Devotion.al

  • Blessed Title

    Luke 1:39–45, Luke 11:27–28

    Mary was indeed blessed to be ‘ mother. In fact, like many mothers, she was blessed. Motherhood is a . It can be a huge blessing. It is also a heavy weight to carry.

    It is a blessing to be a mom. Yet, often the title of mother takes over the person, to where who the person was before being a mom disappears.

    The reality is that this occurs with many positions and roles: president, general, governor, and so on. The person who was gets lost in the position. We can see it on the news with the behavior of many (more than 4 or 5) world leaders. We see it with celebrities and company executives. People forget the person they were.

    Titles are great, but titles are nothing in the of Heaven.

    “…blessed are those who the of God and keep it…”

    1)Have you have pursued a title or position that you wanted really badly? How did the pursuit go?

    2) Have you ever defined yourself by your roles, career, or titles? Why? Which one means the most to you?

  • Long Haul Saving

    Numbers 21:4–9, Galatians 5:22–24, 2 Corinthians 6:3–13

    The story is of the staff is fascinating, and we can see its long-reaching effects even today (look at many ambulances). However, as fun as that might be, we need to talk about one of the underlying causes of the tale…the impatience of the Israelites.

    In many ways, the tale of the Israelites is like a long car ride with children…are we there yet?
    One commentator pointed out that the staff forced the Israelites to stop looking down at the world and their problems, and look up to God for . Seems pretty poetic when we look at it that way.
    In many respects, the impatience of the Israelites was based upon them looking at their situation, and thinking it has to be better than this. They spoke against God and Moses. Now, in earlier devotionals and during the sermon series on suffering, we talked/read/listened to how God can handle our anger. For those who are parents and have withstood their children’s anger, imagine what it took God to get to this point.

    The Israelites were impatient to get to this great home that they had been promised and had been told about for generations. Knowing the active imaginations of today, what “fairy” tales and legends did they hear or invent. Maybe none. The tale that brought the promise was already pretty impressive.
    If we take a step back, however, from the Israelites, we can see that while the Israelites are on a quest to “go home”, for God this is where they belong to be the (foreshadowed) in the . Israel was an ancient thoroughfare. By being where they were, they could (if they were ) be able to share God with the ancient world. Granted, they did. Imagine, however, what could have happened if they had truly trusted and waited on God. In other words, what if they had been patient (not just in the story from Exodus), and had let God’s (good) plan for them unfold.

    Patience is not a any of us like, and often don’t like to live. We often are impatient to do something, when patience could have done it better. When speaks of patience as a fruit of the spirit, he is talking about the Spirit. As a child of God, you have the Holy Spirit working inside of you. That means you have patience. That doesn’t mean you like it. However, patience (and long-suffering) are key tools for missions and outreach.

    In today’s world, impatient evangelism will not win as many long-term salvations. It is long-term relationships. Are they quick? Nope. The is that we are no longer at a cultural point where quick evangelism will work. The “ground” is hard, rocky, and/or filled with weeds. It will take a very long time to work the ground into what it could (and should) be…fertile ground for the Word of God.

    The fruit the spirit is for the , not to say, yay, we made it. The mission is to reach people for Christ. When it comes to the Gospel, patience isn’t a virtue, it is a necessity.

    1) What is the dark side of patience? What problems for sharing the Gospel can too much patience create?

    2) Who is someone you are being patient with? Why?

    3) Do you think it is true that the fruit of the spirit is for the mission? Why or why not?

    4) What do you think was the mission of the people of Israel?

  • Overwhelming River

    Ezekiel 47:1–12, 2 Corinthians 3:17–4:1, Matthew 28:16–20

    This image of the River of Life spreading out into the world provides us something to reflect upon. The further the river gets from the of God, the wider and deeper it gets. Eventually, it takes the Dead Sea and makes it water, too. In the case of the Dead Sea, there is an echo of and resurrection…from death to life, and not just any life, a Godly life.

