Devotion.al

Tag: discipline

  • Fire Is Best

    Psalm 66, Revelation 3:14-22

    You may not be aware of how the metal you are using comes to be. Most metals are dug up in an unusable form. They have to be made usable. There are three primary methods to get the raw material to be more like the goal: mechanical (e.g., crushing), chemical (i.e., acid), and temperature (i.e., ). Each of these is used for different metals, and also depends on what the goal of the metal is. If, for example, you are going to throw it in to mix with a bunch of melted stuff (i.e., not looking for purity), you would use chemicals to break down the bonds. If you just need raw material, you might just smash it until it’s as small as you want (it won’t stick together very well, though).

    For purity and cohesion, fire is best. The metal your car is made from (at least some of it) was melted in a huge vat and became molten. Stuff will be added in known quantities to get the end properties desired, such as strong steel. Most gold that is worn is a gold alloy, where gold has stuff added to make it stronger without affecting its beauty. Gold is valued, primarily, because people value it (a circular argument, for sure). It is easily shaped for decorations (and people like to adorn themselves with it). It was used for (can still be). In our day and age, its greatest value is not jewelry, but electronics. It is a fantastic conductor. Not enough is used in your electronics to try to get it, however, it does improve the abilities of electronics to do their tasks using less electricity. Gold, even in the days of diamonds and platinum, is still the primary precious metal, and it was the best known precious metal in ‘ and ‘s day.

    Due to that, gold (along with silver, the second most valued metal) were a good subject lesson in regards to people. In the letter to Laodicea, Jesus talks about the Laodiceans blindness to their own poverty. Jesus is speaking spiritually. The church of Laodicea is lacking in spiritual growth. The Laodiceans think they have it all together and are good to go. Yet, they are lacking. How often are we like they were? Thinking in all our that we have it all together. There are false teachers who teach exactly that. Laodicea is our object lesson that this isn’t so. Laodicea was a wealthy city, but the church was spiritually poor. Laodicea was the home of a medical school known for an eye-balm, yet they were blind. Laodicea was also known for its cloth, yet they were naked.

    They needed to be refined. They had no money to buy the refined gold (cleansing and ). God would sell it to them anyway. With that gold, they could buy True eye-balm to see their real spiritual state. With that gold, they could buy the clothes that would cover their True nakedness. In other words, God’s got it covered…if they . Then we get to the hard part, to receive all of that (which they thought they already had), they had to be rebuked and disciplined (i.e., refined).

    1) Have you have thought you had it all together in your , and then everything came crashing down? How about spiritually? How was your response different between the two events?

    2) Why are rebuke and part of the refining process? What other words would you use?

    3) It is reasonable to look at ourselves as the “raw material” that God refines. Where do you think God used each of the three methods (mechanical, chemical, temperature) to refine you?

  • Stripped

    In we need fuel. People need to eat. Extroverts need people to charge. Introverts need solitude to charge. Yet, the greatest fuel we need to live the fullest life is God. The psalmist praises God for who God is. In all the chaos of life having a right of God is essential. The psalmist concludes that God’s got it. It is very interesting the switch from to a self-awareness before God. There is also a sense of desperation or something not quite right as it ends. All is right with God, but all may not be right with the psalmist.
    Simon is not immune to things not being right. When Jesus calls on him to go back out to sea, Simon is exhausted. He just finished working a hard night, and it being an unsuccessful too. He was likely tired to the bone, both emotionally and physically. Yet, he was obedient and respectful to this Jesus of Nazareth. As worn out as he was, he repeated his night’s work. This time he was blessed with a catch beyond . This does not mean he was no longer exhausted. He was probably more tired than he was. Yet, there was now a positive side to his exhaustion. In the midst of his exhaustion, he had a God-fueled emotional recharge. While his catch was good and he had acknowledge Jesus, he was still beat.
    The recipients of the letter to the Hebrews were also tired. The author chose a marathon (a tiring ) to emphasize the duration of the race of life. The author invokes Jesus as the source of the , which echoes the water aspect that recharges the soul. This is essential as the author continues acknowledging the weariness of the readers. There is obviously a deep concern that they are exhausted and are being tempted to up.
    This is where the author of Hebrews digs in. . This discipline often takes the form of wearing us down, so that we are stripped of our pretensions and presumptions. God then really starts to work on us then.
    1) One of the biggest themes of current culture is “not enough time”. When we don’t have “enough time”, we get exhausted. Is that something you have or are experiencing right now?
    2) When you get tired and exhausted, what good things don’t happen, or what good things do you not do?
    3)Have you ever had a “God-stripped” experience? What transformation occurred as a result?
    FD) What is discipline? Why is it good?

  • Worth or Hardly Worth Doing

    Psalm 1; 2 Kings 5:1–14; Luke 3:1–18

    Let’s reword Psalm 1:1…

    How happy is the one who walks in the advice of the holy and , who walks on the path set by God, and sits in the company of those who follow the Lord.

