Devotion.al

Year: 2019

  • Be Strange

    Joshua 7:3–15, 1 Thessalonians 4:1–12

    The pivotal in the book Dune at one point talks about having a “stamp of strangeness” put upon him. This stamp was definitely a different context, yet “stamp of strangeness” was and is exactly what God does to us when he calls us and we accept him.

    When the Israelites are finally about to enter the Promised Land, God calls on the Israelites to consecrate themselves. In other words, they were to emotionally, spiritually, and physically themselves for the work (taking, living, and thriving) in the Promised Land. This means that Egypt was a closed door. This means that they were to be separate even from their “relatives” (i.e., the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother). They were to be strange.

    later tells the Thessalonians to be strange, too. In this passage, there is a cultural battle they are facing. In their larger culture, it wasn’t uncommon that a man had a wife (often a political or social marriage), a lover (intellectual and/or sexual), a concubine (generally an indentured servant or slave), and a prostitute. A man would be considered to have at least 3 of these, and potentially more (e.g., the number of concubines and prostitutes could vary). In some areas, this was encouraged. Heterosexual monogamy was strange. It doesn’t appear that there were specific issues that Paul was addressing, but an attitude and . Just like the Israelites, Christians were to be strange.

    Due to frailty, we often don’t want to be strange. We want to be normal. We want to fit it. While it is important to have non- friends and acquaintances, it is due to the expectation of being strange that means we (as Christians) must have Christians in our most intimate (non-sexual) where we are held accountable and hold others accountable.

    When we read Paul’s words today, they are strange yet again. The world is heading toward (and arguably is) a society of relationships that are not in line with God’s (especially sexually). One can point to a huge number of issues (and it’s not one or two) that are not only opposed to created intent but are also being found to inhibit or damage real relationships with people. Paul addresses that, too, when he talks about behaviors damaging others in the , and they don’t have to be participants to be damaged.

    All believers are called to be progressively sanctified. In other words, part of our Christian journey to be continually shaped by the Holy Spirit into the image of Christ in partnership with fellow maturing believers. The “stamp of strangeness” grows stronger, and becomes a cross to bear in the world of the transforming nature of God.

    1) What are you actively doing to place yourself in an authentic accountable relationship? If nothing, what is holding you back?

    2) The world speaks and trumpets individuality. However, the world only celebrates “safe” individuality. What makes “Christian” individuality dangerous? Is there really such a thing is a Christian individual apart from the body of Christ?

    3) Thinking to the separation aspect, what is a place in your life that you need more separation from the world?

  • Not Anything; Something

    Ruth 1:2–18, 2 Samuel 15:19–37, Matthew 19:16–30

    Something more. Something greater than ourselves. That kind of thing calls to us very deeply. In this modern world, we have a greater amount of to find that “something”. There is an argument that the only reason that we have that “freedom” is that we have so much more free time and wealth. The sad is that as a whole people work far longer hours with less vacation than other places in the world (even many “non-free” countries).

    A recent comparison came out, showing that Americans work far more and fill their lives with far more than serfs did centuries ago. Serfs weren’t known to live easy lives, have much wealth, or much freedom, but they did have time.

    What did they do with that time? Many of them belonged to (not just lived in) their . They had places of connection and . There were definitely downsides, but that people that were barely above indentured servitude had more time than we do says a lot about our technology and “labor-saving” devices.

    We are often called to something greater than ourselves, but we seem almost afraid of it. The increase of loneliness, anxiety, and depression are all psychologically, emotionally and spiritually connected to the lack of the “something”.

    Ruth, Ittai of Gath, ‘ disciples all made a decision to up what they knew and had, even at great cost. All were facing the unknown. They chose to follow and anyways.

    1) The rich young ruler/man was given a choice and made a different one than our other examples. How often are we the rich young ruler, rather that one of the ?

    2) What can you do to help others connect to something greater than themselves? What can we do as to help others connect to something greater than themselves?

    3) Because we belong to “the ” we often think that we belong to something greater than ourselves (we do). However, we often still behave as if we don’t belong to that “something” and that it is at best inconvenient to be reminded that we do. Why do you think that is?

  • The New Healing Miracles

    2 Kings 4:18–37, 2 Kings 5:1–14, Mark 10:46–52, James 5:13–18

    We are embodied creatures. In other words, our bodies are part of our being, well-being, and attitudes. When it isn’t well, it is harder for our perspectives to be positive or good. We have to work harder, pray harder, trust more to be -filled when our bodies aren’t functioning.

    The are filled with miraculous healings. The Shunammite woman’s (who was a miracle as it was) being raised to . Naaman’s of leprosy by washing in the river. The blind man being able to see. There was so much healing going on.

