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Devotion.al

Tag: love

  • Harvest Days

    Genesis 8:20–22, Haggai 1:3–6, Matthew 9:35–38

    If you have been reading these devotions with any regularity, you might have noticed that I generally do not put myself into them (e.g., I, me, my). I am making an exception today.

    I was driving home, and passed a sign at an espresso stand that seeing, “The first 5 days after the weekend are the harvest.” I processed that for a moment, thinking what a cool sign.

    Then I re-read it, and changed my mind about the sign. It actually read, “the first 5 days after the weekend are the hardest.” That was depressingly pessimistic. What I initially “saw”, however, stuck with me.

    I love Sundays. I love coming/going to church. I feel “off” if I’m not there. Your temptation when you read this is I’m a pastor. My role as “pastor” doesn’t really change that. Church is often more “home” than my house. Church with all its angst, emotions, and pain (we bring it all in with us), may not be the most joyous thing for you. I feel bad if that is the case with you (though I can sympathize).

    The reality is that church should be the spiritual and emotional recharge for the next 5 days (really, the next 6). Yet, it is not supposed to be a recharge so you can “just” go back to work. Those next days are “harvest” days. We are the laborers that Jesus speaks of and there are very few of us (proportionally). We are to be recharged to do the work of the Kingdom by bringing people into it.

    I’ll be real. You may think I’m pointing a finger at you. I too struggle with being the laborer. I am far too aware that I am pointing far more fingers at myself. I want to focus on my job and get it done (including at church). I am wired that way, and you may be too. To Jesus—Our Lord and Savior—our real job is not the tasks of the job. It is the people.

    1) What excuses do (or did) you use to not be a laborer?

    2) What habits can you develop (it will take time) to focus on the goal of the harvest, saved/reconciled souls?

    3) If you are part of a small group or accountability group (i.e., “band”), add this to your agenda. When was the last you were held accountable for this? When was the last time you held others accountable?

  • Freeing the Rules

    Psalm 119:153–168, Deuteronomy 6, Galatians 5:1–15

    Rules and regulations. We often don’t like them. At the same time, there are many who are calling for more and more rules and regulations. People want to control people’s thoughts and their expressions of their thoughts. People want to control others’ behavior, but don’t want theirs controlled.

    When Paul refers to the Law of the Jews (e.g., circumcision), there is a Jewish understanding that the Jews failed miserably to follow the Law perfectly. So, to do a better job of following the law that they couldn’t already follow, they added more laws.

    The whys of rules and regulations should often be more the focus than the actual rules and regulations. When Moses talks about the whys, it is contained within Deuteronomy 6:4–6. “Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.”

    It’s not that breaking the rules wasn’t serious. It was. What was of primary importance was a relationship with God.

    Note also what comes after that, teaching and guiding others into that same relationship.

    Then, and only then, do we get to the rules. Many Bibles have a heading before verse 10 to the effect of Remembering God Through Obedience. So, the rules aren’t about the rules, they’re about God. For Christians, the “rules” of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers are more like guidelines, good and healthy guidelines for relationships, but guidelines. They are for a time and place and context, which isn’t ours.

    So, Christians create more rules. These rules are in many ways far worse than the rules of the Law. Many people use the “new” rules to condemn people to Hell, without knowing them. The rules are often used with fear and intimidation. That certainly isn’t the freedom that Paul was talking about.

    1) When you think of rules, what are your feelings? How do you feel when someone else breaks the rule? How about when you break the rules?

    2) Why do you think the rules and remembering are tied together? How does that affect the way you feel about rules?

    3) We all set rules and expectations regarding the behavior of others. What do you do when someone violates them?

  • Dehardening Hearts

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

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

    —John Wesley

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Struggling in Unity

    John 17:20–23, Philippians 1:27–28

    E Pluribus Unum.

    If you look at US currency, most (if not all) will have this saying. In Latin, it means “Out of many, one.” While the US might be the gathering place of people of many nations, it is the church that should be living out this saying more than any entity in Creation.