    Sometimes by writing the opposite in the /Poetry literature, it helps to better understand what the writer is conveying. In Psalm 1, the Psalmist is talking about a life filled with and by God. This is a life of relationship with God, and those who choose to be called by his and be led by him, and in fellowship with other believers. This may often seem slow, monotonous, and unexciting. People will often avoid such a life, and look at things outside, which seem more dramatic or exciting.

    Naaman initially rejected Elisha’s instructions for not meeting his . He was expecting at least a hand-waving! Naaman, at least, would have accepted miraculous healing (with the hand-waving), but whether it was geographic pride (my rivers are better than yours) or personal pride (Elisha didn’t come to see him personally), Naaman was ticked. What is particularly interesting is Naaman’s servants’ approach to the matter. They rhetorically ask him that if Elisha’s (God’s) requirement was some great feat (contextually, some military matter), wouldn’t he have done it?

    On the surface, Elisha’s hand-waving and a great feat are different. Truly, though, they both revolved around Naaman’s pride. His pride was a barrier to his healing. This is why the wisdom of Psalm 1 applies. Sometimes, the clean (righteous, holy, etc) life isn’t doing huge things, are having huge things happening to you, but resting beside the living water of God, and taking in the love and goodness that it brings.

    There are other times when resting in your life, leads to other issues. When John starts baptizing people, he calls out to the comfortable and those seeking excitement. He calls them Brood (or offspring) of Vipers. It is not a stretch to believe that John was telling them that their bite (i.e., hearts and words) would lead to , as vipers are poisonous snakes. One could also infer the connection between the snake of Eden (tempting Adam and Eve into the first sin) and the viper (who leads to death).

    The people, both the general populace and the Pharisees, could claim that they were looking for the Messiah (or his messenger), or looking for a better life. Yet, John does put a result out there. Those who say they repent (and thus could be baptized) were to display “good fruit.” The implication being that no good fruit was being produced.

    Naaman and John tie the contradiction of the condition. If we think it’s worth it, we’ll do really hard things that require sacrifice. However, sometimes the hardest thing is to do nothing exciting. On the other hand, we are also people of a culture who want to be like many of those baptized by John and just be done after that one thing. Yet, the true life offered through Christ is relational. Baptism is not meant to be “the end”. It’s not even meant to be the beginning. Baptism is the public profession of the faith in Christ inside our . It is another step along the road of life with Christ.

    1. How do you see the need for excitement or big events driving your personal life? How about your work or school life? How about your faith and/or church life?
    2. We seek both and excitement. Where do you find that contradiction in yourself?
    3. What would attract you to “sit” with God? What draws you away from it?
    4. [FD] What big thing would you like to do for God? What small things do you do for God?

  • Old With New

    Psalm 147:12-20, Proverbs 1:1-7; James 3:13-18

    He declares his word to Jacob,
    his statutes and judgments to Israel.
    He has not done this for every nation;
    they do not know his judgments.
    Hallelujah!

    Psalm 147:19-20


    The of the LORD
    is the beginning of ;
    fools despise and discipline.

    Proverbs 1:7

    Christianity is rooted in Judaism. That must never be ignored or denied. Judaism provides context for the New Testament. The New Testament loses much of its weight and impact when separated from Judaism. That is not to say that Judaism as practiced today is insightful, just that , the 12 original Apostles, Matthias (the man who replaced Judas Iscariot), and Paul were all Jews. It would be better to say that Christianity is the fullest expression of what Judaism was intended to be.

    The essentiality of this understanding means that we, just as Jews have done, must wrestle with the Old Testament. The Psalmist declares that Israel (the Jews) are blessed as they know (and have experienced) God’s statues and judgments. The Psalmist basically is saying that everyone else has lost out, as they don’t know God. The Christian understanding is that people who don’t know Jesus as the Saving Son of God have lost out. While there is a difference, there is a strong similarity: not being of the family of God is losing out.

    In Proverbs, the introduction ends on a powerful and significant note, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.” In this instance, fear is reverence and respect one feels towards one’s God. In other words, God is God, and I am not. Fools are those who do not have God in the right . This takes the “losing out” aspect and adds on foolish. This is the foolishness of the despairing and dying. This foolishness takes on a number of forms, pride, shame, ignorance, fear and even hatred. The words of James guide us in how to answer this. Wisdom.

    In particular, it is God’s wisdom that will guide the willing person away from the foolishness of the world, and toward the wisdom of God. As the bearers of God’s Word, we are to be humble and gentle. It is to come from a that knows God is God, and I am not. This same heart seeks to be like God and love those whose hearts are far away and draw them closer.

    1) The world often looks at Jesus’ followers and shakes its head. It sees our weakness, and attacks it. In light of the passages we’ve read, how can we ?

    2) What do you think worldly wisdom is? Can and Godly wisdom ever be aligned?

    KD) Why do you think it is important to that God is God, and you are not?