Devotion.al

Tag: life

  • Investment Reading

    Investment Reading

    📖 Read

    Deuteronomy 17:14–20; Matthew 5–7

    🔎 Focus

    Where we invest our time pays dividends that we are often unaware of.

    …he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left.…

    Deuteronomy 17:18-20 (NIV)

    ✟ Devotion

    In an era without computers, imagine writing the first 5 books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). Moses’ words are clear that a king would write his own copy. No aides. No secretaries. No clerks. Only himself.

    If the king never read it again, it is possible that there still might be a seed of God’s in their mind as they made decisions for God’s people. The , though, was that the king would time to read something from those five books on a daily basis.

    Moses outlines three reasons for daily reading: to know (revere) God more, to know God’s laws (so as to not violate them or make laws that violate them), and to know that he (the king) is no better than another Israelite.

    The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) has often been called the core of the . What would happen if every Christian made a commitment (and it) to read the Sermon on the Mount?

    It could be all 3 chapters a day. It could be a chapter a day. It could be some other split.

    The words of Jesus would challenge us. It would cause us to question our assumptions. It would cause us, I think, to begin to question what does following Jesus really look like, and does our life look like it.

    🤔 Reflection

    Is there a book that you read (other than the Bible) over and over? Why?

    Are there any Bible verses that you read over-and-over? If so, why? If not, what would it take?‌

    ⏏️ Act

    Choose a few verses (your bible likely has a heading that could be useful) from the Sermon on the Mount and read them daily for a week. See if something changes in your walk with Jesus.

    🙏 Prayer

    God, whose Word became incarnate in Jesus, guide us into your wisdom to lead lives that bring to you. Help us to use your investment in us, through the , to expand your on Earth. Amen.

  • Wisdom Bulk Up

    Wisdom Bulk Up

    ‌‌📖 Read

    ‌Psalm 147:12–20; Proverbs 1:1–7; James 3:13–18

    ‌🔎 Focus

    ‌The reverence of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise knowledge and instruction.

    Proverbs 1:7 Lamsa Version

    ‌… the from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.

    James 3:17 NRSVue

    ‌‌✟ Devotion

    ‌George Lamsa’s “reverence of the LORD” is unique among translations, as it seems every other English translation uses . Yet, the underlying understanding of fear in Proverbs 1:7 is fear based upon reverence of God, rather than other types of fear.

    ‌Why one pursues knowledge seems to becoming more critical as time goes on. People are pursuing knowledge for and . Yes, there many pursuing their dreams, but how much of that dream is about money and power, rather than a fulfillment of oneself?

    ‌In ancient times, wisdom and knowledge were often intertwined. In our modern days, we have started to understand (wisdom) that all the facts and data points do not mean that we make wise (or God honoring) decisions.

    ‌James notes that Godly wisdom has characteristics that modern knowledge does not. It is not that knowledge is bad, by no means. It is that we are seeing the consequences of what happens when knowledge is separated from Godly wisdom.

    ‌How do we bulk up our wisdom? Reading the is a big one. We are blessed to have access to the Scriptures with nearly 900 English translations (not to mention all the targeted versions of each).

    ‌What reading the Scriptures often don’t us are prescriptions for how to do what, and that is okay. James 3:17 (see Focus) gives us descriptions for what Godly wisdom looks like. How that is lived out is up to us as we wrestle with reading the Scriptures and living among people who believe differently than we do.

    ‌🤔 Reflection

    ‌Do you see differences between wisdom of the world and Godly wisdom? How do you navigate the differences?

    ‌‌⏏️ Act

    ‌Find a Bible reading plan (if you don’t have one), even one that just covers a book (like James or Proverbs) and start it.

    ‌🙏 Prayer

    ‌Gracious God, we thank you that you have provided the Scriptures so that we might understand you better, and be better of God-honoring lives. As John called the , may we recall that the Word presented in the Scriptures is not to be left on a shelf, or isolated from the world outside of the pages. Help us to improve our wisdom in navigating the world in light of your Word. Amen.

