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Devotion.al

Tag: Salvation

  • Pull Me Up

    Exodus 17:1–7, Numbers 20:1–13, John 7:37–39 (read online ⧉)

    By and large, Americans do not understand the gift of clean and readily available water. Even during droughts, currently, people in places like California still can turn on the water in their homes, and get a drink. In places like Rome, artesian wells are all over the city, and one can get clean water from public fountains.

    The travels of the Israelites involved the logistics of water. There didn’t just have to be water for the humans. There had to be water for the livestock. Water was life. When the water dried up, or the waterskins were empty, it wouldn’t take long for concern then desperation to kick in.

    We often speak ill of the Israelites when they challenged Moses. How dare they admonish the great prophet?! Later Jewish commentators would also respond the same. The reality is, though, would we really be all that different when things aren’t going well?

    No one ever promised the Israelites that the journey would be easy. They seemed to have made the assumption. Then they placed the responsibility of their assumption onto someone else…Moses. Often Moses was really in conflict with their assumptions, rather than them, per se. Moses dealt with the ongoing disappointment of the Israelites that the world would just be handed to them.

    There is often a pervading view that we have no responsibility in regards to our faith and salvation working out in our lives. True, God provided us unmerited grace and provided the way. Our small part is to accept it. Yet, that is really only the start.

    Think of it this way, if you were at the bottom of a cliff and the only way to escape was up, and the cliff wall was too smooth to climb and you didn’t have any rope, pitons, or other climbing gear…someone is going to have to throw you a rope. You still need to grab the rope and (preferably) tie it around yourself. If there is only a person (rather than a winch or other mechanical device), they will struggle to pull you up. They might still accomplish it (and if it’s God, God will), but for your own sake, you need to help, even if it’s “walking” up the cliff so you don’t bang yourself around.
    The Israelites (and often ourselves) just wanted to be pulled up quickly and cleanly, with no need to put any effort into it. Was it still primarily God’s efforts? Yes. Did they still have a part? Yes!

    Moses didn’t help in the second instance. He actually turned this life-giving event into a curse. His words were not life-giving to the people. The water was, but that was God’s work, not Moses’. Moses lashed out in (understandable) anger and probably some hurt. In so doing, though, he damaged his and God’s witness. Again, it wasn’t as if the Israelites didn’t have their part (like above). Moses, though, had his part, too, and lashing out wasn’t supposed to be it.

    By the time Jesus came, for many God’s words were life-giving water “covered” in curses. Religious people and rules “gave” out God’s words (water) but in such a way as to make it a burden, and not life-giving. No one, really, had a good grasp of what Jesus really meant. The Holy Spirit flowing into and through people was not understood, and it couldn’t be understood until all was fulfilled through the cross, the resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

    1) What is the longest a human being can be without water? What is the longest you have been without water? Does the difference between the two help your perspective of the Israelites?

    2) Water as the source of life makes sense from an ancient (and even modern) perspective. John says that Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit when talking about water. What does this mean for the Holy Spirit and people?

    3) Thinking of cursing the water (of life), in what ways is the Water of Life (the Holy Spirit) being cursed by humanity today?

  • Living in Surrender

    Luke 2:21–39, Ephesians 2:11–14, Philippians 2:5–11 (read online ⧉)

    The “rush” of a newborn child and all the angst that went along this particular child’s birth should have settled down a little. The day of Jesus’ circumcision was a day of fulfilled law and ritual. Instead, two prophetic messages happen. In many respects, this is the last gasp of the documented miraculous and supernatural until Jesus steps into his adult ministry. Just in case Mary and Joseph could possibly forget God’s call on their lives over the last few days, the events surrounding Jesus’ circumcision would have certainly recalled it.

    The significance surrounding circumcision cannot be ignored. The circumcision was established prior to Israel. For any Jew (descended from Israel) this was a physical tie to their entire history and the manifestation of God’s covenantal relationship. To have a prophetic statement—let alone two—tied to that would be engraved on their hearts and minds.

    Circumcision was a major barrier for both Jew and Gentile. Gentiles thought it was wrong, and Jews thought it was essential. This is why Paul focused on breaking the tie between circumcision and a relationship with God. Through Jesus, Gentiles are brought into relationship with God (this is an oversimplification, so don’t read too much into that), and the circumcision is no longer required. For Jews, circumcision transforms from an essential salvation component to cultural identity. Thus a barrier (appropriate for a time) was removed.

    There are lots of things Jews had to “surrender” to be in fellowship with Gentiles, just as Gentiles had to “surrender” things to be in fellowship with Jews. In both cases, they had to submit one identity to the authority of another. For both, that meant surrendering part of their core to another. When Paul speaks of Jesus emptying himself, Jesus surrendered his identity to become human. That takes real humility and obedience. That is our example.

