To embrace my need of help
means to open the door to God’s
warehouse of
protecting,
providing,
comforting,
confronting,
strengthening,
hope-giving, and
motivating grace.
Today I am weak,
but I will boast in my weakness
for when I am weak,
for me, you are strong.

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The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable…
I Corinthians 12:22

Recall ways that God has supported you during times of physical or emotional weakness.

Are you able to rejoice in your own weakness? Pray for God’s help to develop such an attitude.

For further study and encouragement, read 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Aren’t you glad you're not like David,
such blazoned sin; how could he?
Aren’t you glad you’re not like Saul,
making up his own rules;what was he thinking?
Aren’t you glad you’re not like Cain,
Violence against his own brother?
Aren’t you glad you’re not like Rebekah,
such planned deceit?
Aren’t you glad you're not like the Israelites,
so easily seduced by idols?
Aren’t you glad you’re no like Absalom;
how could he be so jealous?
Aren’t you glad you’re not like Elijah;
how could he forget God and be so depressed?
Aren’t you glad you’re not like Nebuchadnezzar;
how could he be so obsessed with power?
Aren’t you glad you're not like Samson;
how could he be so easily deceived?
Aren’t you glad you’re o like Jonah;
how could he run from the Father’s call?
Aren’t you glad you’re no like the Pharisees,
so religiously right, yet spiritually wrong?
Aren’t you glad you're not like Judas,
selling the Messiah for a little bit of silver?
Aren’t you glad you’re not like the Corinthians,
So much better at division than at serving the Lord?

But wait.

You are like them, and so am I.
There is simply no denying it.
Their stories are a mirror into which we see ourselves.
We too are Jealous and easily deceived.
We too are proud and obsessed with power.
We too are better at division while we run from God.
We too get angry and get seduced by idols.
In sorrow we must say,
we stand with David,
and Saul,
and Rebekah,
and Jonah,
and Elijah,
and the rest.
These stories are for us to look into and see us,
so that we are not able
to buy into
the lie of our own righteousness,
but instead,
run to God’s mercy,
hold onto his unfailing love,
and finally rest
in his great compassion.
Aren’t you glad you can step out of the darkness of self-deceit
and admit who you are?

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Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

Are you familiar with the shortcomings of the individuals mentioned in this poem? If not, find and read their stories in the Bible.

How might you be comparing yourself with others in a way that incorrectly boosts your self-righteousness?

For further study and encouragement, read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

There is no one like you.
There are no words
to adequately capture thewonder
of your redeeming power.
There is no one like you.
No one who knows what you know.
No one who is able to do what you do.
You reign over
all that is.
You do with your creation whatever
you want to do.
No one can question you.
No one has the power to stop your hand.
You turn hardship into rescue.
You turn suffering into
redemption.
Our of trials you bring
transformation.
Out of weakness you grow
strength.
Out of death you birth life.
Out of darkness you bring
light.
You turn foolishness into
wisdom.
You cause idolaters to bow in
worship.
Every day you create something out
of
nothing.
Every day you make alive what was
once dead.
Every day you redeem what seems
beyond redemption.
There is no one like
you.
There are no words
to adequately capture the
wonder
of your redeeming power.
There is no one like
you.
No one who knows what you
know.
No one who is able to do what you
do.

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There is none holy like the Lord;
there is none besides you;
there is no rock like our God. (1Samuel 2:2)

Nearly every line of this poem demonstrates how there is none like God. Work through each statement in the poem and connect it to a real-life example, either from your life or from the Bible, that illustrates the statement. (For example, “You cause idolaters to bow in worship” could refer to a friend turning to Christ for salvation or might describe how Egypt was forced to set the Israelites free.)

Pray your own prayer of praise for all the glorious ways God is like no other.

For further study and encouragement, read
I Corinthians 1:18 and Ezekiel 37:1-14

I wish I would live with you in view--
eyes to your glory,
ears for your wisdom,
heart for your grace.
But I live with me in view--
eyes to my kingdom,
ears for my opinion,
heart captured by my will.
I know that I was made for you.
I know that hope,
meaning,
purpose,
identity, and
my agenda for every day
is to be found in you.
But I want my own kingdom.
I love my own glory.
I define my own meaning.
I delight in my control.
There’s a war that never ends;
the battleground is my heart.
It's a moral skirmish
between what you have ordained
and what I want.
So I don't delight in your law.
But my heart doesn’t rest.
I know there's a better way.
I know that you are God,
and I am not.
My sin is more than
bad behavior,
bad choices,
or wrong words.
My sin is an act
where i replace you
with something I love more.
Every wrong thing i do
reflects
a lack of love for you, and
reflects
a love of self.
Help me
to see,
to acknowledge,
to weep,
and say,
“Against you, you only,
have I sinned
and done what is evil in
your sight.”
And then, help me to rest
in your mercy,
in your great compassion, and
in your unfailing love
even as the war goes on.
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You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37)

Contemplate how “sin is an act where I replace you.” How does this defintion expand you understanding of sin?

