Devotion.al

Tag: physical

  • Weak Win

    Weak Win

    1 Corinthians 9:19–23

    Kevin holds several Guinness World Records. One record is pulling three firetrucks weighing in at 109 tons across 100 feet in just 34 seconds. Another is pulling 15 cars at once. He made the record for the heaviest plane pulled.

    Kevin is immensely strong. In his job, he doesn’t talk much about his feats of strength. However, in powerlifting circles, people will come to him for advice. Why Kevin? Kevin is a Lutheran pastor.

    Kevin is strong. We admire the strong. Every four years people watch the strongest athletes in their field compete at the Olympics. Generally, every year there are professional athletes who compete for the Lombardi trophy (American Football), Lord Stanley’s Cup (Ice Hockey), the Commissioner’s Trophy (Baseball). We watch their feats with amazement and enjoy watching people at the peak of their field compete.

    If, however, we were asked to watch the weakest people on earth compete, would we bother? Sadly, the only ones who would are often those who seek to mock . If, on the other hand, we watch the weak improve themselves (whether it’s the Biggest Loser or The Worst Cook in America), we can celebrate their victories with them.

    Paul chose to be weak. We often skip over that one on the list. We like “all things” or “under the law” or “without the law”. We don’t like weak.

    The Paul speaks of is not physical weakness (granted, in comparison with Kevin Fast, all of us are weak). Paul is referring less about physical weakness more about those whose or in God is weak.

    We often look at others and see their strength, comparing ourselves to them. That isn’t particularly healthy. Paul took the self-less route and chose to appear to be like the weak. He suppressed his strengths so that the weak could be encouraged and not depressed.

    Being weak is not a strength, so the thinking goes. Yet, through weakness, is glorified. Through weakness, more people are brought into fellowship with God. Through weakness, none of us are alone.

    We all are weak in something, without exception. Others balance out our weaknesses. With one another in companionship, we are forever stronger than when we are alone, no matter how strong we think we are when we stand in solitude.

    ※Questions※

    1) What is your weakest skill? Where are you weak spiritually?

    2) What is your when someone says to you, “you’re weak”?

    3) How does recognizing and embracing your weaknesses help to expand God’s kingdom?

    ※Prayer※

    , guide our hearts to be grace-filled towards those we perceive as weak, and may they be grace-filled toward us in our weakness. Amen.

  • Heart Mission

    Heart Mission

    Mission

    8 September 2020

    2 Chronicles 7:12–18; Matthew 9:1–8; Acts 3:1–10

    times and services have often been called “aches and pains time”. The implication being that we often for physical for the aches and pains of our bodies. This can be from the innocuous pulled muscle to cancer.

    It’s not that we are called to pray for these things, we are. What it does mean is that we often dedicate the most powerful time we have, prayer, to physical ailments. It also means that we as if we have no place in the healing process unless we are some kind of medical professional.

    However, we all have the ministry of reconciliation. Through his on the cross, opened the way for us to be to God. This means that as Jesus-followers we also have a ministry of reconciliation.

    There are many kinds of reconciliation. We often keep the type of long-term prejudices and harm in the reconciliation “circle”. Yet, that limits reconciliation.

    Reconciliation is also the action of healing hearts and emotions (and ultimately, souls) of individual pains that keep people separated from God. We are not all medical professionals. We are all children on God.

    This means that Jesus has given us the task to be healers. Often, this means being healers in the midst of our own pain, fear, and anger. When we seek to heal while still suffering ourselves, we can only rely upon the and mercy of God to be healing agents on earth.

    When we read the with such miraculous healings, we can be overwhelmed with what we cannot do. Jesus said that we would do greater things. We are able to. Medical science can heal the body, but only a human being can heal the heart.

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, may we be your healing agents in the world. Amen.

    ※Questions※

    1) What kind of healing of heart/mind/soul have you needed, either now or previously?

    2) What are “types” of reconciliation that you can think of? Which kinds should Jesus-followers be part of?

  • Too Small

    Too Small

    Deuteronomy 7:7–11; Judges 6:13–16; Matthew 13:31–33

    One of the best scenes in the movie, The Princess Bride is when Princess Buttercup and (the Dread Pirate Roberts) Wesley are about to enter the Swamp. Buttercup looks at Wesley and asks, “what about the R.O.U.S.s?” “The Rodents of Unusual Size? I’m sure they don’t exist.” He says the as an R.O.U.S. makes an appearance, and Buttercup’s back is to it and is oblivious.

    Size makes a difference. Often, we are overwhelmed by a problem. As a child, we could have been overwhelmed by something being so much bigger than we were.

    When we hear about the monumental amount of some people have, and compare our meager bank accounts, size makes an impact. If you’ve ever been in a small car with a big semi coming up quickly behind you, size can be terrifying.

