Devotion.al

  • Three Essentials

    John 16:12–15, 1 Peter 1:1–12

    The has long been a struggle. As the church began to mature, there were many struggles, discussions, and arguments over what exactly they believed. Out of those many discussions, creeds were formed seeking to unify the church in understanding. Many have tried (and continue to try) to dismiss creeds as “The Victor’s spoils,” meaning that because the creeds were what “won”, they are invalid. The argument being that there wasn’t a consensus, and those that did not agree were tossed out of the church, that the creeds were then just a source of power, control, and bullying. The reality is that the creeds defining the Trinity are essential to understanding who Jesus is.

    Jesus himself makes clear that there is definite between , Son, and Holy . Jesus conveys unified ownership (What is the Father’s is mine; what is mine is the Holy Spirit’s.). There is also the often ignored, but almost essential statement, “…you can’t bear them now.” The Greek implies an inability (i.e., immaturity) to be able to understand what Jesus means.

    Peter’s triune greeting shows us that while there is not an explicit understanding of the relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, there is an understanding that the relationship is essential to the church and the faith. Why is this important? Why does it matter? As we in the world, an incomplete understanding can be an issue, and can often lead to doubt or attack. While the Trinity is beyond the scope of a devotional, knowing what you believe, and why you believe it, gives you the firm foundation to walk as a .

    1) When we read Jesus’ words in the of our relationships, there is a strong mutuality of ownership. How do you see mutuality in your relationships with ? Do you see it in your church relationship?

    2) When it comes to hard-to-understand things in life and faith, how do you approach things?

    3) Peter’s words with service. How are you serving others in the faith, whether younger or older?

  • Isle Crossing

    2 Corinthians 5:14–21

    There are many things that are worshipped. Most have supplanted God with something man-made or of origin: science, politics, identity, work, . Even the fundamental nature of God——has been corrupted by humanity.

    We are all familiar with 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new ; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” It is often used as an encouraging verse for the new and struggling believer. We are made new in Christ. However, the verse is placed within the context of a larger picture…a larger .

    We are to be messengers of and ambassadors for . If we are honest with ourselves, we have been doing the best we can, but it still hasn’t been very good. We—as the church—have put family first in an unhealthy way. It is not that family is unimportant, but that the church family is our family, too, and we often neglect it.

    The church allowed itself to be drawn into politics, and we need to stop. Politics are human, but they are often of greater priority to “Christians” than . We need to be the ones on the forefront reconciling differences and parties, rather than being on side of the aisle or the other.

    Our world is in desperate need of something different, let us be something different. Let us be new in Christ Jesus.

    1) Have you questioned someone’s or spiritual maturity based upon their political disagreement with you?

    2) Have you done the same if they raise(d) their children differently?

    3) What have you done to help people be to one another as an ambassador of Christ?

  • Treasured

    Psalm 119:161–168, Matthew 13:44–46, 2 Corinthians 4:7–

    Treasure. We all have treasure. For some it is jewels. For it’s art. It could be so many things. For the right treasure, people will up many things, dreams, and even people (which puts into question the “right” treasure).

    Imagine being the person who found the treasure in the field…and left it. That person took a risk that it would still be there. Often the greatest treasure is one that others have walked on by.
    God is like that. God gave up everything, even himself, for his treasure…us.

    When talks about treasure in clay pots (i.e., breakable and fragile), he’s talking about us. Somehow, in spite of our flaws, we are a treasure to God. We all have times in our lives that we question our value. God has no such question.

    1) What does it feel like to be a treasure of God?

    2) Do you think of yourself as a treasure, why or why not?

    3) What does it mean that others are treasures, too, in the eyes of God?

  • Finger-Pointing

    Deuteronomy 1:9–18, John 5:19–30, Romans 1:28–2:9

    We’ve all heard, “if you have one finger pointing out, you have three fingers pointing back.” There is great in that seeming childish saying. It might be better to say it is child-like. the child-like understanding recognizes the 3-to-1 ratio is important. The adult-like , on the other hand, is more like self-justifying 3 fingers, while still pointing with the 1.

    How do we balance the right judgment as called out in Deuteronomy, yet keep ‘ words in mind? Are we called to judge, or not?

    Deuteronomy was about the outward act, with the intent of , , and the . The was toward a relationship with God.

    Have you ever committed, aided, or abetted the following: unrighteousness, evil, greed, wickedness, envy, murder (remember, Jesus puts calling someone a “fool” in the same category), quarrelling, deceit, malice, gossip, slanderer, God-hater, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventor of evil, disobedience to parents, senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, or unmerciful?

    Now how often have we pointed fingers at for their violation of these, but failed to recognize and for ours?

    Jesus wasn’t calling on us to disregard failures and sins, quite the contrary. He was calling us to give life to them, to walk beside them, to aid them, to lift them up.

