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Devotion.al

Tag: love

  • The 3 Rs: Regret, Remorse, Repent

    Matthew 27:3–4, Luke 17:1–4, Acts 8:9–25, Acts 16:22–34 (read online ⧉)

    According to Merriam-Webster…

    regret means (1)(a) to mourn the loss or death of, (b) to miss very much; (2) to be very sorry for

    remorse means (1) a gnawing distress arising from a sense of guilt for past wrongs, self-reproach

    repent means (1) to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life; (2)(a) to feel regret or contrition, (b) to change one’s mind

    The words we use mean something. We often use regret and repent interchangeably when we talk about sin and forgiveness. How we use these two words really matter. The key to this is Jesus’ words. If the brother repents, then forgive them (and we won’t talk about the counting piece, as that is merely a distraction for today). We, understandably, question how we can tell that someone has repented. If we were to take Jesus’ words literally, we would especially question it if the person came back 7 times in a day repenting. If we use the understanding of feeling sorrow and changing one’s mind, it seems that the person really didn’t change their mind.

    Yet, if something has been ingrained and habituated, 1 day of repentance isn’t going to make a heart-, mind-, and behavior-deep change. If that were so effective, the percentage of people “breaking” their New Year’s resolutions wouldn’t be increasing day-by-day. Repentance (sorrow along with change of mind/heart) may not be a short road to walk for many issues. Sometimes the repentance for an action may be jeopardized by other behaviors and habits that resulted in the behavior repented for. For example, one doesn’t just have an adulterous affair one day (with certain psychological issues being the exception). It builds up. Staring at the other sex. Flirting with them. Placing them above your spouse. It all builds on one another. While a person may repent (whole-heartedly) of their adultery, the other behaviors that lead to it still need to be addressed.

    Regret, on the other hand, is something different. People will often regret their bad actions, but only because they were caught. Or they might regret their actions because they perceive they lost out on something they wanted. Another way to think of it can be found in the current cultural phenomenon called FOMO, which is an acronym of Fear Of Missing Out. FOMO is a fear of the potential regret one might feel for not doing something. The reality is that we all have regrets.

    The difference between regret and repent is different than a similarity in the potential grief of both, which is often where we confuse them. Regret, by and large, is selfish. This is not always the case, granted. However, if one thinks about when feelings of regret (or conveyed) it usually is not about harm inflicted upon another (that is remorse), it is about how the bad thing affected the person feeling regret. Remorse lies between regret and repent. At least remorse is about another (i.e., less selfish), but there is still selfishness involved.

    Many Christians, probably most of us, love the word repent until they need to repent. We don’t mind regretting, too much. We’re okay with remorse. The reason why regret and remorse are tolerable is they don’t really require anything of us. Repentance, on the other, requires all of us.

    1) What have you regretted in life? Why?

    2) What have you felt remorse for in life? Why? Did you make amends, or what happened?

    3) Skipping the often ingenuine “I repented of all my sins”, what have you repented of? If you committed the action that you repented of, did you really repent, or was it really regret and/or remorse?

  • Evangelizing the Body

    Proverbs 15:1, Proverbs 25:15, Isaiah 40:10–14, Matthew 12:11–21 (read online ⧉)

    The mission statement of the Church of the Nazarene is, “to make Christ-like disciples in all nations.” In case you’ve forgotten, though you probably haven’t, one of the tasks of Christians is to make disciples. The mission statement of the Church of the Nazarene is really the call upon all Christians. For many years, the culture of the United States appeared to have a deep understanding of Christianity and had embraced it. The formulation of evangelism has been firmly rooted in that. Techniques such as the Romans Road and 4 Spiritual Laws were developed for that culture. If these techniques were so effective, the religious landscape of our country would be very different. It is not that they were not effective, it was just that the presentation of their effectiveness is questionable.

    The reality is that techniques that rely on a particular time, place, and culture will only be effective for a short time. The time that many were effective was relatively short. There are many, however, that still cling to these ways. Much of the reason is that they were simple and straight forward. On the front end, they also appeared effective in the short term as people “came to Christ.” Yet, over time a large proportion didn’t “stick.” This actually why evangelism in today’s world has far greater potential.