    On the other hand, ants can carry 10–50 times (depending on species and gender) their weight. Humans can indeed lift such weight, but not actually walk and carry over long distances. Grasshoppers can jump 20 times their length from standing. The world record for human running long jump is not even 5 times.

    Size does matter, but just not always in the way we think.

    The people of Israel were not a powerful people. They had no physical place to provide them strength. Yet, this weak people God would take and overturn the ways of the world.

    After years of oppression, God took the weakest man of the weakest of the weakest tribe to remove the oppressors from the land.

    Jesus uses a mustard seed to show the of the of God but notice that it is not a power of domination. It is a place a habitation and a place of new . Yet this place of life and birth starts very small.

    The starts small in each of us. We often look at the tiny thing in us and wonder how we can make it through.

    Yet, we must always keep in mind that it is God’s seed in us. The smallest thing of God is larger than the largest thing of humanity.

    Oh, and the R.O.U.S.’s were defeated by using the power of the mind, not strength.

    ※Prayer※

    Jesus, thank you for the seed of . , thank you for the nurturing of the seed in our souls. Heavenly Father, thank you for being the tree that gives us home and life. Amen.

    ※Questions※

    1) What is one of the first memories you have of your size in comparison to another’s? What was the feeling like? Did it cause you to change focus or intent?

    2) Why is it important to understand the imagery of the Kingdom of God in the image of the mustard seed?

  • Intimate Purity of Heart

    Intimate Purity of Heart

    Leviticus 18:6–18; Jeremiah 13:1–11; Hosea 1:1–3; Hosea 3:1–5

    Sexual purity has long been a staple of culture, and with good reason. Even as the culture around Christianity has changed and some Christians’ perspectives have changed about what is sexual purity, sexual purity remains important.

    While we could go down the road of what is sexual purity, and how it interacts with general and Christian culture, the why is significantly more important.

    The Law of Leviticus has ties to Genesis. Noah became drunk and was naked. His son, Ham, mocked him. Shem and Japeth (Noah’s other sons) covered their without looking at him (see Genesis 9:18–27).

    Noah’s nakedness was shameful, culturally. What had happened was not good. We know that the intimacy and mystery of the parental bed and were marred.

    This flows into the concept of Leviticus, where the intimacy and mystery of sex were to be protected. What makes this even more striking is that this was set in the context of tents and shared spaces. While the mechanics (and perhaps occurrences) were known, the final curtain separated the from , maintaining mystery and intimacy.

    This flows into the concept in Leviticus, where the intimacy and mystery of sex were to be protected. While the mechanics of sex (and even when it occurred) was known in the context of tents and shared spaces, the act was still private. Whether separation was by a curtain or something else, the mystery and intimacy of the act between husband and wife was maintained.

    While “uncovering nakedness” is often translated as “having sexual intercourse with”, the focus on sex often blinds us to the nakedness shame that is intended. Yes, sex was undeniably part of it. The nakedness is as much a part of the intimacy and mystery.

    In fact, focusing on the sex may actually be helping to demystify and depurify sex itself, as nakedness is (usually) a precursor. By raising nakedness to the level that scripture brings it would certainly raise sex, too.

    The raising of nakedness to an appropriate level helps us to contextualize this weird passage in Jeremiah about buried underwear. Through our contemporary lens, we just see it as underwear (i.e., functional).

    As the passage in Jeremiah shows, another’s underwear is uncovering their nakedness. No, this is not a statement on doing your own laundry. This is about God’s “nakedness” being revealed by Judah.

    By uncovering God’s nakedness, Judah destroyed the intimacy and mystery of their special relationship with God. When we get to Hosea, it’s even more apparent at just how intimate God viewed his original relationship with Israel.

    Jeremiah wrote to Judah (post-split of Israel) as their falling away was climaxing with exile. Hosea wrote to Samaria (i.e., the Northern Kingdom) who was running away from God almost at the very beginning of the split of Israel.

    Samaria was quite far gone (and this was around a century before Jeremiah). God skipped the underwear and talked about promiscuity. Samaria was sleeping with whatever flavor of god it was that day.

    It is probably quite jarring to talk about God figuratively wearing underwear and having sex. That was God’s point. God viewed the relationship with Israel (and even the divided Judah and Samaria) as something as intimate as the naked and sexual relationship between husband and wife.

    When intimacy with God is talked about, yes, it’s this intimate. This is why the purity of our hearts in regards to our relationship with God (and our spouse or potential spouse) is important to grasp.

    ※Prayer※

    My One and Only God, guide my , soul, mind, and ways to diligently seek intimacy with you. Amen.

    ※※

    1) What is your concept of sex and intimacy? (this is probably not a group question)

    2) How does the culture’s concept of intimacy your/ours/the ?

