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Devotion.al

Tag: loved

  • Blowing Smoke Into Our Own Eyes

    Isaiah 30:8–13 (read online ⧉)

    Hearing the truth about ourselves is often uncomfortable. We like to hear good stuff, but do our best to avoid that feels bad, or might cause us to look at ourselves badly. We are not alone. When Isaiah is sent to confront the Israelites with a bad report, you can imagine how well it was received.

    Who wants to be called a rebellious child, except for those who take pride in being rebelling. Rare is the person who wants to be called deceptive. Yet rebellion and deception can often be attributed to ourselves. It never feels good to confront it. The reality is that rebellion and deception often go hand-in-hand. Where we can lose a little bit of the meaning is that sometimes the deceiving is of ourselves, leading us into a life or choice of rebellion. That’s where the words in Isaiah go. People didn’t want to hear the truth. They want to be lied to rather than having to deal with the truth.

    In the current separated world that is the “United” States of America, there are many prophetic voices speaking out with the heart of Jesus Christ. However, even they have become blind. Whole swaths of people are challenged for a single point of politics or policy, while their own politics or policy have their own parts that are not in line with Jesus Christ. In many respects, the Israelites had it easy.

    Christians are called to love, starting with one another. Yet, what is love? How is loved lived out? In fact, our understanding of love may very well affect the love of Jesus Christ that comes from us. That is potentially the biggest problem of all. People can disagree on the right (and Christian) way to help a person get out of poverty (for example). Their perspectives may be very different. That doesn’t mean that one is right and one is wrong. Our world is very much playing the zero-sum game. In other words, somebody loses. All too often, Jesus Christ gets lost in the mix and noise.
    The church and its people must begin to focus on Jesus Christ. That’s obvious, you may say, but it really isn’t. If you love Jesus Christ, you can’t support (some person). That’s the way things are currently going. We no longer show grace and love to those of different politics. We’ve lost our first love.

    1) Think of your least favorite politician. Can you say, I love you (their name)? Do you think Jesus can?

    2) Redemption and love flow through the Scriptures. How should that affect our view of ourselves? How should that affect our views of others?

    3) Why is it important that politics can play a useful role in expanding the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth? What is the (ongoing) danger with that same thing?

  • Trust and Temptation

    Genesis 3:1–20, James 1:12–16, Hebrews 2:13–18 (read online ⧉)

    The reality is that humanity has a hard time trusting God. The story of Adam and Eve is a great allegory of humanity and trust. Adam, especially, should have trusted God wholeheartedly. Eve, too, should have trusted God and should have trusted Adam. However, Eve listened to the serpent. Adam, in turn, listened to Eve. They who had access to God as they did still trusted someone else over God. Part of this, it seems, is immediacy. The serpent was in their immediate surroundings. This is why the world can be dangerous to our spiritual well-being. We are in it. It has immediacy in our lives. It can pull us away from God. Even when we fully believe that we trust God, the world can still pull us away. Sometimes it will be little things. Sometimes it will be big things.

    This awareness becomes important as we go through life. One of our big temptations, as we saw in the story of Adam and Eve is to blame other people. However, if we do that too much, people begin to avoid us. We, needing affection, will often turn to something else to blame. Sometimes we’ll blame political parties or government (yes, it involves people, but generally people who are disconnected from our daily lives). Sometimes we’ll blame chance. As James points out, however, we also blame God. People have blamed God for the temptation of Adam and Eve. “God should have known and prevented it,” they’ll say. “And, since God didn’t prevent it, God cannot be good, and must be evil…” Yes, it goes downhill quickly. James is making that exact point. For once it is God’s fault that we are tempted, the slippery slope down to God is evil comes into play. It’s not that you couldn’t stop there, but that many can’t. There are certain Christian traditions that say (in effect) that while God perfectly controls all things, and while God is not evil, there is still evil, so it’s a mystery.

    That doesn’t, let’s be honest, work very well. It also put into doubt as shown by the passage in Hebrews. None of us want to be tempted. So, if Jesus (the Son of God, and part of the Triune God) is tempted, that would mean that God wants God to be tempted. If we, who are fallen and sinful, don’t want to be tempted, why would God want to be tempted? It is here that we have to make a turn. God’s holiness isn’t diminished by temptation, it would be diminished if temptation was succumbed to. As Jesus didn’t succumb to temptation, Jesus’ holiness wasn’t diminished. So, what does this have to do with trust? Jesus, as a man, trusted God’s plan, and leaned on that and his love of God and his knowledge that God loved him. Jesus was tempted in alignment with God’s plan, not because God wanted the temptation to occur, but to show that Jesus was both God and man, showing people that God loved the Creation and was willing to die for it.