    In today’s world, the fact that we can no longer rely on techniques and “quick-strike” techniques is actually a good thing. It’s a hard thing. It’s a very hard thing. It’s still a good thing. In today’s culture, relationship is the single biggest “technique”. If we are honest with ourselves, we can look back even at the evangelism techniques and recognize that when it “stuck” a relationship was involved.

    Our two verses from Proverbs address speaking with others. Contrary to Proverb 15:1, the church (generally) has been characterized (with reason) as speaking with harsh words. In our worthwhile attempt to guide/direct people to live a God-honoring life, we instead scarred and hurt them with our words. Proverbs 25:15 shows us that gentleness will win for more people over, and if our goal is to win people over to Christ, then we should follow the wisdom of Proverbs. Here is the struggle point, however, with this wisdom; there is no guarantee and it will take time. In a quick-fix world like ours, the dedication of time becomes a stumbling block to Christians living out their mission.

    Gentleness and guiding are part of the image that Isaiah is trying to portray. Isaiah shows God’s heart for people. Who are we to not follow this guidance? Carrying lambs and guiding those nursing is not quick. It requires patience and love. This guidance and care is placed in the middle of verses talking about God’s glory and power. This tells us that power and glory go hand-in-hand with guidance and care. Of course, there is a human tendency towards condescension, of which we must all be cautious.

    This view of God is then applied to Jesus by Matthew (who was quoting Isaiah). It carries on the view of God above. There is the preceding story of a “sinful” healing on the Sabbath. Where was the gentleness and guidance in this? There was only condemnation and condescension. The key for our thoughts on gentleness and guidance are really in Matthew 12:20. A bruised reed means the plant is already injured and hurting. One can easily break a bruised reed, rather than bandage and work to heal it. A smoldering wick means that the fire was blown out or the oil extinguished. One can more easily fully extinguish a smoldering wick rather than reigniting the flame or filling the lamp with oil.

    1) Due to many issues (both past and ongoing), evangelism needs to occur in the church, as much as outside of the church. Who is someone struggling with their faith or beliefs? Who can you stand next to and lift up?

    2) Many of the people that we meet outside of the church have been hurt by it. This can be by words or spoken actions taken. It can also be by stories told of the church. How can you work to build a bridge to those that have been hurt by us?

    3) When being confronted with a challenge to your views, especially your world view, how do you respond?

  • To Flourish

    Psalm 52, Colossians 1:3–14, 2 Peter 1:3–15 (read online ⧉)

    “But I am like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God…” Psalm 52:8 (CSB)

    Being and becoming a flourishing olive tree should be our goal. We, of course, are not trees. We are, however, treasured creations of God that God helps to nurture into Christ-like human beings. There is that tension, though, about what God to us. The Wesleyan tradition holds that God does not force us, yet without the Holy Spirit working in us, we are doomed to be the same. How it works is a mystery. The theologians of many traditions (not just the Wesleyan) continue to robustly discuss this. This is not bad. It is often distracting though.

    The tree…

    …is in the house of God.
    …quests for water
    …strains against the wind, and grows stronger.
    …reaches for the sun.
    …produces fruit.

    It seems obvious what the house of God is. It’s church. Except that is an incomplete understanding. We often think of house as a building. בַּיִת [bayith /bah·yith/] is also used to describe household, home, family, within, descendants. What if instead of “flourishing in the house of God” we were to read it as “flourishing in the family of God?” If we were to do so, that would mean praying together, life groups, worship, and other related activities that we do together are covered, as long as that draws us closer to God.

    Water is always life (especially from a wilderness and livestock point of view). With Jesus referring to himself as the Water of Life it takes on an important change, and it is one that we should take very seriously. Pursuing the Water of Life means that we follow Jesus, and do our best to cast off the world to become more like Jesus, and less like the world. Pursuing the Living Water (another title) would also cover reading the Scriptures and praying.

