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Devotion.al

Tag: God

  • Disappointment Not Punishment

    Psalm 34, Job 1:1–10, 1 John 4:7–21

    There is something in the Old Testament that remains unresolved. The Psalmist declares that the wicked will not be remembered and the righteous will be. This is a common theme. Yet, when we look at scripture, and we look at the world around us, we rightfully question that. So, what is going on? Perhaps we ought to question who is doing the remembering. Both Old and New Testaments are testaments of God to humanity. In other words, humanity is the object of the story (the Bible), God is. Scripture tells the story of the imperfect revealing the glory, holiness, righteousness, justice, mercy, grace,…love of God. Humanity is just the target of all of that. Since we tell the stories, we confuse being the tellers of the story with being the subject of the story.

    There is another tension in both Old and New Testament: fear of God. The psalmist talks about teaching the fear of God to people. How does that match with this loving God we tell people about? First, of course, is our language. That is the start of the problem. There is also an automatic opposition to the word fear. Fear is bad. Except when it is not. When driving to work, one cannot be overcome by fear (you’ll never leave the driveway). Yet, defensive driving (a form of fear) is very wise when driving with all the other people that are obviously not as good of drivers as you are.

    The opening verses of Job tell us that fear from the perspective of Scripture may not match our own. We read that Job makes sacrifices on behalf of his children, for he fears they might have sinned. In support of Job, God (proudly) declares that Job fears him (God). What? How about the insight from Satan (how’s that for weird), that of course Job fears God, for God has protected him and blessed him with property and family. Fear? Well, fear must not mean…fear.

    Our last insight comes from 1 John, with fear and love being polar opposites. And this is that final insight. Bad fear, the fear that we should not have toward God, is the fear of punishment. Which leaves us with good fear, which is having the right perspective of God. God is almighty. God is love. Right fear is the fear that we are not in fellowship with God, but God so loves us that he pours out his grace and mercy upon us, so that we need not fear punishment, but are devastated by God’s disappointment.

    1) What about God do you fear?

    2) What about people do you fear?

    3) Why does true love cast out (bad) fear?

    FD) When you think of God, which is a stronger emotion: fear or love? Why?

  • Growing Knowledge

    Isaiah 5:18–24, Luke 11:37–44, 2 Corinthians 11:1–11

    Much of today’s passages revolve around religious leaders, religious know-it-alls, and egotistical maniacs using religious language. It is really easy to point out the flaw of our and of course everybody else’s religious leaders. Oddly enough, they’re human too. The easy thing to point out is when their pride gets the best of them, and it becomes about them, and not God. We should not be so quick.
    In Jewish tradition, just accepting one’s faith was being a child (which was good). Yet, owning one’s faith meant digging into God’s words and ways, especially with others. Ignorance was no excuse. Christianity continued that tradition (despite what many naysayers would have you believe). We weren’t just to inherit the faith, we were to embody the faith. There is one point where Paul admonishes his charges to be eager to stop being children (“spiritual milk”) and become adults (“meat of the faith”). We are not to have a milk toast kind of faith.

    The flip side, however, is that there are those who take their knowledge to the extreme. These aren’t even the, “so heavenly minded, they’re no earthly good.” These are the people whose quest for knowledge or pride in having knowledge overrides their relationship with God and others. These people are often the religious leaders that Jesus struggled with. Their knowledge or legalistic formulae were perfect. Their walk was anything but.

    The “super-apostles” that Paul wrote about were people who were great debaters or scholars. They believed they have the corner on the right spiritual knowledge. They certainly had the rhetorical skills to make Paul acknowledge that he wasn’t good at public speaking. Yet, while he was religiously well-trained he set it aside to have a relationship with Corinthians so that they could see how the life was to be lived out. Paul took his knowledge and applied it to their lives. He also lived with them. He loved them. When we talk about #Framily this is what we are talking about. Milk knowledge is starting knowledge. It is not supposed to stop there. That’s just the beginning. As we walk in the Christian life, we learn from and teach others. We struggle together. We live life together. Great religious knowledge is the flip side of great religious ignorance. That little space between them is where we need to be.

