Devotion.al

Tag: forward

  • Instigation

    Instigation

    Jeremiah 15:10–14; Matthew 10:16–23; Matthew 12:46–50

    Christmas is coming! All I want for Christmas is for 2020 to be over. How about you?

    2020 may be the year of division. There is no question that the country is divided. While 2016 was certainly divisive, it is almost nothing to today. As much as many may blame the president, a political party other than theirs, any politician, the media, and whomever else they want to…the divisions all our rooted in our .

    In many respects, this may be a in disguise. For too many years, any form of conflict or disagreement has been shoved into the dark corners. It wasn’t that long ago that “safe places” were a thing. The beauty of these days is the reality that there is no “safe space” where we won’t hear something that conflicts with our beliefs.

    How we , however, is certainly an issue. Many church folks are no longer conversing on issues. They just attack and/or shut down. We have lost the ability to well and with .

    The church is in the middle of a very painful transformation. This isn’t just the incorporation of digital into its (rather than as a side project), it is the racial, political, health (COVID), and economic strain that is occurring throughout the world. These concerns are forcing the church to confront itself with the many things it has done and hasn’t done.

    At this point in the church’s circle are prophetic voices of varying kinds. Many are not appreciated or even listened to (just like the Old Testament prophets).

    Jeremiah was given a message by God. He mourns his birth as the people scorn and hate him even though he did nothing against them. He only spoke God’s words.

    Jeremiah certainly was not popular. He was rightly regarded as a prophet. It was just that the words didn’t fit their desires.

    This really hasn’t changed. Jesus’ warning to his disciples was straight . They weren’t going to be liked. Their choice to follow Jesus may cause them to lose family and friends.

    Families divided because someone follows Jesus. What happens when families and other are divided because they have different understandings of what it means to follow Jesus? That’s the question for this .

    It used to be one or two issues that divided the church. Now, there are many. Perhaps it is the language we use when we disagree. Perhaps our language is too rigid. Perhaps our hearts are too hard.

    Jesus formed a new family that transcended the earthly bonds. In Jesus’ day, it was the blood of the family. After his resurrection, it was the division that separated Jew from Gentile. Today it is politics, , abortion, the military, the appropriate place of patriotism, protest, COVID, healthcare, the environment, and so many other issues.

    “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” The will of the Father? Love the Lord your God with all your body, soul, mind, and strength; love your neighbor as yourself.

    ※Prayer※

    Heavenly Father, help us do your will that we would be fully functioning members of your family. Amen.

    1) How are you doing talking to others on issues with which you disagree? Do you filter your values through the will of the Father?

    2) What forms do prophetic voices take today? Is there any particular form you would automatically ignore?

    3) What are the current issues that prophetic voices are discussion that make you uncomfortable? Why does that make you uncomfortable?

  • Lamenting Forward

    Lamenting Forward

    Ezekiel 2:1–3:3; Lamentations 3:17–33; Ecclesiastes 3:1–8

    There are two prevailing feelings currently: fear and anger. Neither one is productive over time. In the end, they can destroy a person emotionally and spiritually.

    Ezekiel ate words of lament, mourning, and woe. In the vision, the edible scroll tastes a sweet as honey. At the same time, there was no in the words themselves.

    One of the biggest lessons that the current atmosphere can teach us is that we need to mourn what we have lost. We are even still in the midst of losing our perception of culture(s), country, and even church. We fight the .

    We don’t want to lose all that we hold dear. At the same time, there is another feeling that is harder to quantify… God is doing something new. We don’t know what that new is, which causes us to be even more emotionally reactive.

    God can (and does) handle our anger and fear. God is greater than that. We, though, need to lament, , and mourn.

    When we lose a loved one, we miss them. We grieve. We mourn. We understand that it is not only acceptable, it is also healthy. We also must—as hard as it is—find a way to .

    That is currently the way many things are right now. One of the great difficulties is to choose what to mourn and move past, and what to struggle for. As the situation around COVID continues, we will continue to have to work and walk together to find a way forward.

    We all must be -filled as people struggle with their masked in fear and anger. Only the God of hope can turn the anger and fear into a drive to move forward in . Let us all be people of hope.

    ※Prayer※

    Heavenly Father, guide us to be people of hope, not just any hope, but the hope of the crucified and risen . Amen.

