We'd appreciate you allowing the use of cookies. They are anonymized while allowing us to see how the site is used.

Devotion.al

Tag: promise

  • Being and Becoming the Bridge

    Isaiah 30:18–26, Isaiah 61:10–11, 1 Corinthians 3:5–11, 1 Corinthians 11:23–26

    We are the bridge between the past and the future, with one foot in the past and one foot in the future.

    The past of glory was gone, a faded memory. Perhaps to some it was just an old tale that was from the crazy aunt. David and Solomon? Sure. Whatever you say, Auntie.

    Into hearts that resided in darkness, Isaiah spoke light and life. People who felt oppressed were promised the freedom of planting crops and harvesting them on their own behalf, not under the rule of foreigners. Not only that, Isaiah told them that they would turn their backs on their treasured idols. They were being told that the little gods that had protected them would be thrown away. That’s crazy!

    Isaiah later talks about the earth and garden producing as they should, because God has provided salvation and blessed them. Not their idols. The promise of God’s blossoming righteousness in the hearts of people who had abandoned their God who had chosen them to bear his name.

    Death to life. During this series of devotions, we haven’t spoken much on Lent, but with this last devotion for the Legacy series it seems appropriate. Lent comes from Old English and German, meaning spring. Spring comes at the end of Winter (the land almost “dead”, but waiting to come alive). Just like the Jews, who were in their “Winter”, so are we before our salvation.

    Paul and Apollos worked on ground that wasn’t yet “alive”. Yet, they planted the faith and watered it. Eventually, new growth in dead ground came alive and blossomed. While others were fighting over who they followed (Paul, Apollos, or others), these coworkers in Christ looked ahead to see a crop that God empowered them to see, even if they did not see it now.

    Our bridge from death to life and from past to future is the legacy of our faith. Paul proclaims it best, “…as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” The past and future. While we remember and honor the past, we must look to the future of ourselves, our family, our church, our faith, and the world.

    1) What do you think the future of this church should look like? What can you do to help that vision come to pass?

    2) Often, we are blinded to our vision of the future, and thus tear down the future visions of others. What can you and we do to embrace the visions of others for the future?

    3) Paul’s concluding statement covers both past and future. How can Paul’s conclusion empower and educate your vision and how to make it come to pass?

  • Long Roads Together

    Genesis 22:1–18, Isaiah 45:11–17, Matthew 4:1–11

    Genesis has many passages in it that Christians, Jews, and non-believers stumble over. Often it is our own pride, and sometimes it is us looking back upon those “backward and ignorant” people, with all our knowledge and obviously “better” culture. This passage in Genesis (22:1–18) is often one of the hard ones, as God calls upon Abraham to sacrifice his only son of his wife Sarah. This appears problematic as God later condemns such human sacrifice. It is to result in the death penalty. Yet, God still calls for it. The easy answer is that God was “just” testing Abraham. God already knew that a ram would be provided. If so, to us it is a cruel test. To Abraham and the cultures around him, it was still cruel, but it was part of god worship (note, not God worship). We also have to understand that Isaac was the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham regarding descendants. God requested that Abraham kill the very legacy (so it seemed) that God had promised.

    The harder answer, but perhaps more Christian answer is that Abraham was foreshadowing God the Father. God made a request of Abraham, the God the Father would completely fulfill generations later. God would sacrifice the Son for all of humanity. God’s only Son. The Son, part of the Trinity, would be born as man, so that mankind would become the legacy intended if sin had not come. As Isaiah speaks from God, righteousness stirred up. The holy city (a place of relationship with God) rebuilt. The exiles (those separated from God) set free, but not by money or exchange of goods. Then Isaiah says that Israel will be saved by God. The only true savior is God. With God being the savior, salvation is eternal. God becomes incarnate. God is with us (Emmanuel).

