Devotion.al

  • Just a Corner

    1 Samuel 24:1–19, Revelation 6:12–17

    The tug-of-war between King Saul and King-to-be David lasted a number of years. The man who could have been Saul’s Number One and led Saul to victory over the enemies of Israel was instead hunted by Saul. In many respects, Saul felt betrayed by David and probably God. David, on the other hand, definitely felt betrayed by Saul.

    Saul wasn’t betrayed by David or God. Instead, Saul failed God and himself. Saul tried to maintain his place and , but the “weight” of God was against it. It was only a matter of time. What is interesting about this story is that God had removed his from Saul, yet David still called Saul God’s Anointed. David still respected the original anointing despite the situation.

    Many people would not have blamed David if he had to kill Saul. In that era, it would have been expected and often viewed as “right”. Still, David chose not to. This is one of those stories that people point to as supporting David’s (relatively). We need to view it as an appropriate to .

    Robbers, thieves, murderers, and rebels hid in caves. The dead were put into caves. David may be viewed as a rebel who hid in a cave. However, unlike the kings of the earth and others who hid in caves to hide from God (Revelation), David hid to avoid Saul so as to live. The kings and rulers of the earth hid in the caves to die. It was as if they assumed by they would escape the wrath they knew was coming their way.

    Just like Saul, the kings and rulers of the earth were betrayed by themselves. The whole reason they wanted to hide in caves and die was that they had not fallen to their knees before the King of . Yet, the King of Creation is not God of the dead. The King of Creation is God of the Living.

    Taking this in a creative (liberty) direction, David is often considered a prefigure of . Therefore, Jesus cuts off a corner of our garments of worldly wealth. He then lets us walk out of the cave of our own demise. He then presents us with proof of his . How do we respond?

    1) Interacting with people and having a relationship with them, probably means that if there is not actual betrayal, we may feel like it. Compare Saul’s, David’s, and Jesus’ responses to betrayal.

    2) When it comes to betrayal, far too often we look at the other before we look at ourselves. Think of a time you felt betrayed. How did you contribute to the situation?

    3) Betrayal and grace. Knowing that betrayal (or at least the feeling of it) will occur, how can we develop patterns of grace? How can we be better at not causing others to not feel betrayed by us?

  • Heart and Purpose

    Psalm 20, Isaiah 50:7–11, John 3:16–21

    “May he give you what your heart desires and fulfill your whole purpose.” Psalm 20:4

    What does your heart desire?

    What is your WHOLE purpose?

    Those are two questions that humanity has wrestled with since the eyes/hearts/minds of Adam and Eve were opened in the Garden of Eden.

    What we often do, however, is try to fill our hearts’ desires with things and activities that do not fulfill our whole purpose. In so doing, we are confused and disillusioned. We look to other people (who are just as confused and disillusioned) and try to find fulfillment based on what they say is the “right” way to be .
    Isaiah could have the easy road, and probably had an easier time of it. However, he understood that often even while the heart is in (as his was), his heart desired God and Isaiah was fulfilled by following and obeying God.

    “…people the rather than the because their deeds were .” (John 3:19)

    This is the harshness of trying to be fulfilled by our own efforts.

    “But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be showed to be accomplished by God.” In the Greek, accomplished strongly implies comprehensive, or fulfilled.

    Chasing the light can be hard, but if fulfillment is truly what we seek, it is it.

    As the world’s state generally improving, the immediate need and drive of survival come against purpose. As the awareness of purpose comes out, the lack of fulfillment becomes a threat to life: drugs, addictions, suicide, theft, violence. While throughout existence, some of this has always existed, the levels are increasing rapidly.

    We are called not just to walk in the light. We are called to be the light, and to carry the light of Christ into the darkness.

    1) Why do you think suicide and addiction are often a person’s to purposelessness?

    2) What are new ways (or old ways in a new costume) that can bring hope and purpose to a world that doesn’t believe?

  • Sown

    Lamentations 3:25–33, Matthew 13:3–9

    For there to be a harvest, there needs to be seed and sower. God’s is both and abundant. All too often, however, we treat God’s love as scarce. There is a concept called the “scarcity mentality.” This mentality is one that views things as a zero-sum game, and that there must be winners and losers, and supply is limited.

    Sadly, in many human , there is a scarcity of love, , belief, value, acceptance. Our human relationships how we relate to God. So, when our human-to-human relationships are skewed, our relationship with God is, too.

    The problem is how that affects our ability to be the laborers in the fields of the .

    The sower parable is interesting in that it represents God (to some degree). The sower isn’t sticking to a row of surety, but casting seed all over the place! What a mess! What a waste! What abandon! God already knows that much of the seed will not “bear fruit.” God does it anyways.

