Devotion.al

Tag: trust

  • Foundations and Firmaments

    Psalm 148, Colossians 3:12-17, Luke 2:41-52

    What are your thoughts when reading Psalm 149? Do you ever think of all of praising God, the Creator? If you haven’t seen Louie Giglio’s Stars and Whales (link below), I strongly recommend it. To think that it is not just us (human beings) that are called and made to God. It is important to understand that praise is a core piece of our very existence. If we are not praising, the foundation of our Christian life is in question. It might even be in jeopardy.

    A firm foundation is important, especially in of our passage in Colossians. Verses 12-14 are not easy. When we live out our lives with others, our compassion, , , and patience are often put to the test. As we bear with others’ weaknesses (and as they bear with ours), letting go of offenses can seem impossible, and even unfair or unrighteous. This is why the of Christ (v 15) is essential to lay down upon the foundation of praise. With praise and peace, comes thankfulness. This is where we need to pause and remind ourselves that there are acts of thankfulness (which is a spiritual practice), and then there is a of thankfulness, which is an outpouring of trusting God.

    It is from all of this, that then Paul (the author of Colossians) gets to correction. He notes that it is through God’s word, psalms, hymns and spiritual songs that we correct the excesses of others, and others correct our excesses. It is important to look to Scripture as to what might be (emphasis on might) going on in the spiritual lives of others, rather than depending on our own understanding, which is likely missing crucial pieces of information. As we get to the story Luke provides us, it is important to see the different spiritual stories going on.

    For Mary and Joseph, who knew the prophecies about their , their return from the temple was part of their spiritual practice and were comfortable in their return home. Young Jesus, on the other hand, wasn’t done yet. Here was a young boy among elders, who themselves were astonished by Jesus’ insights. It is quite easy for us to be disappointed with Mary and Joseph not understanding. Just like Jesus, we can find ourselves saying, “of course, that’s where he is!” A new Christian or even an unbeliever(!) can provide spiritual insights that cause others to be shocked with a new insight and grow closer to God! Who are we to spiritual insights provided by God through others?

    When our foundation is firm, we trust God, and are humble toward one another, we are open to receiving spiritual insights from whomever God puts in our path.

    1) What spiritual insight did you receive from the person you were least expecting?

    2) Why do you think praise might be essential to spiritual insights?

    KD) Why do you think it was huge that Jesus asked his mom and dad that question?

  • A Child-Like Gift

    Psalm 26, Matthew 18:1-4, James 4:7-12

    A child-like . That is the greatest an adult could for. All too often, however, we get caught up in our own heads, hearts and hurts. A child can look to God in faith and .

    We are not talking naiveite or ignorance. We are talking about innocence.

    Think of a baby. A parent tosses them up in play, smiling at this bundle of . The baby smiles, too, imitating the parent. Yet, for the first few times they are tossed up, they instinctively understand that this sensation is wrong. Despite that, their parent, their trusted person, is smiling. Trust overrides. A child-like faith.

    We actually have more child-like faith than we think, but it’s : engineers, mechanics, military and first responders. Even with other we have child-like faith that those around us know what they are doing, even though the traffic and accidents should teach us otherwise.

    James takes the “adult” approach. He’s working with those adults. He has to unwind the ways of the world from their minds and hearts. Cast aside your worldly ways, he says. When he talks about mourning and weeping, it is to recognize what we are in the world. Mourning and weeping are signs of grieving; grieving for our worldly selves; grieving for the world.

    So much of what we have to unwind is ourselves. Some have claimed that it was pride that led to the Fall of Adam and Eve (and thus mankind). All of what James writes of comes from our pride. A child of faith has pride…pride in God, not self. This is not to diminish self, for we are made in God’s image. We are not to see ourselves as better than others, for all are equal before God.

    An untrained (or untainted) child will treat others equally, no matter how different they are. Only when adults condition them to judge those different than themselves that children become cruel, and then we all have to deal with the of that cruelty.

    1) What does child-like faith mean to you? How do you live that out in a world that is “adult”?

    2) Why do we often put ourselves in the role of lawgiver and judge?

    3) Why do we judge when we ourselves don’t want to be judged?

    KD) What do you do when kids treat others differently then they would want to be treated?

  • Flourishing Love

    Flourishing Love

    Psalm 36, Psalm 42, Psalm 52

    We see people all around us who do not believe in God. There are those who know of God, but do not have a with God. There are those whose relationship with God has been confused by the world or others. There are those who knew God, and for many reasons walked away. God loves them all.

    In Psalm 36:5 we read, “…your faithful reaches to heaven…” A love that reaches to the heavens does not abandon those not now in the fold of God. Also, God is faithful, and remains true to himself. The love of God is always there, even for those in full opposition to God. God’s love is faithful.