    Even as God with us, Jesus walks our road. The temptations that Jesus faced in the desert are common to mankind (survival, security, pride/power). Since Jesus walked with us and Jesus is God, humanity and God became united in a way that Abraham could never have imagined, and Isaiah couldn’t fully comprehend. Even we really cannot fully comprehend it, and we (through the church) have had a long time to figure it out.

    1) During his temptations, Jesus says, “Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God,” quoted Deuteronomy 8:3. If Jesus is the word (John 1:1–3), and Jesus is the bread, how does that cause you to rethink Jesus’ answer?

    2) God called on Abraham to sacrifice his legacy. How can God call on us to sacrifice our legacy for an even greater legacy?

    3) How can we discern when God is asking us to sacrifice our legacy, versus calling on us to sacrifice our pride?

  • Cup of Blessing

    Psalm 16, Luke 24:13–35

    Psalm 16 is considered by many to be a Messianic Psalm. Peter and Paul both seemed to have some agreement on this as they appear to have referenced as it appears to be referenced to by them in a number of places. One of the contrasts is the cup of blood (v4) and the cup of blessing (v5). The cup of blood is what is used to pour out the drink offering. This is a play on the “right” drink offering before God, which was the fruit of the vine. Instead, this blood offering is an unrighteous offering, not only because of the conflict of the drink offering but also—and primarily—the offering was to a god other than God. In other words, those who were making these blood offerings had chosen to follow false gods for their security.

    On the contrary, the cup of blessing is a Godly portion which holds promise and blessing. The cup of blessing comes with an inheritance. The cup of blessing comes with Godly fortitude (not false fortitude). The cup of blessing comes with security. And, lastly, the cup of blessing comes with the path of eternal life. With all of that, one can easily see why Messianic is applied to this psalm, especially in the context of communion.

    In the context of scripture (and yesterday’s sermon), we have talked about the institution of communion, which was Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples, and was observed within the context of Passover. One could say that Cleopas and the other disciple (some believe it was his wife) experienced the first “true” communion. In many ways, it is the exclamation point on Paul’s words, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”(1 Corinthians 11:26). Seeing is believing. They saw their Lord alive after he was dead, and declared alive again. They became witnesses to his bodily resurrection. What a way to know in your heart what the new covenant included!

    1) Do you remember your first communion? If not, that’s okay. If you do, what do you remember? Do you remember the last communion you took? If so, what do you remember?

    2) In certain church communities communion is taken individually Why do you think that is? Generations Community this coming Sunday, will take communion in framily groups? Why is this important?

    3) Why is the individual and group taking of communion important? What does this tell us about church-, faith-, and community-life?

  • Drawing Waters of Salvation

    Isaiah 12:2–6, Jeremiah 31:31–34, Luke 22:14–20

    Isaiah is often not filled with much encouragement. This particular “song”, however, is a pronouncement of the saved telling the unsaved that they can be saved.

    Isaiah starts out with his salvation, and that his relationship with God is sound. He then tells the wayward hearer that they will joyfully (note they are miserable) draw water of their salvation. Then they will sing praises to God. Springs of salvation, or could we say Living Water? What do you think?

    Water is life. This is a special truth in the desert, where water is scarce. From a scriptural standpoint, blood is the life of a creature. Thus when we come to communion, we are to consider both the aspect of blood as life (Jesus’ blood) and water as life (Jesus is the living water). When Isaiah speaks about the spring of salvation, it is reasonable to see a foreshadowing of communion.

    With its darker tone (the blood of Jesus), it is also easy to see that this is not quite what had happened before, yet had similar attributes to the sacrificial practices of the Israelites. When Jeremiah speaks of a new covenant, there is little chance that the Israelites would have expected how that covenant would come to be. That this new covenant also changes how the “law” worked would also be beyond expectation. How would the Israelites “know” God’s law? It is not until the Holy Spirit is fully expressed that an understanding of this new way of the law fully revealed. There is also a special promise in Jeremiah’s New Covenant speech. If we all know God’s law, and have to be neither taught nor teach (admonish) others. Looking at the world around us, and our own lives, the only way that happens is if we fully yield ourselves to God. Yielding ourselves to God often starts with the simple acknowledgment that we cannot fully understand God.