  • Serving Your Judas

    Serving Your Judas

    ‌📖 Read

    ‌John 13:1—9; Romans 5:1–11

    ‌🔎 Focus

    ‌“For he knew who was to them…”

    John 13:11 (NRSVue)

    ‌“After he washed their feet…”

    John 13:12 (NRSVue)

    “…Christ died for the ungodly.”

    Romans 5:6 (NRSVue)

    ‌‌✟ Devotion

    ‌Jesus washed feet. The task normally left to a or the lowest person (in hierarchy) in the household was performed by the disciples’ teacher, and the person we now understand to be part of the Trinitarian God. Or to put it differently, God took the lowest place and washed feet.

    ‌How often are we about us? Probably too much. For most people, our self is our greatest . Whether it be pride, pleasure, finances, …we often operate from an, “I am first .”

    ‌Jesus washed feet.

    ‌Let’s note who was in the room. There were Jesus’ 12 disciples. There was this one, named Judas Iscariot, who would betray Jesus to the authorities. John tells us that Jesus knew that Judas Iscariot would betray him.

    ‌Jesus washed his feet.

    ‌Before Judas Iscariot betrayed him, and while Jesus knew he would, Jesus washed his feet.

    ‌Most of us could complete understand regret if Jesus were to have known only afterward. If you knew someone would betray you, would you actually serve them? Jesus did.

    ‌Our world far too often operates from a perspective of, “what have you done for me lately.” There are those that make promises for the and we hope they might (or won’t) fulfill them, knowing far too well that all such promises fall short. We accept (or hope for) the reality that all will not be accomplished as promised.

    ‌Jesus knew what Judas would do, but he washed his feet.

    ‌Why keep focusing on this? Why keep repeating, “…but he washed his feed?” There is a general feeling of fear, even of betrayal, going on. Families are ripping themselves apart over politics and policies. Families and friends are allowing those who are not in a personal with them to define their with others.

    ‌There is truth and wisdom about not being in relationship with toxic or harmful people, but are we really correctly defining who are toxic and harmful?‌

    Judas Iscariot chose to betray Jesus. Judas could have repented (and some argue that he indirectly did). Would Jesus still forgive him despite his betrayal? Jesus washed his feet.‌

    🤔

    ‌Who are the “Judas Iscariots” in your ? How do Jesus’ actions inform how you could (or should) interact with them? What kind of “wash their feet” action might you being called to perform?

    ‌‌⏏️ Act

    ‌Acts of service (i.e., washing feet) can take many forms. Purposefully and prayerfully look for acts of service for a “Judas Iscariot” in your life and do them.

    ‌🙏 Prayer

    ‌Gracious God, help us put the example of Jesus forefront in our thoughts and actions, especially in regard to those by whom we feel betrayed. Help us to be gracious with them, as you have been gracious to us, loving us and dying for us while we were still alienated from you. Guide us into ways of thinking and doing the show loving service so that we might draw them to you. Amen.

  • Dead and gone. Dead and here.

    Dead and gone. Dead and here.

    ‌📖 Read

    ‌Matthew 22:31-32; Hebrews 11:33–12:2

    ‌🔎 Focus

    ‌

    “‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is God not of the dead but of the .”

    Matthew 22:32

    ‌“[Jesus] will come again to judge the living and the dead”

    The Apostle’s Creed

    ‌”I believe in…the resurrection of the body, and the everlasting”

    The Apostle’s Creed

    ‌‌✟ Devotion

    ‌The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos in Spanish) has become a cross-cultural celebration/observation in the US, as the holidays south of the border prevalence due to population changes. There is a belief that the Conquistadors brought the Day of the Dead to the New World with them, and because the Black Plague was their backdrop, it became a more morbid observation of .

    ‌In many cultures, there is a belief that for a time period (from a day to a week), the “veil” between the dead and the living is “thinned”, so that the two “sides” of the veil can interact. It probably was over varying times, but as the Western (particularly the Roman Catholic Church) spread, it likely coalesced to today (and yesterday for some).

    ‌Is the thinning of the veil true? Perhaps. It could also be, because its a day set aside for that belief, that we become aware of the separation between the living and dead. Then there was an older Christian belief that the communion of was such that the thinning was irrelevant, because believers were already unified.

