Tag: love

The Grace God Gives

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

The passage in Nehemiah has some depth. First, the people (the Jewish people) were so ignorant of their own history and holy scriptures, that both had to be explained to them. As they learned what their God had instructed them on how to live, many began to weep (mourn) as they understood that because of their failures, they were separated from God. However, the Levites comforted the people, leading them to understand that this was not a time to grieve, but a time for joy. God’s forbearing grace at work.

We see same that same grace in 2 Chronicles. The people were celebrating Passover wrongly (they were ritually unclean). Yet, instead of condemnation, there was grace. In this case, the grace was after some affliction, but one can infer that the affliction was a result of not doing things as required. Yet, instead of being cast out, they celebrate with others, praising God. So much joy poured out into doubling the celebration!

The experience of this kind of joy can only come through the awareness of just how much grace God gives. No matter how much grace God may pour out, the passages makes it clear, their hearts turned toward God first before they received grace and/or were healed. God called them first, yet, God’s glory, grace, love and healing doesn’t show up until they turn to God with repentant hearts.

Note also that while the people’s hearts may have been turned to God, there was still a need for intercession by others. This is important to grasp. We all need others to intercede for us.

From our perspective, the Jewish people were just minding their own business, where they were. They were trying within their contest to fit into the world around them. In fact, much of their problem was indeed that they were successful in fitting into the world around them, so much so, that they wandered away from God.

1) Do you struggle with fitting into the world around you? Do you struggle fitting into what you think is the church or Christian world?

2) Why is understanding one’s starting point essential to feeling joy?

3) What is the similarity between joy and happiness? What’s the difference?

KD) What makes you the most joy-filled? How does that make you think about God?

2018-12-15
Trusting Joy

Psalm 37:3-6, Joel 2:12-13, Isaiah 12:2-6, James 1:2-4

Integrity, so it is said, is doing the right thing when nobody is watching. It can be tempting to do the wrong thing when no one is watching. It is often easy to do the right thing when everyone is cheering.

It’s when no one is cheering, or people are even grumbling or threatening those who do right, that we come to the hard part of living out our faith.

“Trust in the LORD, and do what is good…”
Psalm 37:3

“…I will trust [the LORD] and not be afraid…”
Isaiah 12:2

When it gets tough to do right, all we can do is trust God. Sounds easy, but how often do we fail to trust God, and instead trust ourselves, others, or things?

James calls on us to be filled with joy in these situations. Joy? Yes, even in these situations. Perhaps, joy is most critical in these situations. The freedom to feel joy is fully reliant on trusting God.

Let us pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, we know with our heads that we need to trust you. As we are frail human beings, help our hearts to trust you further than yesterday, and even more so tomorrow. Grant us the peaceful assurance of your grace, compassion, patience and love. Help us to continue to seek the coming Messiah, and to be filled with joy of knowing you.

Holy Spirit, be with us through the remainder of the Advent season, stirring our hearts to not take Christmas for granted, but to be stirred into action of joy-filled praise of the Father, Son, and You. Continue to quicken our hearts and aid us in our journey of faith.

Jesus, Son of God, thank you for becoming like us. Thank you for experiencing a life like ours. We are thankful that you know temptation, yet did not sin, giving us strength to choose the God-lit path of faith that goes through the darkness.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we lift you up on our praise. Help us to joyfully sing your praise, for your glory.

Amen.

2018-12-14
The Hope Beyond Us

Psalm 38, Isaiah 32:10-20, Joel 2:12-13

In regards to their salvation, many people struggle with two particular areas. The first is pride. Realizing that one’s salvation involves the surrendering of self, a person can stop right at the light. Holding onto one’s self (one’s pride) can keep a person from taking the final step of surrender into God’s salvation.

The other area is sin. Often the struggle with sin goes hand-in-hand with pride. If we look around us at the world, however, we can see that the world’s definition of a “good” person might not meet God’s definition of “good.” You may have heard a phrase similar to, “good enough is the enemy of great,” usually used in the business world. Let’s take that with sin. Good enough could be “better than the other person” or “everybody’s doing it” or “no one else is getting hurt by it.” Great is God. If we’re “good enough” are we the enemy of God?

It sounds harsh. David, according to the world, was “good enough.” He committed sins, just like other leaders. He killed people in war, just like others. He was, it seems, a weak parent. While he wasn’t an enemy of God, per se, at the end, his greatest project of building God’s temple was handed over to his son because of the blood he had shed.