    1) How do your own temptations inhibit your trust of other people? How about your trust of God?

    2) How does temptation and blame go together? Why do you think that is?

    3) Other than the basic, “God is not evil,” why is it a dangerous practice spiritually to blame God?

    Action: Decide on one (and only one) temptation to place before God. Surrender it. Pray about it and surrender it every day.

  • Child Identified

    Exodus 3:1–12, 1 John 2:28–29, 1 John 4:7 (read online ⧉)

    Moses was not a shining example of humanity. He was…human. He had a temper. He certainly had a confused identity. He was a child of the court of Egypt. How he fit (or didn’t ) into the courts of the Pharoahs is an unknown. A Pharoah’s daughter pulled him from the Nile, knowing he was a Hebrew. Then she gave him to a Hebrew to be a nurse. We don’t know anything that really occurred in his life from his assigning to a Hebrew nursemaid to the day he killed an Egyptian overseer. We can reasonably assume that Moses dealt with two identities, one as an adopted child of the Pharoahic court, and one the blood child of a Hebrew. Moses was, in many respects, destined to be forever confused and torn by his two identities. This is much the same with us. We have our human earthly identity, and we have our heavenly identity. We often become confused between them.

    John writes, “ Everyone who does what is right, has been born of him.” Most of us look at these words and ask, “What about me?” We see them in the light of our own weaknesses and failures. With that perspective, it’s hard for the words to bring us comfort. Knowing to whom John was writing (people he loved, cared for, and wanted the best for), we can be assured that it wasn’t his goal. Our identity in Jesus Christ is something far different than our identity on earth. It is to that identity that John writes. That identity has done what is right and has been born of him.

    When John speaks later about everyone born of God loves, we are again tied back to the one of whom we are born…Jesus Christ. So much of who we are is our identity. Some of our identity is nothing we can control (i.e., family of origin, birth nation, native tongue, etc.). Other things we can identify with. Hopefully, you have chosen—at this point—to identify as a Child of God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Holding onto and affirming this identity is what creates the space in our hearts and lives to be right and (Godly) loving.

    Moses, like us, had two identities, Hebrew and of Pharaoh. In many respects, both are earthly identities prone to failures and flaws. Yet, Moses did choose to be a Hebrew. Then he accepted (granted, somewhat grudgingly) the prophetic leadership of a people taking them from earthly nation to Godly nation. Moses made mistakes before and during the journey. The Hebrews made plenty of their own mistakes. Despite all of that, however, God still identified them as his chosen people.

    1) What do you see as your earthly identities? How do they coexist, and how do they conflict?

    2) While God calls us his children, why do we tend to undermine that identity by identifying with our failures, mistakes, and tendencies?

    3) Say out loud, “I am a loved child of God.” What was your emotional and physical reaction to that? Why do you think that is?

  • Loved Before We Were Born

    1 John 2:15–17, 1 John 3:1–3, 1 John 4:7–12 (read online ⧉)

    Don’t love the world or the things of it. That seems to be a strange statement in light of John 3:16-18. On the other hand, it can make a lot of sense. There are two kinds of world, the one of Creation, and the one of earthly power/weakness. The world to not love is the one of earthly power/weakness. This frees us to love those trapped in that world and to work to break the chains that bind them to it. The other point being made is that world of earthly power/weakness will disappear someday (and that someday comes closer moment-by-moment). The underlying question for the reader and us, is why allow ourselves to be bound to that which will disappear, rather than be tied to the one that is eternal?

    Of course, many of those bound to the worldly power/weakness would ask why anyone would want to be bound at all? This denies being bound to the world, but it also calls into question the one we bind ourselves to…God. Why would we do that? Love. God is love. We bind ourselves to those that love us, and we love them. Why not be bound to the one who loves us eternally, and whose very nature encompasses love?

    What did God do for me, it is often asked. God loved us before time even began. God loved us before we were born. God loves us so much, and knew us so well, that God came down to restore right relationship because we were incapable of it. God loves us so that we can love each other.

    1) How does Godly love differ from worldly love?

    2) Can worldly love be Godly love if all love comes from God? Why or why not?

    3) If anyone loves, are they born of God? Why or why not?

