Devotion.al

Tag: Lent

  • Holy Wednesday

    Psalm 94; Zechariah 13:7-9; Hebrews 12:1-4; John 16:1-15 (read online ⧉)

    The psalmist declares that the Lord’s people will not be forsaken, and justice will . He continues with the steadfast love of God holding him up when he slips. The beginning of this psalm is harsh in tone but quickly turns to praise of God.

    The hour draws near. From a perspective (and God’s), what is about to happen is harsh indeed. What is about to come is almost like the very vengeance that the psalmist opens up with. Except, all of that will be poured out onto one person!

    There is a sense that , with the time drawing near, has turned on the fire hose, trying to fill the disciples (even the one who betrays him) with everything he can before he is gone. This passage in John is often cited on Trinity Sunday, the day set aside to focus on an essential of the . This short passage is given toward the end, conveying a mystery still not completely understood.

    “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”
    John 16:12

    The clock is ticking. Jesus promises that the disciples will not be alone. Imagine them trying to understand that this Advocate might be better than Jesus? Better for them at least. How could that be? They had to have been so very confused. Despite wanting to it all to them, Jesus moved forward.

    He was coming around the final lap. In his case, there was a crowd of earthly witnesses. Some waiting for him to fall. Others waiting for him to take an earthly throne. Some just wanting him to go away.

    1. Much of Week is just waiting. What are you waiting for?

    2. If you gave up something for , are you anticipating getting it back?

    3. If you didn’t give up something, what do you think the anticipation does to a person’s anticipation of and Sunday?

  • Longing for the End

    Psalm 31:9–16; Job 13:13–19; Philippians 1:21–30 (read online ⧉)

    As we are about to enter yet another week full of COVID-19, exhaustion is setting in for many people. Some people are discovering how empty their lives are without work. Some people are discovering how empty their lives are without around them. Others are wanting to escape being “locked” into the same house with their parents, teenagers, children, etc.. It makes for interesting times.

    The psalmist and Job are both very tired. They are tired emotionally, physically, and spiritually all the way down to their bones. Many of us can sympathize, as we are feeling something similar. Is it to the same extreme? No. It is immediate and undeniable.

    Do not deny your feelings. Do not deny your spiritual desert. Don’t think “because you’re a ” you’re “not supposed” to feel the way you do. There are exceptions, of course. does tell us a few things. However, there has long been a culture in churches where many of the feelings people are feeling now would be considered unfaithful and unChristian.

    This might actually be the most powerful Week you ever experience if it has not been the most powerful Lent. Being overwhelmed and the exhaustion matches the pace, heartache, and (ultimately) crushing nature of Holy Week. As we approach Holy Week (starting tomorrow with Palm Sunday), embrace it. It sounds strange, yet it is entirely fitting. Too much focus on Easter robs much of the emotional and spiritual significance of Holy Week.

    Most people are longing for the of the COVID-19 situation. For some it is cabin-crazy, others are terrified financially, others are terrified for their health. When will it end?

    We don’t think of asking that question, for we look at Paul as this big and “doctor” of the Christian , and he is. As we read Philippians, he wanted to go “home” to be with Jesus. He wanted it to just be over and get to the great part. Paul wanted it to end. However, he wanted to take as many people with him to Jesus. The quip holds true, you can only take people to Heaven with you, not things or status.We are called not to deny our feelings, exhaustion, our . We are called to embrace them…and then live our lives as fully as we can through Christ. Then we become testifiers to the hope that we have that is beyond the current and beyond the now. There are many people around us that need that hope.

    1) How are you doing? Really. What are your feelings? How are you doing emotionally, spiritually, physically?

    2) What might Holy Week teach you (yes, you’re guessing) about how to deal with COVID-19? What might your experiences with COVID-19 teach you about Holy Week?

    3) There are a lot of people struggling right now. Many of them are thinking about a different to, is it over yet? What will you do to seek such people out and to give them hope? If you are one of those that are thinking of suicide, who can you reach out to?

  • Lenten Rest

    Psalm 51:1-12; Isaiah 30:15-18; Hebrews 4:1-13 (read online ⧉)

    . That seems to be a dream for many these days. In these odd times of COVID-driven angst, rest can be fleeting. There is currently an emphasis around the world that people are to stay home. Normally, when staying at home (and the chores are done), that means some sort of rest. However, the busyness of the world still remains. In addition to the various forms of media, the , activities of various sorts, all seem to keep us from resting (and can keep us, for a time, sane when stuck inside), people are working from home at a rate never experienced before. If we were “back” to our “” our weekends were almost as full as the workweek.

    It isn’t just COVID-19. It is a growing need to fill an emptiness. Yet, emptiness is not always what it seems. Is the glass half full, or half-empty? This is the question of optimism versus pessimism. What if the better question is, what is the glass full of? In normal circumstances, a glass is always full. If it filled halfway with water, then the remainder is filled with air. The glass is full, we just are blind to what it is full of.