There are consequences of doing wrong. Our legal system takes care of some things. Our social circles take care of other things. At the end of our lives, God takes care of the heart things, as we stand before the throne.

The passage in Isaiah takes us through the good enough, through the consequences, and to the hope. The passage in Joel calls on us to be honest with ourselves, and what we have done, all in the context of God’s grace, compassion, and love.

To get to the best part of the story of ourselves, we need to dig into the ugly part of ourselves, hearts conflicted with pride and sin.

1) Why do you think it is important to know the starting point of a journey?

2) Does the starting point of a journey determine the end of the journey?

3) Why do you think people judge/condemn others (or themselves) for the starting point of their journey, rather than focusing on getting to the right end?

KD) What does it mean to you to be good enough? Why would you want to be better?

2018-12-13
To Keep or To Make Peace
Psalm 16, Matthew 5:1-10, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

“When a person’s ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”
Psalm 16:7

In many parts of the world, the United Nations has stationed peacekeepers. Their purpose is to be a soothing presence in the midst of conflict that has, temporarily, stopped bloodshedding. However, they do not make peace. Their goal is to keep conflict from breaking back out.

Often, sadly, they are merely symbolic. They often are not empowered to actually make peace, and they will usually be pulled out of an area they were stationed in if hostilities rise again. This is not to say that the UN Peacekeepers should violently enforce the peace. That would be counterproductive.

In daily life, people will do many things to keep the peace, even if it is not (even from their own perspective) the best thing spiritually, socially, economically, or physically. Peace is kept by doing nothing. It is a peace of questionable value.

In this section of Matthew called the Beatitudes, the word peacemaker is nearest to reconciler. In other words, “Blessed are the reconcilers.” Paul states that part of the Christian life is to be reconcilers. We are not only to be reconciled to God (through Jesus) and fellow Christians but to help the world to come to the table and to be reconciled to God and each other.

Imagine the whole world reconciled to God and each other. That would be a peace worth having.
1. For you, what is the difference between a peacekeeper and a peacemaker?
2. Being a peacemaker is one of the callings of the Christian life. What are you doing to be a peacemaker?
3. On the playground, in the classroom, online, or at home, what do you do that isn’t peacemaking? What is one thing you can do this coming week to change that?
2018-12-08
Where Peace Resides

Psalm 94, 2 Kings 11:6-23, 1 Peter 5:6-10

“When I am filled with cares, your comfort brings me joy.”
Psalm 94:19

“Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us outnumber those who are with them.”
2 Kings 6:16

“…casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.”
1 Peter 5:7

While when we discuss or think of peace, we often look to the outside. Really, true peace starts on the inside, specifically the inside that is being transformed by the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Often when we do not feel at peace, it is because we are allowing something to shake us up. I know I find that hard to accept that I am allowing something to upset me. It may be hard for you to accept, too. However, when we look at the peace promised by Jesus Christ, versus the worries we try to bear on our own, it seems that we often don’t chose Christ’s peace.

True peace begins with a surrendered will. Not a surrendered will to politicians or power, but to Jesus. The King Sennacheribs of the world (see yesterday’s reading) give what is already ours, or act as if it is generous to let us live, and that it is their continued generosity for us to continue living. Jesus takes our surrendered life, gives us a greater one on this earth then gives us an eternal one.

1) Why do you think we have to surrender our will to have peace?

2) Does surrendering our will mean that we are no longer ourselves? Are we no longer an individual?

3) How does being surrendered to Christ and still be yourself work? How does it conflict?

KD) Put your hands up! Give it up! How is that feeling different than it should be when we surrender to Jesus?

2018-12-07
The Family Story

Psalm 25:1-10, Nehemiah 9:26-31, Luke 21:20-24

“All the Lord’s ways show faithful love and truth to those who keep his covenant and decrees.” (Psalm 25:10)

“But they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They flung your law behind their backs and killed your prophets who warned them.” (Nehemiah 9:26)

“…Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (Luke 21:24)

It not a new thing that people praise God and then turn their backs on God later.
Nehemiah recalls that people were inconsistent, following a Godly-ish leader, then falling away, falling to sin and oppression, then being restored. Could Nehemiah be wondering if the Israelites—finally returning home from Babylonian captivity—will last in their faithfulness, or if they will fall away…again. Throughout the bible there is an optimism that God is gracious and compassionate, and as bad as things get, God is still there.