    We, however, often sow in scarcity or in nice, neat, controlled, little rows, stingily putting down seed, calculating the best yield for our efforts. The issue isn’t the yield, but the that sowed. We think we are being wise in our resources, however, one of the greatest risks is that our stinginess reflects our view of God.

    1)What is your view of God’s love and ? Does that view match your ?

    2) How do you see a scarcity or generosity mindset in ?

    3) How can you encourage the generosity mindset in others?

  • Harvest Days

    Genesis 8:20–22, Haggai 1:3–6, Matthew 9:35–38

    If you have been reading these devotions with any regularity, you might have noticed that I generally do not put myself into them (e.g., I, me, my). I am making an exception today.

    I was driving home, and passed a at an espresso stand that seeing, “The first 5 days after the weekend are the harvest.” I processed that for a moment, thinking what a cool sign.

    Then I re-read it, and changed my mind about the sign. It actually read, “the first 5 days after the weekend are the hardest.” That was depressingly pessimistic. What I initially “saw”, however, stuck with me.

    I Sundays. I love coming/going to . I feel “off” if I’m not there. Your when you read this is I’m a pastor. My role as “pastor” doesn’t really that. Church is often more “home” than my house. Church with all its angst, emotions, and (we bring it all in with us), may not be the most joyous thing for you. I feel bad if that is the case with you (though I can sympathize).

    The reality is that church should be the spiritual and emotional recharge for the next 5 days (really, the next 6). Yet, it is not supposed to be a recharge so you can “just” go back to work. Those next days are “harvest” days. We are the laborers that speaks of and there are very few of us (proportionally). We are to be recharged to do the work of the by bringing people into it.

    I’ll be real. You may think I’m pointing a finger at you. I too struggle with being the laborer. I am far too aware that I am pointing far more fingers at myself. I want to focus on my job and get it done (including at church). I am wired that way, and you may be too. To Jesus—Our Lord and Savior—our real job is not the tasks of the job. It is the people.

    1) What excuses do (or did) you use to not be a laborer?

    2) What habits can you develop (it will take time) to focus on the goal of the harvest, saved/ souls?

    3) If you are part of a small group or group (i.e., “band”), add this to your agenda. When was the last you were held accountable for this? When was the last time you held others accountable?

  • Godly Disrupting

    Genesis 37:2–11, Luke 2:13–19, Luke 2:41–51

    Joseph’s dreams were a problem. That the figures in the dreams were readily identified by the participants tells us that the visions were easy to understand, Joseph explained the visions for them, or God also gave Joseph’s brothers and the ability to understand them.

    Even assuming Joseph was indeed a spoiled brat, scripture does not say he explained his dreams. In fact, if we cheat and look ahead, the dreams all need to be interpreted. While Joseph is indeed the interpreter later, he does not seem to be now. That is open to discussion, of course.

    The real matter of interest is that Israel “kept the matter in mind.” While Israel could (and possibly should) have chided his , regardless, he kept all these dreams in mind. Parents have a tendency to keep some of the strangest (or surprising) words and actions of their children in mind, or what people say about them.

    Take Mary, for another example. There was no question her son, , was the target of much interest. She heard wonderful and amazing things about her son. Her son said some interesting things to her. Regardless of how unsettling they might have been, she kept them in her .

    What is it about these parents that kept these particular events so strongly in their memories? Perhaps it was the whisper of the saying, “watch this.” Perhaps it is that part of us–the —that resonates with the movement of God.

    1) We read scripture, often passing over seemingly inconsequential things. Do you think that there have been opportunities to “resonate” with God’s movement that you have missed or ignored?

    2) If God were to have a memento book of you, what things do you think God would “keep in his heart?” What do you want God to “keep in his heart?”

    3) Often things that are the most unsettling, can be the most transformative. Is there something unsettling in your that you need to allow to transform you?

  • Frameworks

    Genesis 35:9–15, Genesis 37:1–2

    While the “ of the story” appears to mostly be about Joseph, it is incredibly important to understand that from a familial , this is the continuing story (in comic book terms, the “origin” story) of Israel, both the man (born as Jacob) and the people (the 12 male descendant lines of Israel).

    Laying the groundwork is very important to understand the framework of the story. In many respects, the story of Joseph and his brothers is told within the larger framework of Israel, which is part of the larger framework of Abraham, and God’s to Abraham and his line.

    In fact, we can look at the of Abraham as a single line (which it was), until the sons of Israel. With the sons of Israel, the line branched and become a fuller, more complete version of itself. What it also bears a testament to is God’s faithfulness in the midst of brokenness.

    This was a heritage that was anything but healthy. It was, by any account, a complete and utter mess. God did something beautiful with it.

    1) Have you ever thought that your was too messy for God to fix? Do you have friends or family who think that?

