Devotion.al

Tag: response

  • Overwhelming River

    Ezekiel 47:1–12, 2 Corinthians 3:17–4:1, Matthew 28:16–20

    This image of the River of Life spreading out into the world provides us something to reflect upon. The further the river gets from the presence of God, the wider and deeper it gets. Eventually, it takes the Dead Sea and makes it living water, too. In the case of the Dead Sea, there is an echo of and resurrection…from to life, and not just any life, a Godly life.

    The “four” walls of the building should be so filled with the Spirit that it should be overflowing into the in which it sits. These walls are not meant to be containers, keeping the captive or “preserved”, but enabling each of us to take this concentration of the Holy Spirit out into the world with us.

    If there is to be where the Holy Spirit is moving, why does it often feel as if we are trapped in church? If there is freedom, why do we seem unable (or unwilling) to be able to share it?

    The church (which has been said time and time again) is not the building (though we often act like it). The church is the people. The freedom of the Holy Spirit enables us to freely share the Gospel and the love of Christ. However, we continually put on the chains that weigh us down, whether fear or pride or something else. We certainly don’t act free.

    Therein lies the problem. We have been commissioned to take the Gospel to our families, our neighbors, our communities, our cities, our counties, our state, our nation, our continent, our world. It is not a commission we can decline, for God has already commissioned us. We are plan A–Z.

    1) Do you feel free in the Holy Spirit? What does that mean to you?

    2) What are your thoughts about the River of Life being deeper and wider away from the of God? What does that mean in regards to how you live?

    3) You have been commissioned. What is your to that? How do you fulfill your commission? How do you see fulfilling their commission?

  • Pagan Response

    Ezekiel 27:1–36, Ezekiel 28:20–23, Luke 10:13–16

    To understand ‘ “woe” statements, one needs to understand history. While Tyre and Sidon were now (in Jesus’ time) prosperous cities, their pride, pagan behavior, and anti-Israel behavior had gotten them a lot of punishment. After Ezekiel’s , the cities weren’t washed clean, but wiped-off-the-map cleansed. Because of their geography, those locations would recover (and even retain their ), but the penalty received had been severe.

    In the time of Jesus, Tyre and Sidon were still very pagan, Las Vegas and New Orleans (during Mardi Gras) pagan. Devotion to gods or God was perfunctory at best. was the ruler. Yet…
    Jesus stated that those cities would have responded (positively) to the , while the so-called devoted of Judah were apathetic or antagonistic!

    We look at our culture and often sadly proclaim that if they could just see Jesus, they would convert. Or if they joined the , everything would be fine. Or (yes, foot-stomping ahead) if only prayer and the Bible would be allowed in schools again…

    The Jews had prayer. They had the . They had “the church” (i.e., the temple and synagogues). It was all tightly integrated into their culture and their (more foot-stomping). Look where that got them! Chided and lectured by Jesus!

    1) Truly…are we all that different now than the Jews were then?

    2) Politicians—of all stripes—are rightly pulling and poking at our religious- and faith-strings. They see what we aren’t good at seeing…our inconsistency. They use it to bolster their . How can you separate the religious and faith truths from the political lies? How will you do that as each political group takes some, but not all, of the ideology for political talking points?

    3) If the world is like Tyre and Sidon, and we are like the Chorazin and Bethsaida (the unrepentant Jewish cities), what do they (the world) see that we don’t about Jesus and the Kingdom of God?

  • Too Direct?

    John 17:9–19

    Jesus prayed for the disciples, a lot. There is something quite interesting here. He didn’t pray for the world (that he died for). He prayed instead for his disciples. Why? Why his disciples?

    Jesus prayed for his disciples. Jesus prayed for his friends. Jesus prayed for their protection.

    He prayed for them…for us.

    Without the disciples, we would not know Jesus. Without Jesus’ protection, we would not have the disciples. Jesus did pray for the world…just indirectly.

    All too often, we want to see direct effects. We want to know that the of God is active in our lives. We want to know that God loves the world…and even us.

    Ultimately, with Jesus’ , the came to dwell in the 11 remaining disciples, along with all those who were with them in the upper room. From those 11, the was born. The church despite its brokenness. The church despite all the hurt that its imperfect people caused and suffered.

    We sometimes if our prayers are effective. Perhaps it’s not our prayers that we should be thinking about, but the prayers of those who are praying for us.