    The wind aspect is a little different. The wind is both the world trying to knock us down and the Holy Spirit. We couldn’t escape some tension here. That would be too easy. The storms (the wind) of the world seek to uproot us from the solid ground that is God. The Holy Spirit pushes and shapes us to be stronger so that we can stand firmer against the world.

    Reaching for the sun would seem to be automatically related to the Son, yet the sun provides warmth (like love) and nourishment (trees need the sun to breathe and produce energy). The sun and its attributes can be found in things like families and friends.

    Lastly, though, the tree produces fruit which can take many forms (the list is far too long).

    All of this falls under the huge umbrella of spiritual growth. The two passages from Paul’s letter to the Colossians and the second letter Peter are deeply concerned about spiritual growth. Spiritual growth is not optional. In fact, to be a Christ-follower, we are (by definition) seeking to spiritually grow to be closer and closer to Christ. If you are not pursuing spiritual growth the question of being a Christ-followers rears its head.

    1) Looking at the list in Colossians 1:9–12 of spiritual growth, what pops out for you? Which area are you growing in? Which one are you weakest in?

    2) 2 Peter 1:5–7 is a list often used as a list of spiritual fruit. Where do you fall within the list? Do you think the list is exhaustive? Why do you think Peter ties the “fruit” together?

    3) How important do you view your spiritual growth? How about the spiritual growth of others? Why is that your view?

  • Speaking of Children

    Psalm 131, Matthew 18:1–9, Matthew 19:13–15 (read online ⧉)

    As adults, many of us look at the carefree nature of many kids and wish we had that now (especially if it was taken from us). Our general society has increasingly put barriers of protection around children, while at the same time put more burdens on them. It’s rather strange when you think about it. Then the prioritization of those burdens can also be unhealthy. Teenagers are limited to a certain number of hours (and a certain number of days per week) to work and earn a wage. On the other hand, if a teenager is playing a sport, they can spend as much (and often more) time supporting a sport than earning a wage. By and large, most of those children will not play sports professionally or even collegiately, yet there is a preference for certain play versus work. This is not to say sports dedication is necessarily bad, just that there seems to be a level of hypocrisy.

    Part of that is our understanding of children and childhood. We can see some of this very tension within the Scriptures. Depending on how one defines weened, a weened child was anywhere from 2 to 4 years old. However, as the child aged, we start to see an odd tension. Around the age of 13, a male went through the Bar Mitzvah and females the Bat Mitzvah. We see an allusion to this in Luke 2:41–52 (though Jesus was 12). At that point, a child became responsible in regards to the Law and theoretically had attained majority status. Yet, “men” were not counted in the Old Testament until they were 20. As Judaism (and the Law, and Israelite custom) are the ancestor of Christianity, these ages are important to consider when we look at the Scriptures when children are involved, as these are the background of the writers of both New and Old Testaments.

    From a Greek perspective, a child is anyone prior to puberty (or that what the general use of the word). While the Greek was the language used to write Matthew, Jewish tradition and thinking would still deeply affect the intent of and influence the writer.

    This is a very long way of saying, no one knows how old the child in question was, but likely it was up to 5 or 6. In other words, weened but not “there” yet insofar as being a teenager.

    When Jesus presents the child as a perspective example, it is likely that the perspective (if not the words) of Psalm 131 were in play, and would certainly fit a pre-adolescent person. The child, as defined by Psalm 131, does “…not get involved with things too great or too wondrous…” What could that mean? It could mean many things. However, if we look at (for example) the English language, some counts put its vocabulary at over 1 million words, but when the King James Bible was written the estimate was 20-40 thousand. The reason this is brought up is that our language, just in words, is complicated, and only growing more so. We add words in an attempt to provide nuance. Not a particular surprise as written language does not succinctly communicate emotion, background, and overtone well.

    In other words, we are making our language seemingly “great and wondrous”, and really making a mess of it. The Great Commandments (summarized: love God; love others) is simple. We make it so complicated.