    2) Imagine if God waited for the Israelite family to get it “all ”. Why do you think people believe that God will only accept them after they have it all together? What can we do to the that says, “come as you are”?

  • Family Issues Galore

    Genesis 29:21–30:24, Genesis 35:16–20

    Jacob’s (as we read yesterday) were already a mess. His Uncle Laban did not help relational stability by setting up his own daughters to have discord in their marriage.

    The consequence is that sister wives fought over their husband. They also used their -women as bargaining chips. From our , what occurred with Jacob’s wives, their servants, and the resultant sons is crazy. We can reasonably condemn Jacob for allowing this. At the same time, sons were the “greatest” wealth. He would do what was necessary to make sure of that. However, his is deeply in question.

    1) What do you think the relationships between the brothers would have been like? How would the relationships between the four mothers impacted the brothers’ relationships between each other and their parents?

    2) Blended families bring in the traumas of more than 2 families, and often create more trauma on top of it. What can the do to help in that? Do you know blended families? How do you related to them?

    3) Our modern concept of the “nuclear” family would seem to be in sharp contract to Jacob’s family. What are both positive and negative lessons we can from these families?

  • Sibling Strife

    Genesis 25:19–34, Genesis 27:1–45

    If you have siblings or multiple children, you probably understand the tension that exists between siblings. Often, the tension may seem completely silly, but it is still there.

    Rabekah’s War in the Womb was definitely a precursor to the strife between the brothers. Twins (or multiples) generally do push and pull (and kick and punch) each other as they try to get comfortable. In a place that usually fits one, in now shared by more than that. The room is not infinitely expandable ( any mother of multiples).

    The quick glimpses into their lives and their with one another are quite jarring. Esau did not seem to be a thinker. Surrendering his inheritance for a bowl of stew is not a sterling example of good thinking. Culturally, it would be viewed as having contempt for his . Isaac was asked to as he was too powerful, wealthy, and successful. This is the inheritance that Esau sold to sate his stomach.

    Jacob is no sterling example, either. He took advantage of his brother’s hunger. Later, he took advantage of his father’s infirmities (granted, at the direction of his mother) to claim the , too. He took the last thing that Esau could have received from his father. On top of that, his mother even told him it was his responsibility, despite setting him to the task. Then he ran away (again, at the direction of his mother).

    The history of Jacob is not a great example. This is the into which Joseph was born.

    1) What lessons as a parent and as a child can we take away from this story?

    2) What emotional and spiritual baggage do you think a person would carry away from this family?

    3) Where do you see similarities to your own family story? What baggage did you get with that similarity?

Devotion.al

Just a Corner

1 Samuel 24:1–19, Revelation 6:12–17

The tug-of-war between King Saul and King-to-be David lasted a number of years. The man who could have been Saul’s Number One and led Saul to victory over the enemies of Israel was instead hunted by Saul. In many respects, Saul felt betrayed by David and probably God. David, on the other hand, definitely felt betrayed by Saul.

Saul wasn’t betrayed by David or God. Instead, Saul failed God and himself. Saul tried to maintain his place and , but the “weight” of God was against it. It was only a matter of time. What is interesting about this story is that God had removed his from Saul, yet David still called Saul God’s Anointed. David still respected the original anointing despite the situation.

Many people would not have blamed David if he had to kill Saul. In that era, it would have been expected and often viewed as “right”. Still, David chose not to. This is one of those stories that people point to as supporting David’s righteousness (relatively). We need to view it as an appropriate response to betrayal.

Robbers, thieves, murderers, and rebels hid in caves. The dead were put into caves. David may be viewed as a rebel who hid in a cave. However, unlike the kings of the earth and who hid in caves to hide from God (Revelation), David hid to avoid Saul so as to live. The kings and rulers of the earth hid in the caves to die. It was as if they assumed by they would escape the wrath they knew was coming their way.

Just like Saul, the kings and rulers of the earth were betrayed by themselves. The whole reason they wanted to hide in caves and die was that they had not fallen to their knees before the King of . Yet, the King of Creation is not God of the dead. The King of Creation is God of the .

Taking this in a creative (liberty) direction, David is often considered a prefigure of . Therefore, Jesus cuts off a corner of our garments of worldly wealth. He then lets us walk out of the cave of our own demise. He then presents us with proof of his . How do we ?

1) Interacting with people and having a relationship with them, probably means that if there is not actual betrayal, we may feel like it. Compare Saul’s, David’s, and Jesus’ responses to betrayal.

2) When it comes to betrayal, far too often we look at the other before we look at ourselves. Think of a time you felt betrayed. How did you contribute to the situation?

3) Betrayal and grace. Knowing that betrayal (or at least the feeling of it) will occur, how can we develop patterns of grace? How can we be better at not causing others to not feel betrayed by us?