    The disciples didn’t fully understand God, and they spent 3 years with Jesus! Have you heard, if only Jesus were here, we’d get the real/whole story, and we’d understand (or even believe). If his disciples who were with him (even one going so far as to betray him) for years didn’t get it, would we be any more likely? With our post-Enlightenment and scientific tendencies, we might be even less likely to understand! Even Judas Iscariot (the betrayer) up to this point didn’t get what this specific night meant for the future. They were just celebrating Passover with Jesus.

    When we celebrate communion (a sacrament), we become participants in this last meal.

    Instead of the usual questions at the end (besides, there were plenty of questions already), we will end with Book of Common Prayer, Contemporary Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Lent:

    Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world:
    Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him;
    who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
    one God, now and for ever. Amen.

    US Book of Common Prayer, 2007

  • Yet We Live

    Psalm 22, Genesis 28:10–22, Luke 20:27-39

    Jacob’s vision encouraged and assured him that God was real, and God had something planned for him. What the vision didn’t do was say everything was going to be easy, and that he (and his family) would always be safe. Even when God says, “…I will bring you back…” certain assurances are missing, such as how long or when. While the vision has aspects of comfort, there really is a lot left completely open.

    While the promise is made to Jacob, by extension the promise is also to his descendants. God promises to Jacob that his offspring will have the land and that God would not leave until that occurred. In other words, while the promise was immediate, the fulfillment and God’s presence was far in the future.

    This now and future aspect is very important when we come to Jesus’ words. Jesus is strongly implying that the concept of past, present, and future aren’t quite as we think. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob were all buried. Scripture even tells of them specifically being buried. They were dead! Jesus turns that upside down and says that everybody (even those who have died) are living from God’s perspective. We measure our days. When we think of legacy, our legacy is what outlives us. According to Jesus, our legacy cannot outlive us!

    It seems to be contradictory. We know we die, yet God says we live. We know people in our lives who have died, yet for God, they live!

    1) We all leave a legacy. Will the legacy you leave give life, or is it something else?

    2) Throughout scripture, there is a tension of now and not yet. Why is that important in regards to legacy?

    3) There is a tendency in many Christian circles that a good relationship with God means that we will always be healthy, wealthy, long-lived, and safe. Scripture never delivers that message. Why, then, do you think that so many Christians hold on to this belief?

  • Legacy of Faith

    Psalm 27, Genesis 13:14-18, Philippians 3:2-12

    David was no saint insofar as not always being a good example to follow: thuggery, adultery, murder, failure to lead and/or protect his family. On the other hand, David wrote God-inspired psalms, designed the Great Temple, outline the rules and families for worship (who did what), and was—by and large—a faithful follower of and champion for God. When we read Psalm 27, we see a person’s heart open to God. In the psalm, David declares that God is pretty much everything. David’s statement regarding his parents abandoning him (something that would be especially painful and cruel in a family driven culture), but that God would still be there is also an identifying thing. David was declaring that without his family, his identity would still be found in God. It was a worthy legacy to pass on, but as noted earlier, David didn’t do so well with his family. Other than Solomon, we know nothing about the faith of David’s children, and Solomon’s faith became troubled as he got older. Is it David’s fault that his legacy was not passed on well? To some degree it was. However, at some point, those who follow have to keep nourishing the flame of faith they were given.

    While even most non-church folks recognize Adam and Eve, and Noah (who are important characters), from a religious standpoint none may be more important than Abram (Abraham). In this passage, Abram gives Lot the choice of direction. Lot chooses what seems to be the better land. Yet, after he made that choice, God tells Abram that his offspring will equal the amount of dust in the world. Is that an overstatement? Perhaps, however, we have to look at how the Israelites viewed it as a promise fulfilled. They would know. Then look and Christianity, a child faith of Abraham. They (we) are also the progeny of Abram. Abram’s legacy of faith has been passed down to us. And it is the legacy of faith that truly matters.