How have you recently been living with yourself “in view” instead of living with God “in view”? Spend some time in prayer, confessing to God and resting in his unfailing love.

For further study and encouragement, read Psalm 51.

Every one of us is a preacher.
We are always preaching
some kind of gospel to
ourselves.
Every one of us is a theologian.
we are always repeating
some kind of belief system to
ourselves.
Every one of us is a philosopher.
We are alway discussing mean and purpose with
ourselves.
Every one of us is an archaeologist.
We are always digging through
the mound of experiences
that is our life,
making sense of
where we have been,
what we have done, what you have done, and
who we’ve been with.
We are always doing this because we are all
image bearers.
We are created to
think,
interpret,
feel,
know,
desire,
understand,
and worship.
In our seeking to
know
we are searching for
You.
Everyone of us is a worshiper
because everyone of us is made
for you.
Every one of us is searching
for what can only be found
in you.
So, every one of us needs your
grace.
for there is no life,
there is no hope,
there is no knowing,
that does not begin with
knowing you.

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But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

What are you searching for?

Have you ever thought of yourself as a preach, theologian, philosopher, or archaeologist? How might these labels point you to your most important role as a worshiper of God?

For further study and encouragement, read Matthew 7:7-11

Hard moments
Between the already and the not yet.
Hard moments
in a world gone bad.
Hard moments
when temptation seduces.
Hard moments
with a body weak and mind tired.
Hard moments
when friends promise, but betray.
Hard moments
when unexpected difficulty surprises.
Hard moments
when discouragement blinds vision.
Hard moments
when once again centrals the heart.
Hard moments with so many things broken. Hard moments-
but I am not alone.
Hard moments-
Yet I am never left to my limited resources
hard moments
in your hands become
hard moments of transformation.
Hard moments
in your hands become
hard moments of amazing Grace.

_____________________________

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Try to recall a past “hard moment” in your life and consider how God’s amazing grace help you through that time.

Take some time to pray that God will transform today’s hard moments in ways that leave you singing his praises.

For further study and Encouragement, read first Samuel 1-2:10

(For a full account of the events of this day, see Matthew 28:1–20, Mark 16:1–8, Luke 24:1–53, John 20:1–21:25.)

Early Sunday morning, some of Jesus’s friends set out for his grave to anoint the body of their friend and teacher. When they arrive, however, they are greeted by what one Gospel writer calls “a man dressed in lightning.” He tells them Jesus is not there, as he said. He is risen.
In the week leading up to his death, the Good Shepherd went out to meet the wolves of judgment, sin, and death—and he did so with all authority. One might wonder, what good has it ever done anyone to die for some cause? This is the glorious beauty of the gospel. Jesus didn’t die as a martyr for a cause. He was never in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was never at the mercy of anyone. He lived, died, and was buried because he meant to be.
No one took his life from him. He laid it down. For whom? For his flock, his people.
And he laid it down only to take it up again (John 10:18). The point of the cross was not just to die, but to die and rise again, defeating the prowling wolves of sin and death themselves.
Easter says of Jesus, “He meant it! He meant to lay down his life for you. And as surely as he has taken it up again, he knows you and loves you.”

(For a full account of the events of this day as found in the Gospels, see Matthew 27:62–66.)

Less is written about the Saturday following Jesus’s crucifixion than any other in the scope of this week. Yet what makes it unique is that this is the only full day in history where the body of Christ lies buried in a cave.
Yesterday, he was crucified. Tomorrow, he rises from the grave. But what about today? Though we may not make much of this day, when we look at the few verses the Gospels give us about it, we find it was by no means forgotten by the chief priests who had handed Jesus over to death. During his earthly ministry, Jesus repeatedly said he would die in Jerusalem at the hands of the chief priests, yet on the third day rise again (e.g., Matt. 12:40; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34).
Of course, the chief priests scoffed. But they didn’t forget it. On the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Jesus’s prediction preoccupies their thoughts such that they simply can’t leave it alone. Matthew 27:62–66 tells the strange story of how they can’t dismiss out of hand the possibility that Jesus might know something they don’t.