    3) How does the culture’s transactional view of sex affect or impact the views of you or the church?

    4) How do you think body-shaming is different from the shame of nakedness? How does body image fit into either/both?

  • Only the Beginning

    Only the Beginning

    Psalm 104:24–35; Joel 2:18–29; Romans 8:18–24 (read online ⧉)

    We have lost a lot in the modern age. One of the things is awareness of the land. In the current COVID-19 situation, we may be regaining some of that, as prices go up with agricultural workers being unavailable due to illness.

    The health of the land was deeply tied to the health of its people. We’ve seen some strange perspectives of that with both environmental activists and blind corporate juggernauts.

    For many the environmental ties to a flourishing people are obvious. To others, not so much. In the era of Jesus and even today, when nature has severe weather, agriculture often takes the brunt of it. In Paul’s age, they were very much aware of that, especially as there were a series of famines. Thus the land needing was quite obvious to any person.

    The land was tied to prosperity. An unhealthy land made for unhealthy people. It was also the case, which was Joel’s point, that an unhealthy people made for an unhealthy land. Paul noted that it was just humanity that longed for a Savior…the rest of Creation longed for it, too.

    wouldn’t seem to have much to do with that, yet, it is the empowerment by the Holy of the people of God, that would be the new shepherds to heal the land. Justice and were not just to be attributes of God, they were to be attributes of his people.

    The land isn’t just the physical land and the animals, it is the heart of the people in it, too. The land, our land, is very sick. It is not just COVID-19, it is something far deeper and even more ill. There is an illness that is infecting the souls of the people of our and even the people of the Body of Christ.

    We may not be able to fix it all, and we certainly cannot heal it all. We can be the messengers of love, grace, and mercy. In so doing, as we guard our words and actions, we will be different than the world that seeks to attack and destroy others.

    The love of Jesus Christ cannot back down, and the Body of Christ cannot just let the vileness that pervades continue to build and lash out. We are not called to lash out as the world. We are to say that Christ died for them to heal their pain. We can only walk them on the journey.

    ※ [BCPOnline] ※

    O God, who on Pentecost taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

    ※ Afterward ※

    Questions seem superfluous. The recent death of George Floyd has taken an anxiety-ridden world and launched chaos. The rise of mayhem and violence will not heal or reconcile. It will only harden hearts. We are called to be the church for such times as this. How we can and will respond in this and in all such, we can only pray that we bring and glory to God.

  • Believing Works

    Believing Works

    John 14:6–21; John 21:24–25 (read online ⧉)
    Often, we operate as if following is just the thing to do. If you were raised in the , as a (at least a theoretical) , the “Jesus” and “Christian” thing “sort of” happens. It is a “sort of, as our whole should be each day taking one step closer to being like Jesus.
    The disciples, especially the 12 closest, should have really gotten this themselves, but just as we are often blind with what is right before our eyes, they were too.
    Jesus’ question to Philip, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me?” That is a really amazing condemnation of Philip, and probably the other disciples, as well. They were not getting it.
    Now, the reality is that Jesus was saying that he was equivalent to God the Father. This was a very bold statement. It is only through the doctrine of the that these words make any sort of sense. The disciples, however, didn’t have a framework to use to understand.
    So, Jesus skips the belief (doctrine) part and says believe the actions. Truly, this is an interesting statement. If you don’t believe the words of Jesus, look at Jesus’ actions. Then the really hard part comes.
    Those who believe in Jesus will do the same works. That list of works includes: helping the mute , casting out demons, internal injuries, healing the lame, and raising the dead. John also says that Jesus did a lot more miracles, but John chose to not record them, as the ones written of were enough to believe. Were they, though?
    If we are supposed to be able to do the same works? How’s that for high expectations? Raised anyone from the dead recently?
    Now, there are those that say we aren’t all called to do these miraculous things. Partially, it’s trying to explain away the lack of miracles (outside of medical science). There is also the reality that while Jesus did miracles, it wasn’t a constant thing.
    ※ ※
    Jesus, you said that we would do works like yours, if we believed. Help our unbelief! Amen.
    ※ ※
    1) What miracles have you seen?
    2) What is the difference between believing in Jesus and loving Jesus?
    3) Why do you think that John chose not to write more on Jesus’ works?
  • Handling Truth

    Handling Truth

    Psalm 110; Matthew 22:41–46; John 1:1–18 (read online ⧉)

    John calls Jesus the Word. In his phrasing, it wasn’t just any word or words. Jesus was (is) the actual embodiment of God’s words. It’s…strange. It’s…incomprehensible. It’s…impossible. It’s….

    When Jesus speaks, we’re to listen. That can sometimes be hard. In fact, a lot of people throughout history have had a hard time listening to Jesus.

