Devotion.al

Tag: faithful

  • Plan Pushing

    Psalm 22:23-31; Genesis 16:1-6; Romans 4:1-12 (read online ⧉)

    The story of Sarai and Hagar is strange. Did Abram not trust God to him a son through Sarai? Or did they (Abram and Sarai) assume that as Sarai was not conceiving that this would be through Hagar? It wasn’t, from their , unreasonable. Yet, as we know by reading further along in Genesis, that this really wasn’t God’s intent for Abram and Sarai.

    Abram and Sarai rushed God’s plan. That is not to say that Abram was not being or not God, but that his limited understanding caused him to follow a path that was not God’s intent. suggests that the union of Abram and Haggar was an event of works. It is only the union of Abram and Sarai that truly fulfills the promises of God to Abram.

    Another way to say this is that God blessed Abram’s union with Hagar, because Abram was still in with God. However, the fulfillment of God’s and blessing was fulfilled through Abram and Sarai.

    1. Have you ever rushed God’s plan?
    2. Has God ever honored a decision you made, despite it not being what God revealed to you? If so, once you got back on the path God laid out for you, what happened?
    3. Why do we tend to trust that we “know” in the world (such as Abram and Hagar having a child), rather than trusting in God’s promises (such as Abram and Sarai having a child)?

  • The Tension of Pain and Joy

    Job 4:1-21, Psalm 77, Ephesians 2:1-10 (read online ⧉)

    Job’s friend, Eliphaz, was one of 4 friends that came to visit Job in his time of trouble. While, ultimately, they misspoke of God, at other times they spoke of God and Job. Eliphaz told Job that he was a teacher of God and a believer. Wouldn’t we all want people to say these things of us? Yet, then he lectures Job about Job lamenting his situation. This exact pattern is something we have all experienced, and probably even followed.

    There has been a tendency to lecture people who are in emotional, spiritual, and/or that they need to be more joyful, more trusting, more faithful. When we look at all the woeful, lamenting words of Job, including even his questioning of God (and where God was in all of his troubles), Job did not . It is not to say that Job never sinned, but in the words that we have from him, he did not sin. There is something important here. It is okay to mourn, , lament.
    Part of is the aura of mourning, grieving, and lamenting. The overarching theme of Lent is that we know what is coming, Good Friday. The reason for Good Friday is mourning, grieving, and lamenting. The reason is sin. Sin was so deep and so pervasive only God breaking in could fix it. On the cross, the of God died.

    Under it all, it wasn’t that Job stopped trusting God, it was that he was hurting. Despite the anguish of Lent, underlying it there still remains truth and joy.

    “…God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…”

    We must disregard the mourning, grieving, and lamenting of Lent, for when we do, we undermine the truth of Good Friday.

    1) Do you find it difficult to be joyful while grieving, mourning, or while in pain?

    2) At what point, do you think, our lamenting (grieving, mourning or pain) turns into something that dishonors God?

  • Follow the Call

    1 Samuel 2:27–3:18, 1 Samuel 16:1–13, Matthew 7:15–27 (read online ⧉)

    Often we are oblivious to God’s . We succumb to the world’s that things “just happen” and we “earned” it all. While in some regards there is truth in the world’s words, there is a conflict between the underlying great Truth that undergirds many of the world, and Christians. Much of the world believes that there is no God or (at best) God “set and forgot” the world and walk away. Christians, on the other hand, believe that God is active and moving in the world, especially through the work of the who works through each of us.

    Eli was aware of God. Yet, he chose to disregard God’s blessings by allowing his sons and servants to ignore the Law about the sacrifices. What Eli was thinking is not written in the . His was either fatalistic or more along the lines of disbelief. One would think that disbelief was far from Eli’s thought process, especially with the morning’s revelations from Samuel. There is no or mention of repentance. Yes, Eli was upset with his sons, just not upset enough to place God before them.

    The story of Saul follows a somewhat similar line as Saul’s behavior was a lack of in God. That lack of faith removed the kingdom of Israel from Saul’s (and his descendants’) hands before it was even firmly established. Saul’s efforts were vapor in the wind. Still, he strived and strived. Despite having had God-directed encounters, unbelief still ended up sending him down a path that wasn’t what he wanted.

    Sometimes God calls us to great things. Sometimes God calls us to small things. From small to large, God calls us. Sometimes what we think are great things (that are beyond our abilities or gifts) are really only a collection of a lot of small (even tiny) little steps of following God’s call on our lives. Sometimes it is only when we look back and see the little things stack up that we realize how large and great God’s call was on our lives.

