Apr 1 — Luke 3:1-20

SCRIPTURE: Luke 3:1-20
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
1. “In the fifteenth year…” (3:1-2). Luke is very carefuly to demonstrate the historical roots of this biography of Jesus. It is no abstract or philosophical (as the gnostic ‘gospels” were). Jesus is flesh and blood, born in time.
2. “Preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (3:3). It is not the baptism that results in forgiveness of sins, but repentance before God, which is essential for forgiveness. Baptism is merely a symbol, that points to a critical reality, ie God’s grace and our repentance.
3. “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him” (3:4). This prophecy goes back to a time when Israel was not experiencing the shalom that God originally promised, not because God’s promise failed but because of their sin. Repentance is the way to activate God’s blessing, He will not work until the heart is softened towards Him in honesty and humility. Our hardened hearts are crooked paths that hinder God. John’s job is to get their hearts ready to see God’s salvation.
4. “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (3:8). The form is empty apart from the corresponding reality in the heart, as seen in changed lives. Being a ‘christian’ by birth or by empty tradition means nothing to God.
5. “What then should we do” (3:10f)? The message of God has always been practical. Compassion, honesty, integrity, mercy, contentment… these are the values that characterize God’s world order (paradise, the kingdom). This is what God is looking for from EVERYONE, and the need for forgiveness and a new heart is the way to attaining these things. These are still the things that God, by His Spirit, is attempting to draw out of our hearts and lives.
6. “Waiting expectantly… possibly be the Christ” (3:15). There was a huge sense of hopeful anticipating that the messiah (greek = ‘christ’) would come and liberate the people from bondage and re-establish the kingdom of Israel. John says no, but points them to the coming of the Spirit-filled messiah. This would have been exciting news for the people… He is finally coming!

PRAYER:
Lord, remind me again that repentance and love are not just steps to get into heaven, they are a way of life, the way of paradise, the world as you designed it to be. Amen.

Mar 31 — Proverbs 7:1-27

SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 7:1-27

OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
1. “Guard my teachings as the apple of your eye” (7:2). That is, your eyeball, which is very weak and needs protection.
2. “A youth who lacked judgment… walking along in the direction of her house” (7:7-8). A wise person is aware of their potential weaknesses, and avoids those paths that will lead them close to temptation. How many of us try to get as close to sin without crossing the line, as if we have the ability to stop whenever we want?
3. “Now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks” (7:12). Here the prostitute represents all sexual sin, or all sin for that matter. Wherever we turn, wherever we look, we are bombarded with images and enticements, subtle and not so subtle. This is why we are often called to be alert, on guard! Yet how many of us enter the day unarmed, unprepared, and oblivious to the enemy who is lurking all around us, slowly eating away at our slight defenses, then going in for the kill?
4. “With persuasive words she led him astray” (7:21). The enticements to sin are very compelling, especially when coupled with the pleasure associated with those thoughts. Our feelings and desires weaken our resolve and draw us in. The conversation in our head, or the feelings that keep us from thinking things through, lure us in. We can jusify anything when the heart desires it. We are easily persuaded.
5. “Like an ox going to the slaughter” (7:22). The ox is totally oblivious, clueless. Not a complimentary picture. But a realistic one. How many people at the end of their lives, as they look back, realize too late that they were like that ox… oblivious and clueless to the consequences of their choices.
6. A highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death” (7:27). More compelling imagery. The highway of death, a wide and easy path to destruction. The chambers of love are described as the chambers of death.

PRAYER:
Lord, give me this kind of urgency, to see that I am under attack and that if I am not careful, I will be sucked in. Amen.

