Devotion.al

Tag: life

  • Loving Presence

    Loving Presence

    Psalm 20; Exodus 25:1–22; 1 Corinthians 2:1–10

    “…so that I am present among them.” (Exodus 25:8)

    It seems like a strange statement to us as Christians. Our theology talks about God’s omnipresence (God is everywhere), so a tent doesn’t really that. The tent was, however, the place set aside for meeting God. As part of the rhythm of the post-Egypt for the Israelites, the Tent of Meeting was the center of movement of the entire for 40 years.

    After the clearing of the Promised Land, the Tent had a semi-permanent place, and still remained the primary place of . The aspect of being present may have been more along the lines of the focal point. Many years later, there were seers and prophets that didn’t necessarily reside near the Tent. They met with God in their own way. Ultimately, they too had to go to the Tent of Meeting for the annual worship events.

    It reflects the reality that humanity needs that kind of physical center. As our lives become more digital, it is still to be determined whether humanity can really its psyche from the physical reality of existence.

    The internet, its digital relatives, its predecessors (TV, radio, telegraph) were not the first extended form of communication. ‘s letter to the Corinthians was also extended communication. From the ancient , the letter was considered representative of the person themselves. The barriers in the ancient world (education, distance, cost) actually increased the “” of a mere letter. Not quite an ancient Zoom meeting.

    Diplomatic letters didn’t always have a physical meeting before. A personal letter, such as Paul’s, usually did, and we can see that it certainly did. Paul’s words to the Corinthians would be treated more seriously and intimately than an email, tweet, or Facebook post.

    Paul doesn’t shy away from his insecurities in this letter. We Christians often think of Paul as some great person (he was), but avoid his statements regarding his weaknesses. Without question, Paul would have been a champion blogger and writer of our day. He would not have likely been a convention speaker or YouTuber. Based upon his own declarations of his weaknesses, regardless of his writings, he may have never qualified to be a lead pastor of a church.

    Lead Pastor doesn’t seem to have been his gifting, so this is not a bad thing. Through his presence, though, churches and communities were launched. Through his letters, churches were built up, disciplined, and discipled. Through his life, he brought up the next generation (Timothy) to lead. We often evaluate our ministry and giftings through the lives and gifts of others. Perhaps we ought to just evaluate them on whether we were present in others’ times of trouble when we had the opportunity to love them.

    ※Reflection※

    • Who is one that you wish your ministry or Christian life resembled? Why? How does your life resemble theirs? Are your spiritual giftings the same as theirs?
    • Who has made the biggest difference in your life? A famous Christian, or someone who loved you through your darkest times?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord Christ, helps our lives to be one of presence to others that they can sense your love coming from us and pouring into them. Amen.

  • Worship Even Here

    Worship Even Here

    Psalm 20; Numbers 9:15–23; Revelation 4:1–8

    Trusting God is hard. Trusting that all things work for good is hard. How can COVID be good? How can a bad economy be good? How can not being able to be with our ones be good? A lot of this hasn’t been good.

    For the psalmist, that isn’t the question. For the psalmist, it is that God hears, , and remembers. This doesn’t mean that everything will be easy going forward. It means that God is with you.

    Assuming that this by or about David, note that there really isn’t a mention of . Not really. David had experienced many hard times (some as a consequence of his own actions). God didn’t spare him hard times. God was with David and responded to David in the hard times. Much of this would seem to come from David’s rhythm of worship and communion with God. From what we can gather (which is, granted, limited), David had a regular practice of seeking God.

    The pattern that the Israelites had wandering in the wilderness was different. Most of us cannot imagine being wanderers, whether the Bedouins of the Arabian Peninsula or the homeless around the corner. The Israelites had a wandering pattern for 40 years.

    The pattern wasn’t fully predictable. For those of you have traveled with children, or been in the military, the ability to gather everyone and their stuff in a short amount of time is trying. Imagine trying to do that every day. Most nomadic cultures move about seasonally, but the Scriptures imply that more than once they got settled down for the night, and had to pack the next day.

    During pauses between travel time, the Tabernacle (or The Tent of Meeting) would be assembled, and worship would begin. While we can read the takedown and set up, what we miss is the worship that goes along with it. The cloud was the presence of God. We can that on the Sabbath that they would not travel (it’s a safe , at least).

    While this seems strange to us—especially for those that worship at the same building week after week—we can read in Revelation worship that is beyond our comprehension. 24 people praising God day and night, and saying the same thing. While this is really a , thus not necessarily exactly how it will work, the difference between the Israelites wandering and the people praising would seem to be stark.

    It is. It is, that is, only if you focus on the how. Worship of God is not limited to a building one day a week. Communion with God is not necessarily in that perfect time. Both can happen at any time. We just need to be looking for it.

