Devotion.al

  • Respond How?

    Haggai 1:4–14, Amos 7:10–17

    It would be nice if nice things just happened. It would be nice if all the stuff that needs to happen, just happened. It doesn’t work that way. Someone has to take responsibility.

    God had fulfilled his that the remnants of Israel would from exile. Now they were starting to recover and thrive. They had homes, buildings not tents. They were rooting themselves back into the land. At the of their thought processes, one would think that God would be front and center. It seems, however, that this wasn’t the case. Despite their return to the land and their homes, they were merely surviving, not thriving.

    Haggai goes to them and pronounces that they have their shelter. God should now have a place for them to Him. To their credit, they listened. The house of God was rebuilt. God blessed the people again.

    Amos, on the other hand, did not receive a positive reception. The of the powerful was antagonistic, at best. Amos was a prophet when the nations of Israel and Samaria were at relative peace, had mostly restored the boundaries of David and Solomon, and were doing well. The nation was doing well. Actually, the powerful were doing well. The powerful were living lives of excess, and not thinking about tomorrow.

    God did not respond well to their selfishness. God informed them that the exile was certain and that all they treasured would no longer be there. That made them very unhappy to these words. They wanted to silence them.

    Haggai and Amos faithfully delivered God’s words. The people responded quite differently.

    1) How are you responding to God’s on your ? Are you more like those who responded to Haggai or those who responded to Amos?

    2) We often look at the superficial and say we’re fine. We often do not see the . Where are we not fine? Where are you not fine? Where is the not fine?

    3) Being faithful to God’s house, and being faithful to God’s church often have tension between them. Why do you think that is? What can you do to ease it?

  • Stone to Grace

    Exodus 28:15–30, Ezekiel 36:24–30, Luke 3:7–9, Luke 19:37–40

    “I’ve done too much.”

    “God would never forgive me.”

    “I would be [struck by lightening/catch on fire/combust/die] if I walked through the doors.”

    “If you (or God) knew what I had done…”

    Have you heard any of these statements from people?

    It is so completely to not understand God’s amazing grace. It is even more human to not accept it.

    The stones representing the tribes of Israel were only a mere representation. Yet, as the story of Exodus continues into Lamentations into Judges, the people of Israel often seem to have brains and/or hearts of stone. How sad! We all, at times, have hearts of stone. Look how we treat one another. Our hearts could easily be stone (metaphorically, of course).

    The metaphor of a heart of stone has a couple of facets. The first, facet is that stone does not “live”. The implication being that we aren’t as God intended. We are dead. The second facet is a heart that does not feel. One of the biggest struggles that humanity faces is compassion and grace. As the comments at the beginning show, we often have neither compassion nor grace for ourselves, and then we treat others the same. The third facet and God’s greatest concern is that a heart of stone has no active part in God or God’s will.

    Ezekiel’s words were intended to show that God was willing (and ) to things up. The Spirit was coming.

    John’s words to the descendents of Israel alluded to Ezekiel’s words but even touches on the place of the stone tablets upon which the 10 commandments were written. For the descendents, there would also be an attack on their pride. THEY were the of God. John pokes a huge hole in their pride. God doesn’t need them (he still wants them). The stones the walk on could be as as them. They would have felt that in their bones.

    During ‘ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, stones come up again. Instead of merely being prideful due to heritage, Jesus talks about stones giving praises to God. Were the hearts of the leaders so dead that they could no longer praise and glory to God? That’s the implication. Yet people if God has a place for them? If God can make stones into “true” descendants of Abraham and into people who praise and glorify God, then why not?

    1) What lies have you heard people tell you (but mostly themselves) as to why God would not accept them?

    2) What can you do to change the narrative about God and the overwhelming grace of God?

    3) What do you do to keep your heart from being so concerned about “God’s work” that your heart becomes hard toward God?

  • Living Beyond

    Matthew 16:24–28, Romans 14:7–9, 2 Corinthians 5:14–15

    “Die to self.” This phrase is often spoken in Christian circles. When it is fully unpacked, it isn’t a bad phrase. However, it is rarely unpacked and instead just left hanging.

