Devotion.al

Tag: loved

  • Give It Up

    Give It Up

    Psalm 123; Jeremiah 7:27–34; Matthew 8:18–22

    There was this guy who science. He loved nature. He pursued the academics to take care of the wilds. Except he was stubborn. You see, what he loved wasn’t the science, but Creation. In fact, he wasn’t good at it at all. He stuck with that choice for 4 years. Sadly, no one gave him wise advice (not that he would have listened) to it up. It wasn’t meant for him. 4 years of misery and disappointment vanished into smoke. You might know such a stubborn person.

    The basic gist of God’s words to Jeremiah: give it up. No matter what you do, they won’t listen. No matter what acts of penance and remorse they out…they are acting and their hearts aren’t in it. The people of Judah seemed to revel in their disobedience to God. Blaspheming the Temple of God with idols of false gods. Killing their sons and daughters and them to fires.

    Give it up, Jeremiah. They won’t see the errors of theirs ways until the places of these sacrifices are filled with corpses of war, famine, and pestilence, and these so-called sacred places of sacrifice are themselves blasphemed. Oh, and maybe not even then. Give it up.

    We are in a time and place where even conversations with friends and acquaintances are “given up” as there can be no discussion or resolution. The hearts are hard and the ears are closed. Sometimes all we can do is give it up. That is until it comes to us.

    Jesus’ words seem somewhat harsh to our ears. Yet, they hold a profound that much of Western Christianity, especially the US iteration, is in the process of rediscovering. Give it up.

    The legal expert would have had a decent home and security. Jesus told him, basically, give it up. The disciple (since unnamed, probably not one of the 12) says, let me bury my . In other words, let me wait to follow you until my father wouldn’t disown me or be ashamed of me. Jesus responded, who is your father in comparison to me? Give it up.

    We have become far too comfortable. Whether it is being the majority confessed (rather than followed) religion, or the “majority” skin color (if you are), or the nice buildings, or our ties to political , or our ties to monied power, or the practices we hold dear, or the ability to speak openly about Jesus, we’ve been comfortable.

    Jesus’ point to these two was that comfort isn’t the call…Jesus is the call.

    In certain Christian traditions that hold only men may be pastors/priests, they are struggling to find men to fill the roles. Often the response is that they should accept women. Those who that way will often point to those denominations (like the Church of the Nazarene) that do ordain women. Yet, the real question, the real deficit, is that people don’t want to give it up. They don’t want to give up their lives.

    None of us do, really. Even those denominations that do ordain women still have a problem, and that is the people themselves who don’t want to give it up for Jesus. It is not a matter of men or women. It is not a matter of , , race, or other things. It is that people don’t want to give it up for Jesus.

  • Seriously

    Seriously

    Psalm 123; Jeremiah 7:16–26; 2 Corinthians 10:7–11

    The understanding of God is one of love, forgiveness, and . These are often the primary characteristics on which we focus. If we are honest, it’s because, with such a God, a lot of pressure is off of us. There are many, however, who claim these same three characteristics are God’s and yet talk only about God’s judgment, anger, and destruction. Today’s passages would seem to have that same .

    In today’s verses, the opening words to Jeremiah are brutal. “Don’t pray…or plead for them…” First, this tells us about Jeremiah. Jeremiah prayed. Jeremiah hurt for the people and the relationship with God that they had lost.

    One could say that God’s words were unloving, except perhaps we have the wrong focus. What if God’s focus (in the opening verse, at least) wasn’t really the Israelites, but Jeremiah. Like a parent or grandparent long praying for the of a child or grandchild, perhaps that was Jeremiah (God did tell him to not pray). Perhaps Jeremiah was deeply upset (he was often called the Weeping Prophet), and God wanted him to let go.

    There is also the high possibility that God knew that the hearts of the Israelites would not be repentant before the time of reckoning. If this is indeed the case, the of “don’t pray” would have been, “release your burden, for it is not yours to bear.” That would be in the face of .

    In some ways, Jeremiah is as Paul states, “The Lord gave us that authority to build you up and not to destroy you.” Jeremiah certainly didn’t want the power to destroy the Israelites. He wanted to build them up so that they returned to God.

    This is where the hard reality of the Scriptures hits us, and we don’t like it…at all. We say that we don’t like this God of “meanness” and try to cover up what we think is “wrong” with language that God loves everyone.

    Oh, God does. Without question, God loves all of , even these broken and dysfunctional parts called humans. There does, though, come a point where it all has to .

    We don’t like this point. We don’t like the thought of lost ones not knowing God at the end. GOOD! We’re not supposed to like it! Perhaps, just perhaps, that God is showing us that it is a serious matter (even deadly), and we ought to be serious about it, too.