  • Love Between

    John 13:31–35, John 15:12–17, Ephesians 4:25–5:2, James 3:13–4:6 (read online ⧉)

    Love like Jesus. That’s a pretty tall order, so it seems. Part of the problem is that we are often so focused on the big things. We become overwhelmed. There are those that think they need to die like Jesus to love like Jesus. Some people believe that they have to heal like Jesus to love like Jesus. Some people believe they have to speak like Jesus to love like Jesus. Some people believe they have to feed others like Jesus to love like Jesus. Some people believe they have to act or sound like anything but Jesus to love like Jesus. Some people believe they have the lecture or condemn or condone to love like Jesus.
    We are each guilty of some of that (unless you’re very rare).

    The reality is that love came down from Heaven as an infant boy. As the boy grew up, he loved. He loved his parents. He loved his brothers (an aside: do you think he always liked and liked being around his brothers?). He loved each where he was in life. We have a skewed version of Jesus’ love because we only get 3 years of Jesus. Jesus didn’t love for only 3 years.

    We get so caught up in sweet baby Jesus, then awesome Messiah Jesus. We miss the in-between. That’s where love happens. It is between the highs and the lows that love becomes firmly established. When the highs and the lows happen, we have love to keep us together.

    When Paul and James talk about love and loving each other, it is really living life together (the in-between) that creates the bonds of love. Barring most parental love, love doesn’t just happen. It grows. Sometimes it grows fast, sometimes it grows slow. We cannot rush love. When we rush love, it often isn’t love.

    1) Have you ever rushed “love” or a relationship? What happened?

    2) Why are the in-betweens almost more important than the highs and lows when it comes to love?

    3) How can you love like Jesus in-between?

  • Valuing the Heart

    Psalm 6, Mark 5:24–34, Luke 7:36–50 (read online ⧉)

    We greatly honor our doctors and nurses who nurse ourselves and our loved ones to health. However, what we do today is different than it used to be. Science and medicine have provided us information that is beyond ancient knowledge. Even we untrained people have a far greater knowledge of healing than was available to the normal person many years ago. Thus when the scriptures ask for healing, and when healing occurs it is a miracle. This is not to diminish the healing received then or now. However, there is something here in Scripture that is only recently coming into mainstream thinking…peace.

    The woman who touched Jesus’ cloak was both desperate and had faith. An interesting combination to say the least. Suffering from an injury/illness for 12 years and bankrupt because of it. We’ve heard stories of or known people who may have not suffered as long but certainly lost everything. Healing was great. Peace was needed too with all that she had gone through.

    Then there was the woman who poured perfume on and washed Jesus’ feet. Obviously infamous among the “clean” and “appropriate” people, she was probably a societal outcast in some form or another. Her entire life was not likely to be a gentle one. She needed peace.

    Neither woman, at the point we meet them, are doing well in life. Based on context, we can reasonably say that they were the downtrodden of the downtrodden, and they were women. All of this piled together in that time meant that even being healed or being defended by Jesus would not necessarily make their lives easier.

    What Jesus did is justify their existence. He saw them for what they were…children of God. He valued them. By valuing them, and publically doing so no less, he gave them an opportunity to have something they may have never had, or hadn’t had in a very long time…peace.

    Our medicine and science are great. We are doing so well on the “mechanical” side of healing. We aren’t, however, doing as well in healing hearts. In cases of severe health issues, just being healed is only the beginning. There are some forms of emotional trauma that go along with that. Those that have suffered need peace.

    1) The “mechanical” nature of medicine resembles other “mechanical” areas of our society. Why do we avoid dealing with emotions? What does it mean to you that Jesus brings peace in those situations?

    2) Societal healing is painful. Currently, there are a lot of scabs being peeled off and oozing sores finally being treated. Thinking of the above stories, what does that tell us about how Jesus would respond today?

    3) Christians regularly pray for physical healing. Why? What do we miss when we pray for physical healing alone?

  • Seen In Heaven

    Job 19:23–27, 2 Corinthians 12:1–6, Revelation 4:1–11 (read online)

    John Wesley and George Whitfield were once total brothers in the faith and theology. Eventually, however, there were divisions, and the amicably went their separate ways on positive terms. Yet, people still assumed that there was something more serious.

    “One day, after Whitefield’s decease, John Wesley was timidly approached by one of the godly band of Christian sisters who had been brought under his influences and who loved both Whitefield and himself:

    “‘ Dear Mr. Wesley, may I ask you a question?’
    “‘ Yes, of course, madam, by all means

    “‘ But, dear Mr. Wesley, I am very much afraid what the answer will be.’

