Devotion.al

Tag: grace

  • Grace for the Askers

    Luke 24:36–49, Matthew 28:16–20, James 1:2–18, Jude 20–25

    So, this guy you’ve been hanging out with for three years dies a brutal . A few days later, he’s alive. He was dead and buried, and now alive. Must be a ghost…except they could touch the wounds and he ate. They doubted. After some more time, they meet Jesus on a mountain. They worshipped Jesus, yet they still doubted.

    We all have doubts. Sadly, however, when verses such as James 1:6 are badly used, we can question our . Some even go so far as to lose their faith. People take such passages and twist them so that a person cannot question or be perceived to doubt. James’ warning is sound in so far as being about requesting things (such as wisdom) from God, but false expectations of God. In other words, don’t be surprised when God doesn’t answer your prayer and walk away from the faith.

    The grave danger is that if we take James’ words without a large measure of and , people will truly walk away. Jude’s words are to be gentle with doubters. Imagine a person who suffers with depression, and in the depths of depression doubts. Would you cast them out? What about a person in the midst of grief who is crying out to God? Will you shame them for doubt in the midst of their pain?

    What about the person who was raised as a non-believer and/or strict secular scientist? If they struggle with believing as it conflicts with their growing up, will you them and tell them they are unbelievers and should disappear?

    In our world, we should actually be encouraging doubt, or perhaps a better phrasing would be questioning. The world as it is needs a lot more asked. There may not be answers, but often when we questions aloud, the doubt and that can go with them loses much of its power.

    Last, but not least, often those that seek to silence the doubt and questions of others are those who have the deepest fears. When those fears remain buried, faith, love, and can easily be lost in a flash.

    1) Do you ever doubt or question your faith? Do you feel ashamed? Why?

    2) What can other Christians do to support you when you question? What can you do when Christians their own doubts?

    3) Jesus asked his followers about the why of their doubts but did not seem to diminish them because of it. Why does it appear that James does? How do you balance that with Jude?

  • Law and Grace

    Exodus 20:1-21, Psalm 51, 2 Samuel 11:1-12:13

    The law (whether Jewish, US, or ) would seem to be pretty black and white. Yet, if you spend any time driving, you can quickly realize that while the speed limit is 60, only one lane of traffic goes that slowly, and even the state patrol passes others.

    In the movie, The Pirates of the Caribbean: The of The Black Pearl, there is a scene after a “negotiation”:

    Elizabeth: Wait! You have to take me to shore. According to the Code of the Order of the Brethren

    Barbossa: First, your to shore was not part of our negotiations nor our agreement so I must do nothing. And secondly, you must be a pirate for the pirate’s code to apply and you’re not. And thirdly, the code is more what you’d “guidelines” than actual rules.

    We often look at the “rules” (especially as we “look back” upon the Jewish rules in the time of ) as rigid and unforgiving, however, there is more to the rules, than rigidity. One of the biggest objections to the rules in the time of Jesus was that they lead to the of heart and soul. That hadn’t been the point. They were to be rules of .

    In the story of David and Bathsheba, David violated the following commandments: do not murder, do not commit adultery, Do not covet…your neighbor’s wife…

    Then the prophet Nathan judges David as having violated the commandment against stealing.

    So, David was guilty of violating 3–4 commandments. 2 of these violations were supposed to have earned the death penalty. Instead of death, Nathan said, “…the LORD has taken away your ; you will not die.”

    Commentators and theologians seem to agree on why; David was contrite and repented. Death was still a consequence, just not David’s death. The first of David and Bathsheba was the blood sacrifice for the violations of the law. An innocent life paid the price.

    1) Have you ever held someone to a particular standard (law), and then given yourself or an excuse regarding the same or similar violation?

    2) Have you ever given grace or excuse to another, while holding yourself to a higher or just more rigid standard?

    3) How do you think Jesus shows us how to walk between the two?

  • Open and Closed

    Jeremiah 15:19–21, Mark 2:1–12, Matthew 11:20–24

    “One believes with the , resulting in , and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in .” Romans 10:10 (CSB)
    “For everyone who calls on the of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13 (CSB)

    Confession and repentance resulting in salvation is a constant theme in the Scriptures. As the nation of Israel would wander away from God, come back, wander away, and so on, there was a perceivable and constant ebb and flow in the story.

    Confession►Repentance►Salvation

    Jesus was not one to shy away from forgiving sins. Take this story of the paralytic. He seems to have deliberately words that struck at the core of how confession, repentance, and salvation all tie . Scripture does not say that the paralytic confessed and repented. However, by his friends putting him at his feet, the man was forgiven and healed. Even more interestingly, it appears it was the faith of the paralytic’s friends that resulted in and forgiveness.