    1) Have you ever experienced a Christian that saw themselves as so knowledgeable about the faith that you disliked them? What about that was uncomfortable for you?

    2) Have you ever experienced a person that called themselves a Christian, but as you talked with them, you realized they didn’t really understand what that meant? What was the feeling you had?

    3) The biggest thing about #Framily is walking beside one another. How can you walk alongside another in those situations above?

    FD) Isaiah uses the word “woe”. There are 2 primary meanings: sadness and beware. Which do you think Isaiah meant?

  • Growing Foundations

    Romans 1:19–23, Isaiah 2:1-5, Nehemiah 8:1–12, 2 Corinthians 1:12–14
    From the foundations of the world, God’s hands are at work. We often are blind to our own ignorance, sometimes willingly so. God doesn’t want us to remain ignorant of Creation, its ways, and certainly not his ways. The high ways of God are often easy to see, but hard to travel. We may know the paths, but remaining on them is hard. One of the biggest obstacles is our own pride.

    In Nehemiah, the pride of Israel has already been struck hard. They are at the mercy of a powerful empire. This powerful empire through a powerful act of grace of God, allowed the exiled Jews to return to their homeland. However, sadly, many of them had lost, or never learned, what the ways of the Lord even were. They did not know the law. They did not know the law that their forefathers violated leading to their exile. They did not learn from their past. Many, apparently, willingly avoided learning from the past, just based on the ignorance of their history conveyed in this passage in Nehemiah.

    The appointed religious leaders had to teach the people what they should have already known. While it is easy to blame the religious leaders, it had always been the duty of the families to pass on the history and laws. The religious leaders had their duties, but it wasn’t to replace the responsibilities of families, clans, and tribes to teach their people. As the people were taught, they learned. They mourned. They began to understand how far they were. It may have not been their fault, but it was their responsibility. Now, however, the religious leaders interpreted and explained the basics. Then they probably built upon that. They had to rebuild an entire religious understanding in a people with no foundation.

    There is no fault here. It just is. There is responsibility. The responsibility each of us have with God’s words and ways. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul knows that he cannot convey everything to them in a letter, or even multiple letters. It takes living with them to teach them to the depth of understanding he wants for them. Yet, by laying the foundation which they can understand, the leaders the follow after Paul have a foundation they can build on to explain the depth, height, and width of God’s grace, love, and mercy.

    1) What can you do to deepen your understanding of God’s word? Now, will you commit to doing it?

    2) Church-y language (or jargon) is often mysterious to people with no religious or church experience (and sometimes even to those that do). What can you do to speak in a way that people are better able to understand God and God’s ways?

    3) We often cast blame at others saying, “they ought to know better.” Instead of that attitude, will you take on an attitude of, “how can help them better understand God, and be full of grace, and be open to learning myself?”

    FD) What is the difference between fault and responsibility? Why does that matter in our relationship with God?

  • How Do We Look?

    Psalm 120, Mark 13:9-13, 2 Peter 1:20-2:9

    Psalm 120 is a lament. The psalmist is among those who live a life of lies. These same people are warmongers, seeking strife and conflict. The psalmist is living in foreign lands that seek no peace, but the cry of the psalmist’s heart is for peace. The psalm begins with the end. God answered him, the rest of the psalm is about what the problem was. The truth is that while the psalmist was referring to a specific people, we all know the type. There are those that do not seem happy unless there is conflict. There are those who do not trust peace. When one does not have peace, one resorts to force fairly quickly. We are all guilty of this to some degree. Sometimes the response is yelling, crying, ambivalence, disregard. These all are violent to the heart and soul of others, and often to ourselves. We quickly think that all violence is physical. The truth is that violence is the outward sign of an inward pain.