    1) Have you ever publically or privately shamed a person for committing the same or similar act you have done?

    2) When seeing someone do something you know violates God’s (not man’s) ways, how do you approach it? Accusative, encouraging, helping?

    3) There is a tendency to look at others when reading the list of Paul’s. However, we find our actions often on this list. How do you look at verse 1:28?

  • Pain and Blessing

    Psalm 86, Ecclesiastes 7:2–5, Matthew 5:3-10

    The world is often full of pain. In fact, were you to watch the news, it would seem that pain far outweighs anything else in the world. One of the biggest reasons for this is our desire to avoid it. Sounds contradictory. If we look around us, though, often what people pursue is to avoid pain. This could be any kind of pain: hunger, , shame, health, pride, .

    This often leads to problems as we try to hide our pain from ourselves and . We also strive to avoid others’ pain, so that we don’t feel a touch of it ourselves.

    Why is it that the writer of Ecclesiastes tells us to go to the house of mourning? Wouldn’t it be better to be in a fun place? In pain, there is often far more honesty (even if it is pain lashing out in anger) than there is where everybody seems to be having a good time, or at least certainly trying to have a good time.

    takes it even to another level and says those in pain are blessed. Blessed? For most people in pain, blessed is often not the first word that comes to mind. However, in pain is often the time a is more open to . This can be the time the is presented with an open door.

    1) Think of many of the major decisions in your life. Were they based partially on pain or pain avoidance?

    2) We often focus on pain. Why is that, when that’s not what we want?

    3) While Jesus isn’t telling us to deliberately and purposefully live a life of pain, what do his tell us is the ?

  • Significance Over Wealth

    Psalm 49, 1 Chronicles 29:16–22, Acts 3:1–16

    Wealth and prosperity have long been a source of strife, envy, pointless striving, overwork, and abandonment of others. In an achievement-driven culture, it became an even greater issue as an “achievement” of wealth is measured against those whose wealth is an astronomical amount (i.e., a person valuated higher than many countries). With the 2007/2008 bust, wealth was replaced by influence and likes (wealth was still significantly important). Then Generation Z comes along, and wealth and likes are important, but significance and satisfaction have started to override the others. Many are saying this is a sign of a “spoiled” and too wealthy generation, and a generation doomed to self-inflicted misery. What if, however, it is instead the greatest of the church in the United States?

    Without question, each succeeding generation has had a “higher” starting line than the previous generation. Yet, the likelihood that the next generation will “upward” financially is far less likely. This is not as bad a thing as many think it is. Due to this, the next generation is looking at what they can do to make a difference, and feel as if they are leading a life of significance, and the difference and significance can be as small as their neighborhood or their job. This generation is also more aware of the impact their lifestyle has on the world around them. Being aware of your impact (both positive and negative) is very healthy.

    Solomon was a wealthy king. His father had set a very good solid base financially and militarily. In the beginning, at least, Solomon had a very good understanding of the wealth and …God had given it, and in and thanks, Israel returned in . Stuff is always God’s, and God gave us the freedom to choose what to do with it.

    Sometimes it isn’t just money and , it is our bodies. Just like the coming generation, there wasn’t much upward mobility in most of the Jewish context. You were at the place your parents were, and that was the way it was. If your body was broken, you “earned” a for your by begging. The man who was healed was one of those.

    It is more than the healing that the man got (though it was great) or the financial and material state of the United States (though it is significant), it is the words of Peter, “…why do you stare at us, as though we had made him walk…,” or Solomon’s “…all this wealth…comes from your hand…your people who are present here joyfully and willingly to you…”

    1) What area of your life do you struggle “giving” to God versus “earning” it?

    2) How do achievement and influence affect your with God? How do you see it affect others’ relationship with God?

  • Placing the Message

    Joel 2:18–32, Acts 2:29–40,2 Peter 1:16–21

    Joel is an interesting book in that there are no definitive elements to place. There are many events and practices that put it within a few centuries, but that the prophet does not define himself, nor does he seem to be responding to a particular king, it becomes open to interpretation.

    Since it has withstood the test of time, however, we can presume that those that followed after the time of Joel recognized his words as and . As with many quotations of the Old Testament used in the New Testament, there were some liberties in context that were not out of the norm, nor was it viewed as inappropriate.
    Much of what we read from Joel was repeated by Peter to the Jews present at . Joel’s words were intended to reassure the Jews that God was not gone and that God would come in a new (and old) way. It’s pretty clear that Peter felt the event of Pentecost qualified. Peter utilized the stories of to tie in David (the precursor of the new) to the Messianic reality that he (Peter) and the disciples had been experiencing.

