Devotion.al

Tag: mission

  • Forgetting the Story

    Jonah 3:1–10, Nahum 1:1–11

    The story of Jonah has always been a big fish story. It catches our attention. Whether Jonah was alive in the whale/fish for 3 days (evidence indicates it’s possible) or if it was a and story, it doesn’t fail to capture our attention. Even unbeliever get the story.

    We pick on Jonah a lot. First, he ran away. Then, when he was successful with the , he got angry. Then there is all the stuff in between. He was a mess.

    Whether the people of Nineveh repented because they were horrified at the translucent skin (stomach acids) and/or were they truly fearful of God. They repented. That’s what matters, or is it?

    Nahum foretells the fall of Nineveh. It happens soon after. Imagine having the legend of Jonah’s visit to your city. The bedtime stories (be good or Jonah’s God will get you). A few generations and gut-wrenching became legend became fairy tale became empty. Nineveh falls.

    It is a story repeated in the . It is a tale as old as time. People don’t really . They forget. Even in the most families, people wander off.

    1) Why do you think people wander off?

    2) What does it take to keep people from wandering off?

    3) Truly, what can you do to keep people from wandering off?

  • Burden Bearing / Burden Sharing

    Psalm 119:169–176, Psalm 121, 1 Peter 5:1–11

    No matter how strong your faith, there has been (or will be) a time when you desire nothing more than to be relieved from your burdens. It may be a job, finances, , health, death. Often we just want to escape.

    Psalm 119 is full of many emotions and longings. Verses 169–176 are a plea that God will hear and . It isn’t quite the bargaining phrasing, but there is a strong tone of, “I’ve been good, so please help.” It’s not bargaining with God, per se, but it does show a very expectation of reciprocation.

    Psalm 121 has more the tone of expectations and resolute trust in God’s deliverance of believers. It sounds great. However, it doesn’t always work out that way. The danger of Psalm 121 is its context. Is it true 100% of the time for all believers? No. It is the ideal. Many Christians and Jews have suffered and died over the years. If they were to hold onto Psalm 121 at the exclusion of all else, then their faith could well be broken in times of trial. Psalm 121 is often used to people, yet its very comfort could be what finally pushes a person from the faith.

    This is why Peter’s words are so important. In these verses, Peter’s larger goal is . How we interact with people, especially when it comes to the of God, is important. We are to look at ourselves as caretakers and guides. Only clothed in humility can we honestly help one another. The other side of humility is being able to look at God and say, “your will be done,” and mean it.

    Peter seems to also toss in a phrase, “…he may exalt you at the proper time…” Humility and waiting on God’s timing. This is why as we suffer, suffer with those who suffer, and try to console , we need to be careful in our words and the use of the . We have to be humble as we share and care, for we are not there and we are not those in need of love. We also need to understand timing, and that we don’t always get what we want, and if we do, not when we want it.

    1) Is there someone you know suffering that needs to hear of God’s love for them?

    2) How could pride get in the way of our perception of God’s deliverance?

    3) Help, Humility, and Timing. How do you see those working in your in regards to your faith journey, and in regards to your behavior toward others?

  • People Needed

    Isaiah 30:8–17, 1 Thessalonians 2:2–12

    “To make Christlike disciples in the nations.”—Church of the Nazarene Mission Statement

    “Iron sharpens iron and one person sharpens another.”—Proverbs 27:17

    Discipleship is not a program, nor is it a class. It is a lifestyle. If we are not careful, Sunday School, Life Groups, Youth Group, Children’s Church, even Sunday Service become mere flattery of our wordly wants and desires, rather than discipleship.

    If you aren’t being challenged by God’s Word and during or as a result of these (even as the ), then it is all empty. Will the challenge always occur? No. If it rarely or never occurs, that is the “best” indicator.

    The problem is that we often just want easy, even at Church. Church, sadly, isn’t meant to be easy. Church, as , is meant to be transforming. Transformation can often be painful or uncomfortable.

    In Isaiah, we read the consequences of flattery and (pointless/false) positive words, and it isn’t pretty. challenged the Thessalonians to listen for the , rather than be flattered by the speakers trying to turn them away from the Gospel and probably against Paul himself.

    We are to be challenged, not because our views are true or false, but through the maturing of our as it faces the real world is how we show the world the of Christ, and become the of the world.

    The hard part for our egos is that we often want people to be nice when we need them to be kind. What’s the difference? Think of someone standing on the railing of a tall skyscraper with a strong wind. Nice: “be careful.” Kind: pull them back, even if it hurts them. One is passive (doormat). One is life. In a true discipleship , we need kind people, and we need to be authentic. That is scary.