    When we talk about personal identity, we too have much we need to surrender to Christ. It can be hard. We are very much tied to our identity, and much of our identity is what American and/or Christian culture holds up as that which is valuable.

    Over this New Year, we will each be called to surrender pieces of our identity to Christ. It is not a one-time thing. As we continue to become more Christ-like (for that should be our goal), we will constantly be finding new things to surrender. Sometimes the things we need to surrender might not seem so obvious, especially within the context of Christian culture. For example, surrendering leadership or pride often seems obvious. On the other hand, taking on a leadership role and taking (Christian) pride in doing it (i.e., fulfilling the mission) is often not taken as surrendering one’s identity. If one has been in the background (and likes it that way), it actually is a form of surrender to become a leader.

    For almost 33 years (less the time we know of a 12-year-old Jesus at the temple), the big event for Mary and Joseph was the birth and circumcision of Jesus. Joseph was likely dead by the start of Jesus’ ministry. Mary, on the other hand, had to surrender part of her family to the world. Jesus was no longer only hers. He was something far more. After his death and resurrection, Jesus also was no longer just the Jews’. He was for the whole world. For Mary, Jesus’ siblings, and Jesus’ followers, this was also a needed surrender.

    1)Think about the last year. What has made you the most upset? What does that tell you about what you need to surrender to Jesus this year?

    2) When you think of your self-identification, what do you call yourself (i.e., political part, national identity, cultural identity, blood identity, etc.)? How do each of those contradict or work in harmony with the Christian walk?

    3) It can seem contradictory that surrender may involve picking up something. What might be something that you need to pick up this year? Why? How does it fit into walking with and following Jesus?

  • Drift Away

    Isaiah 49:8–13, John 4:3–14, Hebrews 2:1–4

    Has the so-called Christmas euphoria finally died down for you? If this was more of a “blue” (i.e., one of mourning, loss, or depression), are you relieved that you don’t feel the pressure of “keeping up” appearances?

    Christmas, as with many other family occasions (weddings, baptisms, birthdays, funerals, etc.), always comes with a mixture of emotions. No single emotion could ever completely cover our experiences for Christmas. This is not to deny that it is God’s love that is the overarching ultimate emotion, but that we human beings experience more than just love.

    The promise conveyed in Isaiah is that God’s coming and salvation is so much more than just the immediate. This is why accepting and embracing (not necessarily enjoying) all the emotions that come with this time of year is important. For without all the emotions—especially the negative ones—the grace and magnificence of God’s grace misses much of the transformative power.

    Isaiah’s words do lead to some questions, though. How are pastures possible on barren heights? How do people not starve or thirst under scorching sun? As in the case with much of the Scriptures, it can be easy to over-spiritualize the Scriptures, especially when we don’t understand them. Yet, when taken in the context with salvation and covenant, the spiritual aspects seem to be the focus, rather than our physical needs.

    It is not a great stretch, especially when we take into account Jesus’ words to the woman at the Well of Jacob. In fact, it is Jesus’ words that guide us to equate not being hungry and not thirsting to the spiritual gift of the Living Water. Never thirsting? At the well that gave water for generations of Israelites the physical has been and is being fulfilled, only the spiritual remains. We all understand that the immediate, “earthly”, “worldly”, “physical” impact us significantly. It is the spiritual that outlasts, but we often overlook or neglect it.

    The writer of Hebrews wants to make sure that people do forget or “drift away”. The imagery is that of things that were originally floating next to (or with) each other, but just sort of drifted away. In other words, the author of Hebrews is here more concerned about the incidental, accidental, careless, negligent and other “not deliberate” actions away from the faith and the Christian life.

    Regardless of our emotional state or the emotional states of those around us, we are not to allow ourselves to drift away from the life-giving nature and our understanding of God, no matter how far the world and our emotions want to pull us away from God.

    1) What recently has “encouraged” you to drift away from God?

    2) What are areas that regularly lead you to drift away?

    3) Life can throw a lot of things at you, and many of them unpleasant (at best). How do you keep yourself focused on God, on not on other things?

  • Hope and Fulfillment

    Psalm 33:16–22, Luke 21:25–28, Titus 2:13–3:7 (read online ⧉)

    Waiting is hard. The psalmist is waiting for God. The psalmist grasps the truth that an army—no matter how big and powerful—will not save a soul. Such an army might save the physical wellbeing, but physical wellbeing is not the ultimate goal of God’s salvation. Often God will act on our physical circumstances. That doesn’t reduce the importance of the eternal in salvation. It actually emphasizes it. The other—perhaps more important—piece is that the physical saving is a moment in time, while salvation is eternal and timeless. That salvation is both a moment in time (i.e., when we “were saved”) and is ongoing (i.e., we are still being and will continue being saved) is at the heart of understanding God’s own nature.