    Jesus’ words in Mark are certainly not comforting. They can be terrifying. The internal strife of families torn apart. Neighbors calling out neighbors. Remember the Second Great Commandment? Love your neighbor as yourself. This is the outward sign of it not being so. Jesus is warning that his peace is not the peace of this world. All too often, the peace of this world is bought and paid for by blood and death. The peace of God is not so. The psalmist understood this. The response of the psalmist to those around him was, “God save me!” It wasn’t a slap to the face, or something more. It was prayer. As Jesus continues, he refers to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the source of the peace of God. When the Holy Spirit resides in us, we can respond to those around us with a grace and wisdom that is not ours.

    The God-ly wisdom of the Holy Spirit requires our humility. Peter has to confront people already who say that they have a new revelation from God. Peter is quick to point out that the prophets themselves did not understand their prophecies (unless granted so by God). It was only after the fact that it was proven that their prophecies were true. This is an important thing as the church, and groups that masquerade as the church, often have those that call themselves prophets or revealers or divine actors of some sort that are bringing a new truth from God. Often these new truths are then used in ways that are violent to the hearts and souls of the innocent (and even not-so innocent). These people use the power of media, guilt, society, anything at all to crush the hearts of the people of God. We too can be guilty of using God in this same way. God’s ways are the ways of peace. God’s ways are the ways that sooth and heal.

    1) Has some “religious” person ever said something to you that was hurtful? How did that make you feel toward the religious they claimed to follow?

    2) Often (and rightly) people are told that if they are abandoning religion because of people, then they are looking at the people not God. What does that mean, then, when we also say, “we may be the only Jesus they every see?”

    3/FD) Being a peace-lover or peace-maker does not mean being a pushover. How does one make peace without violence?

  • Trusting God’s Way

    Psalm 1, Jeremiah 17:5-10, 1 Corinthians 6:1-11

    Has someone ever said to you, “I don’t trust anyone?” First, imagine living life like that. Someone who lives such a paranoid life could never be happy. You cannot love if you cannot trust. Second, anyone who says that hasn’t walked down the road of thinking that through to the end. You certainly cannot function in modern society, or really among humans, without some level of trust. Even when driving (when trust is often least), we generally trust people. We have no choice. To get from one place to the other we have to expect that everyone is trying to get to their destination, too, and will behave accordingly. Oddly enough, if such a person were to exist, there is still one person they have to trust, themselves.

    While it is almost impossible to distrust everyone, it is far to easy for people to believe in those who are in power or have influence. We often seem to turn off our common sense and our ability to discern right from wrong when dealing with certain people. Sometimes, even more strangely, we continue to trust people that have already betrayed our trust. People put a lot of trust in the things of man: wealth, power, influence, cars, homes, boats, knowledge, etc. The most dangerous trust, though, is when we get to the point where human knowledge trumps God. For clarity, we’re talking about God. We aren’t talking about, for example, evolution and Genesis, or Jonah and the whale (fish). We’re talking about trusting things of man rather than God. The thing that probably endangers man most of all is knowledge.

    Whether your perspective of the Garden of Eden (a story in the book of Genesis) is a parable (story) or definitive truth, the underlying truth (other than humankind’s pride) is that knowledge is a barrier between us and God. We put it there. We chose, and daily choose, to put knowledge between ourselves and God. Our society honors and elevates those who use knowledge to oppose God. This is nothing new. The sad state of most American Christians (and there are exceptions) is that if there is an enemy (of which America has had and has made many) the general response is not one of, “God, forgive us.” It is, “…raise the Department of Defense budget.” We often justify this response by saying, “it’s a wise choice.” The question we should constantly be asking ourselves “is it the God-ly choice.” Now, here is the real rub. Honest (with themselves) Christians may disagree on many fronts including “just” war, dealing with poverty, dealing with immigration. That is perfectly okay (and normal). What is not normal, and should be, is, “what is God’s response to this through me?” Am I honoring God, or dishonoring God. Again, the reality is that different people will come to different conclusions. Yep.

    When we trust God’s redemptive work in us and by extension God’s redemptive work in others, we can trust people not because people are trustworthy. We trust God’s work because it’s God’s work, not ours. When we trust God’s work, we become that tree planted by the water, nourished by the love and grace of God. God’s transformative grace continually works on, in, and through us. Changing our lives from ones that trusted the things and ways of man, into lives the revolve around God and his love. When God justified us he set us apart to be weird. Trust God. God does amazing things.

