Devotion.al

Year: 2019

  • Full Joy

    Psalm 126, Isaiah 12:1–6

    Around Christmas, is used a lot. Many Christmas songs use the , a lot. What is joy? Without defining it, we leave it to the world to define it for us, which is dangerous, for the world misses so much without God. For us, we need to look at joy as a deep-seated emotion that provides assurance, resolve, positive outlook, and is – through building up of self and and is based upon the and nature of God—, Son, and .

    Is this an all-encompassing understanding of joy? Probably not. In fact, joy is often used, even in Scripture, to mean something different. This is why it is so important to set our expectations for joy and what we are actually looking for when we seek joy.

    True joy is fully dependent upon our with God. A person who touches on the joy of God (such as having children) gets a taste, but it is not the full expression of joy. In many respects, we will not fully understand joy in this life. Even the most devout believer still only gets a taste of joy on this side of things. So, imagine the person who doesn’t have that depth with God. The “taste” they get is even less than the taste experienced by believers. It makes sense that joy is often confused in the world.

    1. Why should we put such a strong point of God being integral to joy?
    2. If you were to the definition of joy given about, what would you add, remove, or change?
    3. Why is it important to look for joy?

  • Hope and Fulfillment

    Psalm 33:16–22, Luke 21:25–28, Titus 2:13–3:7 (read online ⧉)

    Waiting is hard. The psalmist is waiting for God. The psalmist grasps the that an army—no matter how big and powerful—will not save a soul. Such an army might save the wellbeing, but physical wellbeing is not the ultimate goal of God’s . Often God will on our physical circumstances. That doesn’t reduce the importance of the eternal in salvation. It actually emphasizes it. The other—perhaps more important—piece is that the physical saving is a moment in time, while salvation is eternal and timeless. That salvation is both a moment in time (i.e., when we “were saved”) and is ongoing (i.e., we are still being and will continue being saved) is at the heart of understanding God’s own nature.

    When Jesus “arrived”, the people were waiting for the Messiah. Some were waiting in optimism (i.e., “wouldn’t it be nice if the Messiah showed up?”). were waiting in (i.e, “God has saved us before. God will save us again.”). While Jesus was walking on the Earth, he conveyed that (such as we just read) that his time then was, even as Messiah, a foreshadowing of his final return, which would unite all of with God. So, even while fulfilling the hopes of the Messiah, there was still more to come! There was still more to wait for!

    understands this as he refers to his “present ” with the acknowledgement that Jesus would return. Paul had missed Jesus on Earth. Yes, he had had a -changing encounter with Jesus, but it wasn’t the same as the other Apostles had had. For Paul, Jesus’ return was hope and fulfillment. As Jesus would be returning, Paul wanted everyone to be encouraged to continue on. He didn’t want them to lose heart or hope. For Paul, and any Christian, Jesus’ return is always just around the corner.

    1) What do you hope for? Is it hope, or is it optimistic wishing?

    2) How does the timelessness of salvation affect hope?

    3) Why do you think so many people concern themselves with the exact date of Jesus’ return?

  • Anticipatory Expectation

    Romans 8:18–25, Revelation 5:1–10 (read online ⧉)

    What are we expecting? What are we anticipating? Expectation and anticipation are not always positive, as we often “” for the other shoe to drop. It is in this mindset that anxiety can step in and take over us.

    is personified in Paul’s text. This anthropomorphic thinking of Creation puts a different spin on things. We could then get in line with those that say things link, “Mother Nature is angry at humanity.” Almost. Environmental degradation was not a strong concern in Paul’s era. However, people did experience hurricanes, cyclones, severe storms, ice, hail, volcanoes, earthquakes, etcetera. When we think of these severe events, we can sympathize with Paul’s thinking.

    What is more interesting is the implication of Paul’s words. You see, it is not just about us. We finite creations are not all that are affected by sin. All of creation was affected. The Fall of humanity was not just about humanity, but the consequence that was then delivered to all of creation. In the carol, to the World, we sing:
       No more let sins and sorrows ,
         Nor thorns infest the ground;
    He comes to make his flow
    Far as the curse is found.