    When Jesus “arrived”, the people were waiting for the Messiah. Some were waiting in optimism (i.e., “wouldn’t it be nice if the Messiah showed up?”). Others were waiting in hope (i.e, “God has saved us before. God will save us again.”). While Jesus was walking on the Earth, he conveyed that (such as we just read) that his time then was, even as Messiah, a foreshadowing of his final return, which would unite all of Creation with God. So, even while fulfilling the hopes of the Messiah, there was still more to come! There was still more to wait for!

    Paul understands this as he refers to his “present age” with the acknowledgement that Jesus would return. Paul had missed Jesus on Earth. Yes, he had had a life-changing encounter with Jesus, but it wasn’t the same as the other Apostles had had. For Paul, Jesus’ return was hope and fulfillment. As Jesus would be returning, Paul wanted everyone to be encouraged to continue on. He didn’t want them to lose heart or hope. For Paul, and any Christian, Jesus’ return is always just around the corner.

    1) What do you hope for? Is it hope, or is it optimistic wishing?

    2) How does the timelessness of salvation affect hope?

    3) Why do you think so many people concern themselves with the exact date of Jesus’ return?

  • Rules of Mercy

    Exodus 25:16–22, Isaiah 33:17–22, Psalm 118 (read online ⧉)

    So much of the Levitical law was about the dos and don’ts. Israelites and (later) Christians became overly concerned about the blood being shed, and all the sins committed requiring it. Yet, God set out an expectation that was right there for anyone to see, if they were able.

    God talks about the Ark of the Covenant in this passage. The box that carried the 10 Commandments, a sample of mana, and later Aaron’s sprouted staff was capped with the mercy seat. The mercy seat. All of this was covered by mercy. God’s mercy. Then God goes and states that the mercy seat is where God will meet the people.

    Why is this significant? Perhaps if people had focused on mercy, rather than the rules, God’s great commandments (Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.) would not have been so lost in rules that were lived out in a way that made God into a horrible vicious creature that so many people feared (the bad kind of fear) and didn’t love.

    When you can “see” God as sitting on the mercy seat, you can better understand Isaiah’s words about the beauty of God. Isaiah continues on about the majesty of God. This passage ends with God being judge (with mercy), lawgiver (in mercy), and king (of mercy).

    1) Having a right understanding of God is essential to having a good relationship with God. Can you have a good relationship with someone seemingly always angry, bitter, belittling, dismissive, judgemental, unforgiving, or harsh?

    2) If we do not start with God seated on the mercy seat, how would we relate to God?

    3) When we read Psalm 118 we read about God being the source of true salvation. How does this fit into the narrative of God being seated on the mercy seat?

  • 25 November 2019

    Zechariah 12:1–8, Revelation 18:1–10, Matthew 20:20–23, Luke 22:14–20 (read online ⧉)

    A cup is a common thing. You probably have a few in your cupboards. You might even have so many you have to get rid of one to fit another. You might have ones for special times (like china for Thanksgiving). You might have Christmas themed ones. You probably have ones that were given to you as a reminder or an advertisement. There is nothing special really special about cups. However, as we read the Scriptures, cups star in a number of places.
    Joseph used his cup (his very special one that only he had) to entrap his brothers. Pharoah and Nebuchadnezzar had their cupbearers. These cupbearers had authority within the courts of the leader. Cups, it seems, were not always so common.

    The prophet Zechariah has a vision of Judah being a cup. Nations would drink of this cup. The consumption part represents well the takeovers, wars, slavery, and exile. The nations around Judah (even their Semitic cousins in Samaria) really did a number on Judah. It’s not that Judah did the right things and was still on the losing end. Judah had continually made the wrong decisions. God wasn’t just going to restore his people once they yielded their hearts. God would use Judah as the source of retribution for all the nations that had (by their actions) treated Judah wrongly.

    This imagery is echoed in Revelation. This time, instead of the small underdog nation being the source of retribution, it would now be the leading city (symbolized as Babylon) that would be the source of its own destruction and the nations that followed it. This symbolic Babylon was completely lost in the depths of unGodly practices. The nations that idolized it or followed its practices would end up with the consequences of their choices.