    No matter what stage of we are in, we are always called to follow God into new things.

    1) What do you think Eli’s s struggles were based on? Pride? Unfaithfulness? Tiredness?

    2) Have you had a refreshing of God’s call on your life? If so, what it is? If not, will you pursue it?

  • Relating Relationally

    Genesis 24:1–27, Ruth 2:1–16, 1 Corinthians 7:1–9, Hebrews 11:13–22 (read online ⧉)

    Arranged marriages are nothing new. Many arranged marriages were and are political, financial, or just friends “knowing” their children should be . The story of Isaac and Rebekah doesn’t quite fall into those lines, but it is still an arranged marriage. Just like any marriage, there were ups and downs, good days and bad. From a generational and legacy standpoint, marriage was a core component. The servant in this story was the one who had to and rely on God for the journey to be a success, and to be able to go to his master (Abraham) with his task fulfilled.

    The story of Ruth is considered a success as she was faithful…and landed a husband. By landing a husband, she obtained personal security. She also obtained a legacy for her husband (and by extension, her deceased father-in-law) and her mother-in-law, Naomi. That he was honorable and rich didn’t hurt, of course. In a culture where women were not highly valued, this was a significant win for Ruth and Naomi. For the women, marriage was not just success, it was safety and . In the story, too, was God. In this case, it was Ruth (the Moabite foreigner) who trusted and relied on God. Naomi (the Israelite) has lost her trust in God. God’s faithfulness to Ruth, however, did seem to have restored Naomi’s trust.

    In this day and age and culture, we have been spared (generally) the arranged marriages of old, though they still happen. Marriage has long been a mainstay and cultural and societal bedrock for generations, and not just in American or even Western culture, but in most cultures and ages. Yes, there are exceptions. They are few. Whether you view the current changes regarding marriage in the United States as good or bad, it has changed. There is an important reason to understand that, Americans deeply value marriage. That should hope, but it should also make us cautious. When we raise marriage to such a high level (which we have), people quest and ache for it. Then they will pursue it. Then they will fail. This is not to say that we should not view marriage highly, but that our view of it should not be over that of widows, widowers, and singles. In fact, it is not unreasonable to conclude that much of the failure of marriages are not just unpreparedness, it is also suitableness.

    There often comes a judgemental tendency regarding this in Evangelical circles. This is certainly not exclusive of Evangelical Christianity, as there is a religion that teaches (or at least use to) that a single man over the age of 25 to be a danger to society. Holding up relationships, especially romantic ones, as the panacea of all things is setting up relationships to not be able to bear the weight of expectations. Once relationships become gods, not only does God have no place, but relationships try to make up the lack of God by putting it all into the relationships.

    The other struggle is the one Paul is concerned about, and that is sexual morality. In other words, if you can’t handle your “needs”, then get married. Paul seems to put marriage as below singleness. Think about that for a moment. Paul, often elevated (rightfully) as a “doctor” of the , did not necessarily view marriage as anything more than a way to avoid sexual immorality. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for earthly marriage. On the other hand, Paul did say that Christ and the Church were Groom and , so it’s not as if marriage wasn’t useful. Still, it wasn’t a ringing endorsement. Both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches developed monasteries and convents for those called to it. This was an elevation of singleness to the glory of God.

    Those who a single, widowed, or married are to and value each other equally, not based upon marital status. All statuses have to rely on God for fulfillment, and none are completely fulfilling for anyone, at least not without God. It is trusting God, when we cannot see the path before us, and trusting God when our relational desires are not fulfilled. Relationships fill holes inside each and every one of us.

    1) How do you view people who are in a different relational status than you are? Why? How does that fit into being framily together?

    2) How do you incorporate into your everyday (i.e., not just at church) those who are in a different relational state than you?

    3) How do Paul’s words (in this passage) feel to you regarding your relational status?

  • What Promise?

    Psalm 146, Mark 13:14–27, Mark 13:32–33, Hebrews 11:13–22 (read online ⧉)

    The New Year is no longer new. By now many New Year’s Resolutions are broken. People have already surrendered to their loss. Often people telegraph or expect their loss, and behave as if they have already lost. By God’s grace, many of those who went before, especially those that are revered in some aspect, didn’t behave the same way.

