Devotion.al

Tag: respond

  • Among Crowds

    Psalm 26, Matthew 21:42–46, Acts 13:43–52

    Crowds are a powerful thing. They can be a source of powerful . In the current , people are helping to launch products they want by putting some of their into it. By doing so, people go around the big companies that controlled how new things came to market. Yes, there have been massive failures. There have also been fantastic successes. On the other hand, crowds often like unrestrained monsters, attacking people, destroying property, killing, looting.

    What motivates a crowd is the most interesting, as it will vary person to person. For example, there were people who just followed . There were people who followed Jesus because other people followed Jesus. Then there were those who sought to control Jesus (including making him their king). There there were those who were jealous of his innate popularity in comparison to the false fawning they experienced due to their positions in Jewish society.

    and Barnabas also drew crowds. Through their words they drew Jews and to Jesus. Yet, there were those who were jealous of the crowds and stirred up trouble forcing them to leave.
    This is still going on today. The draw of social media has been that it is where everything is happening. The problem is that it is where everything is happening. People are becoming fatigued with it all, yet are now so conditioned to live with it.

    Then there are all the “happening” places. Even churches and their leaders succumb to the crowd-. Churches and leaders look to see what the “popular” churches and leaders are doing and often try to copy them. However, just like going along with the crowd, what is good for the crowd may not be good for you. The flip side of that is what is good for you may not be good for the crowd, or at least many in it.

    1) How do see yourself when looking at others who appear more successful or happy than you?

    2) Why are crowds a bad barometer for choosing the right path? Why are crowds a good barometer for choosing the right path?

    3) Whether we acknowledge it or not, we watch the crowds. What is the right way to to and view the crowds?

  • Such Saving

    John 6:40-44, 1 John 5:13-21

    Jesus’ words in John can be limiting if we let them be. For example, if we were too literal in seeing or not seeing Jesus (John 6:40), most of us would not have much hope for life. There are many who have visions and dreams of Jesus, they might count. This one of those language problems. The Greek lends itself to beholding and experiencing. This is not to take away the responsibility of physically seeing Jesus, but to add onto it.

    This does lead well into the next slight challenge of verse 44. From the Wesleyan point of view, God did the calling (prevenient ), we do the responding/accepting. Why is this a challenge? Many would (have and do) argue this means we have no role in this business. Yet, while God acts first, God gives us the and ability to choose to accept.

    However, this does help us with the first phrase, for when God calls us and we , we are able to see Jesus for who he is…our savior.

    That “” provides us the assurance that we have eternal life. Yet, the world is constant calling us back to it, and away from God. When we are as fellow believers, we are able to intelligently, understandingly, and compassionately pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ. As John points out in his letter, God hears us when we pray according to his will. God’s will is that not should be lost.

    1) What is your reaction to knowing that you have a part () in your salvation?

    2) Why do you think it is important to understand that God did the saving before you did the responding?

    3) The that leads to is ominous. What do you think that might be?

  • Fire Is Best

    Psalm 66, Revelation 3:14-22

    You may not be aware of how the metal you are using comes to be. Most metals are dug up in an unusable form. They have to be made usable. There are three primary methods to get the raw material to be more like the goal: mechanical (e.g., crushing), chemical (i.e., acid), and temperature (i.e., ). Each of these is used for different metals, and also depends on what the goal of the metal is. If, for example, you are going to throw it in to mix with a bunch of melted stuff (i.e., not looking for purity), you would use chemicals to break down the bonds. If you just need raw material, you might just smash it until it’s as small as you want (it won’t stick very well, though).

    For purity and cohesion, fire is best. The metal your car is made from (at least some of it) was melted in a huge vat and became molten. Stuff will be added in known quantities to get the end properties desired, such as strong steel. Most gold that is worn is a gold alloy, where gold has stuff added to make it stronger without affecting its beauty. Gold is valued, primarily, because people value it (a circular argument, for sure). It is easily shaped for decorations (and people like to adorn themselves with it). It was used for (can still be). In our day and age, its greatest value is not jewelry, but electronics. It is a fantastic conductor. Not enough is used in your electronics to try to get it, however, it does improve the abilities of electronics to do their tasks using less electricity. Gold, even in the days of diamonds and platinum, is still the primary precious metal, and it was the best known precious metal in ‘ and ‘s day.