    Jesus prayed that we (all the church, in all the world, in all of time) would be one, just as he (Jesus) and the Father are one. This is one of those areas of mystery and freedom for the people who make up the church. Our theology and tradition teach us that God is One. Our theology and tradition also teach us that as One, God is still (at the same time) Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In purpose and intent, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are One. However, they are also separate (the great conundrum of the Trinity), which should be kind of like us.

    United in intent and love, and individual at the same time. As we can see, it hasn’t worked so well in the United States. It certainly could be worse. It certainly could be better. Jesus doesn’t give us the excuse of, “it’s a republic.” We are to be united (a perfect single unit) so that the world knows that Jesus is the Messiah. This is not so the world knows we are Christians or good people, or we’re “saved”. Unity is the testimony that Jesus is who he says he is.
    Paul takes unity and puts it as a symbol of trusting in the Gospel. In other words, Paul is saying, “you’re preaching it, but do you believe it?”

    The church in general and even Generations Community Church has a problem with unity. Unity is hard work. Unity is never about our-self, it is about all of us…together.

    Whether you struggle with being united with an “opposing” political party, a different skin color, a different language, a different nationality, a different sexuality (or lack thereof), we are called to be united. We have seen denominations start the long and painful road to separation. Church history is filled with splits. Even positives, like the Church of the Nazarene (which united different churches), are outweighed by splits.

    It may seem abrupt to tie this in, but evangelism as a practice is in decline. Evangelism, not sharing the faith. Yes, there is a huge difference. Evangelism is often a whip. Sharing the faith isn’t. Unity is the example the world needs. Unity shows the world who Jesus is. Unity shows the world we believe what we say.

    1) Have you ever left a church for a reason other than moving? If so, why?

    2) What are you doing in this church framily to build unity?

    3) One of the biggest struggles in unity is speaking truth in love. To whom do you need to speak truth?

    4) Often the biggest struggle in unity is hearing truth spoken in love. What truths have people shared that you did (and/or do) not listen to?

  • Isle Crossing

    2 Corinthians 5:14–21

    There are many things that are worshipped. Most have supplanted God with something man-made or of human origin: science, politics, identity, work, family. Even the fundamental nature of God—love—has been corrupted by humanity.

    We are all familiar with 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” It is often used as an encouraging verse for the new and struggling believer. We are made new in Christ. However, the verse is placed within the context of a larger picture…a larger mission.

    We are to be messengers of reconciliation and ambassadors for restoration. If we are honest with ourselves, we have been doing the best we can, but it still hasn’t been very good. We—as the church—have put family first in an unhealthy way. It is not that family is unimportant, but that the church family is our family, too, and we often neglect it.

    The church allowed itself to be drawn into politics, and we need to stop. Politics are human, but they are often of greater priority to “Christians” than Jesus. We need to be the ones on the forefront reconciling differences and parties, rather than being on side of the aisle or the other.

    Our world is in desperate need of something different, let us be something different. Let us be new in Christ Jesus.

    1) Have you questioned someone’s faith or spiritual maturity based upon their political disagreement with you?

    2) Have you done the same if they raise(d) their children differently?

    3) What have you done to help people be reconciled to one another as an ambassador of Christ?

  • Restoring Broken Bones

    Deuteronomy 30:1–6, Matthew 18:15–20, Galatians 6:1–10

    In his commentary on this section of Galatians, Earle Wilson wrote, “The church is a family, not a civic or social club. As a family we are knit together supernaturally by the Holy Spirit in common fellowship of love. It is in this context that Paul admonished us to carry one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

    At Generations Community Church, we talk a lot about framily—friends who are like family. The question then becomes, is that who we are? Is this how we are really identified? Is this how we live out the call to be framily? How do we as individuals and collectively truly begin to internalize and live it out fully?

    Restoration is an essential piece of living as framily. However, for something to be restored, something has to be broken and acknowledged as broken. We are all broken in some way. We can be too confident in our learning, too confident in our family, too confident in our state, too confident in our country, and definite too confident in ourselves.