    ‌The spreading of the Day of the Dead across cultures might be something more that an excuse to party or to eat or display Calavera (edible or cast skull-shaped items). The modern culture, particularly in the US, does not do death well. The Dying with Dignity movement, hospice, and other things are a shadowing of this, too (not to disparage either).

    ‌We death. The Day of the Dead and even Halloween (with its macabre and scary themes) are signs of it. They are a play, so-to-speak, that we “cheated” death. Yet, death comes for us all.

    ‌All Souls Day is a day set aside to recognized, , mourn, those who had died. We don’t mourn those we’ve lost very well. “They’ve gone to a better place,” is a common refrain. However, their death still impacts our being, and All Souls Day is a good day to recognize that.

    ‌🤔 Reflection

    ‌Have you lost anyone this year? If so, thank God (as you are able) for their life and their impact upon your life? If they harmed you, God to be released from the burden of the , and to heal the wounds.

    ‌Whose death do you forget (on purpose or accidently)? What can you do to remember them?

    ‌Why is it important to remember the dead in our lives as relationships, rather than historical fact?

    ‌🙏 Prayer

    ‌Thank you, God, for the reminder of those you have placed in our lives for good. May we recall the blessings of the people. Amen.

  • Hallowed and Halos

    Hallowed and Halos

    ‌📖 Read

    ‌Matthew 10:32–39; Matthew 28:16–20; Hebrews 11:33–12:2

    ‌🔎 Focus

    “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.”

    ‌Matthew 10:32–33 NRSVue

    ‌

    “I believe in…the communion of saints”

    The Apostle’s Creed

    ‌

    “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the that is set before us,”

    Hebrews 12:1

    ‌‌✟ Devotion

    ‌In my , we may speak the Apostle’s Creed every so often, but we don’t really process the communion of saints. Part of that (if not almost all of that) is an ignorance and disregard for traditions because too much is tied (in our minds) to the Roman Catholic Church.

    ‌Another significant part is the way that after death is considered. Many traditions and thinking have a clear divide between life on earth and life beyond this one.

    ‌Both of these lead us to conclude a more philosophical understanding of the communion of saints than the writers of the Apostle’s Creed understood. Many (if not most) don’t really see, understand, or even believe that the saints are among us. There is no question that some traditions invoke the saints as if they are gods, but the general disregard of the saints is throwing away everything because of a flaw.

    ‌Some traditions hold that when we (especially as a church body) worship in the power of the that we are indeed worshiping with the saints who have died before, because they are with and in Christ. There are some traditions that believe that we are worshiping with the saints to come, as well, for the same reason.

    ‌This is not some to fully transform or your thinking in regard to saints, but to understand how often saints are not part of our thinking. I’m sure there are one or two churches in my tradition that have a name such as Saint Matthew’s, but generally that is left to the Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and the Anglicans.

    ‌Rather than think of a church (for example) named after a saint as something weird, perhaps think of it as a statue of a person. We all know that the statue is not the actual person, but that the statue represents a particular life of impact. So, too, are the saints. Lives of impact.

    ‌We often do not see the impact our lives have, from the smile at a stranger, to a laugh with a friend. Yet, there is no person on earth who does not have impact upon the life of another.

    ‌When we read some of the stories of saints, we can become overwhelmed by their story, thinking we could never be that way. Yet, saints never called themselves saints and were also overwhelmed by the lives of the saints before them.

    ‌Some of the stories seem mystical or magical or even miraculous. Yet, none of these people saw themselves as great, they saw themselves in the grace of Jesus Christ.

    ‌‌🤔 Reflection

    ‌Do you believe that you are living in the grace of Jesus Christ? Why or why not? If so, how? If not, how might your thinking change?

    ‌What makes a person a saint to you? How might you develop one or more of those traits in your life?

    ‌‌⏏️ Act

    ‌Take some time and search for info on the life of a saint. As many saints have “feast days”, look up the saint for your birthday, or the day you gave your heart to Jesus.