    Yet, we come to Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, there seems to be no grace. What happened? If the paralytic man didn’t have to follow “the recipe” why should have Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum? The additional context of Tyre and Sidon gives us an idea. They were cities that were known for their pride and arrogance. Jesus was saying that Chorazin and Bethsaida were more pride-filled and arrogant. Capernaum? Let’s see…Jesus did miracles, a number of them. Yet, Capernaum refused to repent even with the King of the of God was right there in their midst! That’s the difference, open versus closed.

    1) Can you see the difference in your between when you have been open and when you have been closed to God?

    2) What traits—other than pride and arrogance—indicate someone being closed to God?

    3) The people of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum probably viewed themselves a . How can we check that we have not become like them?

  • Just a Corner

    1 Samuel 24:1–19, Revelation 6:12–17

    The tug-of-war between King Saul and King-to-be David lasted a number of years. The man who could have been Saul’s Number One and led Saul to victory over the enemies of Israel was instead hunted by Saul. In many respects, Saul felt betrayed by David and probably God. David, on the other hand, definitely felt betrayed by Saul.

    Saul wasn’t betrayed by David or God. Instead, Saul failed God and himself. Saul tried to maintain his place and , but the “weight” of God was against it. It was only a matter of time. What is interesting about this story is that God had removed his from Saul, yet David still called Saul God’s Anointed. David still respected the original anointing despite the situation.

    Many people would not have blamed David if he had chosen to kill Saul. In that era, it would have been expected and often viewed as “right”. Still, David chose not to. This is one of those stories that people point to as supporting David’s (relatively). We need to view it as an appropriate to betrayal.

    Robbers, thieves, murderers, and rebels hid in caves. The dead were put into caves. David may be viewed as a rebel who hid in a cave. However, unlike the kings of the earth and who hid in caves to hide from God (Revelation), David hid to avoid Saul so as to live. The kings and rulers of the earth hid in the caves to die. It was as if they assumed by dying they would escape the wrath they knew was coming their way.

    Just like Saul, the kings and rulers of the earth were betrayed by themselves. The whole reason they wanted to hide in caves and die was that they had not fallen to their knees before the King of . Yet, the King of Creation is not God of the dead. The King of Creation is God of the .

    Taking this in a creative (liberty) direction, David is often considered a prefigure of . Therefore, Jesus cuts off a corner of our garments of worldly wealth. He then lets us walk out of the cave of our own demise. He then presents us with proof of his . How do we respond?

    1) Interacting with people and having a with them, probably means that if there is not actual betrayal, we may feel like it. Compare Saul’s, David’s, and Jesus’ responses to betrayal.

    2) When it comes to betrayal, far too often we look at the other before we look at ourselves. Think of a time you felt betrayed. How did you contribute to the situation?

    3) Betrayal and grace. Knowing that betrayal (or at least the feeling of it) will occur, how can we develop patterns of grace? How can we be better at not causing others to not feel betrayed by us?

  • Frameworks

    Genesis 35:9–15, Genesis 37:1–2

    While the “ of the story” appears to mostly be about Joseph, it is incredibly important to understand that from a familial , this is the continuing story (in comic book terms, the “origin” story) of Israel, both the man (born as Jacob) and the people (the 12 male descendant lines of Israel).

    Laying the groundwork is very important to understand the framework of the story. In many respects, the story of Joseph and his brothers is told within the larger framework of Israel, which is part of the larger framework of Abraham, and God’s to Abraham and his line.

    In fact, we can look at the of Abraham as a single line (which it was), until the sons of Israel. With the sons of Israel, the line branched and become a fuller, more complete version of itself. What it also bears a testament to is God’s faithfulness in the midst of brokenness.

    This was a heritage that was anything but healthy. It was, by any account, a complete and utter mess. God did something beautiful with it.

    1) Have you ever thought that your was too messy for God to fix? Do you have friends or family who think that?

    2) Imagine if God waited for the Israelite family to get it “all ”. Why do you think people believe that God will only accept them after they have it all together? What can we do to the that says, “come as you are”?

  • Dehardening Hearts

    Psalm 105:1–4, Deuteronomy 24:17–22, Acts 6:1–7

    “Solitary is not to be found there [inward]. “Holy solitaries” is a phrase no more consistent with the than holy adulterers. The Gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no , but social holiness. Faith working by love is the length and breadth and depth and height of perfection. This commandment have we from CHRIST, that he who loves GOD, love his brother also; and that we manifest our love by doing good unto all men, especially to them that are of the household of faith.”