    The infestation of thorns (and weeds), plus the sweat now required of humanity to farm, and even the fact that creatures eat one another, are all signs of fallen creation. All of Creation waits to be restored, too.

    That restoration is at the core of John’s of Heaven. The Seven-Sealed Scroll was the fulfillment of all from Heaven to Earth. We can understand that in John’s vision, the scroll not being opened meant that God’s plan wouldn’t/couldn’t be fulfilled for just the brief moment. That brief moment is all that it takes to get that “drop in the stomach” feeling of loss. If all were truly based on a scroll, then hope would be pointless. True hope relies not on the scroll, but on . Heaven and Earth rejoice, indeed.

    1) Are you constantly waiting for the “other shoe to drop”? If no, how do you plan for and thrive beyond things to go bad? If yes, how do you under all that emotional weight?

    2) Do you think it is important that Creation is waiting, too? Why or why not?

  • Stand On Hope

    Isaiah 26:1–6, Psalm 18:1–9, Nehemiah 6:15–16 (read online ⧉)

    What is hope? Hope is knowing deeper than deep that God has got your back. The struggle for us is that having our back doesn’t always mean avoiding or consequences.

    Isaiah’s of Jersualem is that of a city that can withstand whatever the world can throw at it. It will be occupied by a nation. Characteristics of this nation are righteous, , God-reliant, peaceful, , humble. These are to be the universal attributes of those who themselves God’s.

    God is the rock of hope. This hope is not bound in the world’s hopes of , things, power, or influence, but solely on God’s , , and . As God is everlasting, God-ly hope will not fade away. The world’s hopes, along with the world itself, will pass away.

    God as rock (i.e., foundation) and walls, we can “stand on” God and are protected by God. Often the times we are truly aware of God is when it is only God’s foundation and protective walls keep us safe.

    1) Why is foundation and wall so integral to hope?

    2) What do you think of these characteristics of the nation in Isaiah’s vision?

    3) How are ways you can explain God-ly hope versus worldly hope?

  • Stars of Hope

    Genesis 22:15–18, Deuteronomy 1:10, Isaiah 54:1–10, Romans 4:13–25 (read online ⧉)

    Twice God promised Abraham (and once for Jacob) that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. Imagine all the stars without our modern lights drowning them out. For Abraham that was a beyond expectation, and certainly beyond anything that God needed to promise for Abraham’s obedience. God made this promise of God’s own free will.

    As inheritor’s of God’s promise, Moses reminded the Israelites of God’s promise prior to their entry into the Promised Land. The Israelites were the result of Abraham’s . That God was gave them as they entered the promised land, as long as they listened to God.

    Often keeping the of hope going is a challenge while everyone else’s seems to be a huge successful bonfire. The promise of uncountable descendants is extraordinarily painful when one is childless. Isaiah speaks of Israel that has no children. This symbolic Israel is God’s faithful bride. She has no children of , for they have all left the faith. The enemies of and in the world have drawn her offspring away from the Water of Life. God, however, promises the now barren Israel will have innumerable children.

    This is what Paul is referring to as the Promise of Faith. Being the of Nations (Abraham) is no longer an issue of blood, but the fulfillment of the faith that Abraham showed to God and those that put their hope in Jesus. Through Jesus, we all become part of “the blood” of Abraham, and part of the “nations” that he fathered.

    1) Why do you think Isaiah used barren as a of hope?

    2) Why is important to recall the fulfilled promises of God? What does it do for us?

    FD) Why do you think hope often symbolized by a flame?

  • Deepest Hope

    1 Samuel 1:12–20, 2 Kings 4:8–17, Hebrews 11:32–40 (read online ⧉)

    For many people having a child is the deepest yearning that they have. Not everyone is able to have children. Some have gone through miscarriages. Many more have gone through stillbirths. Still more lose their children when they were young. When dreams of our deepest longings are destroyed, often soon follows.

    Hannah was not able to conceive. This created a trial for her. Her fellow wife made her miserable and used her own children as emotional weapons against Hannah. Hannah’s husband probably felt as lost as Hannah did. While he did have children with his other wife, his hurt for Hannah. It would seem, on its surface, to not have been the best experience between Hannah and Eli. In fact, Eli did not seem to be much of a spiritual counselor, but more like a grumpy old man. Regardless, Hannah took something away from that encounter, and the weight in her heart was cast off. She had hope.