    The “four” walls of the church building should be so filled with the Spirit that it should be overflowing into the in which it sits. These walls are not meant to be containers, keeping the Holy Spirit captive or “preserved”, but enabling each of us to take this concentration of the Holy Spirit out into the world with us.

    If there is to be where the Holy Spirit is moving, why does it often feel as if we are trapped in church? If there is freedom, why do we seem unable (or unwilling) to be able to share it?

    The church (which has been said time and time again) is not the building (though we often like it). The church is the people. The freedom of the Holy Spirit enables us to freely share the and the of Christ. However, we continually put on the chains that weigh us down, whether fear or pride or something else. We certainly don’t act free.

    Therein lies the problem. We have been commissioned to take the Gospel to our families, our neighbors, our communities, our cities, our counties, our state, our , our continent, our world. It is not a commission we can decline, for God has already commissioned us. We are plan A–Z.

    1) Do you feel free in the Holy Spirit? What does that mean to you?

    2) What are your thoughts about the River of Life being deeper and wider away from the temple of God? What does that mean in regards to how you live?

    3) You have been commissioned. What is your response to that? How do you fulfill your commission? How do you see others fulfilling their commission?

  • No Face Value

    Genesis 20:1–18, 1 Samuel 16:7, Proverbs 21:2, Romans 1: 18–25

    When you look at someone, can you tell they are a Christian? If you can, there are a few reasons why: (1) Pride…yours for God knows and weighs the ; (2) Their and show ; (3) is there a 3rd one?

    In the Scriptures, we are cautioned to not that a person is right with God. Abraham made that mistake and almost caused a man to commit adultery who was innocent. Abraham assumed Abimelech did not God. Abraham may have been right when it came to the surface. However, Abimelech listened to God.

    As a tradition, Christians have taken affirmations of at face value, for the very reason that we do not know the heart. does note in 1 Corinthians 12:3, that no one can say that Jesus is Lord without it being of the . However, in Romans 10:9, Paul also says that we are only saved if we believe in our hearts. One is an outward statement, and the Holy Spirit goes before all. The other is an inward statement that can only be between a person and God.

    There is a lot of finger-pointing in the world, and some of it involves avowed Christians (i.e., people who say they are Christians and/or follow Jesus Christ) pointing at other avowed Christians, and accusing them of apostasy (i.e., false teaching and/or walking away from the faith) or not being Christian. If we take the Scriptures seriously, then accusing another of not being a Christian because they don’t agree with us on certain issues (especially non- issues) is not in line with what the Scriptures say becomes a very dangerous road to walk.

    1) Have you ever accused (whether out loud or in your mind) another person of not being a Christian, when they state they are one?

    2) What are some good ways to engage other Christians regarding important topics on which we disagree?

    3) When should disagreements be brought up, and when should they be left alone?

  • Worship Heart-Fully

    2 Kings 23:4–20, Ezekiel 42:13‭-‬14

    King Josiah had a mess to clean up. Over the years, his kingly predecessors and the priestly predecessors had put a lot of stuff that didn’t belong in the . A lot of it was pieces for worshipping gods instead of worshipping God.

    If you really want to be overwhelmed, number the items, and then realize that the list was summarized (e.g., all the high places from Geba to Beer-sheba). It is not an exhaustive list! There was more that didn’t get listed! How far the people had fallen!

    King Josiah went so far as to desecrate graves so as to totally desecrate all the high places dedicated to other gods. Yet, the underlying story is how the religious leaders had added thing after thing to the temple, and the things they added had nothing to do with worshipping God. All the additions were to worship anything other than God.

    It might seem odd to go from this cleansing to a simple statement about proper priestly behavior in the post-exile temple (our passage in Ezekiel). However, there is something that needs to be addressed. Often, in our zeal (much of this inherited by Puritan thinking) to have a “pure” temple, we “” things because of their association with what we think is contaminated worship.