    1) Do you think complicated thinking is why Jesus presented a child as an example? Do you think it might be another reason?

    2) Why does complicated thinking make it hard to share the Gospel about Jesus?

    3) What do you think of the 2 versions of adult presented above? Can you think of similar examples in our society? Why do you think these differences in “adult” are trying to achieve?

  • Fearing or Embracing the End

    Joel 2:1–11, Mark 13:1–8, Mark 13:32–33 (read online ⧉)

    “We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will come again; that we who are alive at His coming shall not precede them that are asleep in Christ Jesus; but that, if we are abiding in Him, we shall be caught up with the risen saints to meet the Lord in the air, so that we shall ever be with the Lord.” Article of Faith 15, 2017—2021 Manual of the Church of the Nazarene

    With the coming of a New Year, and with any year that has a strong potential for being tumultuous, there will be plenty of people who will loudly and proudly proclaim that the end is coming. They are right. The end is coming. They are wrong, however, when declaring when.

    If Jesus Christ, the Son of God doesn’t know when, then why would anyone dare to suggest they do?

    It’s not a new thing. Prophets such as Joel foretold a “Day of the Lord.” Generally, while it was often interpreted as some form of judgment, it was really a foretelling that God was coming in a supernatural way, and that the way of things would be changed.

    So, why do people focus on dates? The primary pieces appear to be fear and control. Generally, those that focus on the impending Day of the Lord also appear to be concerned about being rule-followers and obeyers of the Law. This is definitely part of the fear that many have been taught regarding God. Those that have been trained to think far more about God as judge and punisher than about God’s grace, love, and mercy.

    The other piece, control, is a little trickier, but overall, by putting a date on it, it seems to lose that “lack” of control, and maybe even some fear goes away. There is the constant human desire to quantify, qualify, and define everything, even that which God says is not for humankind to know.

    There will be those, especially in this election year, that will declare the end of the world if such-and-such is (re-)elected. There are those declaring the end of the world due to environmental catastrophes, economic breakdown, or many other things. We are not called to merely react, we are called to listen to and read God’s word. We are called to be more like Christ every day. We are called to wisely act with Godly discernment.

    1) When “your” side (regardless of issues/person) is “attacked” what is your initial response? What is your follow-up response?

    2) What is something you fear? Why? How do you deal with that fear?

    3) What is something you want to control? Can you? If you can’t, how do you deal with that desire to control?

  • Drift Away

    Isaiah 49:8–13, John 4:3–14, Hebrews 2:1–4

    Has the so-called Christmas euphoria finally died down for you? If this was more of a “blue” (i.e., one of mourning, loss, or depression), are you relieved that you don’t feel the pressure of “keeping up” appearances?

    Christmas, as with many other family occasions (weddings, baptisms, birthdays, funerals, etc.), always comes with a mixture of emotions. No single emotion could ever completely cover our experiences for Christmas. This is not to deny that it is God’s love that is the overarching ultimate emotion, but that we human beings experience more than just love.

    The promise conveyed in Isaiah is that God’s coming and salvation is so much more than just the immediate. This is why accepting and embracing (not necessarily enjoying) all the emotions that come with this time of year is important. For without all the emotions—especially the negative ones—the grace and magnificence of God’s grace misses much of the transformative power.

    Isaiah’s words do lead to some questions, though. How are pastures possible on barren heights? How do people not starve or thirst under scorching sun? As in the case with much of the Scriptures, it can be easy to over-spiritualize the Scriptures, especially when we don’t understand them. Yet, when taken in the context with salvation and covenant, the spiritual aspects seem to be the focus, rather than our physical needs.

    It is not a great stretch, especially when we take into account Jesus’ words to the woman at the Well of Jacob. In fact, it is Jesus’ words that guide us to equate not being hungry and not thirsting to the spiritual gift of the Living Water. Never thirsting? At the well that gave water for generations of Israelites the physical has been and is being fulfilled, only the spiritual remains. We all understand that the immediate, “earthly”, “worldly”, “physical” impact us significantly. It is the spiritual that outlasts, but we often overlook or neglect it.