    ※Questions※

    1) What is one thing you are angry about right now? How about fearful? What about grieving?

    2) If you were to rank each of these in order, what would they be, and why?

    3) Which of these has the greatest effect upon your walk? How so?

  • Domination

    Domination

    Ecclesiastes 3:16–4:3; Psalm 148; Revelation 5:13 (read online ⧉)

    Long has human pride (and bad interpretation) taught humanity that we were to dominate . Even when this interpretation came to the forefront in thinking, Creation was pretty brutal: typhoons, hurricanes, floods, droughts, pestilence, insect swarms, disease, and so on.

    Humanity has, for far too long, focused on dominance. The domination of other humans, especially through war, has been one example. The other is the attempt to contain Creation. Our forms of agriculture are predominately formed as an attempt to mitigate the disasters of Creation, with some . Other attempts such as damn and levees don’t work as planned.

    Humanity’s attempt to control has been somewhat successful. Then again, the regular summer fires show that things aren’t really under control.

    Ecclesiastes puts us into perspective. While humanity does have the Imago Dei (Image of God) imprinted in us, this doesn’t mean that domination is the way. We became obsessed with power over , rather than God’s overwhelming .

    While talking about the reality that we all pass away, just as the animals do, isn’t all bad. Often, it is our mortality that drives us .

    Fantasy writers long understood the danger of not fearing death. They wrote about “elves”. These magical long-life creatures would become…bored. They could live almost forever (from a human point of view). Mortality just wasn’t there. Our mortality helps us live.

    “Man’s chief is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.” —Westminster Shorter Catechism

    If Ecclesiastes is correct, and the Westminster Shorter Catechism is correct (in larger concept, at least), then Creation’s purpose is also to glorify God.

    As we read in Psalm 148, this isn’t a stretch. The list of non-human worshippers of God is impressive. Even that which we do not consider alive praises God. In Revelation, it cannot be ignored that all of Creation bows down to on the throne.

    What does this have to do with you? Pride. Jesus submitted to death. We are called to live similarly. While we have the Imago Dei, that does not give us license to do as we wish. It means we have a responsibility to .

    ※Prayer※

    Holy , convict us of our pride. Convict us of our desire to put others down. Convict us of our desire to raise ourselves over others. Give us the conviction to lay down at your feet. Amen.

    ※Questions※

    1) Why might serving Creation be important?

    2) What does serving Creation look like?

    3) How does or did God serve Creation?

  • Forward

    Forward

    Job 1:1–5; 2 Corinthians 1:8–14 (read online ⧉)

    The story of Job is a famous story. It seems to be a story of a man going through unjust trials and misery. Job is often used in times of trial as a sort of encouragement, as if to say, if it could happen to Job, it can happen to you.

    Job, depending on translation, was a person of complete integrity or blameless and upright. Either one is hard for us to measure up to. How many of us, truly, would think of ourselves as being of complete integrity?

    During an interview, the question was asked of the interviewee, “are you honest?” The interviewee said, “yes.” The interviewer then asked, “have you ever lied or stolen?” The interviewee answered, “yes.” The interviewer then asked, “are you honest?” The interviewee again answered, “yes.”

    The test was not whether the person was honest, per se. Rather, it was if they had the integrity to answer the “ever lied or stolen” question with a “yes.” If they had answered, “no” to that question, the interview would have been over, for no one (other than , and perhaps Job) was that good of a person.

    When we read the story of Job, the story isn’t about Job’s “greatness” or “righteousness”. The story is about Job’s faithfulness to God. Despite all his troubles, he never gave up on God, even when his wife told him to.

    While God is always faithful, we often are not. It is our faithfulness, though, that intimately affects our individual life. When Paul and Timothy were going through a period of affliction, Paul noted that they received from God. Note the language that Paul used; overwhelmed beyond their own . By whose strength, then, could they succeed? God’s, of course.

    Paul’s faithfulness to God was rewarded with the strength to carry on. Except, reward is not exactly correct. We all have this exact strength available to us, too. Through our trials and tribulations, through COVID-19 and riots, we have the strength to persevere.

    However, many Christians do not believe they have that . That is the work of the adversary. The adversary isn’t necessarily the Devil either. The world, in this instance, can be the adversary, too. As the world (all of ) languishes in the results of broken (), it cannot understand how to overcome. It is lost in despair.