    Take the clothing of the priests mentioned in Ezekiel. The priests are supposed to wear special clothes that are only to be used during their priestly duties in the temple. If you didn’t catch this, in modern terms, that is seen in Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, some Anglican/Episcopal, some Lutheran, and some Presbyterian churches. The priests/pastors in these traditions will often wear special clothes that are only worn in the . They don’t, for example, wear them to the supermarket.

    Yet, we American “Evangelicals” have inherited a Puritan thought process that opposes such clothing, because the Roman Catholics and Anglicans (the Puritan primary opposition) wore them.

    We have two opposite mindsets presented here, which is something we as Christians and as a church need to think through, not just accept everybody else’s thoughts. “Right” worship has been a long-term issue in the church, from to extemporaneous , no music to A Capella to hymns to contemporary music. It is good and reasonable to ponder what “right” worship looks like. We just have to be careful that we don’t throw out (or bring in) good and/or biblical just because. And we have to be careful not to condemn practices that do just because.

    1) Where do you think you see non-God honoring practices entering worship? What makes it not God-honoring? Is your stance Biblical (find it) or is it cultural?

    2) Where do think more God-honoring practices could be introduced? Why do you think they are not being done? How do they build up the body of believers?

    3) Will adding prescribed and described practices in the Bible necessarily help worship? How do you balance so-called Biblical practices with cultural practices? Are you able to perceive the difference?

  • Who Restores

    Deuteronomy 30:1–5, Jonah 2:2–9, Isaiah 44:24–28

    Have you ever recognized that there is an implied title and of God that gets missed? Restorer.

    We use Healer, often, which is close. Another could be Reconciler. We don’t use Restorer or Reconciler, because in most cases of their use (restore and reconcile), they are verbs, not nouns.

    Yet, restoration and are at the of Jesus. Think of it this way. Through Jesus’ sinless walk on Earth and his sacrificial death on the cross, we are to God (). Through and Jesus’ , we are restored (position) to the “place” we would have had prior to the Fall (Adam and Eve).

    It can be easy to fall into the reconciliation way of thinking, because while on Earth that is both our expectation and our experience.

    We get a taste of restoration in baptism, but it really is a poor experience in comparison to the full restoration once we are in Heaven.

    1) What do you think of restoration and reconciliation?

    2) How do you think restoration and reconciliation work with other people?

    3) We can understand how reconciliation works with our interpersonal . How does restoration work? Thinking about restoration as God restores, is it possible for a damaged relationship to be restored? Why or why not?

  • Right Things

    Isaiah 1:10–31, Habakkuk 1:2–4, Luke 17:5–10

    In many courtrooms, there is an image or a statue of Lady . Lady Justice is the supposed personification of the ideal judicial system: blind (no favoritism), sword (swift and cutting decision), scales (balance of “good” and “”), toga (justice as a philosophy). Most of us recognize that this is the ideal. Every human justice system is exactly that…human.

    Our sense of justice, our philosophy of justice, should be based upon and informed by the . Israel and the Jews would have agreed with that statement in concept. Sadly, just like today, concept and reality are not in line. This is God’s point through Isaiah. All the rites are being followed, but the of God is not. By not fulfilling and following the heart of God, the Jews were spoiling (as in making rotten) their sacrifices to God. Who wants rotten meat?

    There are many cries for justice, and many are good calls. Far too many appear aligned more for political than actual justice. And this is also rotten. Yes, the right thing is being done…for the wrong reason. Or, the right thing is being done but is contaminated by the wrong thing also being done by the same people.

    Habbakuk’s cry out for help sounds like so many people. Really, though, it goes along the line of a person talking to God, “There is so much injustice, cruelty, and in the world. Why aren’t you doing something about it?” Then God responds, “funny, I was going to you the same question.”