    1) Even in the church, people often turn to the ways of man. Why do you think that is?

    2) Especially in the church, people turning to the ways of man is problematic at best, sinful at worst. How can you tell when something is the “ways of man” rather than the “ways of God”?

    3) Often the phrase, “the reason of the heart,” is used to not judge another (and justifiably), but also it is used to justify our personal actions. Why is the concept of only God knowing our heart (both feeling and motivation) both freeing and very dangerous?

    FD) How can you start asking yourself “is this God’s way” questions? What do you think the result will be?

  • Engraving Hearts

    Jeremiah 17:1-4, 2 Timothy 3:1–9, 1 Peter 2:4–10, Luke 3:7-8
     
    Imagine having a heart so hard that you need an iron needle or a diamond point to put a mark in it. That is the hardness of the human heart, not just toward God, toward their fellow man as well. The Israelites were completely and utterly spiritually lost. The diamond point and the iron stylus were engraving the loss of that which they valued. Their idols and treasures were taken away. Their freedom was taken from them. It wasn’t that God didn’t offer a choice, God did. They chose to ignore it. Whether it was pride, stupidity, ignorance, or poor training, we will never know. It could be a combination of it all. This was not the last time either.
     
    When Paul writes to Timothy, there are already difficulties. They are under Roman rule. From a Jewish perspective, they are almost at the same level as their forebears that suffered previously. Instead of writing something positive, Paul warned Timothy that it was going to be worse. The list of issues that Paul writes about is really nothing new. How they form in people’s lives, how they are reinforced, how they are lived out may look different, but the basic reality is that there is nothing new under the sun. There will always be deceivers, whose hearts are hard. God still uses an iron stylus and a diamond point on our hearts.
     
    Yet not all hearts of stone are equal. Jesus Christ is the heart of our faith. Peter called Jesus a stone that people tripped over. As the “rejected” stone, Jesus also became the cornerstone of our faith. When Jesus is the heart made of stone, it solid, firm, and the basis of our faith. There is a transformation here. The original heart of stone is one that rejects God. The new heart of stone is God. Weird isn’t it? There is a time where John warns the Jews that God can make a whole new family from a bunch of rocks. We are the rocks; we are the family.
     
    1) Normally we think of hearts of stone as bad. What do you think of it now?
     
    2) Engraving on stone is difficult. One generally does it if the value of the stone is high, or the contribution of the stone to the greater whole is high. Why do you think God spends so much effort engraving on hearts of stone?
     
    3) We are quick to point at others regarding their “hearts of stone” toward God. Reread Jeremiah and Timothy. Where is God calling you to soften your heart toward him?
     
    FD) What is a cornerstone? What does it mean when we say that Jesus is our cornerstone?

  • Working It

    Ecclesiastes 2:18–3:8, Matthew 20:1–16, 1 Peter 1:17–2:1

    There is a movement afoot for people to enjoy their work. Younger people are throwing off the chains of previous generations that did work they did not enjoy so that they could support their families.

    This is not to say that previous generations were wrong, but that many younger people are now blessed to be able to do what they love. There are those that still labor in thankless, joyless jobs to support their families.

    There are those that are/were blessed to truly enjoy what they do/did. Everyone in that position, regardless of age, lift your voice in praise and gratefulness.

    In the time when Ecclesiastes was written, most people labored and didn’t enjoy what they labored at. Much later, American Puritanism took the duty of labor to provide for the family and added religious obligations to it. Later still, American consumerism has twisted this even further to where people work on their “vacations” or put off family and social connections for the sake of work. Many companies are now as much consumers of workers as their workers are of products.

    While the labor of Ecclesiastes was hard and often thankless, it was accepted as the way things were. This is in comparison today when many company work cultures have come to a place where the expectation is that people ought to be thankful that the work is hard, thankless, and 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

    That’s not what Jesus taught about the Father.