    1) What discipleship relationships and patterns do you have?

    2) It’s easy to say prayer, bible reading, and attending church are your patterns. However, plenty of people do those, too, and we don’t them Christians. What is the difference?

    3) With the new Life Groups in the Fall, what new path will you take? Will you join (or lead) a Life Group? Or will you start a small band with the covenant to sharpen one another? Or will you stagnate?

  • Were and Being Sent

    Luke 9:1–6, Luke 10:1–16, Luke 22:35–38

    This series of passages shows a progression of being sent out. The first passage is ‘ immediate 12 disciples being sent out. Their mission was to tell about the of God and to heal people. Pretty simple goals. Difficult mission. This seems to be the test run, for Jesus later sends out 72.

    These 72 are told that there are few workers. The 12 didn’t get that “pep-talk”. In both cases, they (whether 12 or 72) are to only preach to those who are open. Jesus tells them to “shake the off” if people are not receptive. In our day and where were seek to not offend, this can seem pretty harsh. Yet, often we are called to plant seeds and on so that we can plant more seeds. If you plant one seed, but just stay in one place to make sure it grows, everywhere else you could have gone remain unseeded.

    Even still, there is a balance. While they are directed to move from town to town, while they are in one town, they only stay in one place. This is a not-so-subtle reminder that humans play . The latest prophet (or one sent by that prophet) is the latest “star”. Imagine how far too many people would clamor to host them, creating strife in a where the is being preached.

    However, the last “sending” has a much darker and starker tone. Now, they are to be fully prepared and even armed. As an aside, many commentators struggle with Jesus telling them to have swords while at the same time being the Prince of Peace and (to many) a pacifist. That’s actually what makes this third sending so dark and stark. The reality of the world is that being means that you will be destroyed. Now, there is the pacifist route, the self-defense route, and the armed aggressor route. As we look back at history, there is no question that the armed aggressor “evangelism” is against the Kingdom of God. Where the balance between pacifism and self-defense is a discussion that is still going on to this day.

    Regardless, though, we know that the ways and the hows of sharing about the Kingdom of God are always changing. The message does (and must) remain the same, but how we it changes constantly. One of the most common phrases used is, “this is the way we’ve always done it.” While, at the same time, how groceries, tools, gas, cars, and many other things are purchased has massively changed. Modes of communication have expanded. The ability to see across the world in real-time is everywhere. Yet, we want to deliver the message the same way?

    1) Where have you been guilty of saying/thinking/feeling “that’s the way we’ve always done it?” What do you think the underlying emotions are?

    2) Tossing the old just for the new can be just as bad. How can the old inform the past, and how can the new transform the past?

    3) All too often we operate as if it is old versus new. How can we operate old and new?

  • Isle Crossing

    2 Corinthians 5:14–21

    There are many things that are worshipped. Most have supplanted God with something man-made or of origin: science, , , work, family. Even the fundamental nature of God——has been corrupted by humanity.

    We are all familiar with 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new ; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” It is often used as an encouraging verse for the new and struggling believer. We are made new in Christ. However, the verse is placed within the context of a larger picture…a larger mission.

    We are to be messengers of and ambassadors for . If we are honest with ourselves, we have been doing the best we can, but it still hasn’t been very good. We—as the church—have put family first in an unhealthy way. It is not that family is unimportant, but that the church family is our family, too, and we often neglect it.

    The church allowed itself to be drawn into politics, and we need to stop. Politics are human, but they are often of greater priority to “Christians” than . We need to be the ones on the forefront reconciling differences and parties, rather than being on side of the aisle or the other.

    Our world is in desperate need of something different, let us be something different. Let us be new in Christ Jesus.

    1) Have you questioned someone’s or spiritual maturity based upon their political disagreement with you?

    2) Have you done the same if they raise(d) their children differently?

    3) What have you done to help people be to one another as an ambassador of Christ?

  • Surrender the Pain

    Isaiah 52:13-53:11, Luke 22:39–23:56

    You might wear a cross. You might have one on a wall in your home. You probably have one on your bible. Today the cross has lost much of its brutality and disgrace. Movies like the “Passion of the Christ” attempt to convey the brutality, but it is so very hard to convey and understand the disgrace of the cross. Especially on this day, you need to see the cross not as what it became, but see it as the people of 2000 years ago saw it. The day they saw it on Good Friday. It was disgraceful. It was ugly. It was the ruling powers’ symbol of might, conquest, and oppression. There was nothing, absolutely nothing that could be remotely good or positive about, and there could be nothing good or positive about the one on it. We are often tempted to diminish the cross, lightly saying we have a cross to bear. The cross is no light burden.

