Devotion.al

Tag: love

  • What God’s Will?

    Genesis 37:16–27, Deuteronomy 30:15–20, Matthew 12:46–50

    One of the most heartbreaking things taught by certain traditions is that God wills bad things to happen to people. One of the reasons they draw that conclusion is that we are able to look back at stories like Joseph’s and say, “God knew/planned/designed this to happen.” For people who have no faith or have believed themselves betrayed by God, how could such a perspective bring them comfort or joy? In fact, it is not surprising that they would never such a God.

    One of the other presumptions often followed is blind faith. Blind faith often means “following your ” without any planning. This is not Joseph’s faith, or at least scripture doesn’t provide that description. Part of the other problem with our looking back and imposing our own stories is that we forget or neglect a basic reality—and it certainly was Joseph’s—life is hard. What Joseph experienced is probably not that different than experienced in the same era. We can draw that conclusion fairly easily, for selling family into slavery is still a story being experienced today in many parts of the world. It doesn’t make it easy, though.

    When Moses sends off the Israelites to the promised land, he presents a choice: life or death. One would think that was an easy and simple choice. As the story of the Israelites unfolds, however, we can see that it isn’t the case. Yet, again, the conclusion could be drawn that God planned that the Israelites would not choose life. Yet, that isn’t God’s intent, purpose, or God’s heart (as revealed by his prophets). Yes, God knew, and God them anyway. God knew, and he loved everyone so much that he permitted awful things, even while he cried out to them to .

    God did not seek to send Joseph to death or slavery. Joseph’s brothers had a choice. There were plenty of choices that could have been made differently, Israel (or Jacob) could have made different decisions, as could have Leah and Rachel. Joseph definitely could have made different decisions. It’s not what God directs or allows, it’s what God redeems that is the real story.

    What is God’s will for us? Well, God’s will for Joseph was that Joseph interpret dreams that God gifted him the ability to interpret. God’s will for Moses that he guide the people to the Promised Land. They both did it, but not fully and in the best way.

    God’s will for ‘ family was that they raise and the Messiah. They did, but as the “blooming” of the Messiah occurred, they weren’t so happy. What was God’s will for them? They partially succeeded but had a slight of heart. Did they fully oppose God’s will? No. They just made things a little more difficult for the Messiah. Being true to form, Jesus redeemed it, teaching us what it means to be Jesus’ family.

    1) Why is “being in God’s will” so attractive? Why is the view of God controlling everything the opposite of “being in God’s will”?

    2) What is the difference between being in “God’s will” and blind faith? What are the similarities?

    3) Why is such an important piece of understanding “God’s plan” versus God redeeming our choices?

  • Grace for the Askers

    Luke 24:36–49, Matthew 28:16–20, James 1:2–18, Jude 20–25

    So, this guy you’ve been hanging out with for three years dies a brutal . A few days later, he’s alive. He was dead and buried, and now alive. Must be a ghost…except they could touch the wounds and he ate. They doubted. After some more time, they meet on a mountain. They worshipped Jesus, yet they still doubted.

    We all have doubts. Sadly, however, when verses such as James 1:6 are badly used, we can question our . Some even go so far as to lose their faith. People take such passages and twist them so that a person cannot question or be perceived to doubt. James’ warning is sound in so far as being about requesting things (such as wisdom) from God, but false expectations of God. In other words, don’t be surprised when God doesn’t answer your and walk away from the faith.

    The grave danger is that if we take James’ words without a large measure of grace and , people will truly walk away. Jude’s words are to be gentle with doubters. Imagine a person who suffers with depression, and in the depths of depression doubts. Would you cast them out? What about a person in the midst of grief who is crying out to God? Will you shame them for doubt in the midst of their ?

    What about the person who was raised as a non-believer and/or strict secular scientist? If they struggle with believing as it conflicts with their growing up, will you shun them and tell them they are unbelievers and should disappear?

    In our world, we should actually be encouraging doubt, or perhaps a better phrasing would be questioning. The world as it is needs a lot more asked. There may not be answers, but often when we ask questions aloud, the doubt and despair that can go with them loses much of its power.

    Last, but not least, often those that seek to silence the doubt and questions of are those who have the deepest fears. When those fears remain buried, faith, love, and can easily be lost in a flash.

    1) Do you ever doubt or question your faith? Do you feel ashamed? Why?

    2) What can other Christians do to support you when you question? What can you do when Christians their own doubts?

    3) Jesus asked his followers about the why of their doubts but did not seem to diminish them because of it. Why does it appear that James does? How do you balance that with Jude?

  • Living in the Gray

    Nehemiah 13:4–22, Matthew 12:1–8

    Nehemiah was “just” a layperson. He probably had no formal religious or other education. He wasn’t a “” of the people. He did, however, have an important position of with King Artaxerxes. To be the cupbearer meant that you were trusted with the king’s and even the life of his royal guests. Nehemiah had an important place of trust and service. Since it was such a trust-based position, it is telling that King Artaxerxes valued Nehemiah enough to be willing to have another take the place of the cupbearer while Nehemiah was away.