    ※Reflection※

    • What were your initial thoughts about God when reading Jeremiah? How about Jeremiah? The Israelites?
    • What lessons can you learn from God’s words and actions?
    • What lessons did you learn from Jeremiah’s words and actions?
    • What lessons did you learn from the Israelites?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, loving you is often easy, but your love for us and our betterment is often beyond our understanding. Guide us in your ways. Amen.

  • Knowing Limits

    Knowing Limits

    Psalm 88; Leviticus 21:1–15; 2 Corinthians 8:16–24

    What is your limit? Or, perhaps, who is your limit? Republicans? Democrats? Communists? Libertarians? Capitalists? Roman Catholics? The homeless? The hungry? A different skin color? A different nationality? A different religion? Neighbors? Friends? ? Children? Spouse?

    Relations and relationships are some of the biggest variables in existence. One child may sacrifice everything to take care of their parent. Another child may do nothing at all. The driver of the car in front of you may give to a panhandler, and you may not (a description, not a judgment).

    For early and non-Western cultures, the family was a critical . Not having a family was risky. The family was what defined and supported you. Unless that is, you were the High Priest of Israel.

    Commentators come to different conclusions about what was meant by leaving the temple. Some commentators interpret verse 12 as only apply when family died to keep them safe from defilement. Other commentators propose that the High Priest never left, though none of those commentators could figure out ultimately how that worked.

    Regardless, the COVID-era gave us an idea of the kind of sacrifice required by the High Priest. People lost loved ones they could never visit. Loved ones died and funerals and memorial services didn’t happen. Many people were angry, sad, and hurting for they lost the opportunity for closure. A taste of the High Priest’s sacrifice for us all.

    It may be a stretch, but there is a similarity between the passage of Leviticus and 2 Corinthians; doing right in the eyes of God.

    Paul definitely was concerned about “doing right” in the eyes of . It was, though, secondary to doing right in the eyes of God. What is the point of being right in the eyes of men, if you will be wrong in the eyes of God? Of course, one has to be careful about that.

    In our era, a person such as the High Priest would be looked down upon for abandoning his family to serve God in such a way. Granted, our understanding of things has somewhat changed, both in regards to family, priests, and ritual . If we were to such a man today, we would probably think there was something wrong with him.

    ※Reflection※

    • Where have you found conflict in your life in pursuing God’s versus the acclaim of man?
    • Have you experienced what you thought was following God’s plan and then discovered it was not?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, help us to know your will. Spirit, guide us to the right things before you and our fellow humanity. Amen.

  • Our Warring Hearts

    Our Warring Hearts

    Psalm 30; Lamentations 2:18–22; Luke 4:31–37

    In the science fiction series, Babylon 5, we about the “great” war. The great war was between two sides fighting for the benefit (or the evolution) of the “lesser” species. Each side has a different method to initiate and improvement. One side (“the light”) seeks to change people through peaceful means. The other side (“the shadows”) seeks to change people through fear, pain, and, most importantly, war. The sad part about this is the ultimate conclusion from the series is that both sides are right and wrong. It really does echo history.

    For those who have grown up in these last few decades and for those who seek the of God, passages of destruction and penalty are often emotionally hard to read and more difficult to understand the seeming conflict between the God of love and the apparent God of wrath.

    When we read Lamentations it should, if we have our empathy intact, lead our hearts to ache for the and pain of Israel. It’s not that we do not understand that this is a consequence of Israel’s abandonment of God. We are human. We are called to empathize with , even while we understand that these were consequences. Part of the struggle is that we long for and security. We want our God to protect our understanding of our comfort and security. Whenever God even appears to challenge our comfort and security (even if it is for our own good), we cry out to and at God.

    We will often sound like that man in Capernaum. “What have you do with us, of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?”

    Our earthly minds will often disregard the man either because of his possession, or (if we don’t believe in literal possession) because he is a mentally ill man (the modern view). Regardless of which choice, the man still sounds like many of us. “Don’t change us. We like the way we are .”

    Change often ends up being a little death and a little mourning. We either have the courage to face and embrace it, or we respond in fear and anger when it comes upon us.

    ※Reflection※

    • Have you ever had a personal life change that felt a little like death (not talking about the death of a loved one)?
    • Why do we often reject war (of many kinds) and pain, pursue and desire change, and yet often only change when thrust into the middle of war and pain?

    ※Prayer※

    Help pursue a life of change. Train our hearts to see you and not the trials that temper us. Amen.