    ※Reflection※

    • What do you think these different visions of worship and rhythms tell us about God?
    • What do you think these different visions of worship and life rhythms tell us about ourselves?
    • Do any of these cause to reflect on any changes that are possible for you worship rhythms?

    ※Prayer※

    , guide the worship rhythm’s of our hearts. Help us to find ways and places to worship God in the face of all circumstances. Amen.

  • Unity of Three

    Unity of Three

    Isaiah 6:1–8; Psalm 29; Romans 8:12–17; John 3:1–17

    In the current age, the concept of the Trinity has been attempted to be explained by books such as “The Shack” (which acknowledges itself as an allegory and not as doctrine, a key response to those who decry it), or an egg (shell, white, yolk), water (which, under special circumstances, can exist as solid, liquid, and gas at the same time).

    In older ages, the three-leaf clover, the sun (sun, , heat), and the Triquetra and triples circles (the symbol on the featured image) were used in an attempt to explain the Trinity. All of these are allegorical (whether current or older). While, if used wrongly, they may lead to false theology, there is no adequate way to really describe the Trinity.

    The Athanasian Creed is an attempt to define the Trinity, but honestly is a theologian’s way to describe and cover all the bases and is really (overly) complicated. It is traditional in liturgical churches to read it today, as today is Trinity Sunday. It is long, so I will not include it in the devotion itself (you can read it here). While it is complicated, it is essential. Even in its complication and desire to cover the entirety of the Trinity, it cannot explain the Trinity fully.

    The reality is that the Trinity is indeed one of the hardest things to understand, and on this side of life barring perhaps someone at the theoretical physics level and higher plane theological level (there’s an interesting combination), none of us will fully get it. It is truly a matter of .

    It is also an important one. If you have been baptized, the baptizer should have said, “I baptize you in the of the , the Son, and the .” Though in some churches they may eschew “the Father” for “the Mother” (which is an issue, but probably not one that is salvational, though that is up for discussion), or use “God” (which is definitely an issue, as Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God), the Trinitarian form is still followed.

    Much of the theology of the church (and thus orthodox Christianity) is built upon the Trinity. We can see glimpses of the Trinity in the Scriptures, but it is (when we’re honest) threads woven through the tapestry of and the Scriptures that we, as humans, try to codify and define in our constant attempt to understand God, Creation, and ourselves.

    Even devotionals (like today) get stuck in theology when talking about the Trinity, for we just want to understand.

    ※Reflection※

    • How would you explain the Trinity to others?
    • How do you explain to yourself, or understand for yourself, the Trinity?
    • Why do you think it could be an important part of your faith?

    ※Prayer※

    Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the of your divine Majesty to the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. —Book of Common , 2019

  • Utopia Maybe

    Utopia Maybe

    Psalm 29; Isaiah 2:1–5; Romans 8:9–11

    The statistics don’t seem promising. The percentage of regular church-goers has been falling generation by generation for the last four generations. While the percentage of Americans that say they are is high (relatively), a very high percentage of them say religion isn’t that important to them, and all religions are the same.

    The usual accusation is that it is a significant cultural shift that is at fault. There is truth in that. There is also a denial of reality. Culture is always shifting. Sometimes it is slow. Sometimes it is . As we look around the world in places like China and India, there are fast and slow cultural shifts. The problem with this accusation is that it ignores the self. Without introspection and honest self-evaluation, the church will see the number decline.

    This sounds depressing. It is, and it should be. We are called to be the light to the world as ambassadors of Jesus Christ. In many, perhaps even most, respects, the church has been (culture) warrior first and ambassador a distant last.

    The is that God isn’t done—not with the world and not with us.

    The triumph and joy of the passage of Isaiah is palpable. All nations would (willingly, longingly) submit to God. God would judge between nations echoes how the Israelite priests were to judge between the Israelite tribes and members. It foreshadows that all of humanity, not just the Israelites, would be equal before God.

    The last piece always catches my attention in this passage. When I was a child, my mom had a button that said, “swords into plowshares.” She had joined (?) an arms reduction organization of some sort and explained weapons (tools of death) being transformed into agricultural tools (tools of ). Regardless of one feels about war (just war or not) or policing (or its abolishment), the concept of sword into plowshare is powerful. Humanity would no longer feel the need for war, for their deepest needs were being filled by God.

    The selflessness that alludes to comes from this same basic concept…the fallen nature of humanity to strive upon the backs of is contrary to God’s desire for his . It isn’t merely weapons of war. This can include anything from cars to homes, to stuff, to . It covers that which we seek to fill needs that ultimately will be filled by God.