    Paul, until his conversion, had received a legacy of duties, tasks, rituals, that did not give life, or at least no full life. While Christians may be quick to accuse the Jews of lifeless rituals that they though saved them, many of those same rituals developed a deep and ground faith in God. It all really depended on the individual and what they did with the flame of faith pass on to them.

    1) Who passed on the flame of faith to you? What are you doing to make sure that the flame of faith you pass on will be as strong or stronger?

    2) Paul states that he cares more about knowing Jesus (God) than doing stuff, and relying on stuff. Can you say the same of yourself?

    3) The beauty of David’s life is that it is honest. David’s life was not perfect, just as yours or mine are not. Why does acknowledging not having a perfect life important when passing on the faith?

    FD) Did you know that you have a responsibility to accept faith and nourish (feed) it?

  • Hearts In Worship

    Psalm 50, Isaiah 58, Matthew 6:1–18

    Humankind is always trying to figure God out. Humankind will often take a human role/position and apply it to God. It is not wrong to do this, in scripture we see, “Lord of lords.” There is an explicit understanding that no matter how great or powerful any person of influence or power is, God is more so. As the culture and governments change, so did the way God was viewed. For example, in the Roman Empire and well after the fall of the Roman Empire, God was viewed as an emperor. In the Reformation, God was viewed as more of a judge. John Wesley and others viewed God as Father, which is odd, as God the Father was a phrase used while God was viewed as emperor. Yet, God the Father, as the Wesleys understood God the Father, was a loving, caring, and self-sacrificing father. Despite this change, much of the church’s (and thus the people’s) interaction with God is still God as Emperor and God as Judge. This really comes into play when we read things such as Psalm 50, God as Judge.

    The intro (vv. 1-6) set the stage for who God is, some symbolism to correctly identify God, and his command. The tendency is to see devouring fire and judge as bad. The devouring fire, though, is good and purifying (burns away the surface layer), and also reflects the context of this psalm regarding worship, where the sacrifice was burned to make amends to, covenant with, and praise God. When it comes to judge, it is the same word that is also used to contend, plead the cause, vindicate, govern. The best translation is still judge, however, as we dig deeper, it isn’t to condemn. Lastly, God calls heaven and earth. From a legal viewpoint (back to judge), heaven and earth are witnesses regarding the People of God. So, what is causing the issue?

    Wrongly worshipping God. The implication of the verses is that the purpose of the sacrifices is to feed God. This is a logical leap, as the cultures around the Israelites believed exactly that about their sacrifices to their gods. God tells the Israelites that he could eat whatever he wanted if he needed to. First, they are all his (as he made them). Second, because he knows them all and where they are. Then we move on to the Thank Offering. Why? That God tells them to do a thank offering tells us that they missed this vital sacrifice that was part of the Law, but more importantly, should have been part of their hearts. Thanking God had disappeared. While not mentioned in this psalm at all, it probably meant that the Israelites weren’t performing Fellowship Offerings either. What does this tell us? That the Israelites had indeed turned God into judge and did the “right” things to appease God. This, again, takes from the cultures and religious practices from those around them.

    God then goes and addresses those whose hearts don’t even get the whole God thing at all. These are the people that do all the “right” things, but unlike the ones previously addressed, don’t really care whether they do right or wrong. They do wrong and all they care about is avoiding punishment. We’ve all known people like this, who will say the right things to avoid the consequences of their behavior. These are those people. Doing the act doesn’t avoid the punishment, it actually adds to it.

