Devotion.al

Tag: meet

  • Storms in Store

    Storms in Store

    Psalm 77; Job 4:1–21; Ephesians 2:1–10

    I recently l read a pointed quip (one could call it an insult) at a man who had chosen to remain celibate rather than have a relationship with another man. The person wrote, “…This guy needs [] as an emotional crutch. Pity.”

    Eliphaz is not accusing Job of this. Yet, at the same time “religion” is being used as a bludgeon. “Your religion,” is indicative of Eliphaz. Is Eliphaz not an Israelite? Or is it the dismissal of Job’s consistent acts?

    Eliphaz is what many Christians experience from other Christians during hard times, harshness. There is a form of condemnation delivered to Christians going through hard times. Often Christians are the worst about it. We can try to encourage when they are going through rough times, but then be judged as lacking when we our own struggles.

    Eliphaz is the metaphorical voice of experience of far too many people. Sometimes, even more sadly, it may be the “voice” in our heads (and hearts) that attacks us and leaves us breathless.

    The tragedies that Job’s had suddenly gone through would be traumatic for anyone. No matter what we think of the last year or four…no, they aren’t Job’s life. Yes, many of us have experienced great loss, pain, , and anger. Job got it all.

    Christians have been given the antidote to this. The and of God and . While these may often seem “just words” they can also be the life preserver when we are in a storm.

    It might seem strange to bring this in when Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is about disobedience and doing what feels good. Oddly, standing strong in God’s grace, mercy, and salvation is often harder when all we want to do is and stew in misery.

    Perhaps, just perhaps, Eliphaz was a shot of cold water that each of us needs to jar us out of our whirlpool of misery. However, most of the time such a person just pushes us deeper into the .

    We are called to pull people out of the maelstroms of life, not shove them further, no matter who they are.

    ※Reflection※

    Are you a person to pull or to push? Does it depend on the person? Does it depend on the reason?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, make in us a resolution to follow through relationship to pull people out and not shove them in. Amen.

  • Face-to-Face With Jesus

    Face-to-Face With Jesus

    Psalm 25:1–10; Genesis 9:8–17; 1 Peter 3:18–22; Mark 1:9–15

    A number of years ago, I was part of a drama that was really a hellfire and brimstone (or “turn or burn”) presentation. As my theology has deepened, and my wrestlings with the have continued, the over-simplification of it bothers me. Much of everything around it now bothers me.

    Despite my misgivings, there was a prevailing Truth that it conveyed. We will all be standing before at some point, either having made a decision or needing to make a decision.

    There will be some that question the doors that this statement opens. Noah and his family, for example, did not know Jesus (as we understand Jesus). They did experience God’s miraculous from the Flood (that some a prefiguring of Baptism). Noah’s and trust were enough to carry his family beyond the Flood, but what happens after is something different.

    One of the biggest claims against Jesus Christ being the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and Jesus being the only way to God (and the everlasting life) is this apparent conflict between the unending grace, mercy, and love God and this restriction.

    Thus, it is not a small thing to seek to understand what about those who don’t have the chance to accept or deny Jesus.

    We have some foretaste of things with the story of Noah. It is, however, the shared 1 Peter 3 that provides the greatest hint. It is of such significance that the church has alluded to it for over 1600 years in the Apostle’s Creed.

    The of Christ “preached” to the souls in the realm of the dead. The dead (in case that didn’t hit home…the dead) met Jesus Christ face-to-face. The dead had the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior after they died!

    This is not to say that we should just let everyone die to meet Jesus then. Absolutely not! It is, however, an answer to those who question the mercy, grace, and love of God’s salvation.

    Does this give a perfect answer? Probably not. Those who look for any reason not to believe…will not believe. We are only expected to be faithful with and to the .

    ※Reflection※

    • Have you ever had anyone question the “truth” of Jesus when it comes to those who hadn’t had the chance to the Gospel? What was your response? Was it helpful to them or you?
    • Why does an understanding of the Gospel and salvation have an important part of our Lenten journey?

     

    ※※

    Lord, there is no one that you do not want to turn to you for salvation. May we be the vessels of grace and mercy that draw people to the Gospel. Amen.

  • Wait and See

    Wait and See

    Psalm 110:1–4; Exodus 19:7–25; Hebrews 2:1–4

    God tells the “master” (king) to “sit”.  It is quite common today for rulers to sit while the armies go forth to wage war or defend the . When the Psalm was written, it was that kings/rulers went to war with the armies. So, for the ruler/master/king to sit was to say that the war/battle would be won without their . As it is God saying it, it’s more along the lines of, “I’ve got this.”