    1) Have you ever had the experience of learning that someone was praying for you, and it came to be? What was your ?

    2) Have you ever prayed for someone else (especially not ), and watched it come true? What was your response?

    3) should be the most uniting thing we as a church do. How can you be more with your church framily in prayer?

  • A Clean Tongue

    Colossians 3:1–11

    ‘s list of idolatrous tendencies to be put to death seems pretty straightforward. Sexual immorality is (basically) sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman. Impurity continues the sexual theme, but it is less specific. Lust is lust. desire is not the actual sexual immoral , but its very thought. If fact almost all of these are sex. Except for greed. It seems strange to throw greed (or covetousness) into this, but we can recognize that all of these are selfish things that hurt, oppress, or steal from .

    It’s the next words that become interesting. Anger is more of the always angry person (i.e., temperament), rather than being angry (though do not in your anger, Ephesians 4:26–27). Wrath is more akin to jealous anger so as to diminish others. Malice is seeking to do harm (physically or verbally). Slander is speaking badly of others so as to diminish their reputation. Do not lie to one another. All of these seem pretty simple. It’s the one that was skipped that is very tricky as the culture changes around us.

    Filthy language. From a , and even a few cultural decades, filthy language seemed pretty clear cut. However, as the culture changes, so too does our awareness of “filthy”. Obscene is still pretty straightforward. However, aischrologia (the Greek word used here) also means culturally inappropriate. And, this dear should cause us to pause.

    Regardless of how one feels about much of the discourse in general society, there are certain words that are not so culturally appropriate and even more when considering the context. In fact, there are many words and phrases that are no longer appropriate. The list is rather long, and it regularly changes. Instead of being offended by our words being taken as offensive, the better tactic is to work and not speaking in a way that offends.

    Now, this does not mean silence the Christian witness. This does mean that your choice of words “tells” another person how much you value them. If you willingly words or phrases that are no longer culturally acceptable, then others will cease to value your words.

    This often becomes a cultural battle of they shouldn’t be “snowflakes” or “super-sensitive”. Yet, we are to answer for our witness. While many may agree or disagree with your perspective of others, it’s Jesus’ perspective of them that should matter most.

    1. Can you think of a time recently where you thought of others less because they were hurt by a common word or phrase? What do Paul’s words tell you about that?
    2. There appears to be an increase of verbal sensitivity, on the one hand, yet an increase in uncivil discourse. How do you think Paul’s words and Jesus’ perspective should inform your to both?
    3. Regarding obscene/filthy language, much of the culture no longer finds it so. How do you think Paul’s words apply in that case?

  • Attending Well

    Deuteronomy 30:15–20, Acts 4:5–22

    If someone were to give us a speech about being given the way to or , there would likely be an automatic naysayer response. This is the case when the “way” is exercise, healthy eating (including the latest fads), life philosophy. In the context, we understand the is that “way”. To many of us who have heard and believed, this is obvious.

    Yet, there are many in the church and the world that when they hear something along the lines of, “See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity,” they turn off. You, too, might have that exact same response. It’s an understandable response because we see the saying it, and we know humans. They don’t really understand the “way”. How can they, they’re only human.

    The way of life and prosperity is empowered by the faithful attention to the . Man cannot do it alone. Man needs to be in humble partnership with God, letting God lead. The importance of cannot be overstated. If we were to take, for example. prosperity to its extreme, we all understand that it is an issue. Really, the promise that was given was that Israel would have enough.

    Yet, to have even enough, they would have to walk in harmony with God. That is often the hard part. The leaders of the Jews were so strongly focused on the right checkboxes that they could no longer see the way. With the disciples, we also see a transformation of the promise. The prosperity was not of this world (except, one hopes, in framily).

    The other darker transformation of the promise is that the way often leads to adversity and death. The disciples experienced both, as do many Christians around the world today.

    1) What do you think about the promise changing? Do you agree, or ? Why?

    2) Financial prosperity has often been used to judge God’s and a person’s faithfulness. What is your take on that?

  • Faithful Servanthood

    Psalm 127, Matthew 25:14–30, Luke 22:35–38

    The question is often asked, “when you get to Heaven, what do you want to ?”

    The common answer is, “well done, good and servant.”

    It is a feel-good statement. Truthfully, we would all like to hear that from God.