    Nehemiah had a hard task of restoring the city of Jerusalem while politicians in the surrounding area jockeyed for position and control of Jerusalem. No doubt it was hard and trying. However, the harder task was fixing what started the mess…the hearts of the People of God. The became the place to stay. The was a day like any other. The Levites were landless and in dire straits. The remnants of Israel had lost their center. They had lost their God. Nehemiah threw out the “guest” in the temple, so the Levites would have their (appropriate) space. Nehemiah restored the tithe so that the Levites could do their job. Then Nehemiah added to their tasks, making them the preservers of the Sabbath (by force of arms if needed).

    By the time of , the Sabbath was being followed religiously. The Levites were receiving their tithe. The Levites had a place to stay. If just looking at these things in the time of Jesus, one could be convinced that Nehemiah was very successful. Outward appearances can be deceiving. The rituals were all in place. The rules were all in place. Even more, were added, just to make sure. The rules, however, became oppressive. You might be aware of a phrase, “they Jesus, but not the .” That’s where many people were. They God, but they wanted nothing to do with the religious leaders.

    Between Nehemiah (rules needed) and Jesus (rules are too much), there has to be a middle-ground. The problem with the middle-ground is that it is hard and often undefined. We like our nice and neat categories. We want black and white; no gray. That is not life.

    1) Where do you see more rules being needed?

    2) Where do you see fewer rules being needed?

    3) Where do you see a balance being needed?

  • Favor of Love

    Exodus 23:3, Deuteronomy 21:15–17, James 2:1–9

    Favoritism generally does not result in good things. By good things, we don’t mean financial . The “benefits” of favoritism is gaining influence or wealth to the detriment of another, usually by showing preferential behavior to an .

    Most of the time, favoritism is construed as the “weaker” party trying to curry favoritism with the “stronger” party. Usually, the intent would be wealth, , or protection.

    However, that is not the only form of favoritism. There is a form of favoritism that shows preferential treatment for the poor or disadvantaged.

    We have, with good reason, developed a methodology to aid historically disadvantaged people. It is an attempt to show favoritism to those who were shown quite the opposite for generations. Regardless of one’s political , God directs us to not show favoritism.

    Now, here is the narrow path we walk. We cannot fix a broken system or broken culture, for both are made of broken people, separated from God and in broken with one another.

    What we can do is each other. What is really hard is to, but is the most important, is to love each other without favoritism. How does that work? Often, poorly. We all have our friends. We have our “groups”. That collection of people with whom we are the most comfortable. Yet, when we show favoritism, we alienate. We dehumanize. Most of all, when we show favoritism we the people of God’s from each other.

    1) What do you think of the favoritism? What thoughts come to mind?

    2) Have you ever been a victim of favoritism? Have you ever shown favoritism?

    3) Why do we show favoritism? How does favoritism damage the family of God?

  • Sown

    Lamentations 3:25–33, Matthew 13:3–9

    For there to be a harvest, there needs to be seed and sower. God’s is both and abundant. All too often, however, we treat God’s love as scarce. There is a concept called the “scarcity mentality.” This mentality is one that views things as a zero-sum game, and that there must be winners and losers, and supply is limited.

    Sadly, in many , there is a scarcity of love, , belief, value, acceptance. Our human relationships shape how we relate to God. So, when our human-to-human relationships are skewed, our with God is, too.

    The problem is how that affects our ability to be the laborers in the fields of the Kingdom.

    The sower parable is interesting in that it represents God (to some degree). The sower isn’t sticking to a row of surety, but casting seed all over the place! What a mess! What a waste! What abandon! God already knows that much of the seed will not “bear fruit.” God does it anyways.

    We, however, often sow in scarcity or in nice, neat, controlled, little rows, stingily putting down seed, calculating the best yield for our efforts. The issue isn’t the yield, but the that sowed. We think we are being wise in our resources, however, one of the greatest risks is that our stinginess reflects our view of God.

    1)What is your view of God’s love and ? Does that view match your ?

    2) How do you see a scarcity or generosity mindset in ?

    3) How can you encourage the generosity mindset in others?

  • 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 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 Sundays. I love coming/going to . I feel “off” if I’m not there. Your when you read this is I’m a pastor. My role as “pastor” doesn’t really that. Church is often more “home” than my house. Church with all its angst, emotions, and (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 speaks of and there are very few of us (proportionally). We are to be recharged to do the work of the 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 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 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 ‘ behavior, but don’t want theirs controlled.

    When 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. the LORD your God with all your , with all your soul, and with all your . These words that I am 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 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 and intimidation. That certainly isn’t the 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 ? 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]. “ solitaries” is a phrase no more consistent with the Gospel than holy adulterers. The Gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no , but social holiness. 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 . John Wesley was specifically speaking about what would now private versus public faith. For John Wesley—and the as a whole—found that Christians were more likely to be better Christians when living within the context of a and accountability context. When our religion becomes private, we hide from ourselves and others that which needs to be brought into the . The path of holiness can only be walked in the 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 (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?