    In our American thinking, we often think we have to do it ourselves. There is a reason why we think of “good” businesspeople having “pulled themselves up by their bootstraps.”  If we analyze that phrase, we can see that it may have not been a positive statement, but a tongue-in-cheek quip that someone was quite arrogant in thinking they did by themselves.

    As we read the , it becomes apparent that often the call on God’s people is not to do great things, but to witness and testify to the great things that God has done. When God has done great things, the pressure is often taken off of us, because it is not by our strength of will. When we testify, often we have to testify to our and testify to God’s strength in the face of our weakness.

    When the people meet God at Mount Sinai, their actions are minimal. They are to prepare, listen and respond. You might think that “obey” would be part of that, but obedience would be lived out, and obedience would be part of their testimony to the world of what God has done.

    The story of Exodus may have a lot of anecdotal stories of Moses, Aaron, and the people of Israel. However, most of the stories are witnesses of God’s glory and might. Even during the plagues, while Moses had his part, it was God who was the major actor.

    Exodus was, along with the other books of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) are formational to what it meant to be an Israelite. The books were not only a witness of God, they were also the witness to and for the Israelites.

    As they were formational, they were core to being Israelite.  Yet, it is amazing how people can be formed by something they do not know. We’d say that this couldn’t be, yet even being an “American” is often based upon far too many things we only think we know.

    The author of Hebrews speaks of drifting away. Often, especially in a country as blessed as ours, it is very easy to quickly forget our . Our lives are (despite a bad economy, COVID, and grace-less ) blessed. This is not to diminish the hardships that people experience here. In fact, because of the blessedness, it makes such hardships an even greater travesty.

    Drifting away is subtle. It takes time. A quick divergence (or apostasy) is easy to grasp. It is when it happens over time (years, decades, centuries) that it becomes the hardest to recognize.  When it happens over time, it also becomes hard to determine versus fact.

    We are in such a time as this, if we’ve ever left it all. Perhaps this should be our greatest as the church…we have lost what should make us different than the world.

    The deepest, darkest, and saddest aspect of this drifting away is that we cease being witnesses of God, and our lives ceasing being witnesses to God. While we are called to and see what will do, we are called to say what God has done.

    ※Reflection※

    • What ways have you been tempted to “drift away” from faith?
    • What kinds of “drifting away” damages our witness the most?
    • What is the danger in not “waiting and see” what God does? What is the danger in “waiting and see”? How does discern when to be still and when to act?

    ※Prayer※

    God, you have called us to witness what you have done, and to be witnesses. Help us to be faithful to that call. Amen.

  • So Bright

    So Bright

    Psalm 50:1–6; 2 Kings 2:1–12; 2 Corinthians 4:3–6; Mark 9:2–9

    “From the rising of the sun to where it sets,
    God, the Lord God, speaks,
    calling out to the earth.”
    —Psalm 50:1 [CEB]

    God has never stopped calling out to the earth. Even after humanity’s exile from Eden, God has continually sought humanity.

    There are unique stories in the for certain unique people. Elijah was one of them. He had done many miraculous things under God’s auspices. Even his exit from this mortal coil was a miraculous event.

    While we often get “caught up” with Elijah’s being whisked away, it is all that is happening with Elisha that should, perhaps, catch our attention. If you read the story well, you can see that God had let Elijah and Elisha know that “today” was the day.

    Then to make it undeniable, some other prophets were also told (based upon the phrasing, separately from Elijah and Elisha), and they told Elisha. This story may really be less about Elijah than about Elisha. Despite the miraculous, Elijah seems more of the forefather character, rather than the main character.

    When Elisha asks for a double portion of the , he is requesting to become Elijah’s inheritor. As Elijah’s “inheritance” is God-imbued and not that of man, it’s hard for Elijah to make that decision. As the story progresses, it becomes abundantly clear that this story is about Elisha’s inheritance from Elijah.

    It may seem that God is not calling out or seeking, yet there is plenty of God moving both from telling Elijah and Elisha that the day is here, to a number of other prophets who also hear the same thing.  We are often blind to God moving because we have expectations of how God is to . We can see this in our Sunday Services with the varying traditions from church to church, from Pentecostal to Eastern Orthodox. We -in the movement of God…God will break out.