    Due to that, gold (along with silver, the second most valued metal) were a good subject lesson in regards to people. In the letter to Laodicea, Jesus talks about the Laodiceans blindness to their own poverty. Jesus is speaking spiritually. The of Laodicea is lacking in spiritual growth. The Laodiceans think they have it all together and are good to go. Yet, they are lacking. How often are we like they were? Thinking in all our blessings that we have it all together. There are false teachers who teach exactly that. Laodicea is our object lesson that this isn’t so. Laodicea was a wealthy city, but the church was spiritually poor. Laodicea was the home of a medical school known for an eye-balm, yet they were blind. Laodicea was also known for its cloth, yet they were naked.

    They needed to be refined. They had no money to buy the refined gold (cleansing and salvation). God would sell it to them anyway. With that gold, they could buy True eye-balm to see their real spiritual state. With that gold, they could buy the clothes that would cover their True nakedness. In other words, God’s got it covered…if they . Then we get to the hard part, to receive all of that (which they thought they already had), they had to be rebuked and disciplined (i.e., refined).

    1) Have you have thought you had it all together in your , and then everything came crashing down? How about spiritually? How was your response different between the two events?

    2) Why are rebuke and part of the refining process? What other words would you use?

    3) It is reasonable to look at ourselves as the “raw material” that God refines. Where do you think God used each of the three methods (mechanical, chemical, temperature) to refine you?

  • Out of Line Annunciation

    Job 28:12–28, Luke 1:24–45, Hebrews 10:4–10

    It is often the case that humanity has to confront reality. Humanity is quite . When confronted by its own folly, humanity tries to hide it in so many ways. While searching for and wisdom, it analyzes and categorizes. Humanity can only be so knowledgeable and so wise. True knowledge and wisdom come from the one who created everything, including us. Part of the issue may be that we expect God to be predictable. Somehow, we seem to think that we are capable of understanding God. Perhaps that is the of the decision made in the Garden of Eden. Faith is often not understanding, but accepting anyway.

    Elizabeth and Mary were in that exact situation. They didn’t completely understand, but they trusted God anyway. It probably seems strange that in the midst of to talk about the Announcement of ‘ birth, but timing is pretty close (though not exact). While on the journey to the cross, we include the beginning. There is indeed an echo of a beginning in the . Lent is the journey to the cross, which is basically the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth. On the other hand, the cross along with the is the beginning of a completely new chapter in regards to a relationship with God. Why not talk about the announcement of the coming Messiah. Oh, right, God moved (again) in a way that humanity couldn’t just categorize and analyze. The announcement of Jesus, along with his birth was not “how it was supposed to be”. God broke the rules, again. The rules? understanding and wisdom that is far short of God.

    The author Hebrews recognizes that humanity often doesn’t get it. The author reflects on the sacrificial system that is so superficial that it ignores the whole point: relationship with God. The sacrificial system was never intended to be a “check this as done” system, but an orientation to God that was really to recognize the distance that man had put between itself and God. In its quest to categorize and analyze, humanity destroyed the wisdom that God had presented.

    1) When was the first time that you recognized that God did not the way you expected or were taught to expect?

    2) Why is it important to that our wisdom is not God’s wisdom?

    3) What does the announcement of Jesus’ coming and the journey to the cross teach you about God’s wisdom

  • Heartful Rest

    Psalm 23, Deuteronomy 10:12–22, Hebrews 4:4–13

    Sleep is good. is good. Too much of either is bad. Too little of either is bad. Sleep and activity must be balanced. All too often, however, neither of these are correctly balanced in our lives. The lazy or lonely or depressed often get too much rest, and movement begins to cease. Those who are too active, rarely resting, usually become less themselves and even begin to lose their grasp on things, trying to keep it all . Does any of this sound like you?

    While Psalm 23 may be the most famous psalm, and many take solace in it. In the King James Version, Verse 2 says, “…maketh me to lie down…” The NIV says, “…he makes me lie down…” Some translations do say, “…lets me…”, but most don’t. The Hebrew “rabats” (רָבַץ) has more emphasis than just “lets”. David was a as a boy, during his most formative years, so shepherding would always be near to his heart and understanding. (like people) sometimes have to be made to rest. Are you being made to rest? Resting is not everything, though.

    As Moses speaks to the people at the edge of the Promised Land, he calls them to activity. They are instructed to walk in God’s ways. They are to God. They are to worship God (with their whole hearts and souls). They are to do something. They must be in with God. Yes, there were rules. Before you are quick to judge the Israelites on the law, look at our own law books, and understand that we have far more rules than they did. This is important as we Christians are often too quick to say how bad “all” their laws were. The center of it all was heart and soul directed toward and in relationship with God. As they entered the Promised Land, they were to take this understanding with them. If they had taken it truly to heart and practiced it, the story would have turned out different.