    —John Wesley

    “…no holiness, but social holiness…” has been misused over the years, being equated with social justice. John Wesley was specifically speaking about what would now call private versus public faith. For John Wesley—and the church as a whole—found that Christians were more likely to be better Christians when living within the context of a and context. When our religion becomes private, we hide from ourselves and others that which needs to be brought into the . The path of holiness can only be walked in the and the light with others. There are 2 “gotchas” with this. The first is the whole discipleship and accountability piece. When the world looks at us and judges us, it’s because we’re doing a pretty poor job. The other is found in our passages in Deuteronomy and Acts.

    “…we manifest our love by doing good unto all men, especially to them that are of the household of faith.” Read that again. The orphans and widows, those left alone, are our responsibility to love and care for. Is there a “reasonable” limit? Maybe, though God’s grace poured out on the cross puts a lot of doubt on that. We could be Ebeneezer Scrooge and talk about our taxes, work programs, welfare, etc., but while that may be subsistence, it isn’t True . We think it is hard today, because “so many” people take advantage of the system. Yet, in John Wesley’s day, there were more disadvantaged, fewer programs, and a lot less money going to it.

    As we look at our fellow human beings, we cannot allow ourselves to be deceived by those who use our hearts for their . This is the sad reality of politics (all parties) and the media (bad news sells). In fact, we are seeing fatigue of all sorts set in. This allows us to harden our hearts. All is never lost, however. As the world becomes fatigued, this is our opportunity to once again be the light that we are called to be. We are not called to make a big splash, nor are we all called to the same thing. We are all called to love each other.

    1) Have you found yourself becoming callous or even adversarial to others in the current political and social climate?

    2) Do you find that you identify more with a political party or social view more than Jesus? Are you allowing politics or culture to define what it means for you to follow Jesus?

    3) Why do you think social holiness (e.g., Sunday service, Life Groups, Bands) is needed for us to love one another?

  • To Grieve and Mourn

    Jeremiah 9:13–21, Job 6:14–30, Matthew 5:4

    Yesterday, when we were talking about misery loving company, we were ultimately talking about people without and generosity in their hearts. Today’s misery is very different.

    For today, misery needs company. We as a nation and as a culture are pretty awful at mourning. We have clinicized , separating it from our lives, except for entertainment. The reason this is important is by separating ourselves from it, we have also lost the ability to mourn. We don’t even have the “professional” mourners and wailers that Jeremiah speaks of.

    Instead, many of us are like Job, feeling betrayed when our friends avoid or abandon us during our grief. You may be saying to yourself, “my friends haven’t done that” or “I have not done that to my friends”. If so, you and/or your friends have a ministry: to the and the world. The church and the world avoid those feelings of and grief. The world and the church teach it differently, but the result is the same, “suck it up, and move on.”
    There is also a darker side to this, and that is when death occurs in an estranged . Many of the same responses in an estranged relationship occur in “” , for we are very much estranged from each other. In estranged relationships, there is often an “I don’t care” . The problem is that if there are too many estranged relationships in one’s , there is also a lot of emotional baggage that often doesn’t get dealt with.

    , however, promises that those who mourn will be comforted.

    1) If you are a follower of Jesus, and Jesus says that those who mourn will be comforted, what do you think that means for you?

    2) When you have grieved or mourned have you pushed people away? If so, why? If people “ran away” from you, how did that make you feel?

    3) When is and what makes grieving or mourning healthy and unhealthy?

  • Deceptive Misery

    2 Corinthians 9:6–11, Matthew 6:16–18

    Misery loves company, so it is said. By misery, we aren’t talking sadness, grief, or mourning. We’re talking about the attitude of heart, soul, and mind that finds the worst in it all and revels in it.

    Sadly, there is often a strain of that in the . “Look at what I gave up” or “I give to help those…” In traditions, such as ours, that has long been a tendency. What is always amazing is how it is often dressed up in “doing the right thing” or “not being of the world” or “not putting ourselves in the way of ”. This might sound a bit snarky. There are a lot of people who honestly mean it. Yet there is a strong (and often loud) group where they want the attention for the activities they avoid, rather than living out the grace bestowed upon all believers by . They are often miserable.

    When we read Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 9:6–11, we (reasonably and rightfully) see regarding and actions. Yet, the “right” actions (including money, time, and effort) need a basis of generosity and grace, not misery. Hearts focused on God’s immeasurable generosity and grace will be far more inclined toward sharing it with the world.

    Jesus’ words echo this when talking about those that add to their physical discomfort (hunger) and add a deliberately poor appearance. They were happy together in their misery. They took joy in their misery, using it as a source of pride, control, and influence.

    We can look around us and see many of the same tendencies in the secular world. It is not immune.

    1) As we have the wisdom of God in the , and the words of Jesus, how can we teach (in and out of the church) to not live the of self-righteous misery?

    2) What are your thoughts about how an attitude of grace and generosity can fulfill Paul’s words?

    3) How does fasting and giving in private add or subtract from an attitude of grace and generosity?