Devotion.al

Tag: Christian

  • Of Flesh and Heart

    ‌📖 Read

    ‌

    Genesis 17:1-14; Leviticus 12:2-8; Jeremiah 4:3-4; Jeremiah 9:25-26; Luke 2:22-38;

    ‌🔎 Focus

    ‌

    “Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your , and do not be stubborn any longer.”—Deuteronomy 10:16 (NRSVue)

    ‌‌✟ Devotion

    ‌

    Circumcision is a core Jewish ritual. As such, we must that even was circumcised.

    ‌

    It might seem a minor thing to us, but it is far beyond a mere manifestation of the covenant between the Jews (formerly the Tribes of Israel) and God (though, that’s pretty significant).

    ‌There are Jews who believe that Abraham was “circumcised in the heart” prior to his actual physical circumcision. The Focus Scripture was Moses’ words to the Jewish people who were circumcised. Jeremiah’s words struck the same chord.

    Circumcision is certainly more than a physical . As an act, is a separation of skin, and a symbol that is a usually hidden, but is very obvious when revealed. It is a symbol carried upon a man, that he can never just .‌‌

    In Jesus’ day (and even today), non-Jews viewed circumcision as barbaric, disgraceful, unnecessary, or any mix of these and more.

    ‌Circumcision, though (as Moses, Jeremiah, and even modern Rabbis with their take on Abraham’s circumcision of the heart note), is so much more than that.

    ‌Circumcision of the heart is a symbolic way of saying that one has separated the cares, concerns, and ways of the world from oneself. In other words, cutting off the world to be dedicated to God. It sounds severe. It is.

    ‌In , it is seems and feels more aspirational than fully achievable.

    ‌, Entire , Christian Perfection, are three words/phrases that try to convey Circumcision of the Heart. They may actually be inadequate.

    ‌🤔 Reflection

    ‌The New Year is here. What do you need to from? What do you need to leave behind?

  • Dead and gone. Dead and here.

    Dead and gone. Dead and here.

    ‌📖 Read

    ‌Matthew 22:31-32; Hebrews 11:33–12:2

    ‌🔎 Focus

    ‌

    “‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is God not of the dead but of the living.”

    Matthew 22:32

    ‌“[] will come again to judge the living and the dead”

    The Apostle’s Creed

    ‌”I believe in…the of the body, and the life everlasting”

    The Apostle’s Creed

    ‌‌✟ Devotion

    ‌The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos in Spanish) has become a cross-cultural celebration/observation in the US, as the holidays south of the border gain prevalence due to population changes. There is a belief that the Conquistadors brought the Day of the Dead to the New World with them, and because the Black Plague was their backdrop, it became a more morbid observation of .

    ‌In many cultures, there is a belief that for a time period (from a day to a week), the “veil” between the dead and the living is “thinned”, so that the two “sides” of the veil can interact. It probably was over varying times, but as the Western Church (particularly the Roman Catholic Church) spread, it likely coalesced to today (and yesterday for some).

    ‌Is the thinning of the veil true? Perhaps. It could also be, because its a day set aside for that belief, that we become aware of the separation between the living and dead. Then there was an older Christian belief that the of was such that the thinning was irrelevant, because believers were already unified.

    ‌The spreading of the Day of the Dead across cultures might be something more that an excuse to party or to eat or display Calavera (edible or cast skull-shaped items). The modern culture, particularly in the US, does not do death well. The with Dignity movement, hospice, and other things are a shadowing of this, too (not to disparage either).

    ‌We fear death. The Day of the Dead and even (with its macabre and scary themes) are signs of it. They are a play, so-to-speak, that we “cheated” death. Yet, death comes for us all.

    ‌All Souls Day is a day set aside to recognized, grieve, mourn, those who had died. We don’t mourn those we’ve lost very well. “They’ve gone to a better place,” is a common refrain. However, their death still impacts our being, and All Souls Day is a good day to recognize that.