    In some ways, the author of Hebrews is trying to drive home the same point. Hearts aligned with God achieve true rest. However, note that the author of Hebrews did not there. The author of Hebrews notes that Joshua did fully realize the goal, but does not blame Joshua. It was a pattern of disobedience that led to a lack of rest in the Promised Land. The author of Hebrews is warning his readers that we cannot just “rest” on God’s and love. We must respond to it. God’s grace and love don’t “require” a response, but only a response of following, love, and worship (from heart and soul) is a true relationship with God.

    1) Have you ever found yourself checking-off the “God to-do” list? What emotions come to mind when you think of that?

    2) Why do you think Moses emphasizes “heart and soul”? Shouldn’t one be enough? Aren’t they the same? What about the mind?

    3) We are often busy doing “stuff”. How much of this “stuff” is Holy activity?

    FD) Do think it odd that the writer of Hebrews says, “make every effort to enter the rest?” Effort to rest? What does that mean?

  • How Do We Look?

    Psalm 120, Mark 13:9-13, 2 Peter 1:20-2:9

    Psalm 120 is a lament. The psalmist is among those who live a of lies. These same people are warmongers, seeking strife and conflict. The psalmist is living in foreign lands that seek no peace, but the cry of the psalmist’s heart is for peace. The psalm begins with the . God answered him, the rest of the psalm is about what the problem was. The truth is that while the psalmist was referring to a specific people, we all know the type. There are those that do not seem happy unless there is conflict. There are those who do not trust peace. When one does not have peace, one resorts to force fairly quickly. We are all guilty of this to some degree. Sometimes the response is yelling, crying, ambivalence, disregard. These all are violent to the heart and soul of , and often to ourselves. We quickly think that all violence is physical. The truth is that violence is the outward of an inward pain.

    ‘ words in Mark are certainly not comforting. They can be terrifying. The internal strife of families torn apart. Neighbors calling out neighbors. Remember the Second Great Commandment? your neighbor as yourself. This is the outward sign of it not being so. Jesus is warning that his peace is not the peace of this world. All too often, the peace of this world is bought and paid for by blood and death. The peace of God is not so. The psalmist understood this. The response of the psalmist to those around him was, “God save me!” It wasn’t a slap to the face, or something more. It was . As Jesus continues, he refers to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the source of the peace of God. When the Holy Spirit resides in us, we can respond to those around us with a grace and wisdom that is not ours.

    The God-ly wisdom of the Holy Spirit requires our humility. Peter has to confront people already who say that they have a new revelation from God. Peter is quick to point out that the prophets themselves did not understand their prophecies (unless granted so by God). It was only after the fact that it was proven that their prophecies were true. This is an important thing as the , and groups that masquerade as the church, often have those that call themselves prophets or revealers or divine actors of some sort that are bringing a new truth from God. Often these new truths are then used in ways that are violent to the hearts and souls of the innocent (and even not-so innocent). These people use the of media, guilt, society, anything at all to crush the hearts of the people of God. We too can be guilty of using God in this same way. God’s ways are the ways of peace. God’s ways are the ways that sooth and heal.

    1) Has some “religious” person ever said something to you that was hurtful? How did that make you feel toward the religious they claimed to follow?

    2) Often (and rightly) people are told that if they are abandoning because of people, then they are looking at the people not God. What does that mean, then, when we also say, “we may be the only Jesus they every see?”

    3/FD) Being a peace-lover or peace-maker does not mean being a pushover. How does one make peace without violence?

  • Working It

    Ecclesiastes 2:18–3:8, Matthew 20:1–16, 1 Peter 1:17–2:1

    There is a movement afoot for people to enjoy their work. Younger people are throwing off the chains of previous generations that did work they did not enjoy so that they could support their families.

    This is not to say that previous generations were wrong, but that many younger people are now blessed to be able to do what they love. There are those that still labor in thankless, joyless jobs to support their families.

    There are those that are/were blessed to truly enjoy what they do/did. Everyone in that position, regardless of , lift your voice in and gratefulness.

    In the time when Ecclesiastes was written, most people labored and didn’t enjoy what they labored at. Much later, American Puritanism took the duty of labor to provide for the and added religious obligations to it. Later still, American consumerism has twisted this even further to where people work on their “vacations” or put off family and social connections for the sake of work. Many companies are now as much consumers of workers as their workers are of products.