    While we can look at Isaiah’s passage as a human utopia, that isn’t it. We can look at Paul’s compliments of the Romans as , it isn’t that (it is, but it isn’t). What we see in both passages is that being fulfilled by God leads to us being fulfilled by others and seeking to fulfill others. Sounds pretty nice.

    ※Reflection※

    • Where do you see the vision of Isaiah being fulfilled in your life?
    • Where do you see the vision of Paul being fulfilled in your life?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, help us to bring “your come” in the one area we can with your help…ourselves. Amen.

  • Just Breathe

    Just Breathe

    Psalm 104:24–34; Ezekiel 37:1–14; John 20:19–23

    In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, there is a simple practice performed by many, where they say, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God…” while breathing in and then “…have on me, a sinner,” while exhaling.

    The Jesus Prayer (as it is called in the Orthodox tradition) is a prayer practice, of course. However, it is also a breath practice. As we, in the larger Christian tradition, consider that the Holy Spirit was breathed into dirt to make humanity, it makes sense to develop a prayer based upon spiritual and the sacrificial life of Christ.

    This same breath is also the breath that God directs Ezekiel to to. This of breath “breathing” life into the dead makes perfect sense as dead bones are just as empty of spiritual life as dirt.

    This leads us to Jesus. His disciples weren’t dead. Their bones weren’t dry (or in an ossuary). In some ways, though, they were dead. They were dead in fear. They were dead to knowing what was next. They were dead to what God was really doing.

    Then Jesus breathed on them. Some commentators view this as a of sorts. Others more directly tie this to the Spirit as given to humanity to begin with and the Spirit that brought the bones back to life. Within the context, Christians would generally choose the latter (it goes well with , after all, and that is how John explains it). Yet, blessing also makes perfect sense, as part of this short passage is about Jesus telling the disciples to be…at , which as “Shalom” (Hebrew for all-encompassing wholistic peace and unity) also makes perfect sense.

    The leads us back to the Jesus Prayer. Breathe in the Breath of Life (the Holy Spirit). Breathe out the deathly breath of sin, , and alienation.

    ※Reflection※

    • Do you think much about breathing? Why or why not?
    • What would it mean to you if you thought of breathing as breathing in the Holy Spirit, and breathing out all your sin (and the of sin, death)?
    • Why do you think (a symbol of Pentecost) and the Holy Spirit (wind) complement each other as a blessing of God for the Church?

    ※Prayer※

    Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior of the World, have mercy on us, we humble sinners. Amen.

  • Little Pieces Together

    Little Pieces Together

    Psalm 104:24–35; Joel 2:18–29; 1 Corinthians 12:4–11

    Before churches had stained glass, there were two ways the church would decorate and—more importantly—tell the stories of the Bible (and the church) in pictures. The first was primarily on the wall and ceilings, and that was paintings. The second was primarily on the floor, but also sometimes on walls, and was mosaics.

    Many ancient sites were discovered to be churches often because of the mosaics. As they were made of stone and/or ceramic, they would withstand dirt, mud, and being buried. If you have the chance to check out YouTube, you should be able to find videos where you can watch archaeologists unbury and then restore the beautiful mosaics to their former (in time-lapse, of course). Symbolic of we humans restored by the blood of Christ from messy and dirty (and buried in and ) to the beauty of God’s child.

    As an art form, mosaics are often made from broken pottery and put into a larger picture. Whether it is the church, humanity as a whole, or as a whole, they are made up of smaller pieces that are often broken or damaged and are a beautiful bigger picture. One could even say that each is greater than the sum of its pieces.

    Within the respective circles of church, humanity, and Creation, there is a cycle of death, birth, and growth. The psalmist says that God makes the face of the earth new again (Psalm 104:30). The cycle of life is both renewal and change. Nothing is ever quite the same.

    Through Joel, God tells the people that things will be good again in regard to land, crops, security. Even so, underlying that is the reality that things will never be exactly the same. Things certainly won’t be as they were in David’s and Solomon’s time (especially as David and Solomon’s time would have grown into mythic proportions).

    The relationship between the people and God would be restored. The Promised Land would be restored. The people’s place in the Promised Land would be restored. Still, things would not be exactly the same. Other prophets also told the people that they would be restored, but it would be different and in a good way.

    ‘ advent was even more so a new way of things that the world needed to adjust to (and is still adjusting to). With Jesus’ departure, the coming Spirit would change things all the more. People had had their roles to play. Some were moved by the Holy Spirit. This new coming, however, was different. Roles were one thing (still are), but gifts were a new thing.

    Now everyone had a . Each of those gifts had a purpose and place in the here on earth. All the gifts (the mosaic) make Jesus’ beautiful bride, the church.