    Much of Jesus’ ministry was God breaking out of the box that Jewish had turned into. The trip up the mountain turned into another “break out” moment.

    For the 3 disciples, they had their own “Moses” moment. Instead of a burning bush, they were next to a cloud filled with God’s glory. It might have even reminded them of the story of God’s glory filling the Tent of Meeting in the time between leaving Egypt and entering the Promised Land. It might have reminded them of the story of God’s glory filling the (at the time, newly consecrated) Temple after Solomon’s opening prayer.

    The 3 disciples had plenty that they could associate with this experience. While we might consider them naive in their response, at the same time, they understood that this was not the “same old” experience. They were blessed to “pierce through” the , as calls the “gap” between God and humanity’s perception of God.

    “…He is the same one who shone in our hearts to give us the of the of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.” — 2 Corinthians 4:6 [CEB]

    ※Reflection※

    • When are you guilty of “putting God in a box”?
    • What is (or would be) your response were someone to say to you, “God does not move that way”? Have you ever said something similar to someone else?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, may we be ready and willing to you where you choose to meet us. Amen.

  • Seeing Well

    Seeing Well

    Psalm 50:1–6; 1 Kings 16:1–7; Luke 19:41–44

    “If only I had known…”

    We often will look back on our decisions as if we could have fixed them, or even with the assumption that we are wiser now than we were then. “ is 20/20,” is a pithy saying, but even our hindsight may only be slightly better than our foresight.

    Baasha had hindsight. God’s had come true about Jeroboam’s fall. Baasha, therefore, had foresight of what was expected. Baasha maintained the false set up by Jeroboam (and continued by his son, Nadab). This was after assassinating Nadab.

    Jehu was sent to announce the consequences. Baasha had a chance and still went his own way, and his died out as consequence. Baasha had foresight and hindsight…and still, he made the decision of false worship.

    While the false worship of idols and such from Jeroboam to Baasha is certainly large and significant, the false worship that confronts is different. Jerusalem, from a Jewish perspective, was the City of God. It had a special place. One would think that the exile would have dealt with some of that, but it is quite likely that the Maccabean revolution restored much of that perspective.

    Along with that was the inability of people to moving among them. We’re not just talking about Jesus, but the entire era. The Jewish world was unsettled, with and without Roman oversight. God was shaking things up.

    Jesus’ words were aimed at two things. The first was the false of Jerusalem. It sounds almost blasphemous. However, transforming, “I will meet you there,” and “I will put my name there,” into only meeting God there is a problem.

    The other issue is being unable to see the when it is right next to you. The phrasing here in Luke is distinct as it is about . This contrasts with the imagery of Jerusalem falling in conquest. Seeing (and accepting) the Kingdom of God (peace) is the opposite of the world (conflict).

    We often view these words in Luke as a kind of end times prophecy, especially as Jerusalem did indeed fall a few decades later. God, though, isn’t so concerned about a place (not that God isn’t), as God is concerned about the people. It may be that Jesus was looking for people to see the disruption of God’s Kingdom on earth when in the middle of the corrupt world.

    ※Reflection※

    • What do you have the greatest hindsight regret for? What do you have the greatest hindsight appreciation for?
    • How do you see God moving today in comparison to the story around Baasha, and in comparison, to Jesus going through Jerusalem?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, as you transform us, may we transform the world around us. Help us to look for your hand in the past and look for your grace in the . Amen.

  • Help Me Understand

    Help Me Understand

    Psalm 102:12–28; Job 6:1–13; Mark 3:7–12

    The recent Super Bowl reminded me of the first Super Bowl victory of the Seattle Seahawks. Having grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area and experiencing the 49ers and the Raiders, a Super Bowl championship was exciting, but not region-stopping. Super Bowl XLVIII was a disappointment in gameplay, but the Puget Sound and much of the Pacific Northwest was ecstatic with the Seahawks victory.

    The reason to bring this up isn’t the victory itself, but the aftermath. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the area, the areas outside of Seattle proper like to avoid Seattle proper. Yet, people took vacation days and pulled their children from school to go to the Seahawk victory parade. This was a seriously happy occasion.

    That’s kind of the image that we have here in Mark. People from the surrounding area came to the area to find . Can you imagine the ruckus that went with that? All those people! Imagine a small town that suddenly had a huge influx of people from everywhere else (Sturgis is another example of that).