    The first, and primary, place in Scripture used to justify this phrase is found in today’s passage in Matthew. Here Jesus speaks about denying oneself. How do we get from denying to ? That’s a really good question. It would seem that since Jesus is using the cross people automatically tie denying to dying. What if, however, Jesus isn’t talking about but disgrace? The cross was a place of humiliating death. Despite our cultural appropriation of the cross, in Scripture, the cross is a symbol of death, betrayal (specifically toward the government), and disgrace (you were hung up naked). In fact, it wasn’t death that was the primary issue of the cross, but the disgrace. If we take that perspective, picking up one’s cross was tying disgrace to denial of self. That does put an interesting twist on it, doesn’t it?

    Paul provides a framework in Romans and in 2 Corinthians. It sounds similar, but it is different. Not for oneself, but living for Jesus and .

    A healthy part of a parent/child relationship is that the parent forgoes certain things so that their children can flourish. This does not mean that the parents are to “forget” themselves, for if they do they will hamper or even endanger their children. Not that there are not times, but as a general rule this is the case. Another way to think of it is the oxygen masks on airplanes. You may have gone through the “training”. The crew tells you to take care of yourself (aimed at parents) prior to taking care of your children. It is not because people want the children to suffer, but that the parents will make better judgments (oxygen does that) when masked, and are better capable of taking their children after taking care of themselves.

    The reason “die to self” is dangerous is that it implies (or one can readily infer) that one’s very self//awareness is to die. This absolutely is not the case. We are not clones. Denying oneself is very different. In the concept of progressive sanctification (growing in God’s and ), God started and continues to do good work in each of us. We don’t cease being ourselves, but gradually and continually become a better version of ourselves, coming closer and closer to what we would have been had the world (and us) not fallen into .

    The last, maybe most important, reason that “die to self” should cease being used is that it misses the point. We are really to live beyond ourselves. That is what we are called to do. In a cultural climate that is showing increasing amounts of nihilism (especially in the younger generations), the way we speak of a transformative with Christ shouldn’t use the image of death. Death is all around us. Many (regardless of political affiliation) call our current culture a culture of death (for different reasons, granted). Let’s not be part of the culture. Let us shine the light of LIFE with Christ.

    1) What are ways you can about LIFE with Jesus to others?

    2) In what aspect of your life are you not living for others? Why? Are you sure?

    3) How will you change how you talk about living for something greater than yourself?

  • Starting at Home

    Psalm 2, Colossians 3:1–17, Acts 11:19–26

    One of the and one of the curses of being American is the freedom to decide who we are. One of the biggest struggles between immigrants and their children is the of . As much as most immigrants truly seek to join their new country, there are things that just don’t work for them. Their children walk the line between new and old, along with all the stress that goes along with that (think differences over music but over everything).

    The was that second generation, and then some. A way to think of it is the child of a Tibetan immigrant and the child of an Argentinian getting married. The strains of their parents’ cultures, plus their new adopted (American) culture, plus the different culture of their spouse. That was the church.

    The “children” of Judaism, Greece, Asia Minor, Rome were, by-and-large, no longer part of their “native” culture, and could not really be part of a “different” culture. The Followers of the Way (the name prior to ) were following a weaving and winding path between multiple cultures, nations, and languages. They lived in between. Even their identity as “Followers of the Way” was still deeply tied to Judaism, so even that was not particularly solid.

    The key to identity was made in Antioch. Only God knows who coined the term Christians. They could have been called Nazarenes, but Christians became the label. Even with a “formal” label, it still took years, and even today it seems that while the label is active, there is not a unified Christian culture. If there were a truly united Christian culture, the hour on Sunday would not be the most segregated hour of the week. If there were a truly united Christian culture, Facebook, Twitter, and other places wouldn’t be in the state they are in.

    If the church were united, as Christ calls us to be, we really could be the healer for a culture and country in . Instead, we are just as miserable, angry, bitter, and pained as everyone else. We are not perfect, we just need to be better in how we treat people especially fellow Christians for it starts “at home”.

    1) As people are quick to jump on bandwagons, praying for the hurting (good), questioning violence (good), discussing freedom (good), trying to be the light (good), be even quicker to pray and prior to posting. What are you presenting to your fellow Christian? How about the world?

    2) As the country, and world, seems to be tearing apart, we Christians are still to be Followers of the Way, winding our way between people, cultures, and perspectives. What skills and practices do you need to develop to be better walking on the Way?