    There were obviously many hearts already softened to the , as the of, “what do we do,” led them repentance and . Again Peter’s message to the Jews already had the hint of going beyond the Jews. “All who are far off” “As many as the Lord our God will call” It was enough, however, for Luke (the writer of Acts) to stop repeating Peter’s words, for the message had been heard and responded to.

    Peter himself reflected on prophets. While he may have thought of Joel or David, he probably didn’t think of himself. This despite his own words being prophetic regarding to whom the would preach and reach.

    1) Why was Peter’s message so effective to the Jews who heard it?

    2) If it is the same message delivered today (which we it is), why has it become so ineffective?

    3) What are the similarities between the Jews hearing the message, and Peter delivering the message? What characteristic(s) might be the same?

  • Barriers to Sharing

    John 20:19–23, Acts 1:4, Acts 2:1–36

    The short vignette in the locked upper room after the Resurrection seems as if was a snippet of a memory that was lacking something. Yet, John felt it was important. As a precursor to Pentecost, ‘ statement/ about receiving the Holy Spirit was an important thing. Jesus had already told the disciples that they would only fully be what they were called to be when the Holy Spirit came and that Jesus would have to not be present. Jesus directed them to .
    They waited, prayed, worshipped.
    The Festival of First Fruits (Pentecost) was a Jewish major festival to celebrate the first of the harvest and to and worship God. Probably not as full as it was during Passover, Jerusalem was still a significantly full. In addition, there were likely many people who lived far away but remained for both. Was it as packed? Probably not. Were the spectacle of Jesus and his story still floating around? Probably. They, the disciples and the people of Jerusalem, were not ready for what came next.

    The spontaneous sermon by Peter probably shocked him and the other disciples. While his sermon fell on fertile ground, it is probably not just the words. Any charlatan or false teacher or false prophet can preach a good sermon. The miracle of people of different countries hearing the sermon in their native tongue showed God’s supernatural approval and participation in this.

    We often get tied up in methods and modes of communicating. There are longtime disagreements about modes and methods. Far too many confuse mode and methods with the message. God made no distinction between languages. It was the message that mattered. On the other hand, we could be so concerned about the language (“did they miss the nuance?”) that we forget the effectiveness of mode and message.

    What matters is that the message was heard. The people didn’t God’s message in some tongue that they were not native to, they heard it in the tongue where they knew the nuances. God did not do a poor translation, God did a great one. More than that, hearts were transformed, and those transformed hearts went back home. Of what value is a Jew whose first language isn’t Hebrew? They took home the message that God loves them so much, that he sent his to die for them.

    Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. The whole church. While it took Peter and the other disciples time to recognize what the first sermon was saying (all nations and people can come to God), it was the of the Church at birth. The Jewish Pentecost was a celeb.ration of the first fruits of the harvest. The Church Pentecost is about the first fruits of the

    1) The initial response to the supernatural of hearing things in one’s own language was met with skepticism. Why do you think that is?

    2) Speaking in is considered a gift of the Holy Spirit. What is very unique about this specific display of Speaking in Tongues? If you need a hint, who is missing?

    3) Even today people hold on to methods and modes as essentials to sharing the Good News, rather than the Good News itself. Why do people hold onto such things, often to the detriment of sharing the Gospel?

Devotion.al

Three Essentials

John 16:12–15, 1 Peter 1:1–12

The has long been a struggle. As the church began to mature, there were many struggles, discussions, and arguments over what exactly they believed. Out of those many discussions, creeds were formed seeking to unify the church in understanding. Many have tried (and continue to try) to dismiss creeds as “The Victor’s spoils,” meaning that because the creeds were what “won”, they are invalid. The argument being that there wasn’t a consensus, and those that did not agree were tossed out of the church, that the creeds were then just a source of , control, and bullying. The reality is that the creeds defining the Trinity are essential to understanding who Jesus is.

Jesus himself makes clear that there is definite between Father, Son, and . Jesus conveys unified ownership (What is the Father’s is mine; what is mine is the Holy ‘s.). There is also the often ignored, but almost essential statement, “…you can’t bear them now.” The Greek implies an inability (i.e., immaturity) to be able to understand what Jesus means.

Peter’s triune greeting shows us that while there is not an explicit understanding of the relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, there is an understanding that the relationship is essential to the church and the . Why is this important? Why does it matter? As we move in the world, an incomplete understanding can be an issue, and can often lead to doubt or attack. While the Trinity is beyond the scope of a devotional, knowing what you believe, and why you believe it, gives you the firm foundation to walk as a Christian.

1) When we read Jesus’ words in the light of our , there is a strong mutuality of ownership. How do you see mutuality in your relationships with others? Do you see it in your church relationship?

2) When it comes to hard-to-understand things in and faith, how do you approach things?

3) Peter’s words with service. How are you serving others in the faith, whether younger or older?