    The Founding Fathers (of the States) were human beings. They were marred by and imperfection…just like us. The system they developed, a hybrid of multiple governmental ways of thinking, was an experiment. The Founding Fathers had many fears about this system they created. Oddly enough, on both sides of the political spectrum is a growing belief that it has failed. That it failed (or hasn’t yet, or won’t, or…) is not the question or issue, nor has it ever been. The amazing thing is that it was tried at all. That a bunch of (granted) well-educated “aristocratic” men were able to motivate not as fortunate to take on the ruling empire of the world (at that time) is amazing. It actually means, a cynical point of view, means that nothing has changed. Still to take on the British Empire was insane. These same men feared that democracy would fail, no matter what fail-safes they put into the system. They did anyway. Were they going against the flow? Would failure be catastrophic? Yes to both. Again, they did it anyway.

    When the U.S. system was designed it really had no trust in princes nor did it really have trust in people. It’s odd, wouldn’t you say, to put the fate of your in the hands of people you don’t really trust? Much of the angst of the current “feeling”* really boils down to putting our faith and trust in princes (and people) who haven’t really earned it. The ones that earned it are the ones we know, not usually someone on a website or a TV screen (though in this day and age that may no longer be so).

    While it is wise to not trust humankind without some serious and discernment, people still do it. We have to. We cannot survive being paranoid. However, during his prophetic statements, still advises people that there will be false messiahs and false prophets. Jesus advises that the end will come with God the decides, and that is not for anyone else to know. Despite these words, men and women for ages have declared “special” of the end. People then feel betrayed when the end doesn’t come.

    Those that know the end date, or those who will give us power or stuff or safety, we put a lot of trust in them. Then we become upset because they failed us. When it comes to politicians and leaders we really treat them like New Year’s Resolutions…something will go wrong. We have no real in them, yet we still feel disappointed. Yet, we should actually be relieved when they disappoint us. Whew! They’re human just like us. That is the point of the author of Hebrews, God is not human like us. God is far more. God is faithful. God fulfills his promises.

    1) What promise(s) of God do you hold onto?

    2) What promises of people do you hold onto?

    3) Why do you think we hold onto people’s promises, yet often turn away from God’s promises?

    : As you read the Scriptures this week, write down the verses that seem to be promises.

  • Healing Purpose

    Mark 5:1–20, Mark 7:31–36, Luke 17:11–19 (read online ⧉)

    Jesus produced miracle after miracle. Usually, people are pretty grateful when miraculous has occurred. The first healing we read today is a man who is not right in the head. Whether we stick with the surface Biblical understanding of possession or go with the postmodern view of schizophrenia it doesn’t really matter. Either way, we see that Jesus performed a miracle. The man was healed and he wanted everyone to know. Jesus directed him to home. He went to the place he was likely cast-out from and talked about and displayed his healing. He wanted to let people know what Jesus had done for him.

    The next story of healing is the deaf man, whose poor hearing had also affected his ability to . Jesus healed him, he could now hear and speak normally. What’s interesting here is that while only one person appeared to have been healed, there were either more people that were healed that Mark doesn’t talk about here, or the people were so excited for the man’s healing that they all couldn’t keep quiet about Jesus, and this was after he directed them to remain quiet. They couldn’t help themselves.

    The last story is probably the saddest. Jesus healed 10 men of their skin disease. 9 of them did not return to Jesus, nor (we can infer) did they do anything that honored God (perhaps not even seeing the priests?) in return. Only 1 man did, and he was an unclean awful Samaritan (Jewish ). While the of 1 out 10 is depressing, there is something else here worth looking at. Nowhere do the tell us that the 9 men who appeared to not be thankful regained their skin diseases. Yet, only the 1 man who was thankful (or at least returned to glorify God) was told by Jesus that his had saved him.

    This last story shows us an important fact about the nature of God. Even when we are ungrateful, God is still loving and faithful. This also shows something else, just because we received miraculous healing, it does not mean we’re saved. That requires something else from us.

    1) What is the difference between saving faith, being saved, and being healed?

    2) What do you think God’s purpose(s) is(are) for miraculous healings?

    3) Where do you see Christians acting like the 9? Where do you see Christians acting like those healed? Where do you see Christians acting like the witnesses of the healings?

    Action: Figure out a miracle God has done in your that you haven’t given him for, and share it.