    In the parable of the laborers, the landowner went out 5 times to gather workers. The eager, ambitious (and probably starving) ones were there bright and early. Then, as the day goes by, there are still more laborers who either didn’t respond the first time, or didn’t even bother to show up any earlier. And the ones called last may have well already worked another job before getting a second one. We don’t know the state of any of these workers.

    We do know who called them. Who are we to judge who worked the hardest or longest for the kingdom? How many baskets of grapes did each pick? It doesn’t matter. The landlord, like God, cared that they showed up and that they worked.

    That they showed up and worked is important when reading Peter’s letter. Peter starts out with the Father judging impartially according to their work. That sounds ominous.

    What if you look at another person who seems to be working harder than you, and is certainly more successful than you are working for the kingdom? What if, instead, you are looking at someone who seems to be working less hard than you, and producing less fruit for the kingdom? The landlord paid the workers the same.

    God “paid” each of us the same. He “paid” with his Son. Through the sacrificial act of Jesus in his life and death, the penalty of our sins is gone. No matter when we gave ourselves to Jesus, we all get “paid” the same. Now what?

    1) In this context, obedience and work are equivalent. So, then what does Peter say our behavioral response should be?

    2) The drive to work, consume, and sustain is good. Yet, when contaminated by sin it is bad. How does Peter define this sin contamination? How are you doing in ridding yourself of it all?

    3) The work we do on earth can be exhausting. The work we do for the Kingdom shouldn’t be but often is. What can we do to not be tired?

    FD) Is it fair that the laborers were paid the same amount even though they didn’t work the same amount of time? Why or why not?

  • Confessional Life

    Psalm 51, 1 John 1:8-2:6, Mark 13:31-14:2

    Honesty is the best policy. Or is it? Some people will take advantage of our honesty. Some people will look down on the honest. Think about politicians. Most people don’t trust them. Many of their campaign promises are false, or impossible whether due to finances, political will, and politics in general. Yet, they remain in power despite a general perception that they are not trustworthy. Many are treated like royalty or some sort of salvation figure. It just doesn’t make sense.

    David was not the best-behaved person. He did a lot of things wrong. Yet, as Psalm 51 shows, he was honest with himself (eventually) and with God. Once confronted by his sin, he confessed. David knew that God (through the prophet Nathan) was righteous in condemnation. David threw himself (proverbially) at the merciful feet of God. David knew that God would be right condemning him, yet still faithful that God would act redemptively.

    Our own honesty may begin with the confession that we are still far from perfectly following Christ. In fact, the more like Jesus we become the more aware of how far we are from him. That is the point, though. Our pride can and does often keep us from being honest, especially with ourselves. Many churches make some sort of proclamation on Sunday that is in line with this passage in 1 John. Since it is done every week, it can become rote and is not an honest confession. When it becomes rote, like the temple sacrifices often were, then the true confession of sin doesn’t occur, and the relationship between God and self is not restored. Taking this passage of 1 John in conjunction with David’s words, “…Against you—you alone—I have sinned…” Even though David harmed others, just as we have, ultimately the sin is against God. Sin really is the damaged relationship between man and God. God paved the way. We have to walk the road.

    In addition, we have this reality that Jesus presents in Mark. We don’t know when our time will come. It is not about God waiting to drop the other shoe. God doesn’t work that way. It is about a life of confession, truth, and relationship. When this life is lived out and the time comes, all will be well.

    1) What do you need to confess to God? When you confess, are you truly repentant, or are you just going through the motions?

    2) There are two common perspectives of confession. One is forgiveness from the lawgiver (escape). Another is a restoration of relationship. When you think of confession are you being honest about your perspective of it?

    3) Sometimes being honest is hard. What is the hardest honest conversation you have ever had? What made it so hard?

    FD) What is the different between a liar, and a person who told a lie? Are they different?

  • Changing To Embody

    Psalm 37:1-12, Jeremiah 12:1–17, 2 Peter 1:2–10

    We can look around, and wonder what’s wrong with the world. Those who are corrupt or greedy seem to be doing so much better than good people. When we look around, we can either be discouraged or we can look up.