    The disciples had a light burden. Accompany to the garden. And the succumbed to temptation. The world is full of temptation. There are many things which seem good, and are, but become bad, as we follow them away from God. Especially in the United States, we have a, “I can do it myself” mentality. There is also the success ladder, of ever-increasing hours spent working. There are all the things that we are told we just have to have. Sometimes the temptation is to simply sleep, when God has told us to be praying, as what happened here with the disciples. Jesus wasn’t chiding the disciples for falling asleep, but for not praying when he asked. Temptation takes on many guises. Judas and Peter were tempted.

    Judas Iscariot will forever be known as the traitor. Peter will be ever known as one of Jesus’ closest followers. Yet, Peter denied Jesus to . One of the biggest differences between Judas Iscariot and Peter is not their respective betrayal, for they both betrayed Christ, but that Peter’s heart was open to correction. Judas Iscariot took things, including his self-condemnation, without grace. Peter understood and accepted the unmerited grace of Jesus, but Judas Iscariot did not believe it applied to him. Instead of being forever the traitor, he could have repented, and been redeemed. Betrayal is not just turning Jesus over, or denying Jesus, but saying that Jesus offer of unmerited grace does not apply to you or others. Grace is the key to healing the world and reconciling it to God. However, the fallen human heart turns to violence instead.

    Violence is a cruel part of this world. Wars, robbery, school violence, abuse, bullying, anger, disrespect are all acts of violence. When we hear the violence, we generally think of acts. However, Jesus tells us that violence is as much against the soul and well-being of the (both the perpetrator and the recipient), as it is the body. In fact, much, if not all of the violence that is physical done, at the root, is caused by the violence done to the soul and mind.

    Jesus spoke while on the cross, in the midst of , and the climax of abuse, “, forgive them. They know not what they do.” The victim of violence, while being violated, asked for them to be forgiven.

    We hold our griefs, our pains, our anguish often so close to our hearts that God doesn’t come near. Not because God can’t, for nothing is impossible for God, but because God doesn’t want to be violent toward us. When we release these things, God steps in, joyfully, desiring to help us the pain that we hold onto keeping God away from us.

    1) What are your temptations that pull you away from God and God’s of ? Can you be honest with yourself and God that those temptations have been nailed to the cross, and that you will leave them there?

    2) Who has shown you grace? If you can’t think of anyone, then you have work to do. At some point in your life, someone gave you a lot of grace. What does God’s grace mean to you? What could God’s grace lived out in the world actually do?

    3) What pain keeps your heart from being fully yielded to God, and being God’s willing aide? Will you look at the nails of the cross, and leave that pain nailed there?

    May Jesus Christ, who for our sake became obedient unto death, even death on a cross, keep you and strengthen you, now and forever.

  • Passing On Legacy

    Psalm 78, Judges 17:1–13

    “We will not hide [the miracles of the past], but will tell a generation…” Except what are we telling?

    This is a very personal question for anyone. There have been generations of self-defined Christians whose entire families have walked away from the . It may be because the church is full of broken people. That certainly is the case. However, that cannot be the only cause. Many of the families “grew up” in church. Many “met ” at a young age. That is the “ insurance” tendency of people.

    Verses 7 and 8 are the crux of it. We share the of God’s story so that they know (information) and live out (relation). The American church has done a great job of information, but often only stops at a surface relation with Jesus. So much of church life was keeping up appearances. It had to wear out eventually. Once the pretty shell wore off, the ugliness showed through, and people left. The church struggles to this day with the ugliness that often shows through, and strange things happen.

    The story in Judges itself is strange. A mother curses the person (we infer) who took her . When her son confesses, she blesses (?) him. Then in an already confused situation, they use “church” language, which apparently makes it better (?), and make an idol. So, Micah (the son) builds a “temple” and assigns his son as priest. This is in the context of Israel. The idol is bad. Only one family is supposed to be priests, and Micah’s family is not part of it. Then a person from the right bloodline (Levite) walks by and is hired to be the priest. As there is no mention that this Levite is a descendant of Aaron (the “true” priests), it just gets better and better. Then, oddly, Micah (a father with apparently adult sons) tells the Levite that he (the Levite) will be his spiritual father.

    During the time of the book of Judges, there was definitely a soul of independence that believed the “other” was not family (even if of Israel, too), and people could do as they wished. It was controlled anarchy. In the US, we have well over 1200 denominations (not counting all the non-denominational—which have some sort of affiliation—churches). Sounds vaguely like controlled anarchy, too. As we watch big churches and even bigger denominations struggle with leaders who do bad things, we should be able to sympathize with people who wonder if we Christians really do have a single . Based on some behaviors, we could even wonder if the church has a bunch of people like this Levite, who has the credentials but is all about the money (or ).