  • Aiming to Change

    Aiming to Change

    Psalm 30; Lamentations 2:1–12; 2 Corinthians 8:1–7

    The implication of today’s reading in Lamentations is that this came suddenly, or that all the preparations were annihilated. The sad reality is that sometimes things that came “suddenly” were actually quite predictable. God sent multiple prophets. Before the Israelites even entered the Promised Land, Moses had warned them. It shouldn’t have been a surprise.

    We can look around us and see plenty of people who follow this same pattern. Whether they make bad relationship decisions, money decisions, career decisions, education decisions, or something else, they continue to make the same mistake and what went wrong.

    God wasn’t upset with the Israelites for making mistakes or even wandering away, except that they continued to do it until it became the lifestyle.

    God knows that we all will make mistakes. That’s part of the current human condition. That wasn’t supposed to be, but we chose (and choose) to go our own way.

    We are embraced, loved, adopted, and reconciled as we are. We aren’t supposed to stay that way. The world understands this Truth. If you were to actually visit a bookstore (yes, they still exist) or look at the slate of newly published books, the biggest movers and often the greatest number of published titles are all “self-help”. The world knows that we are to improve and . We are not to stay the same.

    Despite that, when the Scriptures (or the Jesus-following community) call us to account to , we push back. We say, “no” or “God made me this way.” And before you think (too late, I’m sure) that “they” should know that too (“they” being whomever many progressive or conservative Christians oppose), it isn’t about “them” or “they”, it is about us.

    Paul calls on the Corinthians to be “the best” in regard to faith, , knowledge, commitment (there’s a really hard one these days), and love (okay, maybe this one’s harder). The best. Not okay. Not good. Not satisfactory. The best.

    We don’t start out as “the best”. As individuals, we may never be “the best” at any or all. Collectively, as the , we have the potential to be “the best” at them all, but only if we are willing to be changed and work in partnership with the Spirit and our fellow believers.

    ※Reflection※

    • What struck you about the passage in Lamentations? Do you see yourself or your circumstances anywhere?
    • What areas of your have you had the greatest struggle surrendering to Jesus? What areas of your life do you think need the greatest amount of change to be in line with the and nature of Jesus Christ?
    • “The best” is a high mark. Why should we aim at a mark we probably will never hit? How do we keep from being discouraged when we miss?

    ※Prayer※

    As we seek to do your will, may we be transformed. As we pursue holiness, may we not be discouraged. As we fail and err, may we recognized that it is you who picks us back up. Amen.

  • Light It Up

    Light It Up

    Psalm 107:1–3, 23–32; Job 29:21–30:15; Acts 21:1–16

    Life is full of ups and downs. Psalm 107 starts with such a positive tone. Then mishaps and adventures and trials occur. Then back to rejoicing in God. It doesn’t seem to really matter your place, station, or nation in life, there are ups and downs. Even in some of the harshest conditions, people will find positive things. Part of that is just how we maintain some sort of sanity (even if it’s by our fingernails).

    This certainly is not to belittle anyone’s trials and tribulations. Even in midst of grieving over the of a one, people might ‘s beautiful . They might laugh at a really bad Dad joke (yes, a dad joke and a bad joke are the same thing). They might have an enjoyable meal or a great time with friends. The remains, but something can still be good.

    Job was respected. He cared for others. He honored God. He led others.

    Job fell. He was despised. He was rejected. Others sought to lead him. Yet, he honored God.

    All of Acts is a series of ups and downs. While this part of Paul’s journey is really the foreshadowing of his journey to Rome and to his , it is still filled with stories of , caring, loyalty, and faith.

    The world is indeed a dark place. Often, the only thing that can keep us sane and even happy is . Only hope in Christ will endure through time.

    ※Reflection※

    • Thinking of a dark time in your life, what were high points in the darkness? What made them that way?
    • Have you ever questioned a joyful or happy moment in the midst of darkness? Did you feel as if you disrespected the time of darkness?
    • What are ways that you have found to invoke light, , and hope in the midst of your darkness and the darkness of others?

    ※Prayer※

    Jesus, you are the light to the world. Help us to be the smaller lights that bring hope to the world, and glory to you. Amen.

  • Loving Presence

    Loving Presence

    Psalm 20; Exodus 25:1–22; 1 Corinthians 2:1–10

    “…so that I am present among them.” (Exodus 25:8)

    It seems like a strange statement to us as Christians. Our theology talks about God’s omnipresence (God is everywhere), so a tent doesn’t really change that. The tent was, however, the place for meeting God. As part of the rhythm of the post-Egypt life for the Israelites, the Tent of Meeting was the center of movement of the entire nation for 40 years.