    In Matthew, Jesus uses similar imagery to hint to James and John that the contents of Jesus’ cup will do the same to them as it will do to him. Of course, they did not yet understand what that meant. Is some ways, while Jesus did not “give” them the seats at his right or left hand, he still symbolically handed his identity to them when he said they would drink from his cup. They probably felt better about not getting their “seats”, at least until they realized the cup’s contents.

    This really comes to a culmination in the Cup of Salvation. The “blood” of the New Covenant shared by Jesus with his disciples and eventually with us. The cup is Christ’s. When we share the cup, we share in the name and identity of Jesus. We also identify ourselves with and by the New Covenant. We also identify ourselves by his death and the freedom we bought. Lastly, though, each of us may have something that needs to be sacrificed to live a life with and for Christ. We have chosen to drink from the cup and by so doing stated that we will accept what it brings.

    1)Do you have a favorite cup? Why is it your favorite? Without knowing the story of if, what could people learn about you from it?

    2) God’s grace and love are often found in “ordinary” things. In what other “ordinary” things do you find God’s grace and love?

    3) Why is it important to look for and see God’s grace and love in ordinary things?

  • Trust But Verify

    Luke 19:1–10, 1 John 4:10, Romans 8:22–28 (read online ⧉)

    You may or may not have heard that a famous person has publicly proclaimed that he has “found” Jesus Christ. Many Christians have not accepted this person’s conversion. It’s not as if this is a new thing. Not really. Over the years there have been many conversions that have been questioned. Many of them have been questioned because they were “death-bed” conversions.

    It’s not so much that these conversions are questioned, for conversions should be questioned, but it was the attitude that often goes along with it. The assumption that such-and-such a person’s conversion could not possibly be real, or that it is questionable should raise our internal flags. Who are we to determine that?

    Let’s take the tale of Zacchaeus. In it we see Zacchaeus promise to return what of his gains were ill-gotten. Jesus says salvation has come. Great! If we were to look at the tale of Zacchaeus with the same amount of skepticism as we look at death-bed or famous people conversions, well, we wouldn’t just “see it” with Zacchaeus. The guy has been a thief (say many today about taxes) and colludes with the government (which people don’t trust). How could such a person’s conversion ever be trusted?

    Yet, one of the first responses to questioning Zacchaeus’ conversion is, but the Bible says so! Well, it tells that Jesus said salvation came but were you there to see that Zacchaeus actually did what he told Jesus? Really, what about all those other people that you know about that said it’s all for Jesus, but didn’t change?

    Sounds really cynical, doesn’t it? Jesus said salvation came. One would think God would know, as only God knows the heart. Yet, people are as cynical (or even more so) today about conversions. Sadly, we’ve had plenty of examples of false conversions. We have plenty of examples of Christians doing appalling things. Why so cynical? We know humanity for we see it in ourselves.

    So, what are we to do? We do have a pretty simple way to evaluation conversions…the fruit. There are the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control). There is also the fruit of discipleship. Are there people being discipled by the converted? The fruit of discipleship and the fruit of the spirit, however, can be a long time coming.

    1) How would “trust but verify” work in this situation? Does this concept help or hurt?

    2) Many of those we would call fathers and mothers of the faith questioned their own salvation. Why do we think we would know somebody else’s conversion?

    3) What are the ways that we can encourage recent conversions and help to maintain them?

  • Seen In Heaven

    Job 19:23–27, 2 Corinthians 12:1–6, Revelation 4:1–11 (read online)

    John Wesley and George Whitfield were once total brothers in the faith and theology. Eventually, however, there were divisions, and the amicably went their separate ways on positive terms. Yet, people still assumed that there was something more serious.

    “One day, after Whitefield’s decease, John Wesley was timidly approached by one of the godly band of Christian sisters who had been brought under his influences and who loved both Whitefield and himself:

    “‘ Dear Mr. Wesley, may I ask you a question?’
    “‘ Yes, of course, madam, by all means

    “‘ But, dear Mr. Wesley, I am very much afraid what the answer will be.’

    “‘ Well, madam, let me hear your question, and then you will know my reply.’

    “At last, after not a little hesitation, the inquirer tremblingly asked, ‘ Dear Mr. Wesley, do you expect to see dear Mr. Whitefield in heaven?’

    “A lengthy pause followed, after which John Wesley replied with great seriousness, ‘No, madam.’ “His inquirer at once exclaimed, ‘Ah, I was afraid you would say so.’

    “To which John Wesley added, with intense earnestness, ‘ Do not misunderstand me, madam; George Whitefield was so bright a star in the firmament of God’s glory, and will stand so near the throne, that one like me, who am less than the least, will never catch a glimpse of him.’”