    People look at a glass that is not 100% filled and feel the need to fill it. Some feel such a drive to fill the glass, that they keep pouring into it until it overflows. There is no rest there. Imagine trying to pick up a glass completely full to the top with water to try to drink from it. Most of the time, you’re going to spill some water. The gap—the so-called unfilled part—allows the water to with the glass, and you don’t spill.
    When people keep going, and going, and going, and going, and going, at some point, everything turns to chaos or the breakdown, or they get sick. God did not intend us to keep going. Even the earth was supposed to be given a break from growing food. COVID-19 is creating another type of going that is as unhealthy (potentially more unhealthy) as the busyness as it is often laced with fear.

    can as a disruptor of our busy lives—not so that we cannot do things, or get things done—but so that we are jolted out of our busy habits, in hopes that we might reflect upon what is important. In this particular season of COVID-19, rest seems even further out of reach than it often is with our busyness.
    (rest) is critical for our , mental, and spiritual well-being. As many people are now in tight quarters, finding a way to get a Sabbath (rest) can be even more difficult and conversely is even more important.

    When entering the Sabbath Rest, it is different than taking a nap or a vacation. It is a place and time where we are fully present with God so that God fills as we need, and as he wants us to be. This rest is where we release our expectations to God. When we allow God to outline his expectations, we will often find that his expectations are far less than ours, but that his fulfill our needs, desires, and wants far more than our finite understanding.

    1) Do you time each day, week, month, year to “” with God? If not, why not?

    2) If you do, does it include a place (like a room, corner, or even a special place away)? Do you find places helpful in finding rest?

    3) Why do you think we struggle in resting?

    4) While the world tries to create more labor-saving things and techniques, it seems that there is less time. Why do you think that is?

  • Restart and Reset

    Genesis 17:1–7, 15–16; Romans 4:13–25; Mark 8:31–38 (read online ⧉)

    We celebrate people who reach the 100-year mark (or more). Reporters will ask how they’ve lived so long, and the person will say that they never did such-and-such, or always did such-and-such, or that it is all about . We are amazed at their . Of course, we are always seeing the once who are out-and-about and doing pretty well.

    If you asked any of them if they would like to have a child at their age, I’m sure they would look you as if you were crazy. Start all over again as a parent?

    Yet, here God is telling Abram, now Abraham, that he was going to be a dad…again. And 90-year old Sarai, now Sarah, will bear her first child.

    To top it all off, Abraham and Sarah would be the ancestors of nations! To see the proof of being ancestors to nations, Abraham and Sarah would either have to live a very long time, or they could God. They did live a long time, but neither saw a grandchild from their son. They could only trust God.

    Trust and faith. By God, God called Abraham . Abraham trusted God, as God trustworthy, thus Abraham had faith that God’s would be . While Abraham had a long walk in faith, there were probably many things he questioned as to God’s plan.

    Peter opened up with his doubts. He “knew” that God’s plan was wrong. Jesus corrects him swiftly and with brutal honesty. Jesus then takes that and expands upon it. Jesus tells his disciples that there is a “cross” for each of us to bear. Yet it is by carrying our cross that we step in concert with God…a walk.

    1) writes about Abraham’s faithful walk with God. Why was Paul so adamant that faith was the driving force, rather than acts? How does this inform your walk with God?

    2) When you read about “picking up your cross”, what does that mean to you?

    3) As we “walk to the cross” through the time of , is it time for you to lay down the cross you carry now, and pick up a new one?

  • Deserting or Desserting

    Psalm 77, Proverbs 30:1–9, Matthew 4:1–11 (read online ⧉)

    If your were present at the Ash Wednesday service or the past Sunday service, you may recall that in we and experience a symbolic representation of Jesus’ trial in the desert, and the biblical concept of 40 days as a significant time of transformation. For Jesus, it was a condensed time of temptation. It is not to say that Jesus was never tempted outside of this trial, but to emphasize that it was a short time, and was severe.

    Matthew notes that Jesus fasted for 40 days.

    Fasting can take different forms. Certain traditions from meat, eggs, and/or dairy certain days or time periods. Other traditions (think Judaism) fast from leavened (yeast raised) bread. Fasting can be from sunrise to sundown; it can be a meal; it can be for days. The intent behind fasting is to bring us closer to God by using one of our basic needs (nourishment) to use as a focus on God.

    40 days is a long time. Without question, this is a God-empowered moment. Most people do not have the will , or the ability, to fast for such a long time[1]. Some may question what Jesus fasted from. Based on the scripture, food was the fasted element, for we read that Jesus was hungry, and this was the first temptation that Jesus was presented with.

    You want some bread?