    “‘ Well, madam, let me hear your question, and then you will know my reply.’

    “At last, after not a little hesitation, the inquirer tremblingly asked, ‘ Dear Mr. Wesley, do you expect to see dear Mr. Whitefield in heaven?’

    “A lengthy pause followed, after which John Wesley replied with great seriousness, ‘No, madam.’ “His inquirer at once exclaimed, ‘Ah, I was afraid you would say so.’

    “To which John Wesley added, with intense earnestness, ‘ Do not misunderstand me, madam; George Whitefield was so bright a star in the firmament of God’s glory, and will stand so near the throne, that one like me, who am less than the least, will never catch a glimpse of him.’”

    What will Heaven be like? There have been many books written and dreams shared. The corporeal reality is that dreams and visions are still a human attempt to understand the divine reality. How can we embodied and finite (corporeal) creatures attempt to understand the infinite and divine. Old cartoons had the dead with wings, halos, and harps. Those that are musically inclined may indeed be playing harps in eternity, but if you know any drummers, you could see that as unlikely. Those that love to speak, preach, and teach will probably be out of a job. Maybe. Perhaps they will be the ones declaring, “Holy, holy, holy.”

    Then there is the question of, “Will I see [someone] in Heaven?” Often we asked this question if we don’t know the salvation status of a person. Sometimes we wonder about ourselves. Take John Wesley. While he and Whitefield parted, he had such esteem for Whitefield (and so little for himself) that he believed that Whitefield would be so much closer to the throne of Heaven that Wesley would not see him due to the brightness of God’s glory. That person we are concerned for may indeed be in Heaven, but we may not know.

    1) For those reading this in a small group setting, let us agree that the answer to the following is spoken and shared in a safe space. What do you think Heaven will be like?

    2) Why do we concern ourselves for what comes after this life? How do you respond to those who don’t “known” what will be in the afterlife? How do you respond to those who believe there is nothing after this life?

  • Remember the Gone

    Matthew 22:23–33, 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, Romans 8:26–30

    All Saints Day was established to honor the saints of the church. As we talked about yesterday, it is also a good time to reflect upon those that helped shape your faith. By so doing these people were doing the work of saints. Now, let us be clear, over the years, the church (whether it be the church universal, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant) has put saints on a pedestal that the saints themselves knew they didn’t belong. It is normal human behavior to do this. The saints are a “class” of people that when we think about it, we don’t believe we belong to that class. It is only by the grace of God that any could be called saint, for it is the work of the Holy Spirit in them that shaped them.

    One of the biggest common characteristics of saints is that they are dead. We have all lost people we loved to the ultimate consequence (on the finite side of things) of sin…death. Death is a fact of life. The reason to bring in All Saints Day is that some in the church lost the understanding of saint. So, the Saints (especially, those without their own named day) had this day to cover all of the Saints of the church. As a consequence, some traditions have a day for the (dearly) departed after All Saints Day. This day is called All Souls Day or Commemoration of the Faithful Departed. Really, it’s about all those day-to-day Christians that had more to do with your faith journey than the Saints seemed to have.

    We have inherited the legacies of the Saints and the everyday saints. What will we do with it? What is a saint? Well, the way Paul puts it, it seems we are all saints. It seems that Paul perceives all of the children of God as saints.

    1) Whose death do you mourn most at this moment? Were they a believer in Jesus as Lord and Savior?

    2) Why do we mourn those that knew Jesus as Lord and Savior?

    3) What is the difference, if any, between a saint and a perfect Christian?

  • All the Saints

    Luke 20:27–40, Hebrews 11:32–12:2, Revelation 7:9–17

    Veneration of the Saints has a long history in the church. Due to misunderstandings (cultural, interpretive, arrogance, ignorance), it has often been a source of claims of heresy and idol worship. It has been abused and misshapen into disguised pagan worship. In addition, there is also the practice in other religions and traditions that have a form of ancestor worship. While there is no question that veneration of saints and even ancestors has been twisted into false teaching, this is one of those many cases of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

    This becomes significant as the stories of the saints and martyrs of the church are not (generally) part of Evangelical Protestant worship or practice. There are some minor exceptions. There was a popular song by Michael W. Smith about Cassie Bernall who was shot and killed because she would not deny Jesus to the shooters at the Columbine High School. There are some famous missionary stories such as End of the Spear about missionaries who died in the field, but whose murders later repented and turned to Christ. By and large, though, the concept of saints and martyrs is talked about in generalities.