    ‌🙏 Prayer

    ‌Jesus, through your example and life, you inspired saints to follow you. , thank you for emboldening the saints of the past, today, and the future. Father God, thank you for your loving embrace of all who are broken in this world, including ourselves. Amen.

  • Evening Recall

    Evening Recall

    “Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the her canopy. Between the vestibule and the altar, let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”

    Joel 2:15-17 NRSVue

    ‌In Joel, we read about fasting and a solemn assembly. It might seem strange while the culture around us is one of celebration and fun as it celebrates . Many Christians will hand out candy and have Harvest Parties. Other Christians will do anything to not be tied to the secular day. By our response to the secular (or even pagan and potentially Satanic) aspects of this day, however, we show (again) how we have become unmoored from history.

    ‌The brief passage of Joel is tucked into a retelling of the story of God’s calling of the people of Israel, God’s , their faithlessness, and their trials that were a consequence. It is a upon where the Israelites were, where the Israelites are, and where they are asking God to take them. Amid their pleading for a better than the present, they recalled the past.

    ‌Fasting and were the original purpose behind the Western ‘s All Hallows Eve. As with many things as they spread around the world, and crossed cultures, understandings were changed, cultures were blended. To the point now that there is an annual tradition to argue over the origins of Halloween (a contraction of All Hallows Eve).

    ‌Yes, there has been a lot of non-Christian (i.e., pagan and Hollywood) influencing Halloween celebrations. However, willfully abandoning church history may have done our witness much harm, and so, too, our lack of fasting and prayer.

    ‌Depending on the historian, the Western Church tradition of fasting and prayer was because All Day (tomorrow, 1 November) was a high day. A high holy day was to be a special day that a devout Christian set aside to something a bit more focused. For All Saints Day, it was the witness, lives, deaths of saints.

    ‌We of the Protestant tradition, tend to shy away from saints, for there is a long tradition of antipathy toward many practices of the Roman Catholic Church around saints. The problem then becomes we have fewer people to look up to.

    ‌While many of the Protestant tradition will immediately and rightly proclaim, “look to Jesus,” there is also an understanding that Jesus is a truly special case. This is where the saints come in.

    ‌This is not about the miraculous, as “Saint” has been in the Roman Catholic church. This is about the saints who walked faithfully with Jesus. Those who sacrificed themselves in some way in their Christian walk.

    ‌Today (or tonight) as you watch scary movies, or provide sugar highs to kids, or go to a party, or do nothing different except to make sure your porch light is off, think about the saints (famous or not) who have walk a long and arduous road with Jesus.

    ‌Think upon how their example might help you live better.

    ‌Tonight, especially, pray for those who will become saints by the fact that they will die for their in the coming year. Pray for simple people, who have far fewer freedoms, whose practice and belief in Jesus is life-threatening.

  • Separating Ourselves

    Separating Ourselves

    Romans 8:31–39, 1 John 4:7-12

    📖 Read

    ‌Romans 8:31–39 , 1 John 4:7–12

    ‌🔎 Focus

    ‌”…nothing…can separate us from the love of God…”
    Romans 8:39

    ‌‌✟ Devotion

    ‌There is a fundamental truth, here, that no Christian should ever deny. Yet, if you read the list of “separators” that notes, what do you see as missing? Anything?

    ‌There are many who quote these words from Romans 8:39 that reasonably apply these to non-Christians because, “…God is love.” (1 John 4:8) This is where potential issues may arise. It isn’t only about whatever accommodation is being made, but how we understand salvation and the road to life with God.

    ‌Nothing seems so all encompassing. How could anything, then keep us from the love of God?

    ‌There are a number of things that could be reasonably argued would seem to invoke exclusion: unbelief, hatred of God, a different understanding of God, ongoing and deliberate disobedience of God’s ways.

    ‌The potential issue isn’t that God doesn’t love the unbeliever, hater, different understander, rebellious. God does. It is not false, then, to say that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

    ‌Separation from God’s love has never been the problem, at least from God’s of things. It is our separation from God that is the issue.

    ‌Who is against us? Well, the general ways of the world are. It is our following of the ways of the world that are our separator.

    ‌Are we not given everything? Yes, insofar as we have given ourselves to God through accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior, and doing our best to embody the way of Jesus through our living.