  • Wisdom Somewhere

    Proverbs 1:20–33, Proverbs 9:10, Matthew 7:7–12, James 1:5–8 (read online ⧉)

    Choose a side is the overwhelming discourse in and social issues these days. Without question, social media and the internet, in general, have made the ability to blare one’s opinion throughout the world. Regardless of one’s politics, newspapers (or news companies) seem to feel a need to make their opinion known on which candidate is the “best” choice. For example, the New York Times is currently working on its review of and interviews with all the current candidates from the Democrat Party, so that they can editorially endorse a particular candidate. For some reason, the New York Times (and other “news” organizations, regardless of apparent ideology) feels the need to declare its allegiance to a particular candidate speaks to a loss of neutrality.

    This all speaks to a long-standing culture that “leaders” or leading organizations must declare a right and wrong side. The universal (i.e., not just Generations Community Church) is struggling with this very thing. So, too, are many people within the church. We have become so polarized that everyone expects to have people declare their stance. This is understandable. This falls well within the right/wrong rules that we all need to have. It also fits our general behavior of who is “in” and who is “out”.

    F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” Regardless of “intelligence” (which is subjective in many respects), this is an uncomfortable statement. By holding contradictory ideas, it makes it harder to be put into a , which makes it harder for people to relate to us, doesn’t it? It didn’t use to be this way (or at least to this level); now we have to put ourselves in a box to make it easier for to deal with us.

    People have been “wise” for years. True comes from God, yet (sadly) most people are more satisfied by human wisdom, and therein lies the problem.

    It is not that worldly wisdom is automatically bad. It is automatically deficient, as it is human not God. The passage in Matthew and James talk about Godly wisdom insofar as asking for it. ‘ focus (in this passage) is more on the wisdom to see and enter the . James is more concerned with maintaining the walk with Jesus (arguably the same thing as Jesus’ concerns). The “problem” with Godly wisdom is that it isn’t worldly wisdom. wisdom (currently) wants us to be in worldly wisdom boxes. Godly wisdom doesn’t fit in worldly wisdom boxes.

    As we interact with the world, we will often be confronted with the obvious contrasts between worldly wisdom and Godly wisdom. However, there will be times where worldly wisdom appears to be in line with Godly wisdom. This is actually when it is the most dangerous for us as followers of Christ. When worldly wisdom appears to be in line with Godly wisdom, it becomes easier to nudge us to continue to follow worldly wisdom and away from Godly wisdom. First, it seems okay, but after a while, we can find ourselves far enough from Godly wisdom that we have to reset. When we reset ourselves, we become discouraged. That is why we must continually ask God for God’s wisdom. We won’t, unlike Solomon, get it all at once. It is the faithful pursuit of it that will and form us into the people of Godly wisdom.

    1) What is wisdom? Do the verses from Proverbs help or hinder your understanding of wisdom?

    2) Why is wisdom important? How does, or does it, affect intelligence and ?

    3) How does James’ “double-minded” apply to intelligence and wisdom?

  • Prayer Fighting

    Exodus 3:1–10, Psalm 4, Isaiah 56:7, 1 Timothy 2:1–4 (read online ⧉)

    Phrases such as“fight your battles on your knees” and “win your battles on your knees”, along with terms such as prayer warrior, along with movies such as “War Room” all have an underlying …prayer is a battle.

    There is far too much truth in it. First, the battle is against the powers of . Now, to be blunt, we often those same powers too much credence. Yet, from our limited and weak , the darkness seems powerful.

    Battle is also applicable when it comes to ourselves. Sometimes it is weariness. Sometimes it is despair. We fight our desire to do something more. We get distracted (even before phones that was a problem). We fight ourselves when we pray.

    This leads to the next part of this battle…never go it alone. The greatest strength we have is when we pray . We can lift one another up when we fall. Together (as we are called to be, anyway) we can bring each other when we’re tired, encouragement when we tend toward despair. We can even hold each other accountable regarding transactions.

    The biggest struggle when it comes to prayer is the length of time to receive and the answers themselves. Think of the Israelites. Their prayer wasn’t answered for generations, and by a guy who was (effectively) cast out of his Egyptian and Israelite relations. Their prayer was answered…eventually. How many prayed for liberation, and died not seeing it.
    Whether we are praying for physical , spiritual healing, or relational healing, it can be demoralizing to receive an answer we didn’t actually want. There are so many reasons why prayer may or may not be answered, but remaining in our prayers is what we are called to be.

    1) What is the biggest prayer you remember making and being ?

    2) What is the biggest prayer you remember making and not being fulfilled?

    3) What is currently the biggest item on your prayer list?