Devotion.al

Tag: love

  • Trusting Joy

    Trusting Joy

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

    , 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.

    “ 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 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 God.

    Let us pray:

    Dear Heavenly Father, we know with our heads that we need to trust you. As we are frail 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 . Help us to continue to seek the coming Messiah, and to be filled with joy of knowing you.

    , 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, , and You. Continue to quicken our hearts and aid us in our journey of faith.

    , 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, 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.

  • The Hope Beyond Us

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

    In regards to their , 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 . Holding onto one’s self (one’s pride) can keep a person from taking the final step of 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 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 . He was, it seems, a weak parent. While he wasn’t an enemy of God, per se, at the , his greatest project of building God’s temple was handed over to his 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 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 , compassion, and .

    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?

  • To Keep or To Make Peace

    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 with him.”
    Psalm 16:7

    In many parts of the world, the Nations has stationed peacekeepers. Their purpose is to be a soothing 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 , people will do many things to keep the peace, even if it is not (even from their own ) 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.” states that part of the life is to be reconcilers. We are not only to be reconciled to God (through ) 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 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 that?
  • Where Peace Resides

    Where Peace Resides

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

    “When I am filled with cares, your brings me .”
    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 , we often look to the outside. Really, true peace starts on the inside, specifically the inside that is being transformed by the and of 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 . Jesus takes our surrendered , gives us a greater one on this earth then gives us an 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 ?

    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?

  • The Family Story

    The Family Story

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

    “All the Lord’s ways show faithful love and to those who keep his 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 .” (Luke 21:24)

    It not a new thing that people 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 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 , 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 than needs ?

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

  • Learn and Apply

    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 covenant . Many also view this as 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 upon the 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.

    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 of God with stuff, or shares light-hearted stories without the God of the Universe whose shines through. Often our biggest challenge during Christmas and Advent is for us to keep Christ in Christmas.

    1) What 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 ? How do you see God in it?

  • Advental Breathing

    Advental Breathing

    Psalm 25:1-10, Nehemiah 9:6-15, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

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

    As we enter the Season this Sunday, we will be drawn to worry about 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 . 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 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 with the awe that you feel, or the “” that you must/should have?
    KD) Are you excited about Christmas? Presents? Do you think about the best present of all, , and how to give Him to your friends?