    The writer of Hebrews wants to make sure that people do forget or “drift away”. The imagery is that of things that were originally floating next to (or with) each other, but just sort of drifted away. In other words, the author of Hebrews is here more concerned about the incidental, accidental, careless, negligent and other “not deliberate” actions away from the faith and the Christian life.

    Regardless of our emotional state or the emotional states of those around us, we are not to allow ourselves to drift away from the life-giving nature and our understanding of God, no matter how far the world and our emotions want to pull us away from God.

    1) What recently has “encouraged” you to drift away from God?

    2) What are areas that regularly lead you to drift away?

    3) Life can throw a lot of things at you, and many of them unpleasant (at best). How do you keep yourself focused on God, on not on other things?

  • Loved Before We Were Born

    1 John 2:15–17, 1 John 3:1–3, 1 John 4:7–12 (read online ⧉)

    Don’t love the world or the things of it. That seems to be a strange statement in light of John 3:16-18. On the other hand, it can make a lot of sense. There are two kinds of world, the one of Creation, and the one of earthly power/weakness. The world to not love is the one of earthly power/weakness. This frees us to love those trapped in that world and to work to break the chains that bind them to it. The other point being made is that world of earthly power/weakness will disappear someday (and that someday comes closer moment-by-moment). The underlying question for the reader and us, is why allow ourselves to be bound to that which will disappear, rather than be tied to the one that is eternal?

    Of course, many of those bound to the worldly power/weakness would ask why anyone would want to be bound at all? This denies being bound to the world, but it also calls into question the one we bind ourselves to…God. Why would we do that? Love. God is love. We bind ourselves to those that love us, and we love them. Why not be bound to the one who loves us eternally, and whose very nature encompasses love?

    What did God do for me, it is often asked. God loved us before time even began. God loved us before we were born. God loves us so much, and knew us so well, that God came down to restore right relationship because we were incapable of it. God loves us so that we can love each other.

    1) How does Godly love differ from worldly love?

    2) Can worldly love be Godly love if all love comes from God? Why or why not?

    3) If anyone loves, are they born of God? Why or why not?

  • Love Between

    John 13:31–35, John 15:12–17, Ephesians 4:25–5:2, James 3:13–4:6 (read online ⧉)

    Love like Jesus. That’s a pretty tall order, so it seems. Part of the problem is that we are often so focused on the big things. We become overwhelmed. There are those that think they need to die like Jesus to love like Jesus. Some people believe that they have to heal like Jesus to love like Jesus. Some people believe they have to speak like Jesus to love like Jesus. Some people believe they have to feed others like Jesus to love like Jesus. Some people believe they have to act or sound like anything but Jesus to love like Jesus. Some people believe they have the lecture or condemn or condone to love like Jesus.
    We are each guilty of some of that (unless you’re very rare).

    The reality is that love came down from Heaven as an infant boy. As the boy grew up, he loved. He loved his parents. He loved his brothers (an aside: do you think he always liked and liked being around his brothers?). He loved each where he was in life. We have a skewed version of Jesus’ love because we only get 3 years of Jesus. Jesus didn’t love for only 3 years.

    We get so caught up in sweet baby Jesus, then awesome Messiah Jesus. We miss the in-between. That’s where love happens. It is between the highs and the lows that love becomes firmly established. When the highs and the lows happen, we have love to keep us together.

    When Paul and James talk about love and loving each other, it is really living life together (the in-between) that creates the bonds of love. Barring most parental love, love doesn’t just happen. It grows. Sometimes it grows fast, sometimes it grows slow. We cannot rush love. When we rush love, it often isn’t love.

    1) Have you ever rushed “love” or a relationship? What happened?

    2) Why are the in-betweens almost more important than the highs and lows when it comes to love?

    3) How can you love like Jesus in-between?