    Martyrs, in many respects, are easier to talk about than saints (though many saints were martyrs). The “romantic” concept of dying for one’s faith, especially here where we are free and protected, pervades Western Christianity. It’s not romantic for those who go through persecution and martyrdom.

    Saints are harder. Part of this is the historical Protestant antagonism towards Roman Catholicism and the central place the Virgin Mary and the Saints have in Roman Catholic practice. Sadly, though, we (as Protestants) have lost 2 important things when it comes to how the saints fit into our practices.

    First, saints are a great example to follow. Just like us, they aren’t perfect. Just like us, they try to be like Jesus but often failed. We can all say (and probably do) we can’t measure up to Jesus but it’s harder to say that about saints (though we still try). Their lives are also worth reading about as they had struggles just like we do, and they provided some of the greatest reflections on God.

    Second, the legacy of saints is far-reaching. Many saints weren’t “official” saints, but that Sunday School teacher that put the seed of Jesus in our heart. It could be that believer that just loved you where you were at. It could be a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt, neighbor whose life drew you to Jesus. When we recognize the legacy of saints, we often learn about ourselves, and we see more of God in us due to all the streams of faith that pour into our lives. This gives us not just head knowledge, but heart knowledge, and a place to belong.

    1) What are your first thoughts when you think about saints? Why do you think that is?

    2) Who are some so-called “real” “church” saints you can think of? What were they famous for? What do you think their legacy is?

    3) Who are some “real-life” saints in your life? What made them that way? How did they change you?

  • Guarding Wrong Things

    Psalm 51:1–13, Luke 15:1–10, 1 Timothy 1:12–17

    “Be gracious to me…Against…you alone…have I sinned…Purify me…Turn your face…from my sins…create a clean heart for me…Do not banish me…sustain me…sinners will return to you.”

    The (very) abbreviated Psalm 51:1–13 above probably resonates with you. The Psalms are often flowery poems, and when we strip much of that away it hits even deeper. As you read the full and abbreviated Psalm, did you feel gratitude toward God and his grace given to you? If not, I urge you to re-read both again.

    After almost 2 millennia of digging in and seeking God’s truth and wisdom, it has almost become the default setting that Jesus is God (though often still hard to fully grasp). Why is that important? Well, if Jesus is God, then Jesus would display God’s nature and character. That being the case, we ought to look at the Gospels as insights into God.

    In Luke 15:1–10, we often focus on the parables, which are great. Yet, the whole reason for the parables was to explain, “…[Jesus] welcomes sinners and eats with them.” God WELCOMES sinners and eats WITH them. Pardon the philosophical wanderings things brings to mind, but are we the church—the so-called bride of Jesus—doing that?
    Is the church so concerned about purity—and apparent holiness—that it (they, we) doesn’t welcome sinners and eat with them? This is not a new struggle. In the early years of the church, there was a barrier to entry for the literal safety of the church. With Augustine’s official recognition of the church (and its sad becoming a place of worldly power), the barrier became toeing the party line (in both Western and Eastern Christendom).

    Perhaps instead of looking at the last few decades as the way things ought to be, perhaps we ought to look to the founding of the Church of the Nazarene. Phineas Bresee—viewed by many as the primary (but not only) founder of the Church of the Nazarene—had his church in (what came to be called) Skid Row. The alcoholics, prostitutes, drug addicts (opium) were all there. They didn’t have it all together. Do you?

    Yet the church puts litmus tests on a lot of things. It’s so much easier to say here is the line you must cross. Jesus died while we were yet (and to be) sinners. Jesus crossed the line! Jesus just crossed it the “wrong” direction. Thanks be to God!

    A parable: There was a company whose workers were on strike. The strikers’ singular complaint was that the company kept trying to bring in the “wrong” people. Those people were dirty, smelly, believed the wrong things. How DARE the company try to bring them in! They—the striking workers—were the ONLY ones who knew who belonged. A person trying to answer employment ad tried to get in, but the strikers wouldn’t allow it. The company president saw the person being spat on, yelled at, and even struck. The president then went to the person, crossing the picket line. The president grabbed the person’s hand and brought the person in. The person said to the president, “your workers are bad people! Look what they did!” The president responded, sadly, “You see, they think they are on the inside protecting the company, but really, by their actions, they are now on the outside.”

    1) Are we excluding the people that the Holy Spirit is bringing to us? If so, how and why?
    2) What is the difference between purity and holiness?

    3) Which is more inviting? Telling a person how wrong they are, or telling a person how loved they are? And, then, how do you show either one?