    In the midst of heartache, the Psalmist of Psalm 42 notes that God continually sends his faithful love (v. 8). This trust in God flows from the Psalmist’s recognition that he thirsts for the God (v. 2). In many respects this is a key to understanding those inside the fold and those outside the fold of God. Searching and aching (or thirsting) for God is no weakness. It is recognition that we are not the masters of our domain, as we like to think. It is a realization that our pride is nothing in comparison to the glory and of God.

    This is when we become the flourishing (not just surviving) olive tree in the house of God (Psalm 52:8). The flourishment is in God’s eternally faithful love. This love praises God through storm and sun, through good times and bad, as it is not based upon situations, but a relationship with God.

    This understanding of flourishing helps us when we return to Psalm 42:8. “…[God’s] song will be with me in the night…” When we understand that night (lack of ) represents and/or evil, we see that the Psalmist is not speaking/singing during a time of joy and , but from the depths of . Yet, the Psalmist’s joy is based upon God, therefore it is a firm foundation.

    1) Why do you think flourishing is tied to God’s faithful love?

    2) Much of what we strive for is just for survival. How do we often confuse that with what we need to flourish?

    3/KD) There are many people near and far who are protecting us. Those in the Armed Services are away from their families, often in foreign countries. Police, Fire and EMTs are nearby. We don’t see them much of the time, unless 1 or 2 are or friends. We trust them to protect us and we don’t know most of them. We can know (or do know) God, who we cannot see. Yet, we seem to often not trust God to help us flourish. Both are remote and/or invisible. Why is it often easier for people to trust the military and first responders and not God?

  • Trusting Joy

    Trusting Joy

    Psalm 37:3-6, Joel 2:12-13, Isaiah 12:2-6, James 1:2-4

    Integrity, so it is said, is doing the right thing when nobody is watching. It can be tempting to do the wrong thing when no one is watching. It is often easy to do the right thing when everyone is cheering.

    It’s when no one is cheering, or people are even grumbling or threatening those who do right, that we come to the hard part of living out our faith.

    “Trust in the LORD, and do what is good…”
    Psalm 37:3

    “…I will trust [the LORD] and not be afraid…”
    Isaiah 12:2

    When it gets tough to do right, all we can do is trust God. Sounds easy, but how often do we fail to trust God, and instead trust ourselves, others, or things?

    James calls on us to be filled with joy in these situations. Joy? Yes, even in these situations. Perhaps, joy is most critical in these situations. The freedom to feel joy is fully reliant on trusting God.

    Let us pray:

    Dear Heavenly Father, we know with our heads that we need to trust you. As we are frail human beings, help our hearts to trust you further than yesterday, and even more so tomorrow. Grant us the peaceful assurance of your grace, , and . Help us to continue to seek the coming Messiah, and to be filled with joy of knowing you.

    , be with us through the remainder of the season, stirring our hearts to not take Christmas for granted, but to be stirred into of joy-filled of the Father, , and You. Continue to quicken our hearts and aid us in our journey of faith.

    , Son of God, thank you for becoming like us. Thank you for experiencing a life like ours. We are thankful that you know temptation, yet did not sin, giving us strength to choose the God-lit path of faith that goes through the darkness.

    Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we lift you up on our praise. Help us to joyfully sing your praise, for your .

    Amen.

  • Secured Hope

    Secured Hope

    Job 8:13-18, Psalm 62:5-8, 2 Peter 3:1-18

    “…the of the godless will perish.”
    Job 8:13

    “Rest in God alone…for my hope comes from him.”
    Psalm 62:5

    “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.”
    2 Peter 3:9

    While many might consider me patient, I know my own impatience. While I wait for something, I still want it now. Yet, I wait.

    1) Do you think of yourself as impatient? Do think of you as impatient?

    2) Can you think of someone you feel is impatient?

    Yesterday, hope was the focus, just as it is today. In fact, hope is part of the foundation of the faith. Faith is . Hope and faith are tied together. They really cannot be separated. While Job’s friends had questionable motives and an unclear understanding of God, there is still in them. Bildad reminds Job that hope not founded on God is useless. In the Psalm, David reminds himself and us that unshakable hope can only come from God. In other words, true hope is based upon faith (trust) in God.

    The birth, life, death and of Jesus, the of God, was (and remains) hope. Peter reminds the church that this is not the of hope. Jesus will come again. In Peter’s day, people were already losing hope because God had not yet come back. Around 2000 years later, Jesus has still not returned! If our hope is based on our understanding, how easy it is to lose hope. When our hope is based upon God, God, and relying on God’s nature, our hope remains secure!

    3) Do you lose hope quickly? Why?

    4) If you trust God today, why would you not trust God with tomorrow?

    5) How does being impatient undermine trusting God?