  • Unmade To Become Whole

    Deuteronomy 7:7–12, Deuteronomy 8:5–6, 2 Samuel 7:11–16, Hebrews 12:3–11 (read
    online ⧉    )

    The way Deuteronomy 7:10 is often interpreted is as “…[God]…destroys those who hate him…” However, אָבַד (“awbad”) is also translated elsewhere in the Scriptures as broken or unmade. The concept of unmade or broken, so as to be re-made or “fixed”, is much more consistent in the continuing context of Deuteronomy. It is a matter of being disciplined (and discipled), not death or annihilation. Why is this important?

    Disciplining (not punishing) and discipling are acts of love. The intent is to remake or reform into something new. As God is doing the remaking and reform, it is into God’s own image (unmarred by sin) that Israel would be shaped. However, for disciplining and discipling to be truly effective the person (or people) being reformed and reshaped must be willing and responsive. Israel, as a whole, often was neither.

    When God tells David that Solomon will be God’s son, we see a foreshadowing of the adoption that we all receive through Jesus Christ. As a son, God promised that Solomon would be disciplined when he walks out of bounds. This is not God seeking to punish, but to form. This also becomes part of the Messianic lineage that is part of Jesus. Jesus a descendant of David, whose “throne” is established forever.

    When today is when we light the candle representing love, why are we talking about discipline and discipling? The world’s concept of love cannot take into account God’s intense desire to restore us to the way we were intended to be. God knows that even at our best we will still stumble and fall. When the author of Hebrews wrote his letter, he understood this deeply. God’s love is so deep and true that he loves us just as we are. God also loves us so much that he doesn’t want us to stay as we are.

    God’s love isn’t some weak romantic love. God’s love is deep and strong. Through Christ, we see how strong and how sacrificial God’s love is. When it is God’s love that lights the candle, no amount of darkness will quench it.

    1) Why is it important to acknowledge discipline and discipling as part of love, especially God’s love?

    2) What is discipline? What is discipling?

    3) What are your thoughts on the concept of transformative love?

  • The Rot of Forgot

    2 Chronicles 30:13-27, Nehemiah 8:7-12, Jeremiah 15:16

    The world is supposedly becoming Post-Christian. The thought behind the term is that the “Christian Era” was when Christianity was dominant throughout the world as if Emperor Constantine’s edict of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire made Christianity instantly accessible, understandable, and pervasive.

    The sad part is there is a superficial truth to that. What did happen is that Western Europe and then by extension North America became the dominant influencers for generations. The church ignorantly (or stupidly) allowed governments to drape themselves in religious imagery and language. The rot finally came to a culmination point, and the church and the governments are dividing. Many in the church (and many politicians who derived power from the people in the church) are decrying the loss. Yet, acknowledging the rot we collectively allowed to set in will be a good step moving forward.

    The real rot is ignorance. The church itself has allowed ignorance of its own beliefs to set it. It would avoid the questions the world asked, then stick its head into the sand, as if that would somehow fix everything.

    In 2 Chronicles, the people were ignorant of how to celebrate Passover. Think of it as forgetting how to celebrate Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost all at once. They were afflicted as a result of their ignorance, but in the end, grace poured out and true joy was expressed.

    We are at the point that the Jews were at in the passages we read today. The passage in Nehemiah displays the ignorance of the Jews regarding their own history and religious practices. The disconnect between what they knew and the Truth caused many to mourn. Despite their ignorance, they were there in body, heart, soul, and mind. That is what mattered. Joy poured out of them!

    Jeremiah’s words apply not just to the passages that we read in the Old Testament, they apply to us today! Ignorance is not a good excuse! God can and will use anyone who responds. Sometimes, though, we have to learn where we went wrong. Then we can see where God moved us and proclaimed us his children of the inheritance. Then joy will pour out of us, too.

    1) Why are people ignorant of the underpinnings of the Christian faith? What is one thing you can do (while speaking the Truth in love) to help that?

    2) Why might an understanding of God’s grace lead to true joy?

    3) If grace leads to true joy, what can you do to extend grace to others to demonstrate God’s grace?