    In the parable, the servants were given to build up the master’s coffers. The interesting part about the parable is that 2 servants did well, and 1 servant did (basically) nothing. The reality is that in investing, you lose money, too. That is part of the risk. A person who launches a small business is putting their money at risk to be successful, with no guarantees. In the parable, we don’t have a servant that tried and failed. There is either trying and succeeding, or there is nothing ().

    This seems significant. Though perhaps it is not. It could be argued that the 2 successful servants were blessed (Psalm 17:1) and the other servant just missed out. This is often the interpretation, as it is seen as applying to Israel for not up to its potential. In fact, burying the money was (culturally) from liability, for if buried money is stolen, there was no responsibility.

    In Matthew’s version of the parable (or a different contextual telling of the parable), Matthew used “faithful” to describe the servant, while Luke did not. For Matthew, this was a matter of . The master trusted the servant to do the right thing (with what the Master gave), and be successful with it.

    When it comes to real , however, it is not so clear-cut. In his last hours with his disciples, alludes to the disciples being taken care of when sent out by him earlier in the ministry. Yet, now they are to be self-prepared (instead of being taken care of) and even armed (though the weapon-like nature of the sword is questionable).

    1) Why do you think there is such a difference between the servants in the parable and the disciples with Jesus?

    2) What is your to faithful in this context? What do you think it means? Do you think you are being faithful?

    3) If one takes the parable too literally, one can conclude that a person is an unfaithful servant if they fail. What do you think about that?

  • Worship Together

    Genesis 28:10–17, Exodus 3:1–6, Luke 23:44–46

    Have you ever been confronted by a person who states that they can God better in nature than in a church? They might be right. Jacob put a stone under his head, and upon waking declared that the wilderness was the house of God.

    Moses is wandering in the wilderness minding sheep. He walks to a burning bush that is declared by God to be a place. This is no church.

    During the last moments of ‘ crucifixion, the curtain (dividing the “” temple from the Holy of Holies) was torn in two. The division between earthly and Heavenly is gone.

    So, what about our challenger? They might be right. Perhaps they can worship better in God’s . It’s not out of the question as we look at Jacob and Moses. If we are only called to worship God, then the challenger is right. So, where does that leave us? Moving beyond worship.

    The Christian life is far more than mere worship (not that it isn’t good and necessary). However, the way of Christ means being transformed into Christ-likeness. As good as worship is, it is only meant to be a piece and not the centerpiece of life of a Christian. When we worship together, in comparison to alone in creation, we also become more of one . This allows—over time—us to temper and form one another.

    1) Have you ever been tempted to just go it alone in worship? Why? What restored you?

    2) If you’ve had a with such a challenger, what was your ?

    3) For you, what is the connection between worship and ?

  • Respond How?

    Haggai 1:4–14, Amos 7:10–17

    It would be nice if nice things just happened. It would be nice if all the stuff that needs to happen, just happened. It doesn’t work that way. Someone has to take responsibility.

    God had his that the remnants of Israel would return from exile. Now they were starting to recover and thrive. They had homes, buildings not tents. They were rooting themselves back into the land. At the of their thought processes, one would think that God would be front and center. It seems, however, that this wasn’t the case. Despite their return to the land and their homes, they were merely surviving, not thriving.

    Haggai goes to them and pronounces that they have their shelter. God should now have a place for them to worship Him. To their credit, they listened. The house of God was rebuilt. God blessed the people again.

    Amos, on the other hand, did not receive a positive reception. The of the powerful was antagonistic, at best. Amos was a prophet when the nations of Israel and Samaria were at relative , had mostly restored the boundaries of David and Solomon, and were doing well. The was doing well. Actually, the powerful were doing well. The powerful were living lives of excess, and not thinking about tomorrow.

    God did not respond well to their selfishness. God informed them that the exile was certain and that all they treasured would no longer be there. That made them very unhappy to hear these words. They wanted to silence them.

    Haggai and Amos faithfully delivered God’s words. The people responded quite differently.

    1) How are you responding to God’s on your ? Are you more like those who responded to Haggai or those who responded to Amos?

    2) We often look at the superficial and say we’re fine. We often do not see the . Where are we not fine? Where are you not fine? Where is the not fine?

    3) Being faithful to God’s house, and being faithful to God’s church often have tension between them. Why do you think that is? What can you do to ease it?