    Christians often succumb to that despair. Instead of faithfulness to God, they attribute to themselves (and often to God) the faithlessness of broken relationships.

    ※※

    As a mother bird gathers her young in her wings, so you do for us, oh, God. May we the warmth and of your wings, as they gather us together, and help us to trust that you are for us. Amen.

    ※Questions※

    1) What are symptoms of despair that you see in the world? How about yourself?

    2) What are ways that we can help others strengthen their hearts against despair?

    3) How does despair affect things like hatred, discord, and the like?

  • Opprobrium

    Opprobrium

    Matthew 9:18–26; Mark 5:21–43; Luke 8:40–56 (read online ⧉)

    People often use scripture to justify certain things, or at least state that whatever “this” is, it is nothing new. One of those is a thought that the woman in today’s Scriptures had been bleeding due to a botched abortion. This, of course, is conjecture. There are several other medical conditions which this could fall under, so making this kind of conjecture is often not helpful. This is especially the case when such conjecture takes away from the that is already present in the Scripture.

    Think about the other healings that Jesus performed. In the other healings, he was approached then would act. He was just on his way to heal someone else, and this women surreptitiously approaches him and just touches his clothes to be healed.

    The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) have slightly different tellings of the story. Yet, the woman’s initiative to approach Jesus and touching his clothing to be healed is consistent. Both Mark and Luke talk about the crowds surrounding Jesus. This took courage for this woman.

    The primary thought that this bleeding was similar to menstrual bleeding (hence the aforementioned piece about abortion). If that is so, while the woman would not have to declare “unclean” as a leper, should would be ceremonially unclean, and probably unwelcome, if anyone knew. She, probably some sort of outcast, would have to go among those who likely mocked and scorned her. If she was successful, for 12 years, to keep her condition secret, then she would have likely been overwhelmed by guilt and inadequacy.

    In Mark and Luke, this story takes on another interesting twist. She approached; she touched; she was healed. There was no “action” by Jesus. This unique aspect should be one of those moments where we stop and , what is different?

    Anything is conjecture, as the Bible does not directly say anything. One possibility is that in this story we see God and Man. The Godly power left Jesus. Jesus the Man was surprised. Both aspects of Jesus were in full display. There is even this odd hint of the Water of being spent, which would then be refilled by God.

    On the other hand, there is an echo of the time in Eden after Adam and Eve had eaten the Fruit of the of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve had heard God walking in the Garden and hid because they were naked. God asked where they were. Adam and Eve revealed themselves in shame. Sounds somewhat like the woman who revealed herself.

    There is also the beauty of trust that this woman has. It isn’t just trust of being healed, but when she reveals herself and tells her story, there is a vulnerability that requires an explicit trust in Jesus.

    This woman has no name in the Scriptures (outlined here). Her cured affliction has been noted for history, but the shame of her condition is not tied to her name. Just as the shame that once weighed her down was gone, so was what needed healing. She left it behind. Her was that her was not her condition. She moved in freedom.

    ※ ※

    Lord, we thank you for taking our shame. Though we may still bear the scars and pain of it, the shame is gone. May this freedom that you have given us, not be misused or unused for your . Amen.

    ※ Questions ※

    1) Why do you think each of the Gospel writers (especially Matthew), chose to tell the story the way they did? What do you think of the additional piece that Mark and Luke have?

    2) What is your biggest takeaway regarding the woman of our story?

    3) What do you think the was of those who were acting on Jairus’ behalf?

  • Not Them Anymore

    Not Them Anymore

    Matthew 15:17–28; Ephesians 4:17–24 (read online ⧉)

    For I am the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, so you must be because I am holy. —Leviticus 11:45

    When the Israelites were brought out of the land of Egypt, it wasn’t going to be things as usual. We often focus on the slavery and the misery, for this was the reality of the Israelites in Egypt by the time Moses was born, and very much so after his return from Midian.

    Today, we would say that this was in the rearview mirror. That was their . It was to be their life no longer. However, that also meant that practices that they copied from Egyptian culture had to be culled. Other than their bloodline, there were only three things that otherwise tied them together, their story, circumcision, and a promised land that was not in Egypt. That’s it.