Mar 30 — Proverbs 6:20-35

SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 6:20-35

OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
1. “This teaching is a light… the way to life” (6:23). Light helps us to see, to avoid the pitfalls along the way. These words of wisdom come from the heart of a parent who wants their children to find life, true life as God intended it to be. As a parent I can appreciate this, as I see my own children making choices, and worrying sometimes that they may make foolish choices, and have to live with the consequences. When they were young, I could direct their choices. But they must learn to choose on their own, when I am not there.
2. “Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes getting burned?” (6:27). Sometimes wisdom is so obvious, yet our blindness to our folly is more proof of the deceptive power of sin in our hearts. Often the choices we make are like scooping fire in our laps. And then we grumble against God for letting us get into this mess.
3. “A man who commits adultery lacks judgment” (6:32). This is just a nice way of saying that he is a fool. Stupid. This is not being judgmental, this is just calling it for what it is. God has given us enough sense to think things through, we all have wisdom written in our hearts, even if it is distorted by sin. I can say this for myself, that if I am honest, I can admit after the fact that what I did was stupid. How can I train myself to think before I act? That is what it means to lack judgment, to not think before we act.
4. “Whoever does so destroys himself” (6:32). Actions have consequences, and foolish actions have harmful, even destructive, consequences. We need to stop and think through the direction of our life, our actions, our values. At the end of the day, we will not be able to blame God for our folly, we will reap what we have sown. Now is the time to stop, to discern wisdom, and to bind wisdom to our hearts.

PRAYER:
Lord, help me to discipline myself more, to think though my choices and their consequences with You. Amen.

Sennema’s accept call to Ajax

FROM THE SENNEMA’S — After prayerful consideration, Valerie and I have decided that the Lord is calling us to Crossroads Church in Ajax. We feel led by the Spirit to help this young church move forward. Although difficult to explain, there is this deep-down sense that Ajax is the next step in our ministry journey. We have peace with our decision, though much sadness at the prospect of moving. We are trusting that the Lord will make His purposes clear, and that one day we will look back and recognize that His reasons were good.

This has not been an easy decision. There are many reasons to stay. We have been extremely blessed through our time at Hope. We feel very much a part of this community, and the church has been a very important and life-impacting part of our personal and family life. We are not leaving under pressure or out of frustration, nor do we feel that we have to leave.

The next chapter at Hope will have its difficulties, but as you pull together, you can build upon the blessings of the past 10 years. This is a time for all the members to pull together and work to carry the vision forward. We are confident that Hope Church is in a good place for calling a new pastor. The foundations are laid for an exciting future.

Thank you for your prayer support and for your encouragements. We hope that the next few months together will be a good opportunity for us to finish well, and to set the stage for the next chapter for us at Crossroads and for you at Hope.

In His Hands,
Pastor Norm and Valerie Sennema
Timothy, Nathan, Janelle

Mar 29 — Proverbs 6:1-19

SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 6:1-19

OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
1. “If you have been trapped by what you said… go and humble yourself”. Good advice from father to son. When your words or actions are starting to get you into trouble, don’t make it worse by digging yourself deeper. Humble yourself. This is the consistent message of the Bible. Be honest, be humble, admit your failings and your need for help or mercy. This is the best (and only) way to get the help we really need.
2. “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!” Ahh, that’s humbling, even insects have sense enough to work to provide for themselves. If ‘evolution’ is true, then we’ve gone backwards, for many of us have less sense than insects. More good advice from father to son, take life seriously and devote yourself to working well, living well. Don’t waste your life!
3. “Who plots evil with deceit in his heart”. Whatever we may be saying with our mouths and showing with our actions, our hearts are the true source. As Jesus said, “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks…” This is where we need to allow the Spirit of God to do His surgery.
4. “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him”. A figure of speech meaning a summary list, an attempt to express the heart of God through a list (which can never be complete). The Lord hates arrogance, deception, violence, etc. This is common sense, and anyone who thinks about it would recognize that these things are NOT good. And yet how subtly our hearts can lead us into these attitudes and behaviours, without our even realizing it.
5. Through this passage I hear the Lord saying, take sin seriously and strive with all His energy to change your heart, to become more and more like God, which is really the best way to be.

PRAYER:
Lord, I may pride myself that I am not as bad as others, but if I look deep within, I can see the sublte ways that arrogance, deception, or cruelty can tinge and distort even my very best efforts. Lord, humble me and help me, I pray, to become more like You. Amen.