    ‌🤔 Reflection

    ‌Have you lost anyone this year? If so, thank God (as you are able) for their life and their impact upon your life? If they harmed you, God to be released from the burden of the pain, and to heal the wounds.

    ‌Whose death do you forget (on purpose or accidently)? What can you do to them?

    ‌Why is it important to remember the dead in our lives as relationships, rather than historical fact?

    ‌🙏 Prayer

    ‌Thank you, God, for the reminder of those you have placed in our lives for good. May we recall the of the people. Amen.

  • Evening Recall

    Evening Recall

    “Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the her canopy. Between the vestibule and the altar, let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”

    Joel 2:15-17 NRSVue

    ‌In Joel, we read about fasting and a solemn assembly. It might seem strange while the culture around us is one of celebration and fun as it celebrates Halloween. Many Christians will hand out candy and have Harvest Parties. Other Christians will do anything to not be tied to the secular day. By our response to the secular (or even pagan and potentially Satanic) aspects of this day, however, we show (again) how we have become unmoored from history.

    ‌The brief passage of Joel is tucked into a retelling of the story of God’s calling of the people of Israel, God’s faithfulness, their faithlessness, and their trials that were a consequence. It is a reflection upon where the Israelites were, where the Israelites are, and where they are asking God to take them. Amid their pleading for a better than the present, they recalled the past.

    ‌Fasting and prayer were the original purpose behind the Western ‘s All Hallows Eve. As with many things as they spread around the world, and crossed cultures, understandings were changed, cultures were blended. To the point now that there is an annual to argue over the origins of Halloween (a contraction of All Hallows Eve).

    ‌Yes, there has been a lot of non- (i.e., pagan and Hollywood) influencing Halloween celebrations. However, willfully abandoning church history may have done our witness much harm, and so, too, our lack of fasting and prayer.

    ‌Depending on the historian, the Western Church tradition of fasting and prayer was because All Day (tomorrow, 1 November) was a high day. A high holy day was to be a special day that a devout Christian set aside to something a bit more focused. For , it was the witness, lives, deaths of saints.

    ‌We of the Protestant tradition, tend to shy away from saints, for there is a long tradition of antipathy toward many practices of the Roman Catholic Church around saints. The problem then becomes we have fewer people to look up to.

    ‌While many of the Protestant tradition will immediately and rightly proclaim, “look to Jesus,” there is also an understanding that Jesus is a truly special case. This is where the saints come in.

    ‌This is not about the miraculous, as “” has been in the Roman Catholic church. This is about the saints who walked faithfully with Jesus. Those who sacrificed themselves in some way in their Christian walk.

    ‌Today (or tonight) as you watch scary movies, or provide sugar highs to kids, or go to a party, or do nothing different except to make sure your porch light is off, think about the saints (famous or not) who have walk a long and arduous road with Jesus.

    ‌Think upon how their example might help you live better.

    ‌Tonight, especially, pray for those who will become saints by the fact that they will die for their faith in the coming year. Pray for simple people, who have far fewer freedoms, whose practice and belief in Jesus is -threatening.

  • Separating Ourselves

    Separating Ourselves

    Romans 8:31–39, 1 John 4:7-12

    📖 Read

    ‌Romans 8:31–39 , 1 John 4:7–12

    ‌🔎 Focus

    ‌”…nothing…can separate us from the of God…”
    Romans 8:39

    ‌‌✟ Devotion

    ‌There is a fundamental , here, that no Christian should ever deny. Yet, if you read the list of “separators” that notes, what do you see as missing? Anything?

    ‌There are many who quote these words from Romans 8:39 that reasonably apply these to non-Christians because, “…God is love.” (1 John 4:8) This is where potential issues may arise. It isn’t only about whatever accommodation is being made, but how we understand salvation and the road to eternal with God.

    ‌Nothing seems so all encompassing. How could anything, then keep us from the love of God?

    ‌There are a number of things that could be reasonably argued would seem to invoke exclusion: unbelief, hatred of God, a different understanding of God, ongoing and deliberate disobedience of God’s ways.