    Agur (whose words are in Proverbs 30) speaks of a huge truth that is core to much of a God-balanced . He says, “…feed me with food that I need, or I shall be full, and deny you…”. Agur probably could not have imagined those 40 days. Agur was likely familiar with hunger (perhaps even severe hunger, bordering starvation) and at least the example of those over-fed. Yet, Jesus took Agur’s words a step further, making it a point that God’s very words are food. They are food to bring us a life beyond satisfying the body.

    A spiritual desert is often a time (or multiple times) in a person’s life when they feel furthest from God. That does not mean that God is any further (really), it is a matter of perception and . People may experience a spiritual desert in times of great trial (starvation). They might experience it when everything is going great (over-fed). These times can be huge in one’s personal affections and relations with God. However, if we listen to the adversarial , we might succumb to the voice that says “I” can do it without God.

    1) Re-read Psalm 77:6. How could these words guide you in of your own times in a spiritual desert?

    2) If you have never fasted, why not? If you have, did you find it helpful?

    3) How is fasting or the “desert” related to “ to self”?

    [1] Any fasting beyond sunrise to sunset should be prayerfully and wisely considered. Anyone under 18 or over 65, pregnant or in another physical state needing regular physician care should consult with their physician. From a spiritual standpoint, it is wise to to someone who cares for your spiritual life. While fasting is personal, and shouldn’t be publicly declared, having wise spiritual counsel is good to make sure the intent is truly God-focused.

  • Fatalism Antivenom

    Job 5:8-27, 1 Peter 3:8–18a, Psalm 77 (read online ⧉)

    When we talk about the underlying of Lent (see yesterday’s devotion), we must have an understanding that this underlying joy fully rests on God, and who God is. This foundation of joy is not shaken or disturbed by the world and all its troubles, because (and only because) it is built on God.

    In our passage from Job, Eliphaz is still lecturing Job. Job 5:8 is a legal appeal. Eliphaz is telling Job that all Job has to do is make an appeal to God. If Job is as innocent as he claims, then God will spare Job. Eliphaz continues to , and it seems that his words are accurate, that is until we get to verse 19 (and on through 27). Eliphaz sums up his legal argument from verse 8. God will keep Job from everything bad, if Job is indeed innocent, and continues to appease God. This is essential to understand. Eliphaz had fallen victim to the culture around him regarding God. Eliphaz’s understanding was that God was transactional in nature. You God what he wants, you’ll get good (not necessarily what you want, but still good). The conclusion that Eliphaz made was that Job didn’t fulfill his of the transaction.

    This the that many people have of God, including many Christians. This view, however, does not have the joyful foundation that is essential to a . This view is fatalistic. In other words, the world is full of bad, and there is nothing we can do about it.

    Peter has a significantly different view. Peter, having spent time with Jesus, and life being transformed by Jesus through the , know we can do something about it.

    Peter gives us direction on how to be life to fellow believers, and even to those who do not believe. Peter knows that bad will happen. Yet, he encourages his readers (and us) to rely on Jesus Christ. This reliance is the of the joyful life that does not laugh in the face of danger, or dance in the midst of trial, but understands that God is there beside us in and through it all.

    1) How have you been fatalistic (i.e., “there’s nothing I can do”) in your lift?

    2) How are Peter’s words an antidote to fatalism?

  • 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 truth 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 Lent is the aura of mourning, grieving, and lamenting. The overarching theme of Lent is that we know what is coming, . The reason for Good Friday is worth 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 .

    “…God, who is rich in , out of the great love with which he 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?

  • Confessing in Trust

    Daniel 9:3-10, Psalm 25:1-10, 1 John 1:5-10

    The that many had on their foreheads yesterday are gone, either rubbed or washed off. As we read yesterday, ashes are a of repentance. Daniel sought God through , supplication, fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. Daniel uses these 5 things not to get a reward, nor in expectation that he would get an answer because he did them. Daniel did them to put aside himself, so that he be more aware of God, and less concerned for himself.

    Prayer is a . Especially during , we can be deliberate in speaking less, and listening more. Supplications are not the list of things we want, think we need, health, wealth, and so on, but it is in the spirit of saying, “God, please use me. God, please me to fulfill your purpose.” Fasting is often food, as it is essential to live. In our age of plenty, fasting can be a powerful spiritual tool, as it reminds us of our blessings, and the blessor, God our .

    Sackcloth was what people wore to show that they were repenting or mourning. It was very uncomfortable. This cloth rubbing against one’s bare skin was another physical reminder that things were not as they ought to be. Daniel, a man of importance, wearing sackcloth would have been very unusual, and would have likely caused a stir, and would have likely been humiliating for a person whose focus was on himself, rather than God.

    1) In Psalm 25:1-10, the psalms writes, “…in You I trust…”. How is your trust of/in God doing?

    2) In 1 John 1:5-10, confession is cornerstone of our release from . Confession is hard when we have to to , because it requires trust. When you confess to God, is it easy because you trust God, or is it easy because you think God is distant or not listening?

    3) What practices of confession do you follow? Are they enough?