Mar 28 — Proverbs 5:1-23

SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 5:1-23

OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
1. “The adultress” symbolizes all sexual sin. This is not just the problem of immoral women, in fact many who have turned to prostitution have done so because they could not otherwise survive in a male-dominated world, and because men were perversely asking for this kind of pleasure.
2. “Drip honey… bitter as gall”. Sexual sin is like this, it looks and feels so good beforehand, but afterward leaves a bitter taste. It never satisfies, and many who have looked for pleasure or meaning through sexual encounters end up moving beyond, to more perverse behaviours, more destructive, leaving a trail of victims in their wake.
3. “Lest you give the best of your strength to others”. Sexual sin actually drains us, keeps us from experiencing all that God has in mind for us. People lose what they have for things they cannot keep. “At the end of your life”. Only in hindsight do many realize how they ruined their life, and the lives of others. Huge regrets!
4. “Drink water from your own cistern”, an analogy that means, look to your own spouse for pleasure and meaning. Appreciate what you have, don’t buy into the lie of greener pastures elsewhere. You will be disappointed!
5. “A man’s ways are in full view of the Lord”. God sees our actions, but also our thought-life. He sees everything, but not to judge us, but because he loves us, is concerned for us. He is constantly warning us, trying to get us to see, using our circumstances to help us come to our senses. There is no hiding sexual sin, it will be exposed one day. Yet so many people are living a double-life, thinking that their sins are secret!
6. “Cords of sin hold him fast”. Sexual addiction is a bondage, and many people (many men, in my experience) are secretly ensnared, living the double life, hating yet continuing this unhealthy, harmful and sinful lifestyle. We are fools to think that we, or our children, or our friends, are immune. People you know are sexually addicted!

PRAYER:
Lord, of all Satan’s tools, sexual sin is one of his most effective. There are so many victims and slaves of sexual sin. Weare confronted by sexually explicit images, or clothing styles EVERYWHERE. Many are being lured in to their destruction. Help me, help us all, to take this seriously, and to resist the devil’s lies! Amen.

Mar 27 — Proverbs 4:1-27

SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 4:1-27

OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
1. “Listen to a father’s instruction”. The father expresses his heart concern for his son, please heed this advice! He then shares how his own father (David) had done the same thing to him (“when I was a boy”).
2. The advice is twofold – seek wisdom with all your heart, and avoid folly and the ways of the reckless. The reason is because, in the long run, wisdom has better results than folly (“the path of the righteous… the way of the wicked”).
3. “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life”. This is the most important advice. We live (and speak and react) from the heart, though many of us are unaware of it. We spend too much time reacting to the surface stuff of life, while neglecting the inner self. What we feel, fear and desire deep within is what drives us. We live too fast, bounce from experience to experience, distract ourselves with momentary pleasures… all the while the inner self is shrinking, dying, longing.
4. The most important aspect of life is the heart, and it explains everything about us. It was designed for God, it is desperate without Him, it is stained and distorted by sin, it is looking for love, but in all the wrong places. If we could better understand the heart (what it was made for, how it is affected by sin, what it needs), we could better undertsand why people do what they do (or don’t do).
5. Solomon’s advice is needed again today. More than anything else we need to address the issues of the heart. But the focus today is on experience, pleasure, doing what feels good, amusing ourselves to death. We are arranging table displays on board the Titanic, while ignoring the huge gash in the hull.
6. “Let you eyes loo straight ahead…” It takes huge determination to stay focused on the heart. So many things draw our attention away. No time for heart concerns, I’ve got bills to pay, meetings to attend, events to drive my kids to, TV shows to watch, friends to visit, “toys” to buy, duties to fulfill, etc. Too busy, too distracted to deal with what really matters.

PRAYER:
Lord, I can see this in myself so much. I am constantly distracted from the discipline of what is important, driven by the tyranny of the urgent while neglecting the quiet but critical important stuff. Save me from myself, Lord, and from my folly. Amen.

Mar 26 — Proverbs 3:21-35

SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 3:21-35

OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
1. Solomon gives examples of God’s kind of wisdom: “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it”; “Do not plot harm against your neighbour”; “Do not envy a violent man”. He follows these observations with reasons against these examples of folly.
2. “My son, preserve…” This suggests that we cannot passively hope to grow in wisdom, we must actively take steps to stand in wisdom, to learn from it. We must seek first, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, the wisdom and the truth of God. It does cry out loud enough to be heard, but there are so many distractions, and our fingers are often in our ears, that we do not hear its call.
3. “The Lord will be your confidence”. Those who are cruel, greedy, impatient, deceptive, immoral, etc. often find themselves lacking confidence. Their actions may provide temporary relief of pleasure, but in time they are unsettled, nervous, anxious. Like the person who lies, they must now try to keep their lies intact, and are always walking on eggshells to make sure they are not found out. Solomon advises that we live according to God’s will, then even if we lack confidence elsewhere, we will have it in Him.
4. “Have no fear…” This sounds like Jesus, “do ot be afraid”. It is not because there are no frightening situations out there, its just that we are sticking close to the one Who is bigger than all those frightening situations. Like the childrens’ song says, “God is bigger than the bogey man, He’s bigger than godzilla or the monster on TV.”
5. “The Lord’s curse… He blesses…” God does not arbitrarily or vengefully place His curse on whoever might displease or reject Him. God is not like that. His curse has to rest on those who oppose Him, because what they are doing is evil. Abuse is evil, how can He bless them? Selfishness, greed, lust, lack of compassion, these are all awful realities, how can He not curse those who delight in these things.
6. Am I taking enough time to meditate on these truths? Wisdom fills the pages of the Bible, but it does not simply come to those who open it or read it, they must delight in it, diligently seek it out, hunger and thirst for it, meditate on it. But here I am rushing out these meditations, meeting a deadline. Am I really spending time listening to You, learning from what I am reading?