    Today, however, there does not seem to be as much. There are the charlatans who “heal” in Jesus while emptying wallets. The verifiable healings are minimal (there are some). In the developing world, there are verifiable miraculous healings. Now, yes, there are miraculous healings even in the developed world. You may have experienced one yourself. However, they just are not that common.

    One could that (or lack thereof) is the reason, and there is probably in it. Science and medicine, however, have taken the place of miracles. This is not to say that miracles do not occur. It is that because of our faith in medicine, God works through that primarily.

    1) Why do you think God works through modern medicine, instead of miracles, in the developed world?

    2) When James wrote his directive regarding seeking healing many of the ailments easily dealt with today were life-threatening. What does this tell you about seeking healing?

    3) When we credit God for our healing through modern medicine, we still need to be thankful for and grateful to those who are in charge of care, especially for their work, even if they don’t see it that way. How can you do this with those charged for your care?

  • Freedom From Earned

    Genesis 15:1–6, Romans 5:1–11, 1 John 1:5–2:2

    One of the ongoing struggles that people have is earning their . They think they can, or that they must. This is what is often called “works” in circles. Theologians have discussed what “works” is from a more philosophical . Some have argued that Abraham completed a “work” when he believed. Others argue that belief is not a work as it is not an (especially an action to receive something in return).

    Paul follows Abraham when he states that we (Christians) have been declared righteous because of our . Because of that, we have peace between us and God. However, it’s what follows this that starts to cause problems for many. People will wear the costume of endurance, , and , often treating the costume as a way (still) to earn salvation, as if faith is not enough. The other “costume” problem is that we often think of ourselves as never having enough endurance, character or hope. We then conclude we don’t have faith. This is a significant trap. If we have no improvement in the simple things, how could we hope to improve in the harder areas…like sin.

    There is great freedom, if we accept in, in John’s words. There is a statement of fact: we have sinned. However, the forgiveness of our sins doesn’t rely on our effort (our works). It relies on ‘ sacrifice. We are to trust (i.e., have faith) that it is enough. “Works” as help us train our minds and hearts away from wrong behavior. “Works” cannot us.

    1) What good are works (yes, there is good)? What is bad with works?

    2) Why do you think it is bad to try to “earn” one’s salvation?

    3) Why do you think Paul echoed Abraham’s story? Do you think his audience connected the stories?

  • Paths To Choose

    1 Samuel 5:1–6:12, Jeremiah 42:1–43:7

    Asking God what to do can be a “dangerous” . It may lead to something that puts you outside of your zone. It can also be the most fulfilling thing you ever do.

    Fulfilling God’s plans sometimes means that you don’t know you’re doing it. Let’s take the story of the Ark in the land of the Philistines. The precursor to this story is that the Israelites acted more like the Ark was a lucky rabbit’s foot, rather than a very symbol (and place of interaction) with God. The Ark, and by extension with God, was not taken seriously. So, the Israelites didn’t keep it.

    The Philistines took it as a war trophy, displaying it before the of their god (Dagon). It went downhill from there. The consequence of their behavior was unpleasant. The war trophy became a symbol of a contagion to be avoided. The Philistines no longer wanted the war trophy. The priests of Dagon and the diviners (i.e., established non-friends of God) came up with a offering and a test.

    The cows took the Ark back to the Israelites. After all of that, God’s plan and God’s was revealed. Yet, the Philistines, with all of that, went back to their old ways. How often are we just like them?

    The leaders seeking to escape the coming conquest asked for guidance and provided assurance that they would follow it. They heard it and got angry. They asked for guidance and did what was contrary to it. To add insult to injury, one infers that Jeremiah didn’t exactly go happily with them to Egypt. He went in obedience. What a mess.

    The story of the Philistines and the exiles has a similarity…God’s plan and was right in front of them…they chose their own path.

    1) Have you ever asked God for guidance/plan? What happened?

    2) While it’s easy to judge the Philistines and the Israelites for their decisions, what reasons can you think of for their decisions? Have you used similar though processes for your own decisions?

  • Resurrection Avoidance

    Acts 24:14–21, 1 Corinthians 15:29–38, 1 Peter 1:13–25

    . It’s kind of important to what it means to be a Christian. However, in our scientific , it’s often hard to convince non-believers of it, and even a lot of -goers (who do call themselves Christian) struggle with believing it. Why is it? Really, it’s kind of unbelievable from a scientific point of view.

    When Luke (Acts), (Corinthians), Peter (Peter) wrote the Resurrection was abnormal, but it wasn’t out of the realm of all religions. In fact, a Jewish group (the Pharisees) did believe in the resurrection of the dead (Paul was one of them). It was a point of argument between Jewish groups. Roman and Greek religion had a form of afterlife (the Elysian fields or Hades, depending on your ). Again, the Resurrection wasn’t that odd.