    After the clearing of the Promised Land, the Tent had a semi-permanent place, and still remained the primary place of worship. The aspect of being present may have been more along the lines of the focal point. Many years later, there were seers and prophets that didn’t necessarily reside near the Tent. They met with God in their own way. Ultimately, they too had to go to the Tent of Meeting for the annual worship events.

    It reflects the reality that humanity needs that kind of physical center. As our lives become more digital, it is still to be determined whether humanity can really its psyche from the physical reality of existence.

    The internet, its digital relatives, its predecessors (TV, radio, telegraph) were not the first extended form of communication. ‘s letter to the Corinthians was also extended communication. From the ancient , the letter was considered representative of the person themselves. The barriers in the ancient world (education, distance, cost) actually increased the “” of a mere letter. Not quite an ancient Zoom meeting.

    Diplomatic letters didn’t always have a physical meeting before. A personal letter, such as Paul’s, usually did, and we can see that it certainly did. Paul’s words to the Corinthians would be treated more seriously and intimately than an email, tweet, or Facebook post.

    Paul doesn’t shy away from his insecurities in this letter. We Christians often think of Paul as some great person (he was), but avoid his statements regarding his weaknesses. Without question, Paul would have been a champion blogger and writer of our day. He would not have likely been a convention speaker or YouTuber. Based upon his own declarations of his weaknesses, regardless of his writings, he may have never qualified to be a lead pastor of a .

    Lead Pastor doesn’t seem to have been his gifting, so this is not a bad thing. Through his presence, though, churches and communities were launched. Through his letters, churches were built up, disciplined, and discipled. Through his life, he brought up the next generation (Timothy) to lead. We often evaluate our ministry and giftings through the lives and gifts of . Perhaps we ought to just evaluate them on whether we were present in others’ times of trouble when we had the opportunity to them.

    ※Reflection※

    • Who is one Christian that you wish your ministry or Christian life resembled? Why? How does your life resemble theirs? Are your spiritual giftings the same as theirs?
    • Who has made the biggest difference in your life? A famous Christian, or someone who you through your darkest times?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord Christ, helps our lives to be one of presence to others that they can sense your love coming from us and pouring into them. Amen.

  • Worship Even Here

    Worship Even Here

    Psalm 20; Numbers 9:15–23; Revelation 4:1–8

    God is hard. Trusting that all things work for good is hard. How can COVID be good? How can a bad economy be good? How can not being able to be with our loved ones be good? A lot of this hasn’t been good.

    For the psalmist, that isn’t the question. For the psalmist, it is that God hears, , and remembers. This doesn’t mean that everything will be easy going . It means that God is with you.

    Assuming that this written by or about David, note that there really isn’t a mention of . Not really. David had experienced many hard times (some as a consequence of his own actions). God didn’t spare him hard times. God was with David and responded to David in the hard times. Much of this would seem to come from David’s rhythm of and with God. From what we can gather (which is, granted, limited), David had a regular practice of seeking God.

    The pattern that the Israelites had wandering in the wilderness was different. Most of us cannot imagine being wanderers, whether the Bedouins of the Arabian Peninsula or the homeless around the corner. The Israelites had a wandering pattern for 40 years.

    The pattern wasn’t fully predictable. For those of you have traveled with children, or been in the military, the ability to gather everyone and their stuff in a short amount of time is trying. Imagine trying to do that every day. Most nomadic cultures move about seasonally, but the imply that more than once they got settled down for the night, and had to pack the next day.

    During pauses between travel time, the Tabernacle (or The Tent of Meeting) would be assembled, and worship would begin. While we can read the takedown and set up, what we miss is the worship that goes along with it. The cloud was the presence of God. We can assume that on the that they would not travel (it’s a safe , at least).

    While this seems strange to us—especially for those that worship at the same building week after week—we can read in Revelation worship that is beyond our comprehension. 24 people praising God day and night, and saying the same thing. While this is really a vision, thus not necessarily exactly how it will work, the difference between the Israelites wandering and the people praising would seem to be stark.

    It is. It is, that is, only if you focus on the how. Worship of God is not limited to a building one day a week. Communion with God is not necessarily in that perfect time. Both can happen at any time. We just need to be looking for it.

    ※Reflection※

    • What do you think these different visions of worship and life rhythms tell us about God?
    • What do you think these different visions of worship and life rhythms tell us about ourselves?
    • Do any of these cause to reflect on any changes that are possible for you worship rhythms?

    ※Prayer※

    Spirit, guide the worship rhythm’s of our hearts. Help us to find ways and places to worship God in the face of all circumstances. Amen.