God also never intended the story to be just about the Israelites. Through Jesus, the whole world (the Gentiles) has the opportunity to be part of God’s family and part of God’s redemptive story. So much of the story of God is about God seeking to restore right relationship between him and his chosen people, including us today.

1) Christmas is culturally a family time of celebration. Who are some people who don’t have family around, that you could invite to be part of your family this Christmas season? Or, do you need a family, just for a short time this season? Do we need framily?

2) God’s story is redemption and family. Is there a family relationship that needs to be restored? Is there a friendship than needs restoration?

3/KD) We are called to be like Christ. How can we show others, especially during Advent, what a redeemed life and a life with family (or framily) looks like?

2018-12-01
Learn and Apply

Psalm 25:1-10, Nehemiah 9:16-25, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22

“Make your ways known to me, Lord; teach me your paths.” (Psalm 25:4)

“You sent your good Spirit to instruct them…” (Nehemiah 9:20)

“…test all things. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22)

Psalm 25 is viewed by many scholars as a solid instruction in the faithful covenant life. Many also view this as written by King David toward the end of his life. If we take these two views together, we can see a man who, though very flawed, pursued God and did his best to understand God, and who continued to seek guidance to know God’s plan and fulfill it faithfully.

Nehemiah reflects on the Israelite exodus from Egypt as part of his reflection upon the return of the remnants of Israel from exile. Nehemiah acknowledges that God never stopped trying to guide the Israelites from their bad habits taken from Egypt. Those that he leads after their exile have brought habits from Babylon that are not of God.

Paul writes to the Thessalonians, people who were deeply embedded in a culture that did not know God. He calls on them to bear the struggles they are currently going through and to not abandon the faith. Indeed, he calls on them to live it even more deeply, using the faith to filter the world around them and their lives.

Advent counts down until God comes down. Advent is not just about a child in a manger; it is also about God coming back at the end of the story. Christmas is about the never-ending gift that changes lives, given to us by someone who came and lived just like us.

When the culture around us counts down the days until Christmas, the culture is really counting down until the time when material things triumph. It is so easy to succumb to the pressures of fitting in. It is so easy to follow the habits and traditions of our culture, which drowns out the hope and light of God with stuff, or shares light-hearted stories without the God of the Universe whose love shines through. Often our biggest challenge during Christmas and Advent is for us to keep Christ in Christmas.

1) What family traditions do you have in this season?

2) How do you use those family traditions to bring God in?

KD) What is your favorite family Christmas tradition? How do you see God in it?

2018-11-30
Advental Breathing
Psalm 25:1-10, Nehemiah 9:6-15, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Remember, LORD, your compassion
and your faithful love,
for they have existed from antiquity.
(Psalm 25:6)

As we enter the Advent Season this Sunday, we will be drawn to worry about family and other social gatherings. The culture around us has begun its annual whirlwind of consumption and revelry. As Christmas approaches, the normal Christian gets pulled into the culture’s orbit, and it seems so good, because it has to do with Christmas.

Take a breath. Breathe in. Breath out.

While breathing in deeply, say, “Remember, Lord, your compassion.”

While breathing out, say, “Be compassionate to your servant.”

While breathing in deeply (again), say, “Remember, Lord, your faithful love.”

While breathing out, say, “Remind your servant of your faithful love.”

The psalmist is all but throwing himself onto the grace of God. Nehemiah is seeing the grace of God in action through restoration. Paul is reminding the Thessalonians of the grace they have experienced, and the grace-filled life they are called to live out.

As the world enters a time of material craziness, we are called to enter a time of grace, a time to invite God incarnate, Emmanuel, to abide with us. Let us enter into His grace-filled presence and transform the space around us.

1) It is often hard to be grace-filled in this season, and especially to share it. What can you do to share the grace that God has placed in your life?
2) Can you see yourself throwing yourself into the lap of God? If, yes, how do you balance the awe of God with that openness? If, no, how do you balance this “reckless” love that God expressed in birth and death with the awe that you feel, or the “respect” that you must/should have?
KD) Are you excited about Christmas? Presents? Do you think about the best present of all, Jesus, and how to give Him to your friends?
2018-11-29