    Are we still keeping up appearances? Are we still putting on our “church” face? Are we working so hard that we are blind to where the Holy Spirit is actually working?

    We are each too scared at times to be truly transparent and vulnerable. Oversharing can be chaotic and emotionally draining, so we cannot take it too far. However, sometimes a broken bone needs to be re-broken so that it heals correctly. Are there bones in our framily that need this?

  • Hearing Truth

    Psalm 25, Jeremiah 7:21–34, John 16:7–15, Ephesians 4:15–16

    The wounds of a friend are trustworthy,
    but the kisses of an enemy are excessive.
    Proverbs 27:6

    Truth can be a painful thing. If delivered in the context of true friendship, the pain of the truth is shared by both. One of the hardest things to do is to be honest with truth, and to be humble and trusting to accept it.
    Jeremiah delivered God’s message to the Israelites. It was Truth. In their pride and arrogance, they disregarded it. Instead of properly viewing Jeremiah as God’s prophet—the messenger of God’s seeking of their redemption—they viewed him as an irritant, and someone not to be listened to. Of course, they really chose to not listen to God. It’s not as if God hadn’t already tried. It wasn’t as if God hadn’t already set the expectations. It is not as if God didn’t, even now, continue to try convincing them to return. Raise a sad song of mourning (a dirge). God wasn’t happy. God was mourning. The Truth delivered caused at least as much pain to God, as to God’s people.

    We have been called to Truth. We have to unwind ourselves from the lies, however, and the number of lies are overwhelming. Perhaps we shouldn’t call them lies. Many are truth and facts. However, throwing truths and facts out in an attempt to bury the Truth, makes them all lies. While Christianity feels as if it is against the world (and it is to some degree), the world instinctively understands that it opposes the Truth. As the Holy Spirit fills all of Creation, one cannot help but wonder if the struggles of the world are not sin, per se, but that the Holy Spirit has been very successful in convicting hearts.

    We are called to speak Truth, not just truth. We are to use love to convey Truth. The concept of God as gentleman fits here. God isn’t beating on them to change their ways. The Holy Spirit is alive in them quickening their hearts to the truth, but as humans often do, when confronted by a look in the mirror, they break the mirror, hide the mirror, cover the mirror, anything but look into the mirror. One of the hardest parts about framily is the Truth. We need to be in the kind of relationships where truth can be shared in love, and accepted in humility. Sadly, far too many of our relationships—parental, child, sibling, spouse, friend—do not allow for that kind of truth.

    1) What are some reasons, you think, that sharing truth is so hard?

    2) What are some reasons—other than pride—why people don’t want to hear or hurt when hearing truth? What are God-related reasons? What are human-related reasons?

    3) When sharing what we think is the truth, why is it so important to use Ephesians 4:15 as a litmus test for your words?

  • Goal of One

    Psalm 122, Isaiah 14:1–2, John 17:20–26, Acts 1:12–14

    Psalm 122 is a prayer for the flourishing of a community. Love for Jerusalem is symbolic of loving God’s bride, as Jerusalem is often tied to being the bride of God. Loving God’s bride is to be a sign of God’s people.

    Part of Isaiah’s vision is that love of Jerusalem is a shared love of both the Israelite and gentile. And what about the slaves? Note how they (those would be slaves) are those who escort Israel home. Yet, it is more appropriate to think of them as servants, as in the Hebrew they labor for the Israelites. From our perspective, one might even bring in Jesus’ words about serving one another.

    Which brings us to Jesus’ words in John regarding being one. As we look at Scripture, being one is regardless of origin (neither Jew nor Gentile). The “oneness” is what matters. All are servants (and disciples) in the presence of the Master (Jesus). Being one is hard work. Being one starts with love. Being one involves prayer, for, let’s be honest, we need prayer to love and submit to one another.