    1) Why is it important to sympathize with the perception of the church by those outside of the church? How can such perceptions hinder sharing about Jesus? More importantly, how can they help to share about Jesus?

    2) This story (which actually has a second part) is very much about people not being under the authority of a king? Can you think of the Jewish/Israelite reason for this? How can this inform how we interact with each other inside and outside of the church?

    3) Denominations pass on legacies of beauty and dedication. Denominations can also pass on legacies of pride and power. How are denominations used by God? How can denominations be dangerous to the of God?

  • The Nudging

    Moses is in need of help. He can’t do it all. What’s odd is that it would seem that Moses didn’t maintain the lesson learned from his father-in-law (see Exodus 18). It’s not entirely the same. In Exodus 18, it was the “priestly” judges who were selected. This is more along the lines of a professional judiciary, such as we have from local, to district, to appellate, to supreme judiciaries. We have something different here. What has occurred is the selection of senior spiritual leaders. They are family leaders, too, but it is the application of the that makes this important. There are a couple of story-lines occurring here, and that can lead to some confusion. It is often assumed (and has often been taught) that Eldad and Medad remained in camp because they were disgruntled, putting them with the grumbling people. The text does not make that clear. It is our . We do know that Eldad and Medad were selected by Moses (so, much less likely to be among the disgruntled). What if they just hadn’t made it, yet? Or, what if they did not feel worthy or were scared? Both reasonable based upon experience God’s miracles. They had been chosen…and the Holy Spirit fell on them anyways.‌

    Joshua was offended on Moses’ behalf, but Moses noted that it is God’s spirit, not his. Many, many years later, Jesus has a similar experience with his disciples. Within in the context of arguing which was greater than the other, and Jesus shutting that down well, John ups the game reporting that a man who was not among the disciples are successfully driving out demons. John then states that they (in other words, “I wasn’t the only one, Jesus.”) tried to stop the man, but Jesus stopped even that. The disciples were “offended” by the man driving out demons, but were they upset on Jesus’ behalf or their own. Jesus’ response would indicate that this was about them, not him.‌

    Often we can become overly concerned with the “right” way of doing things. With the Holy Spirit, the right way can often not be our way. This is not to say the God is a god of chaos. God makes and creates order. However, our concept of order and “right” can be at odds with God at times. Joshua and John (yes, with some pride in there) assumed they were doing the right thing by saying “this is wrong.” Yet, God did it, so it wasn’t wrong. It just didn’t fit their idea. Philip may have learned a lesson by the point of this story in Acts. The of the Holy Spirit didn’t hurt either. Philip obeyed and went to the “desert” road for a divine appointment. Nudged further, he approached an important chariot. There is a lot in this story that is missing, but the essentials are there. Philip in obedience approached a chariot that would have been awkward for him normally to approach. Through obedience to the Holy Spirit, Philip then leads the Ethiopian to Christ. After the Ethiopian’s something strange happens, the Holy Spirit “carries” (in Greek, it’s more of snatch) Philip away. The Ethiopian goes on his way rejoicing. The way the journey from Jerusalem to Gaza is written, it sounds immediate, but it was actually quite a journey by foot. We don’t get that from Luke’s words, we just have to know geography. This is important as the way Luke writes this gives us an idea that Philip teleported from Gaza to Azotus (a.k.a., Ashdod). While it is quite possible for God to do such, a better way to think of this is that Philip did what was needed and did not stay there rejoicing in the victory. He continued on the mission.‌

    Far too often we get comfortable with the success and want to “stay” there in the happy time. The Holy Spirit is always calling us on to the next thing. The next thing may not be immediate (and often isn’t). Sitting with our victories and successes, though, makes us stagnant. The same can be said of sticking to the old known formula. It worked for its time. The Holy Spirit may have stamped “expired” on it. We need to be for the Holy Spirit is doing.‌

    • 1) In the last week, how have you seen the Holy Spirit move in your life? How about the lives of ?‌
    • 2) What is the Holy Spirit nudging you to do? Who is the Holy Spirit nudging you to to?
    • 3) Often times we may think the Holy Spirit is nudging us to talk to someone so that they can be “fixed”. This isn’t always the case. When have you had a Holy Spirit encounter where you were the one that learned rather than being the one who taught?‌
    • FD) Have you ever said something to defend the efforts of others? Why did you do that?