PRAYER:
Lord, thank You again for Your patience with me. Thank You for reminding me to slow down, and do these devotions reflectively, slowly, with all my heart. Help me to hear You, to enjoy being with You, and to renew my love for You. Amen.

Mar 25 — Proverbs 3:1-20

SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 3:1-20

OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
1. “Bind them around your neck”. Solomon urges us to cling to wisdom and truth, love and faithfulness, to bind ourselves to them, to let nothing get in the way of our living according to them.
2. “They will prolong your years and bring you prosperity.” If we seek wisdom first we will reap the harvest of righteousness. This whole section repeats in various ways how it pays to fear God and follow His wisdom. This does not guarantee temporal wealth (that may come, and go), but ultimate wealth and blessing. Whatever wealth we do receive in this life we also need to dedicate to the Lord, for He is still our ultimate concern and goal.
3. “Lean not on your own understanding.” Our own perception of wisdom and truth is flawed, we need to measure it by the ultimate standard. It is not wise to trust our own judgment, we need to seek God’s wisdom, either directly through prayer and Bible reading, or through others. Unfortunately, we are too often not willing to listen to others, nor to discern what God may be saying in the critical, challenging words of others.
4. “By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations.” Everything in this world follows the wisdom of God, it is built right into the very fabric of creation. “You reap what you sow” is not just religious truth, it is creational truth, it applies to all aspects of life. We should not separate between religious and normal, everyday truth or wisdom.
5. I am in a place right now where I need to seek God’s wisdom, but its not always easy to apply to specific situations. I am listening to what others are saying, paying attention to the words of the Bible, and praying through my thoughts, feelings and intuitions. I want to trust with all my heart, and to acknowledge Him in all my ways. In the end I have to make a decision, and trust….

PRAYER:
Lord, I commit myself again today for seeking You and Your righteousness first. All else in life is secondary, next to knowing, loving and serving You first. Into Your hands I entrust my decisions. Amen.

Mar 24 — Proverbs 2:1-22

SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 2:1-22

OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
1. Solomon believes that the person who humbly, honestly, sincerely and seriously seeks wisdom and truth will find out how right and good God and His ways are.
2. Wisdom and truth (intergrity) is more important than wealth and happiness. People often pursue wealth and happiness, but do so in a way that undermines their character and integrity. In the end you ‘treasures’ will evaporate and the sandy foundation beneath your palace will collapse.
3. So what really drives me? Do I value wisdom more than popularity, more than public acclaim, more than electronic gadgest? There are many ‘treasures’ that we can become devoted to, and all the while be ignorant to deeper character, integrity, truth or wisdom issues.
4. We are tempted to use power (trickery, violence, cruelty) or pleasure (seduction, enticement) to find wealth and happiness, but those paths lead to ruin.
5. Those who choose God’s way (character, integrity, truth, wisdom) will in the end remain firm. They may lose out on wordly success, they may face ridicule, they may have a tough life, but in the end they will survive and thrive. Those who seek short term success will experience long term suffering, but those who endure short term suffering will experience long term success.
6. Am I being enticed by power or pleasure? I have used by ‘power’ (opportunity, control, knowledge) to try to control others for my own benefit. And I have been enticed by ‘pleasure’ (comfort, ease, desires) to settle for less than God’s will, because for the moment it feels good.

PRAYER:
Lord, I sense that I am being enticed by the “easy way out”, but I also sense that there is no easy way out. In the end I need to do what You want me to do. Please help me to know what that is, or to trust that You will make Your will known to me whatever path I choose. Amen.