    The Shunammite woman (oddly, never named), too, wish for a child. In an echo of Abraham and Sarah, apparently he (at least) was old. A child seemed out of reach. In the case of Hannah, wasn’t mentioned, implying that she would be unable to explain the situation. The Shunammite woman, on the other hand, had a rationale for her lack of hope. She “knew” that things had passed a point of no . Elisha was able to restore that hope with a . What she had experienced with Elisha is open for thought. Whatever her experience with him allowed her to his words, and to have hope.

    The author of Hebrews is trying to instill this same kind of hope into believers who are feeling under pressure and persecution. The writer, through the examples given, shows that God is of having hope in. Not the weak hope of a wish, but the firm hope of knowing that God is there, and working in and through all things, even when we don’t understand, and especially when it is scary and it hurts.

    1) Have you ever had a hard time you had to have hope in God to make it through? What was it like to have that hope?

    2) What do you think the key to having hope and trust in the darkest parts of ?

    3) Why do you think “ to life” is important concept in hope?

    FD) What do you do to have hope when you are struggling?

  • Hope in Death

    Isaiah 4:2–6, Romans 6:1–11 (read online ⧉)

    If you have been steeped in thinking you can read this passage as an obvious foreshadowing of the Messiah (). Let’s our Christian thinking, and look at this from a beaten and downtrodden people. This passage provided beyond the for them.

    The dark times (exile) could not be avoided. In fact, they were guaranteed. The Israelites had to go through the darkness of purification. It was only going through some sort of refining process that they would be stripped of all that had gotten them to the place of exile in the first place.

    Exile in some respects was indeed a death. It was to be the death of all that separated them from God. uses the image of the crucifixion to do much the same thing. There is a definite parallel between the death of Jesus on the cross and the exile.

    It is what is beyond the exile (just as what is beyond the cross) that is the true hope. The place and time where we are restored and all that we have done and left undone is erased. No more being stuck. Moving with God.

    1) Moving forward in hope is the great that God. What hope has God given you?

    2) Hope can be fleeting. What can you do in your , and the lives of , to build up hope?

    FD) Can you explain what hope is?

  • Hope Together

    1 Chronicles 29:14–19, Psalm 31, Isaiah 2:1–5 (read online ⧉)

    It is pretty universal across humanity for people to question their value and their purpose. In the ancient world, the view of gods was often not particularly positive. Much of the activity was done to appease the wrathful gods and to “bribe” them enough to maybe get what was desired. The progressive understanding of the Israelites was that while God required sacrifice it was much more than that.

    David rarely seemed to view himself particularly highly (which have actually been a problem, at times). This gave David an interesting insofar as he knew that while God had chosen him (and his ), he didn’t take it for granted. He was grateful and amazed. In addition, part of his history (and that of Israel) was one of constant strife with the nations around them, and often at the losing .

    It was the non-losing end that remained the underlying story of the Israelites…hope. David understood that while Israel was often in trouble, often through its own misbehavior, with God’s selection of David and his family that there was indeed hope that the people would finally be unified. Through unification, perhaps the people of Israel would finally be strong enough to stand against the forces around them.

    Regardless, for David at least, it all relied on God. While David and his military might could protect the to some degree, it was only through God’s mighty hand and care that the nation, and its people, would thrive. In Psalm 31, David calls upon God’s faithful . Foreshadowing a significant event in the death of his descendant, David wrote, “…into your hand I entrust my spirit.” Hope and trust in God are what allows us to continue in when we cannot see in the dark.

    Isaiah’s vision shows us that even then God was looking forward to everyone worshiping God with each other. This would cross national, ethnic, language, and cultural barriers. This hope, of a world in worship of God, is what we have to share with those who don’t know God. Let us take the of hope forward into our lives.
    1) Have you ever questioned your value or purpose? What do David’s words say to that?

    2) Why is entrusting yourself to God such an important perspective?

    3) There is more than just worship involved in Isaiah’s vision? What else is there?

    FD) What do you think David means by trusting his spirit to God?