    Today, we a lot of people say, “I like Jesus just fine, I just don’t like his followers.” There is some truth in that, as we followers are broken just like everyone else.

    However, often that phrase (or a similar one) is used to shut down the conversation. Many Christians will try to stop the conversation there and try to defend themselves (and/or other Christians). Just like that, the conversation has changed.

    This is not to say such people are purposely manipulating things for that. It’s just that when we are defending/protecting our deeper selves, we will do things we don’t think of ourselves capable of.

    On the contrary, people such as the Pharisees were very methodical in their approach. They didn’t like Jesus’ followers. Of course, it seems their reasoning was either they (His followers) were being deceived, or because they (the Pharisees) weren’t the ones being followed. They went for Jesus to draw his followers away.

    In this particular story, Jesus (the Word) was attacking or questioning the Word. Yes, we could say he was questioning the interpretation. In fact, that is a great point. However, there are Christians today who refute questions like Jesus’ because they challenge the Word.

    This is not a small thing. People question the Scriptures (the undertaking of the Word) to this day. In Jesus’ time, it was actually part of the rabbinical school of thought. Not only did they not think it was dishonorable, but the rhetorical questioning and were also part of how Jews understood the faith.

    If Jesus felt comfortable questioning himself (yes, this is a stretch, but a fun one), then why do we freeze when the Word is questioned? When someone says, “I like Jesus, but…” Let’s agree that we like Jesus, too. Then let’s talk about Jesus. We establish common ground (we like Jesus). Then we can talk about Jesus.

    This doesn’t mean, sadly, that the person is about to be saved. Not by a long shot. What it does mean is that we can learn about what they think is great about Jesus, and what they know about Jesus. The conversation may last years. Jesus and the Word can handle it.

    ※ Prayer ※
    God, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, and a light on my path.” (Psalm 119:105) Thank you for it to me to learn your story and of your desire and for me. Grant me the and courage to share your word with , especially those who do not know you yet. Amen.

    ※ Questions ※
    1) Do you think you have to defend God’s Word? Why or why not?
    2) How do/would you defend all the translations that we have of the Bible?
    3) What is your understanding of why we (the at large) consider the 66 books of the Bible as the True scriptures, and not others?

  • God of Sight

    God of Sight

    Numbers 24:2–9; Matthew 6:19–24; Ephesians 1:15–20 (read online ⧉)

    Eyes are fascinating organs (sounds odd, doesn’t it?). Our eyes, when functioning, can see things near and far. They see colors. They can even see heat waves (under certain conditions).

    Other creatures have interesting eyes, too. Predators and prey have different eyes depending on need. Insects have compound eyes that are so different than ours (part of what makes them hard to swat) that see dozens if not hundreds of images.

    Under even more special conditions, eyes see visions. Some cast them aside as a delusion. Some see them as nothing more than daydreams.
    Today, we think we know all about it. However, the reality is that even in our fictional stories, we understand that there is a in the eyes. As an old man once said, “Your eyes can deceive you. Don’t them.”

    If you’ve taken any of a myriad of tests, or seen memes, you know that between your eyes and your brain, what can be done is amazing. Yet, we take so much of it for granted. As we get older, we lose certain aspects of our eyes. We can get glasses to get some of them. However, some lose their eyesight forever. Others never had eyesight, or lose their eyesight, they can still “see”, it’s just not the same.

    In ages far past, the eyes were supposedly the “window to the soul”, or (as Jesus said) the lamp of the body. This is where concepts such as the “ eye” came from. There is a touch of truth in the concept. When some have certain mental illnesses or are on certain medications, their eyes may display a lack of vitality. When we look at a person’s eyes, we draw far more conclusions than we are aware of. That doesn’t mean that we’re always right. It just means that we view the eyes as something more than just a pair of organs that allow us to see.

    It’s not just Jesus’ words that guide us in this direction. , too, talks about it in a strange way. In most modern English translations, it is “the eyes of the heart.” The King James Version actually translates it as “the eyes of your understanding.”

    What does this mean? In a simple way, our eyes guide us to understanding. Actually, this isn’t that hard to understand in our day. We read. We watch. We write. All require, fundamentally, . Seeing is important, and how we see is even more important. By now, we aren’t just talking about the , but the mental and spiritual, as well.

    Perhaps, “see” and “eyes” are the wrong human . They are the words provided by scripture, so they are using and worth thinking about.

    ※ Prayer ※
    Lord, give us your eyes to see your as you want us to. Help us to see the world with your heart. Amen.

    ※ ※
    1) If you were to use something other than eyes as a symbol to use in the context of Paul’s words, what would you use? Why?
    2) Sight and Sound are the 2 primary ways we express interacting with God. How would you use touch, taste, smell to discuss interacting with God?
    3) How do you think eyes are “windows” or “lamp” for the soul?