    It is now. The Resurrection of (and, by extension, us) is a core belief of Christianity. Yet, people try not to talk about it. They avoid it. How can we avoid this? It is to avoid uncomfortable topics, especially when we struggle believing them.

    A better question of the era is if you do believe in the Resurrection, what does that mean for you in the here and now? That, my friends, is quite the question, and it is definitely worth wrestling with. Far too many Christians, for far too many years, believed that once they “surrendered” to Jesus, they got the Resurrection in . Which is true, to a great extent. It is also sadly mistaken from a complete Christian life sense.

    The Resurrection life is not a future life (after we’re dead), it is a life that is to empower us for the now.

    1) What do you think the Resurrection Life looks like?

    2) Why do you think people skip to the (the Resurrection Life), rather than the now?

    3) Do you believe in the Resurrection? How would you defend it, if it came up in ?

  • God’s Broken People

    2 Samuel 13:11–39, Ephesians 4:13–19

    Parenting is hard. Parents struggle with their own failures personally and with their children. For the deeply afflicted parent (and child), parenting is not just brutal, but it is unending pain. For a normal parent, having children is a blessing and one of the hardest jobs ever (there is a harder one, but that is for another time).

    David—the so-called man after God’s own —was actually a pretty bad father at times, maybe even a lot of the times. This story is actually heartbreaking. Quite heartbreaking. Disgusting, nauseating, and so on. It is also another example that the don’t hide the brutal failure of humanity to live up to its potential.

    What was David thinking to just things remain? Why did he do nothing? Doing nothing may have been David’s greatest fault. Maybe. That his children, less Solomon, had gotten to the states they were in says much about the guidance he provided to the next generation. If there had been one “bad apple”, perhaps there wouldn’t such a disastrous tale. On the other hand, we cannot pin the sins of the sons on the father. They chose their path.

    It is hard as a parent to not blame oneself for the resulting lives of one’s children. Parents may try to harden their hearts as their children make -altering decisions, but the hardened heart is only on the outside as their hearts ache on the inside. It’s not that David’s heart didn’t ache. As we look at his story, how would we have behaved?

    Would ‘s “speaking the truth in ” made a difference here? How about building each other up? ? Promoting the growth for building up in love? These are all questions that the church—you—needs to wrestle with. The reality is that the world is full of broken people. Lots of them. In fact, there are probably a few such broken people in our framily. There might be some in your family. You might be broken. It’s not whether you know, , interact with people who are broken…it’s how many.

    1) Brokenness equals hurt. We are all hurting. Thinking about Paul, what can we do help our fellow broken beings?

    2) We evaluate people and their stories by our story. How can that help us help them? How can it keep us from helping them?

    3) Paul’s words about building up are especially true when talking about our hurts and the hurts of . What do Paul’s words teach about walking with others in the midst of their (and our) brokenness?

  • Sign of the Flesh

    Joshua 5:1–9

    You’ve been literally following (cloud by day; by night) God for 40 years. In that time, you’ve eaten mysterious white stuff that shows up at dawn and melts by noon. Your clothes and sandals don’t wear out. Water mysteriously appears in the desert. In other words, 40 years of nothing much. Nothing much? Seriously? Isn’t just that short list above enough? Apparently not.

    The of circumcision between God and Abraham was abandoned. Many scholars have concluded that as circumcision was also practiced by the Egyptians, there was some sort of circumcision ban for the Israelites. While the do not say that, there was an issue revolving around Moses’ not being circumcised (Exodus 4:24–26), which would indicate that Moses did not practice it. At the same time, circumcision was part of out the law.

    Despite the Abrahamic covenantal requirement. Despite its requirement for Passover, being part of the tribe, or participating in the communal religious , circumcision wasn’t being done. Were the Israelites completely clueless, including Moses? One could argue that the adults were circumcised. They just didn’t circumcise their sons (i.e., pass on the and covenant). Is that really any better?

    What was God thinking? Throughout the journey, the Israelites were tested and tried. Yet, circumcision didn’t come up. Other tests of faith occurred, but this still didn’t come up. It almost seems that God wrote them off…not completely, but that they had lost their place as THE people who went into the Promised Land.

    In a blood (blood representing life), the Israelite males were circumcised. God’s words made it clear that the time of the desert journey was over. There was a new path and a new journey before the Israelites. It was now the next generation’s responsibility to carry things , and the did. However…

    “That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors. After them, another generation rose up who did not know the LORD or the works he had done for Israel.” —Judges 2:10

    1) Traditions and habits intended to develop and trained often get tossed aside because they are the “old way”. What traditions and habits have you dismissed?

    2) We are quick to see our traditions and habits being discarded, but fail to see those that we discarded. Why is that?

    3) New traditions and habits can be just as powerful as old ones. What new ones can you help to build and pass on?

    4) No or habit is any good unless effectively passed on to the next generation of believers. What will you do to pass it on?