    We look back at them and say, YES! Many would that the States couldn’t keep the “dream” of the Founding Fathers alive, and it hasn’t been 300 years! They waited over 400 years! How tightly they must have held onto those 3 things. Yet, there would have been a lot of other stuff that they took with them. They needed to understand that a line has been drawn. They are now called to be holy, for God is holy. The key (oversimplified) part is that God defined what is holy.

    The first piece (again, oversimplified) was don’t be an Egyptian (don’t even walk like one). That extended to other tribes and nations, too. The Promised Land contained the Canaanites. They were the people that the Israelites were supposed to drive out for they would cause the Israelites to fall away from God (so said God). They didn’t drive them out. So, down the timeline we have one of these Canaanite women come to Jesus so that he will heal her daughter.

    Here, as in other times with Jesus, that while he is first called to the Jews, to those that pursue, he would still respond. That Jesus would still respond to a generational enemy tells us much about Jesus. It also tells us that being “called out of Egypt” is more than the story of Exodus. It can be our story, too.

    sets this story forward in Ephesians, too. This letter was likely a circular letter passed among the churches of Asia Minor and found a permanent home in Ephesus (hence the name). Historians come to that conclusion for a number of reasons, but one of the more interesting points is that this letter is not addressed to anyone specifically (see other letters of Paul). Paul intended or expected this letter to have a life of its own (kind of like those forwarded emails and now Facebook messages that keep coming back year-after-year).

    That makes this particular passage from Ephesians even more interesting. He makes the statement that the hearers/receivers of the letters should not be like Gentiles. Sounds pretty straightforward, except that many (if not most) of them were Gentiles! Paul, so to , was telling them that they were now called out of Egypt.

    Gentiles are, to these Christians, a different people from themselves. They, who were once Gentiles, were called to be Gentiles no longer!

    ※ ※
    God, you called us out of the darkness of our souls to be something greater than we could be on our own. As we look with hopeful expectations for the returning to some sort of normal, help us to remember that we are daily called out of Egypt to be your holy people. Amen.

    ※ ※
    1) Swap Gentiles with American (or whatever nationality is your “” nationality). How do Paul’s words feel now?

    2) Those of the so-called Western Civilization are often blind to the differences between the general culture and the culture, often because we fail to understand what it means to be Christian. What is one thing you can think of that conflicts?

    3) Life as usual is not (really) the Christian life. What is unusually Christian about your life? Do any non-Christians practice the same? If so, now what?

  • Clean Up

    Clean Up

    Zechariah 3:1–10; Matthew 9:1–8; Revelation 22:7–17

    Most parents have to tell their children to clean their rooms. There are those rare exceptional (weird) children who clean up their rooms on their own. There are also those parents who have conditioned their children to behave in a manner contrary to their nature, and the children are very clean. There there is the last group of parents, who don’t bother (for various reasons).

    Part of the walk is a that resembles Christ more and more. There are highs and lows. There are backslidings. There is a lot of hard work, and then there are miraculous leaps forward.

    Joshua the high priest (not to be confused with Joshua, Moses’ successor) stood before God with dirty clothes. They were reflective of the “dirty” condition of the Israelites. Now the dirty need to be contrasted with the part. The Israelites were called to be holy because they were the people God called by name, and God was Holy.

    The Israelites always seemed to struggle with this. Whether it was Moses, or the time of Judges, even during Samuel’s life, the latter part of Solomon’s reign, and all the kings that followed Solomon. The Israelites often left God and pursue other gods and other ways that were not God’s. They were not holy. They were not clean. They were dirty.

    Note that neither Joshua nor Zechariah did anything. In fact, even Satan didn’t have (so it seems) even the opportunity to accuse Joshua. God just commanded…and it was so.

    In Hebrew, often when Satan is presented in English, we should know that “the” accuser is the more literal meaning. This is particularly interesting when we come to the story of the paralytic, the accusers are the scribes.

    While the scribes didn’t say anything, Jesus still knows their hearts well enough to know their accusation. Jesus declares the man clean. Just like that. Oh, and just in case they didn’t get it the first time (they didn’t), he cleansed the man’s clothes (being the body).