    ‌Who will bring charges against us? The world. The enemy. These cannot separate us. Our inner voice/critic can, but only if we allow it to draw us away from God. The can, but the Holy Spirit brings “charges” against us, not to condemn us, but to free us.

    ‌Can affliction, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, rulers, things (events/situations) of today or tomorrow, angels or powers separate us? No, but our to those things can.

    ‌It is here that we can agree with the Reformed (Calvinist, etc.) , that nothing outside of ourselves can separate us from the love of God. Even if we separate ourselves from God, God’s love does not fade away.

    ‌God’s unfailing love, however, does not guarantee of eternal life, and that is the rub for so many, including many Christians. It isn’t about earning God’s love, but the place that God has in your life and being.

    ‌🤔 Reflection

    • ‌Do you ever feel separated from God or God’s love? How?‌
    • Do Paul’s words comfort you or concern you? Why?

    ‌‌⏏️ Act

    ‌Make a list of ways (including some Scripture) that you can reassure yourself of God’s unceasing love for you. them with another person, and see what ways they come up with.

    ‌🙏 Prayer

    ‌Every loving God, thank you for this reminder from your Apostle Paul that things outside of ourselves can never separate us from your love. Help us to restore our well-being to sense, feel, believe, and in your unceasing love. Amen.

  • Hearts and Ashes

    Hearts and Ashes

    📖 Read

    ‌Psalm 32; Isaiah 58:1-12; Hebrews 12:1-14

    ‌‌🔎 Focus

    ‌Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose is covered.

    Psalm 32:1

    ‌The LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your needs in parched places and make your bones strong, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail.

    Isaiah 58:11

    In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.‌

    Hebrews 12:4

    ‌‌✟ Devotion

    ‌Saint Valentine’s was in Christ. He is reported to have said that Jesus Christ brought the only true hope and promise of a better world. That didn’t earn him any friends with the Roman rulers. It seems that converting others to Christianity led to his death. Saint Valentine was martyred on 14 February.‌

    Today is also Ash Wednesday, the beginning of . This is a season of repentance and . It would seem to not mesh with the dominant view of Valentine’s Day with its romantic (almost saccharine and vapid) view of love. Love, especially as lived out by Jesus, often doesn’t match the secular view of it, but our measure is Jesus, not the world.‌

    While you might not be called to be a martyr, the author of Hebrews points out that we often give up in our fight against sin, even though we have not gotten to the point that our blood was shed. And, yet there is a dominant trend in post-Christendom to throw our hands up, because Christendom has fallen.‌

    In many respects, it seems that we are more inclined to anger and defensiveness, rather than resting in the fact that our transgressions are forgiven, our sins covered; as a result of such, we ought to be happy. Can you imagine how we could change the world not just with love, but with the happiness of that love.‌

    We are talking about the love of Jesus Christ for us, and ours of him. We are not talking about the love of the world, its stuff, its powers, its parties, and so on.‌

    When we this and also remember that God’s water of love and life never fail, you would think that the world would not shake us. We are , so it does.‌

    There is a lot for us to reflect on: historical issues, our politics, our lifestyles, the wars, the sicknesses. There is so much in the world that causes us not to reflect, but to react. We react out of our humanness.‌

    We are called to reflect upon ourselves and the world through the lens of Christ’s love, then we are better equipped to react in Christ’s love toward a world that desperately needs it.

    ‌🤔 Reflection

    ‌What are current areas discussed in life (politics, lifestyles, war, immigration, and the like) that you have strong feelings about? Do you default to the comfortable and/or your community? When was the last time you measured your reactions to Christ? Do you ever yourself, what would Jesus do?

    ‌‌⏏️ Act

    ‌As you reflected, what came to mind? All of us have earthly perspectives that are not Jesus-like, and likely need work and repentance. Think about the issues that you respond the most strongly about (good or bad). Look in the Bible for some possible perspectives that will bring you more in mind like Jesus.

    ‌🙏 Prayer

    ‌Jesus, help me understand how you view the world and me. Holy , please guide my transformation from a person of this world to a person of the . Amen.