    Lastly, in this psalm, at the end of these two sections, there is promise. People in right relationship with God (which still doesn’t mean they are perfect) will be saved. Not to belabor the point, Isaiah 58 and Matthew 6:1–18 is all about our hearts in worship, and what God does in and for people in right relationship. In his song, “The Heart of Worship,” Matt Redman says/sings:
    When the music fades

    All is stripped away
    And I simply come
    Longing just to bring
    Something that’s of worth
    That will bless Your heart

    Much of our life is filled with adding more and more. Our schedules are full. Our lives are busy. Church services go from one thing to another in a flow. We consume more and more food, drink, energy, data, but in so doing shove God out of our lives. Lent calls upon us to remove things from our lives, not to punish ourselves (as some people claim), but to remind us that God is truly all we need, and all God wants is all of us.

    1) Have you ever been overwhelmed or underwhelmed by a church service? Can you figure out why?

    2) Do you strive to do more things to please people? How about God? Does today’s scripture change your perspective?

    3) There were 3 primary sacrifices in Levitical Law/life: remediation of sin, Thanksgiving, Free Will/Fellowship. What seems to be the primary goal of sacrifice? Which of the 3 do most people focus on? Why?

    FD) What’s the simplest thing you can do to worship God today? What’s the simplest thing you can do to give thanks to God? What’s the simplest thing you can do to be in fellowship with God?

  • Remembrance, Power and Identity

    Genesis 9:8–17, Psalm 8

    Remembering is an essential part of the human condition. The philosopher George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Through technology, humanity is creating nearly 50 billion GB of data a day. At most, the Bible as written is 10 megabytes. This means that if the bible is rewritten everyday, it is only .00001 of the data made in a day. It is quite easy to see that it takes effort to keep the Bible from drowning in the mass amount of data created everyday.

    ‌In the early days, when humankind was still relatively simple there was still a barrier between humanity and God. Through poor judgement and pride, humanity had separated itself from God.

    ‌As a result, humankind received punishment…the flood. While there are many arguments regarding the depth and extent of the flood, the truth that a majority of religions around the world have a flood story. There is something there that cannot be ignored. A story that is almost universal even today, and yet to many it is exactly that. A story.

    ‌Story is what binds humanity together. Story helps humanity know who it is, where it has been, and were it is going. So, why does God need to remember? After Noah, God set the rainbow to remember, or did he? Sometimes a parent has to say something like, “I’m doing this for me,” so that their children will remember. That is what God is doing here.

    ‌Think of the rain as sin. As it continues, it soaks us to the bone. It gets inside of us. Then the sun comes out and dries the rain. In the midst of change from soaked with sin the Son comes to warmth us. The beauty/sign of that change is the rainbow.

    ‌Another way to tell the same story. The flood was the result of the mass of sin that humanity had committed. The rescue of Noah and the promise of the rainbow are the salvation and restoration of us all.

    ‌Remembrance is power. Remembrance is identity.‌‌

    • 1) What family stories do you tell, share, or repeat? What do they tell you about your family and your identity?
    • ‌2) Our salvation stories can differ from person to person. Each is unique. Do you remember your story? Tell it to someone.
    • ‌3) In an attempt to share the story, we sometimes focus on the wrong parts. What elements of the story do you think of? How do they expand or limit the story?
    • ‌FD) What is/was you favorite bedtime story? Why?

    ‌

    ‌

  • Not Always Better

    Deuteronomy 9:1–9:7, Psalm 36, Romans 5:20–6:11

    You have been trouble from the beginning of this! Moses’ long good-bye speech (all of Deuteronomy) is a summary of God, God’s message, God’s calling, and Israel’s past, current, and future response. It’s not pretty.

    We can often look at the Israelites and question their memory, wisdom, or sanity. How do they keep making the same basic mistakes? Of course, we really get the Cliff Notes or Spark Notes version. A quick summary of the highlights, 40 years of highlights. If you could only write the highlights of your life, you could make it short, too. Plus, you would write about you, and some close family, and maybe some large events. This summary of the Israelites journey from Egypt to the threshold of the Promised Land (for the 2nd time) is for a populace that many times larger than the City of Marysville. If we took only our highlights, or perhaps lowlights, our story may sound similar. Moses is driving home a point. Don’t take God’s blessing for granted, and don’t ruin the inheritance of God.