    ※Reflection※

    What makes a gift “spiritual” versus “natural” or “trained”? Do you know which spiritual gifts you have? If so, what are they, and what are they doing? If not, God to guide you in searching, that you may have a greater effect for the kingdom (Don’t worry. It can take time.)

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, may we be renewed and empowered to do your will. Amen.

  • Moved To Change It Up

    Moved To Change It Up

    Psalm 104:24–34; Ezekiel 37:1–14; John 15:26–27; John 16:4b–15; Acts 2:1–21

    The Christian music artist Mandisa has a song, “Overcomer”. It’s a pretty simple song (and catchy, of course). It talks about “you” (the listener) being an overcomer by the grace and of God. It’s a cross-genre song (crossing into the pop-commercial genre) where people who are not believers the message, but probably don’t get it.

    The way Mandisa uses overcomer is slightly different than Ezekiel’s by the Spirit, but there is a commonality…God. Mandisa’s overcomer is how a Christian has the ability to overcome the emotional and spiritual battles of life through the power of God and the Spirit. Ezekiel is overcome (perhaps, taken over) by the Spirit and through this brings life (in ) to bones that are dead, dry, and useless.

    Pentecost (the coming of the Holy Spirit onto the disciples) is that same sort of thing. The dry spiritual bones of the People of God imbued by the Holy Spirit revitalizes, changes, and reconciles the People of God to God. Just like in the Old Testament, however, not all the dry bones want to be alive again. Yet, here the disciples (as promised by Jesus) stand publically (in contrast to hiding away as they had been) declaring the glory of God.

    We do have to understand that it is Peter that is the frontman. While the were with him (or he with them), they were not the focus. Does that mean they had no place? Of course not, for the Holy Spirit “fell” upon them, too! Did they have some sort of impassioned impressive speech? The Scriptures don’t say they do, except that they were saying something, for they were recognized by others.

    You are probably not, in this context, Peter. Most of us aren’t. However, you are like one of the other disciples. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the Holy Spirit. You have the right, ability, and responsibility to speak to others about the redemptive work of God. You have been gifted to speak to at least one person in a “tongue” they understand, what it means to follow Jesus.

    ※Reflection※

    • Who is your “one” that your hearts burns for, whom you are stirred to talk about Jesus with? How are you specially prepared or placed to speak to that person that others aren’t?
    • How will you commit yourself to God’s and your commission to tell a person, people, or even the world about Jesus in a way they will understand?

    ※Prayer※

    Jesus, thank you for sending us the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, the told us that we would be empowered by you to do more amazing things than He had done. While we cannot understand how that can be, we know that the , Son, and Holy Spirit do not let the fail. Amen.

  • Seeing It Coming, Or Not

    Seeing It Coming, Or Not

    Psalm 33:12–22; Exodus 15:6–11; John 7:37–39

    Watching sports commentators is almost as entertaining as watching meteorologists predict the next day’s weather. “Hey, (person), what are the key things the team has to do today.” Then another commentator says something that really every team has to do. If the team does whatever it was well (and wins), then the commentator was “right on”. If the team didn’t do it well and lose, then the commentator was “right on”. The commentator, of course, determines if they were right on.

    The meteorologist has to predict what all the contributing aspects (moisture, wind, cloud, geography) will do for tomorrow’s weather, which is impacted by the weather in other places. They have to be kind of close to keep their jobs, but while we may jest at often they get it wrong, hopefully, most of us understand that there are so many variables that it’s pretty hard to be spot on.

    told his hearers (not just his disciples) to anticipate the (Holy) . He might as well been speaking in tongues or English (which didn’t yet exist). They didn’t get it. How can you really understand getting something that has been “gotten” for everyone…ever?

    Jesus had . We often dismiss it as, “of course, he’s God.” Yet, one of the verses applied to the Messiah was that he wasn’t much to look at. He was of average appearance. His words, though, felt like they meant something.

    When you don’t have the framework, however, to understand the words, they may impress you with their seeming importance, but you still don’t get it. You may a Nobel prize-winning scientist speak, and you may well understand that whatever it is might be important, but that doesn’t mean you’ll understand it.

    Imagine being foreward that something world-overturning was coming, and having no clue what any of it meant. Imagine looking back and wondering, “why didn’t I understand then?” Sometimes the experience so that we understand is more important than the one could also have to understand, for experience will often affect us to the depths of our soul.

    ※Reflection※

    • When was the last time you had an “I should have seen that” experience? What did you from it? What might you have not learned had you had the knowledge?
    • How do you interact with people you don’t understand, whether you think they are smarter than you, or too different from you? How do you still interact and treat them as equals?
    • What do you expect of the in your life? Why?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, just as the wind we cannot see, so comes the promised Holy Spirit. Let us be prepared for the flames of to us for your will. Amen.