    Why do the nations rage
    and the peoples plot in vain?
    The kings of the earth take their stand,
    and the rulers conspire
    against the LORD and his Anointed One,
    Let’s tear off their chains
    and throw their ropes off of us.
    —Psalm 2:1–3

  • The Church Walls

    Matthew 5:1–12, Matthew 13:1–9, Luke 4:16–21, Acts 16:11–15, Acts 16:23–34, Acts 17:22–29

    Mountain, boat, synagogue, riverside, prison, Areopagus (formal public forum)

    What do all of these have in common? Nothing.

    What happened at each of these, according to the ? Messages were delivered regarding the .

    Only one of those places was a formal cultural place of . And the list above doesn’t cover them all. City gates, roads, public plazas had it happen there, too.

    What we the (building) is only supposed to be a place to messages about the of God, not the only one. Today, church is happening at bars (even Nazarene churches), the racetrack, the truck stoop, private homes, barns, coffee shops, and these are the organized churches. This doesn’t include other places of gatherings where the message is heard. However, despite the Scriptures themselves bearing to the diversity of places to deliver the message, the church today is pretty stuck on the church building.

    So that we are all on the same page, this is not to say that the church building is bad. Quite the contrary. The issue at hand is that there is an unconscious (and conscious) thought process in the Western World that the big moving and shaking happens at the church.

    However, when missionaries talk about changing lives it is so much more than the church. So much of the work of missionaries must be outside of the church, and not even on the grounds. As we progress more and more quickly away from the so-called America, it is wise to look beyond the church walls. It is wise to look beyond the church. It is wise to look at our missionaries. They already work where we are headed.

    We talk (rightfully) about bringing the Kingdom of God. Humanity, however, needs more than a concept, it needs a place. We each need to find places where we can with people where they feel comfortable so that their hearts are more open to hearing about God.

    1) What places have you heard a church being held that bothered you? Why did it bother you? What about that place created an atmosphere of hearts being more open to God?

    2) Why do you think we focus on church buildings as the place where church occurs?

    3) Why is the church building often as dangerous to our spiritual growth as it is a barrier to those who don’t know God?

  • Kingdom Come

    Psalm 102, Matthew 6:9–13, Matthew 13:24–33, John 13:1–17

    “ work” and “Work of the Kingdom”

    Often these two phrases are used when people are (rightly) trying to teach people that they can bring people to God and can be people of God at work. This is a good thing. However, there is usually a problem with this, it is an attempt to see seeding the temporal so that the crop can be reaped in the everlasting world. This is true, but it is a partial .

     Your kingdom come
      Your will be done 
      on earth as in heaven

    …on earth. We are not planting seeds for only the everlasting, but the life today. It is often hard work, and we often cannot see the growth.

    Whether it be war, violence, disease, , , selfishness, and so on, these are all things, events, realities that need the Kingdom on earth now, not later in Heaven.

    There is a world out there, my friends, that needs YOU. This is not about me, your spouse, your children, your friends, the . This is about YOU bringing the Kingdom. How, you say?

    “ is the one who does for me what I would never do for somebody else…and then he calls me to do for what I would not have done for them apart from Him and His .” —Rafael Rodriguez

    1) How can YOU make God’s Kingdom and Will present here on earth?

    2) How does Rafael Rodriguez’s words fit into bringing the Kingdom?

    3) What is one thing YOU will do TODAY to bring the Kingdom?

  • Power to Divide or Unite

    Matthew 5:3–12, Romans 13:1–10

    Authority is an issue. Authority is not the same as power. Plenty of people have power. In fact, most of us have power. We may not be aware of it, but we have it. One of the greatest powers we have on earth is our vote. It often doesn’t seem like it. Politicians, traditional media, social media all try to convince that we need to make the right choice, and then tell us how our vote doesn’t count because someone else has the power to our vote or take it away.

    Often we confuse power and authority. Power can make people do things. Authority, however, is the right (as in righteousness) to give orders, commands, and make decisions.

    We have a mutual agreement between our fellow citizens here in the States. It is actually a mutuality of submission. We don’t think of it that way. We think of it as our “rights”. Through that mutuality of submission, we give authority to .