    This really is nothing new. The psalmist reminds himself and us that envying others is short-sighted. It is also unwise. When we trust God and do good we live securely. Living securely, however, does not necessarily mean comfortable as the world wants it. That’s why looking side-to-side becomes a distraction. When we are looking side-to-side we are not secure in ourselves.

    Isaiah is looking side-to-side. He takes the success of the “wicked” though and perceives it as a test of his heart. Isaiah defines it as God testing him to know his heart. God already knows Isaiah’s heart. This more about Isaiah understanding his own heart, his relationship to his fellow man, and his relationship to God. There is also another relationship that is important to understand, and that is the relationship with the land. The land itself mourns at the wicked who are present in it. While Isaiah’s heart might be right, the hearts of the people around him definitely are not. The affect him, others, God, and the land. All because their hearts are not right with God. And God is the key to a good and secure life.

    As Peter opens with the grace of God, we understand that it is by God’s grace that we are even able to approach the throne of God. It is through this grace that we begin the journey of transformation from the life of the “wicked” to the life of the righteous. Peter then provides us with a roadmap with waypoints of increasing Christ-likeness. As we become more Christ-like, the temptation to look side-to-side fades away. The glory of God shines more deeply in us, transforming us to more-and-more find our worth in God and not others.

    1) Do you see God shaping you to be more God-facing, rather than people-facing?

    2) Do you see the waypoints (2 Peter 1:5-8) in your life? Do you see any change in your life embodying each of these traits more and more?

    3) What makes these traits contrary to the world? Why is it important to understand why they are contrary?

    FD) How can we help each other develop these Godly-grace traits?

  • For Glory!

    Psalm 115, Judges 5:1-11, 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1

    Much of the modern world is obsessed with the self. Individualism (rugged or otherwise) is a key feature of (U.S.) American culture. It then becomes ironic when non-believers question why everything should be for God’s glory. They attribute to God a selfish conceit that has no consideration for others. This is one of the reasons why the doctrine of the Trinity is important to understanding God. God lives in community. There is a perpetual and integral consideration of another. We created beings are blessed because God considers us worthy of being related to. This is not a vain conceit of God. It is a reality of a holy and wholly other being who has created us.

    When it comes to God’s glory versus our glory it is important to not just say it’s God’s glory. God’s glory is eternal. Our glory is temporary. It is that perspective of an abiding glory that remains forever. When we are aware and take this into account, it should affect our decisions and responses.

    The psalmist compares the eternal living God to man-made idols that are destroyable. The psalmist then compares the makers and worshippers of idols to the very idols they make. They are the same in that trusting in them is trusting in nothing (or possibly alluding to death). In comparison to the living God whose people are living and plentiful. The legacy is of children, grandchildren, and so on. The legacy is of the living and who live in relationship with God. The legacy needs to be remembered.

    Deborah and Barak were the leaders of Israel, seeking to restore a lost legacy. Even in the midst of celebrating victory over their oppressors, Deborah and Barak gave God praise for the leaders who lead, and the volunteers who stepped up. While they (leaders and volunteers) did as they were called, it was still to God’s glory that they responded and succeeded. Their actions live on in the story of God that God laid out for us to receive. While in this case, it is something that was done that brought God glory, it can also be things not done that brings God glory.

    In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul is confronting the struggles of people trying to conform their lives to a new way of thinking. In their culture, sacrifices to idols are done. It is prevalent. The idols are dead, so why worry about the meat? For the follower of Christ—who knows the freedom in/of Christ—this is just a silly question. However, for those who are not followers of the Way (i.e., Christians) this is an important question, for their perspective is that the believers are worshipping idols when they eat the sacrifices! Thus, not eating it brings glory to God by showing that they do not worship the idols or feel they are worth paying attention to. It may seem silly to us, but to a culture for whom idol worship was cultural and religious, this was a huge thing.

    1) What things could the culture view us (i.e., Christians, Christ-Followers) as worshipping, just like the culture?

    2) How can you know when you are doing something for God’s glory rather than your own?

    3) Why do leaders leading and volunteers stepping up give God glory?

    FD) What can you not do and give God glory?