    ‌The potential issue isn’t that God doesn’t love the unbeliever, hater, different understander, rebellious. God does. It is not false, then, to say that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

    ‌Separation from God’s love has never been the problem, at least from God’s end of things. It is our separation from God that is the issue.

    ‌Who is against us? Well, the general ways of the world are. It is our following of the ways of the world that are our separator.

    ‌Are we not given everything? Yes, insofar as we have given ourselves to God through accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and doing our best to embody the way of Jesus through our living.

    ‌Who will bring charges against us? The world. The . These cannot separate us. Our inner voice/critic can, but only if we allow it to draw us away from God. The Spirit can, but the brings “charges” against us, not to condemn us, but to free us.

    ‌Can affliction, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, rulers, things (events/situations) of today or tomorrow, angels or powers separate us? No, but our response to those things can.

    ‌It is here that we can agree with the Reformed (Calvinist, etc.) , that nothing outside of ourselves can separate us from the love of God. Even if we separate ourselves from God, God’s love does not fade away.

    ‌God’s unfailing love, however, does not guarantee of eternal life, and that is the rub for so many, including many Christians. It isn’t about earning God’s love, but the place that God has in your life and being.

    ‌🤔 Reflection

    • ‌Do you ever feel separated from God or God’s love? How?‌
    • Do Paul’s words you or concern you? Why?

    ‌‌⏏️ Act

    ‌Make a list of ways (including some Scripture) that you can reassure yourself of God’s unceasing love for you. them with another person, and see what ways they come up with.

    ‌🙏 Prayer

    ‌Every loving God, thank you for this reminder from your Apostle Paul that things outside of ourselves can never separate us from your love. Help us to restore our well-being to sense, feel, believe, and trust in your unceasing love. Amen.

  • What Doesn’t Change

    Psalm 146, Isaiah 43:8–13, 1 Peter 2:2–10, John 14:1–7

    While we are still in the season (the year span between Easter and ), it is always good to recall all which testified to Jesus being the Messiah. This passage in Isaiah is a good reminder. Through the Messiah (Jesus) nations have been brought . We often look at the divisions, especially when it comes to the powerful using religion to justify their actions. Which is makes things all the more peculiar (and often a witness against the powerful), for God says that God is the Savior. No one else can do it. Only God. Still, we are told one political (let alone political party) is going to solve it all. They can’t. There is an important piece that often isn’t included in the fact that only God can save, that means insofar as our depends on God, it doesn’t .

    God’s salvation doesn’t change. However, our understanding and/or acceptance of it may change drastically over our lives. It is not a minor theological point that Peter makes regarding growing into salvation. It is a huge thing. Think of a plant/tree/bush. If they are not growing, they are dead. Many people think they have arrived when they come to a salvation point with Jesus (in fact, many churches have taught that over the years). Peter’s point is that it is an ongoing process. Not only does he use “plant-growing” language, he then builds (no pun intended) on that by saying we are being built into a spiritual . We are part of God’s saving work in us. Now, that is not to say that our salvation is based on our work, but that it becomes deeper and more -giving when we participate in it.

    Life-giving should be the Very Good Life…the saving life that Jesus Christ invites us to participate in. When Jesus speaks on being, “…the way, the , and the life…,” it (again) is not a destination. Those that were part of the early church were often called the Followers of the Way. They lived life together around the truth. This particular passage is often used by (well-meaning) people as a dividing line between unbelievers and “true” Christians. Yet, it is more about Christians than it is about anyone else. We are to look to Jesus as our Savior. We are to follow his ways the best we can. As we follow him, we are better able to draw people to life with him.

    1) Through Isaiah, God says to the Israelites (and to us), “…you are my witnesses….” Read the verses before and after, then ask yourself, witnesses to what?

    2) Why is it crucial to think of the Christian life as a “growing” life?

    3) What are your thoughts regarding, “…the way, the truth, and the life…?” What does it mean to a Christian? What does it mean to one who doesn’t follow Jesus?