    After Jesus’ ascension, the disciples regularly gathered. They prayed together and were of one accord. The Greek ὁμοθυμαδόν—homothumadon [hom·oth·oo·mad·on]—is a compound word meaning rushing together. Some linguists put it as praying for the same thing, and others take it as if people were “singing/playing” different notes in the same song. Either way, it resolves into people praying toward the same goal, but not necessarily the same way or at the same time.

    1) Why should prayer be toward the same goal? What should the goal(s) be?

    2) In the midst of our political, cultural, national, denominational differences, how can the church be “one”? What can you do to “aim” to “oneness”?

    3) There is “the other” and there is “one”. How can we be the bridge between these two perspectives?

  • Lead In Love

    Mark 9:33–37, Acts 15:36-41, 1 Timothy 6:3–11

    It is an amazing fact that you might have learned yourself: people are different, and don’t always agree.
    There are various kinds of disagreements, and it is not necessarily bad to disagree. In fact, it is often through disagreements that better solutions, not just compromise, can be found. In our current political environment, compromise is now a bad thing, as members of both Republican and Democrat parties entrench themselves. While the President may be the focal point, the reality is people seem to have lost the ability to discuss hard things without devolving to name calling and pointless posturing.

    The disciples argued with each other regarding who was first among Jesus’ disciples. Two of them, Peter and John, probably had the strongest claim (from what scripture tells), but that this argument appeared to be amongst all of them indicates that Peter and John’s “ranking” was not as prominent as we think. This would be a pointless argument. While figuring out who is the leader is often a good discussion at other times, their little group had a leader…Jesus.

    The “sharp disagreement” between Paul and Barnabas is one of the biggest examples that not everything went perfectly well and peaceful all the time in the church. John Mark was the point of contention. What the exact issue was, both past and possible future, we can guess. Neither leader (for both were leaders) felt they could compromise regarding John Mark. They separated after being together so long. They had some sort of reconciliation later. This shows us that we can disagree well, and part ways. It doesn’t seem that either held it against the other for long.

    Paul understands that there will be conflict and arguments. In his letter to his protégé, Timothy, Paul doesn’t say don’t argue, but that people who seek argument are to be corrected. We all want to be right (and viewed that way), but most of us are aware of our limitations. We are able to be humble when wrong.
    As the world starts to stop talking and only yell, the church (with its many human failings) should show the way. As the church deals with uncomfortable topics, it should lead in love. This starts right here with our framily.

    1) Have you ever had an argument which has been left unresolved, and thus straining or destroying a relationship? Was it friends, immediate family, or was it framily? What can you do to resolve things?

    2) Why is it so important to understand that we don’t always agree and that it is okay?

  • Measuring Value

    Acts 3:1–26, Acts 14:8–18

    All of us have experienced—or know some close who has—a significant health issue, whether going on for years, or for a short time. Often those health issues come with significant costs, too, making a bad situation even worse. It also isn’t necessarily a matter of good or bad health care insurance. It is all the stuff surrounding the issue that often has the greatest cost.

    In the era of Acts, and even as recent as today, people who are disabled (physically or developmentally) are viewed as a waste. What the crippled men experienced is, sadly, no different than what many experience today. Outcast. Forced to beg. Their families brought them to beg. Guilt people into giving. That was their value.

    We all have a temptation to judge people on the value they bring to us. Do they make us happy? Do they take care of us? Or the flip side, what does this continuing relationship doing to me? How is this keeping me from what I want to do?*

    When we judge people by value, we judge people just as if they were things. People are not things. They have God’s image in them (Imago Dei).

    Peter, John, Paul, and Barnabas could have allowed themselves to be valued by the results of the healings. Had they done so, however, they would have not been acting within the framework of God, and it’s questionable how effective they would have been afterward. Instead, they pointed to Jesus. They could have allowed themselves to be used, as many of us do to gain “friends” and influence. They pointed to God.

    1) Have you ever found yourself evaluating people on their value to you?

    2) Have you ever believed that someone pretended to like or even love you because of what you could do for them?

    3) Do you think God values you because of what you can do for God, or is there something else?

    *This, of course, does not mean remain in an abusive relationship.