    While the labor of Ecclesiastes was hard and often thankless, it was accepted as the way things were. This is in comparison today when many company work cultures have come to a place where the is that people ought to be thankful that the work is hard, thankless, and 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

    That’s not what taught about the .

    In the parable of the laborers, the landowner went out 5 times to gather workers. The eager, ambitious (and probably starving) ones were there bright and early. Then, as the day goes by, there are still more laborers who either didn’t the first time, or didn’t even bother to show up any earlier. And the ones called last may have well already worked another job before getting a second one. We don’t know the state of any of these workers.

    We do know who called them. Who are we to judge who worked the hardest or longest for the kingdom? How many baskets of grapes did each pick? It doesn’t matter. The landlord, like God, cared that they showed up and that they worked.

    That they showed up and worked is important when reading Peter’s letter. Peter starts out with the Father judging impartially according to their work. That sounds ominous.

    What if you look at another person who seems to be working harder than you, and is certainly more successful than you are working for the kingdom? What if, instead, you are looking at someone who seems to be working less hard than you, and producing less fruit for the kingdom? The landlord paid the workers the same.

    God “paid” each of us the same. He “paid” with his . Through the sacrificial act of Jesus in his and death, the penalty of our sins is gone. No matter when we gave ourselves to Jesus, we all get “paid” the same. Now what?

    1) In this context, obedience and work are equivalent. So, then what does Peter say our behavioral should be?

    2) The drive to work, consume, and sustain is good. Yet, when contaminated by sin it is bad. How does Peter define this sin contamination? How are you doing in ridding yourself of it all?

    3) The work we do on earth can be exhausting. The work we do for the Kingdom shouldn’t be but often is. What can we do to not be tired?

    FD) Is it fair that the laborers were paid the same amount even though they didn’t work the same amount of time? Why or why not?

  • Be Being Prepared

    Psalm 54, Acts 20:16–32

    Be gracious. How many times did you hear someone say, “If I were God…,” or have you said that yourself? Most of the time, those four words do not result in a gracious response. In fact, they are usually the introduction to something vengeful or self-righteous.

    Sometimes we do hear a gracious response after those four words, but then how often is our response to that …grace-filled. It’s sad, but often grace is not the initial human response.

    Despite our own orientation to grace-less-ness, we still look to God for grace-full-ness. Why is it that we expect more out God’s response than we deliver on our own?

    Deep down, beyond our conscious thoughts, we have an understanding that grace should be the way of things. As we all know, and as the psalmist states, we are among people whose “…teeth are spears and arrows, whose are sharp swords…” Sadly, we are often those same people to others.

    Even sadder, sometimes we are that way to those we hold closest in our hearts. The psalmist takes a …and then…PRAISE GOD! God is faithful! that God is faithful often allows us to be grace-filled, even when highly distraught or distressed, as was on his way to Jerusalem.

    As Paul gives his farewell address to those he loves personally and deeply, he summarizes his time in Ephesus. There are some things we should be taking from Paul’s address. First, he sought to be humble. We know that Paul was smart.

    Often smart people act as though they are better than others, just because of their intelligence. Paul made the case that wasn’t this way with him. He did not shy away from telling what needed to be told (profitable). It also tells us that others said many things that were not “profitable” to the Ephesians. This was one of Paul’s deep concerns.

    He warned the Ephesian elders to be aware of those that would tear the innocent apart and lead them astray. He is telling them to grow up. They will no longer be able to rely on Paul to be the , but they are now responsible. Paul reminded them of the tears he shed as he spoke the Truth, not just of God’s grace and kingdom, but that people will come (who might even be friends) that will try to destroy the faith of the Ephesians.

    He is doing those last minute reminders. He believes that this journey to Jerusalem will be the end of his journey, and wants them to be prepared both for and to wear the mantle of leadership.

    • 1) In his address to the Ephesians, Paul mentions the “…the gospel of God’s grace…” Why is that especially important for Paul as he looks to the end of his journey?
    • 2) When we look at the psalmist’s words about the “” of humanity, how can the gospel of God’s grace ?
    • 3) Paul’s history with Ephesians, and his effectiveness with them was built over years. What does that tell about the of faith?
    • FD) Why does Paul use the imagery of sheep for the people of the church and wolves for the people outside of the faith (not necessarily outside of the church)?