    Yet, the reality is that we, and our clothes, still get dirty. Perhaps there is one person that you “know” is a saint (and they might be). That person, however, probably would see their own stains that you cannot. “Bless those who wash their robes(!)”

    We’re going to get dirty in this life. Usually through our own faults, but undeniably there are times when people will chuck the muck at you to make sure you look dirty. Why that might be is irrelevant to this message. What is relevant is that our clothes are not us. Through the power of Jesus Christ, and our submission to his authority and our submission to the work of the Holy , we are made clean!

    ※ ※

    Merciful Father, you have declared us clean through the of your . Lord Jesus, we thank you for your work on Earth and the words that you have given us. Holy Spirit, allow us to see our stains clearly. Help us to understand your conviction of us while knowing that you do not condemn us, but call us to a (w)holy deeper life. Amen.

    ※ ※

    1) Are you an accuser? If someone with “dirty” clothes comes to a small group, a gathering, or even (gasp) church, what do you do?

    2) someone who you deeply admire (or, again, think of as a saint), and ask them if they still see their spiritual stains?

    3) How are you working through the stains in your life? Do you have an partner (or better, 2 or 3)?

  • Planned Disruption

    Planned Disruption

    1 Samuel 16:1–5; Luke 14:28–33; James 4:13–17 (read online ⧉)

    But mouse-friend, you are not alone
    in proving may be vain:
    the best-laid schemes of Mice and Men
    go oft awry,
    and leave us only and ,
    for promised !

    Still, friend, you’re blessed compared with me!
    Only present dangers make you flee:
    But, ouch!, behind me I can see
    grim prospects drear!
    While forward-looking seers, we
    humans guess and !

    From “To a Mouse”, by Robert Burns
    modern English translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

    The current situation with COVID-19 should put to rest how fleeting our plans really are. However, while everything is in an uproar and rather chaotic, we are still coming up with plans. What becomes emblematic of human behavior is that we know we are making plans for a target that doesn’t yet exist.

    These are strange times indeed.

    Samuel had a plan. In fact, at one point it seemed a pretty solid plan, since it appeared to be God’s plan. The Israelites decided they wanted a king, “just like the countries around them”. So, while Samuel was upset (along with God), it was done. This king, Saul, seemed to be destined for great things. He was physically imposing. He was successful militarily. He even had a starting bought of prophesying.

    While we cannot say that Samuel loved Saul, there does seem to be some sort of strong emotion that Samuel had for Saul. We see this in God’s words to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul?” Samuel knew that Saul wasn’t dedicated to God, yet Samuel still mourned the fact that Saul would lose his kingship and was not blessed by God.

    The plans for the King of Israel changed. Now, a new path would be before Samuel. In obedience, he followed it to a boy named David. While it might have not been as abrupt as all that has come with COVID-19, for a culture such as this “just” changing the king was a big deal. This is clear when Samuel brings his worry of being killed before God. It shouldn’t be ignored that God gave Samuel a way around a reprisal coming from the king or his minions.

    Plans are worthwhile. It’s not as if they should not be made. Jesus even used the example of construction and war plans to lay out to wannabe disciples that they need to plan for the costs of following him. Jesus makes it clear that if we follow him, we can expect a lot of worldly things to be prioritized at a much lower ranking than the .

    Often we count the cost…and we lie to ourselves. “God doesn’t really want…” “I can grow by just…” “My is too busy to…” “That’s the way we’ve always done it.” We count the cost, and determine that following Jesus isn’t really worth the price.

    Sometimes, and especially in times of turmoil, our plans need to be laid at the feet of God, and not at our comfort. When James talks about people making plans (in particular speculative plans about enterprising and wealth-building), he’s warning each an everyone of us that all of our plans are worthless if they do not begin with God.

    What should especially concern us is when we hold so tightly to our plans, that we do not respond to God’s prompting to change the plan.

    ※ Prayer ※

    God, you know the plans you have for us. May we be to respond. Jesus, help us to follow your example of obedience and submission even unto death. , guide our hearts into all Truth, hope, and love. Amen.

    ※ Questions ※

    1) What are your current plans (personal, professional, family, religious)? How does God fit into those plans (even the religious ones)?
    2) How will you know if God wants you to continue your plans, or change them?
    3) How often do you still count the cost of following Jesus, whether it’s your family, your profession, your stuff, your time, or something else?