    It’s ‘ words, though, that may shine the real on the issue. Pride. Jesus points out that servants should not be seeking praise for fulfilling their duties. Yet, there seems a pervading current of recognition that fills the church.

    1) If we do the right things to the church, are they really the right thing?

    2) If we do the right things to build the Kingdom, are they really the right thing?

    3) If we do the right things because they are what God called us to do, but they don’t build the church, don’t build the kingdom, are they still the right thing?

  • Not All Good

    Lamentations 3:16–33, Job 2:11–13 James 1:9–18

    Wikipedia summarizes Nathan Robinson’s take on platitudes as:
    “A platitude is even worse than a cliché. It’s a sanctimonious cliché, a statement that is not only old and overused but often moralistic and imperious. … [they] have an aphoristic quality, they seem like timeless moral lessons. They therefore shape our view of the world, and can lull us into accepting things that are actually false and .”

    By definition, a platitude is a “flat” saying that sounds significant but isn’t. However, Robinson’s take on the actual use of platitude is significant, especially as we look at Lamentations, or hear the mourning, , and of .

    There is also another piece that Robinson may be unconsciously reacting to is that often platitudes hurt. The receiver of the platitude will often perceive the speaker as unsympathetic or unempathetic, at best, and dismissive or belittling at worst.

    The flip-side of a platitude is actually the heart of the speaker. Sometimes the platitude is to anesthetize the speaker! When they speak a platitude they don’t have to acknowledge the pain of the other or their own pain. Platitudes are often used because people just don’t know what to say, so it’s easier to say something seems helpful or profound (Especially if it sounds like it came from the !) and just move on.

    The writer of Lamentations is miserable! Everything has fallen apart. However, in the midst of their woes, they hold on to God! The really important part to comprehend is not that the lamenter knows why, but that God loves them! The lamenter knows that God is present in the midst of it all.

    Job was in much the same state. What he needed was people to be present. These few verses of Job are the perfect symbol of what it means to be friends when one of the circle is grieving. Then these “friends” show why being present is the key…they open their mouths. While much of their speech would not seem to be platitudes, they actually were! Pointless, useless speech that was delivered as if it was profound, but it was heartfully and hurtfully false.

    James presents a more mature understanding of trials and grieving (don’t say it’s God’s fault), but he doesn’t diminish feelings. James, too, is fighting platitudes (people placing the blame on God, not themselves, for their failures). You can be mad at God. You can be sad. You can be upset. You can be confused (in our day and , this one might be the most freeing). Perhaps in the midst of our pain our greatest is to try to understand because when we seek to understand (and often feel that we do), we bury or hide the pain we feel. Burying and hiding pain might allow us to survive our pain, but it usually doesn’t allow us to thrive beyond it.

    1) Listening is often the alternative to platitudes. When has someone listened to your pain rather than you platitudes? What about giving platitudes rather than listening? Which helped you more?

    2) An interesting struggle in our society is that those in pain look for prior to and often instead of grieving. Have you found yourself or others doing that? How can we help each restore a real and healing grieving process?

    3) Why is it so hard for us to merely with those who are in pain?

Devotion.al

Blessed Title

Luke 1:39–45, Luke 11:27–28

Mary was indeed blessed to be ‘ mother. In fact, like many mothers, she was blessed. Motherhood is a . It can be a huge blessing. It is also a heavy weight to carry.

It is a blessing to be a mom. Yet, often the title of mother takes over the person, to where who the person was before being a mom disappears.

The reality is that this occurs with many positions and roles: president, general, governor, and so on. The person who was gets lost in the position. We can see it on the news with the behavior of many (more than 4 or 5) world leaders. We see it with celebrities and company executives. People forget the person they were.

Titles are great, but titles are nothing in the .

“…blessed are those who the of God and keep it…”

1)Have you have pursued a title or position that you wanted really badly? How did the pursuit go?

2) Have you ever defined yourself by your roles, career, or titles? Why? Which one means the most to you?