    Much of the story of the Israelites’ travels from Egypt to the Promised Land is about hearts that were not continually grateful (and therefore humble). They had food they barely worked for (Mana). They were (generally) protected from enemies. Their clothes and sandals didn’t wear out. They had plenty of herds. They had plundered Egypt. They became comfortable with what they had and felt they should get more. They looked back at an idealized and false view of Egypt and threatened to return to Egypt if they didn’t get what they wanted. They certainly weren’t righteous. They were definitely stubborn. They were receiving the result of God’s promise to people long dead. God was faithful.

    Even in Moses’ time, the truth of Paul’s words still rings loudly, “…where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more.” (Romans 5:21) Throughout the journey, God’s grace was abundant. While the Israelites didn’t think this way, apparently there were Gentiles that wanted to sin more (or thought they should) so that God’s grace would be even larger. Paul’s head may have not been in his hands in disbelief, but nevertheless, his disbelief comes through his writing. Of course, we should seek to sin more! That’s what we were saved from! Why would we go back to that life? Oh, wait, that sounds familiar. The Israelites wanted to go back to “that life.” Somehow, the slavery that they left (the law and sin) was somehow better than the Promised Land (grace and blessing).

    That is, however, the problem with many of the sins we struggle with. It seems “better” to live that way. It seems “better” to the world. It seems “better” to those around us. It must be better than.

    1) Why do we often return to the bad stuff (habits, behaviors, thoughts) that Jesus has been and is working out of us?

    2) Why does our knowledge of the way we used to live still pull us back?

    3) The Israelites left harsh conditions. Why would they choose slavery over freedom? When have you done the same?

    FD) What is grace?

  • Transitioning

    Psalm 29; Isaiah 43:1–13; Matthew 3:13–17

    Many people claim to have heard from God. Often in church culture, we hear about Elijah and the “still, small, voice of God” (1 Kings 19). In Psalm 29, however, the voice of the Lord is anything but quiet. Massive trees break, the earth shakes, deer giving premature birth, the woodlands stripped bare, all due to the voice of the Lord. The voice of the Lord can be quiet or loud, depending on what we need.

    Through Isaiah, God calls out to the Israelites. The Israelites are in exile, and in despair. God reminds them that it is God who made them. It is God who formed not just humankind, but the people of Israel, reminding them of the promise made to Abraham.

    After the reminder—which is also a statement of reassurance—comes the challenge. As the Israelites walk through the waters, rivers, and fire. God will be with them. It is not insignificant that God says, “…when you pass/walk through….” God is not talking about avoiding trials (waters, rivers, fire). God accompanies in the midst of trouble. It is not just the accompanying, though. The figure of speech of “through the waters/floods” is one of death into new life: Jacob became Israel; Israel leaves Egypt; Israel enters the promised land; Elijah’s last walk; Elijah’s prophetic beginning.

    Walking “through the fire “is a symbol of purification. This is similar to the burned sacrifices, which were performed for the cleansing of sin. Through fire, metals are refined, and the impurities removed. In these times, fire was also a sign of life and security.

    One can say when we perceive that God is with us and for us, we will walk through our trials and be transformed.

    Even for Jesus, baptism (i.e., walk through waters) is a transition from life to death to life. When Jesus is baptized, he goes from the life he had (probably that of a carpenter) to the life of mission, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Just like us, Jesus “walks” through the waters. Jesus knows the things of our lives, for he walked them, too.

    1. Can you think when God has walked with you through times of refinement? What did you hear from God during this?
    2. When did you “walk” through a time of death into a new life (or way of living)? How did God walk beside them?
    3. What is similar between times of refinement, and times of death-to-life? What is different between them?
    4. [FD] What does baptism mean to you?