    Amidst all that chaos, all that overwhelming number of people. God moved. People were healed. The of God wasn’t just near…it was at hand!

    Then Mark just seems to toss in a quick mention about the spirits. Yep, nothing to see here. Just move along.

    Yet, there is something strange here.

    1. These evil spirits, if they were really in control, would they have gotten anywhere near the of God?
    2. Were the evil spirits drawn to the Light, even as we are, despite their nature?
    3. Did, perhaps, they seek even when told to be silent?

    The don’t say why. That really isn’t the point of the Scriptures. It’s in the of the whys, though, that we exist.
    We shouldn’t avoid the whys. The whys are where most people live. We should be present with in the whys so that they know they are not alone.

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, we always have more . us in our questions, and help us to meet others in theirs. Amen.

  • Change of Plans

    Change of Plans

    Judges 2:16–23; Acts 13:16–25

    There is a saying that you are probably familiar with: repeating the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. When it comes to practice, that isn’t the case. When it comes to many other things in , though, it is very true.

    In manufacturing (where I work for pay), there is an that we will always strive for continuous improvement. Continuing the same process, material size, tooling size, program configuration will not result in improvements after the first few runs. It is only when one analyzes and changes things there are improvements (and plenty of failures, too).

    The Israelites, post-Joshua, were not continuously improving their with God. They were a wrecking crew. God’s grace, however, was significant.

    When things were really bad, God would send a judge. Just as when Joshua was alive, they would be “good” God-followers (somewhat)…until that judge died. The process repeated itself, again and again. Sounds a bit like insanity.

    God changed it up. He let them succumb to the external forces (and internal ones, too). He wasn’t done with them. He just let them be free.

    Then God called Samuel. Samuel was, in many respects, the next judge. However, his was definitely a different kind. There really wasn’t a military side to Samuel.

    This time, the people might have learned something. They seemed to understand that they needed someone. With Samuel’s , they would be right back to where they were.

    God was mad (and hurt). Yet, God used this tiny turn in the hearts of Israelites, to bring, ultimately, the line of David into preeminence. From that line of David, Jesus the Savior came.

    ※Reflection※

    Have you ever had a big struggle trying to solve a problem or a goal, and continued to fight it? And, then, taken a pause (even a nap!) and the solution came?

    The rudder of a ship is small in comparison to the ship. Yet, this small thing guides the ship’s direction. What small thing, that seemed so small in comparison to the big things, changed your life completely? If you can’t think of anything, pray to God for a revelation (it’s amazing what that little can do).

    Is there anything in your life right now that seems to be on an endless loop that’s driving you crazy? Have you asked God for clarity/ in the situation? Have you sought wise and/or different council to move ?

    ※Prayer※

    God, you have done big and small miracles in our lives, whether we see them or not. Even some of the smallest have changed our lives. Help us to be responsive to your nudge to be the agents of in the lives of . Amen.

  • Room Enough to Love

    Room Enough to Love

    “While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn and wrapped Him in of cloth, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”
    —Luke 2:6-7 (NRSV)

    We just had our third child. I when we went from one kid to two I was so nervous about the I had in my . I wasn’t sure that I would be able to love two kids the same way I our first child. My heart had been opened up to this child and I wasn’t sure how it was going to work adding a second kid. Was I going to love our second born as much? Was my love for our first son going to diminish a little to make room for the second child? Maybe you’ve had kids and have had some of these fears or maybe it’s just me. But then we had our second child. And our oldest came to the hospital to him and I realized my heart stretched. It was big enough to love both boys the same amount (which is a lot). And now we have 3 kids. We added a daughter! But, this time I wasn’t scared or nervous. I knew, because of last time, how our hearts would and make room for another child.

    As Adam and I talked about this love we talked about how much greater the love God has for us as His children. Love that we can’t even fathom. Love so great that He sent His one and only Son for us. To do something indescribable for us. How often do we, because of that great love, go out and show love for ? That was our next thought.

    Truly. God sent His Son to show us love so that we might go out and love others which hopefully in turn makes disciples of all nations – something that we are called to do as Christ followers. So. How often do you go out and love others? I know that is particularly difficult given the current COVID circumstances. So we have to be pretty creative. So, what does that look like for you? This week. Show someone you love them. Go out of your way even if it’s a little, but then try to make it more habitual so it’s not “going out of your way” – rather, it’s a part of your every day .