    As much as we may not like politicians we still, collectively, elected them. We don’t like that truth. It doesn’t change it though. In comparison to the era in wrote, we do have power and authority in regards to our government. As much as we feel we have no control, in comparison to Paul, we do.

    When Paul tells us to submit it’s not quite the same for us. Yet, there is a truth. We are not called to beat our chests or shake our fists. We are called to reach out with open hands. The sad part is that right now the two “sides” have split Christians. Both sides (the parties are a completely different issue) have ideals that are Christian. We have allowed ourselves to be divided.

    1) and religion are two “bad” topics in social settings. How can we talk about them with the that we are to have through the Spirit?

    2) Why do we allow ourselves to be torn apart by politics, especially when we are called into unity by Christ as his (the )?

    3) How can we balance the freedom and responsibility we have as citizens of the United States with the submission to authority that Paul calls for?

  • Failing In Grace and Faith

    2 August 2019
    Genesis 6:5–8, Romans 7:15–20, Galatians 5:16-26

    depravity is nothing new. The cleansing of the Earth by the flood made that abundantly clear. Yet, to this day, one of the common questions of humanity is why is there so much bad? We’re not talking about evil. We’re just talking about the basic undeniable reality that humanity needs some improvement.

    Depravity really is a loaded concept in theology. Depending on one’s theological framework, its meaning changes. A basic way to think of is that state of humanity both embodied and moral that is on a different path than God. There is an additional tone from the Scriptures that hint at decay. As decay is an ongoing process, it fits well into the appearance that humanity, on many levels, is getting worse. In certain theological traditions, depravity goes along with the concept that humanity is completely incapable of doing anything positive (i.e., God-oriented). Sounds pretty depressing, doesn’t it?

    However, that is not our . While we do agree that there is a strong human tendency (both morally and embodied) away from God, we believe that God went before and poured (and pours) into our lives. We this Prevenient Grace (i.e., grace that goes before us). There is also another key piece to our understanding. God provides prevenient grace to everyone, not just a few.

    When we read ‘s passage in Romans we can sympathize with Paul. We get it. However, we could also despair. Paul understands that without God’s grace that when he fails there could be no . Especially now that the Law (that he once lived by) is no longer.

    When Paul writes that he walks by the , he still falls by the flesh. None of will not fall. The grace of God continues to pick us up.

    1) Do you beat yourself up when you fail/fall? How do Paul’s words to that?

    2) Paul’s story in the poster for God’s grace that goes before. Where in your have you seen God’s grace go before you?

    3) The fruits of the Spirit are the opposite of the “depravity” of the flesh. Where do you see them “fighting” in your life?

Devotion.al

Respond How?

Haggai 1:4–14, Amos 7:10–17

It would be nice if nice things just happened. It would be nice if all the stuff that needs to happen, just happened. It doesn’t work that way. Someone has to take responsibility.

God had fulfilled his that the remnants of Israel would return from exile. Now they were starting to recover and thrive. They had homes, buildings not tents. They were rooting themselves back into the land. At the heart of their thought processes, one would think that God would be front and center. It seems, however, that this wasn’t the case. Despite their return to the land and their homes, they were merely surviving, not thriving.

Haggai goes to them and pronounces that they have their shelter. God should now have a place for them to Him. To their credit, they listened. The house of God was rebuilt. God blessed the people again.

Amos, on the other hand, did not receive a positive reception. The of the powerful was antagonistic, at best. Amos was a prophet when the nations of Israel and Samaria were at relative , had mostly restored the boundaries of David and Solomon, and were doing well. The was doing well. Actually, the powerful were doing well. The powerful were lives of excess, and not thinking about tomorrow.

God did not respond well to their selfishness. God informed them that the exile was certain and that all they treasured would no longer be there. That made them very unhappy to hear these words. They wanted to silence them.

Haggai and Amos faithfully delivered God’s words. The people responded quite differently.

1) How are you responding to God’s call on your ? Are you more like those who responded to Haggai or those who responded to Amos?

2) We often look at the superficial and say we’re fine. We often do not see the . Where are we not fine? Where are you not fine? Where is the not fine?

3) Being to God’s house, and being faithful to God’s church often have tension between them. Why do you think that is? What can you do to ease it?