    What will Heaven be like? There have been many books written and dreams shared. The corporeal reality is that dreams and visions are still a human attempt to understand the divine reality. How can we embodied and finite (corporeal) creatures attempt to understand the infinite and divine. Old cartoons had the dead with wings, halos, and harps. Those that are musically inclined may indeed be playing harps in eternity, but if you know any drummers, you could see that as unlikely. Those that love to speak, preach, and teach will probably be out of a job. Maybe. Perhaps they will be the ones declaring, “Holy, holy, holy.”

    Then there is the question of, “Will I see [someone] in Heaven?” Often we asked this question if we don’t know the salvation status of a person. Sometimes we wonder about ourselves. Take John Wesley. While he and Whitefield parted, he had such esteem for Whitefield (and so little for himself) that he believed that Whitefield would be so much closer to the throne of Heaven that Wesley would not see him due to the brightness of God’s glory. That person we are concerned for may indeed be in Heaven, but we may not know.

    1) For those reading this in a small group setting, let us agree that the answer to the following is spoken and shared in a safe space. What do you think Heaven will be like?

    2) Why do we concern ourselves for what comes after this life? How do you respond to those who don’t “known” what will be in the afterlife? How do you respond to those who believe there is nothing after this life?

  • How To Win

    Matthew 19:16–21, Matthew 21:28–32, Luke 13:22–30

    What must I do to win? In many respects, that question is the underlying thought in all 3 of these Gospel stories. The admiration of the rich and leaders is no new thing. Often people look at others and wonder, how do I get where they are? Often this is confused with envy or greed, however, there is also the human desire to win. Over the years academics and sociologists, recognizing this, champion a change of language, especially in children’s sports, “everyone’s a winner!” What ended up happening, though, was this became an empty thing. What academics and sociologists may have recognized but didn’t communicate wasn’t that the “participation trophy” made the child a winner, it was the people around them, especially their family. A lot of the kids who play sports are not winners as far as a championship, but leadership, exercise, teamwork? That’s a different story.

    Think of an American football team. There are a number of teams who just are not good this year. Yet, most of the athletes get up and go to work, and come back to play the game, and they don’t dwell on the last game lost. They look at the game to come. No matter how bad the team may be, there is one rule in sports, never assume you’re going to win or lose. In some ways, athletes take the narrow road. For them, taking the narrow road is what matters.

    In each of these stories, it is not just what do I have to do to win, it is also what is the least I have to do to win. That is certainly the point of the third story. Jesus’ response is more along the lines of, “you’re asking the wrong question. It’s not what I do; it’s who I love.” We cannot earn our way to salvation. Salvation was already won. Our response cannot be what must I do to earn it. Nor can our response be, what can I avoid doing in response to it.

    1) What does it look like to win for you? How would you or another know you won?

    2) If you had to earn your salvation, how far would you go? At what point would you think, it’s not worth it?

    3) What does it look like to lose for you? How would you respond to losing?

  • No Face Value

    Genesis 20:1–18, 1 Samuel 16:7, Proverbs 21:2, Romans 1: 18–25

    When you look at someone, can you tell they are a Christian? If you can, there are a few reasons why: (1) Pride…yours for God knows and weighs the heart; (2) Their life and spirit show Jesus; (3) is there a 3rd one?

    In the Scriptures, we are cautioned to not assume that a person is right with God. Abraham made that mistake and almost caused a man to commit adultery who was innocent. Abraham assumed Abimelech did not fear God. Abraham may have been right when it came to the surface. However, Abimelech listened to God.

    As a tradition, Christians have taken affirmations of faith at face value, for the very reason that we do not know the heart. Paul does note in 1 Corinthians 12:3, that no one can say that Jesus is Lord without it being of the Holy Spirit. However, in Romans 10:9, Paul also says that we are only saved if we believe in our hearts. One is an outward statement, and the Holy Spirit goes before all. The other is an inward statement that can only be between a person and God.

    There is a lot of finger-pointing in the world, and some of it involves avowed Christians (i.e., people who say they are Christians and/or follow Jesus Christ) pointing at other avowed Christians, and accusing them of apostasy (i.e., false teaching and/or walking away from the faith) or not being Christian. If we take the Scriptures seriously, then accusing another of not being a Christian because they don’t agree with us on certain issues (especially non-salvation issues) is not in line with what the Scriptures say becomes a very dangerous road to walk.

    1) Have you ever accused (whether out loud or in your mind) another person of not being a Christian, when they state they are one?

    2) What are some good ways to engage other Christians regarding important topics on which we disagree?

    3) When should disagreements be brought up, and when should they be left alone?