Category: Building a Faith-filled Life

The Narrow Door

*Jeremiah 35-36

Psalm 131

*Luke 13

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

There are some verses in scripture that make me really nervous, and in our reading of Luke 13 today is one that’s right up at the top of my list.  I would even venture to say that if there aren’t any scriptures that concern you, or make you want to do better, then that should in and of itself be extremely concerning because we have all fallen short.

Before we get there though, I did want to touch lightly on the Jeremiah 35-36 portion of our reading today, because there’s one of those “one-off” stories that I like so much hidden in there, because it reveals something to me that I didn’t previously understand or give much thought to.

The Story of the Rechabites (Jeremiah 35)

God told Jeremiah to go invite all of the house of the Rechabites into the temple in one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink.  They all declined, and cited the words of an ancestor, saying “Our father told us we were told never to drink wine, or build a house, or sow seeds, or plant a vineyard, but that we were to live in tents like an alien in the land where we rest”.  So, an entire generation (or more) of this family had obeyed, never drinking, never owning a house, never farming, just dwelling in tents and herding animals, presumably.  This seems like a pretty big ask, but it’s what their ancestor had told them, and they’d listened and obeyed faithfully.

God knew about these guys, and had them summoned.  God tested them, to see if they were remaining true.  When they passed this test, the reward is staggering, I don’t know if you’ve thought much about it.  This statment: “…Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you, therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Jonadab the son of Rechab will not lack a man to stand before me forever.” (Jer 35: 18-19, REV).  God is upset with Israel because they have not kept the commandments that were given to them from God, but as a result of the house of Rechab’s faithfulness, they “will not lack a man to stand before” God, forever.  Consider the statement of Gabriel, when he introduced himself to Zechariah: “I am Gabriel, and I stand before God.” This is one of the highest honors imaginable.

Moving on to the Luke 13 reading today.  The examples of “accidents happen” in Luke 13:1-5 are somewhat eye opening, but don’t in and of itself make me especially nervous, except for the repeated “repent or perish!” statements.  The parable of the barren fig tree in v6-9 is a little more concerning to me because while I feel like I’ve repented pretty good, how much fruit am I bearing?  I don’t always see the fruit that I’m bearing, so I’m always concerned a bit about “meeting performance standards”, as it were.   This one should make us all pay a little closer attention, because it’s clearly laid out to us that we are expected to bear fruit, that steps will be taken to assist, but if we don’t then we’ll be cut down.

The story of the infirm woman in v10-17 is pretty important to me because: I believe in keeping the Sabbath.  This is one of the verses that was shown to me in my youth as a proof text that we didn’t need to, but I note that Jesus never said that it was an option, he only clarified that it was OK to do good deeds during it.  He still kept the Sabbath, just as it was intended, and since he did it, I’ll do it (without standing in judgment on whatever anyone else decides to do, that’s above my pay grade).  Is a servant greater than his master? Not me, I’m not even fit to be a servant, but God is merciful.  This isn’t the bit that worries me though, and makes me lay awake at night.

Here’s the part that scares me.  In Luke 13:22-30, Jesus tells us of “The Narrow Door”.  When asked by someone in one of the many cities and towns he was passing through, “Lord, will just a few be saved?” Jesus replied with the following (in v24-28): “Exert yourself intensely to enter in by the narrow door, for I say to you, that many will seek to enter in and will not succeed. When once the head of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us.’ Then he, answering, will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets,’ and he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you who practice unrighteousness.’ There will be sobbing and gnashing of teeth, when you will see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, but yourselves cast out.“

That’s the part that keeps me up sometimes at night, because I’ve got a painful and deep understanding of my impurities, of all the terrible things I’ve done in the past, of all the improper things my innermost being thinks at times, and of the times when I don’t discipline my eyes enough to not gaze upon things that displease my God.  I’m really trying to be the servant that pleases his master, but I know of the thousand thousand ways in which I fall short.  I thought at one point after my repentance that I was becoming holy, but God has revealed to me my innermost failings, and although many of my sins have been removed from me, I still fail daily.  I try daily to do better, but I know in my heart when I’ve fallen short.  Every time I am impatient, every time I gaze twice in a direction my eyes shouldn’t be pointed in, every time I am ungracious in my heart to another one of the people God has created here, I am poignantly aware that I am falling short.  I am still trying, and I would rather try and fail than to give up.  To God be the glory, no matter what.

There are myriads upon myriads of people who have lived far better than I have, who have from their youth been loyal servants to the living God, who are just better people than I’ve been.  If some of these people will be told ” …I do not know where you are from. Depart from me…” what possible chance do I have, to enter into the kingdom, to pass through the narrow door?  It terrifies me, as it should terrify us all. Not everyone who thinks they are going to make it into the kingdom is going to. 

Here is one of the realizations that I have come to: it’s not about me.  It’s about God.  I’m going to do the best that I can in the time that I have left in this life to honor God.  Not because anything I could ever do would make me worthy of entry into the kingdom, but because I want to please God.  He saved me, literally.  Why me?  No clue, I certainly wasn’t worthy of the effort, but He did.  I really want to enter through the narrow door.  I want to see you there.  We all need to exert ourselves intensely, to constantly strive to improve, to be holy, to seek righteousness, and to humbly confess that even if we are allowed to enter through that narrow door: it is solely because God is merciful, and not because any among us deserve it.  To God be the glory.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. Are there any other verses that come to mind that make you a little concerned when you consider them?
  2. What does reading this chapter in Luke make you want to do differently in your life?
  3. Do you think that your salvation is already assured?  Why, or why not?

PRAYER

Father God, you have been gracious to me beyond my deserving, merciful to me beyond my understanding, and shown me more grace than I can put into words.  Thank you.  Please continue the good work that you have begun within me, be faithful to complete it, and help me enter into the narrow door if it is your will.  In Jesus name, amen.

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Give us the Bread of Our Need Today

Luke 11:2

Jeremiah 27-28

Psalm 129

*Luke 11

-Devotion by Tom Siderius (MI)

In the gospels of Matthew and Luke the disciples of Christ ask him how they should pray. He tells them to pray as follows.

Luke 11:1-2(NLT) As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 Jesus said, “This is how you should pray:

Today we call it “The Lord’s Prayer”.

Luke 11:1-4(NKJV) Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.”

The Aramaic language translation of some of the phrases are “let it come, your kingdom”, “let it be done, your will”.

How would that change your perspective of the prayer?

Jesus tells us to pray to “Our Father”. This is completely new to Jewish people because they never had addressed God as their Father. This is the change that comes to us today as the children of God. Then he goes to the main part of the prayer. There are seven parts to the prayer. Three parts are for God, and three are for us to do for God. In the middle is the food we need as our daily bread. Think of this prayer as an inversion of statements.

Things that are for God

1.)  “Your Name may it be holy”

2.)  “let it come soon, your kingdom”

3.)  “Let it be done, your will on earth as it is in heaven”

In the middle is bread

4.)  “Give us the food of our need today”

Things that we need to do

5.)  “Forgive our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us”

6.) “Let us not yield to temptation”

7.)  “Rescue us from the evil one”

“Your name, let it be holy”

does not give us any responsibility for making God’s name holy.  We can no more make God’s name holy than we can make fire hot. The phrase “make the fire become hot” is not something we are able to do.  The same is for making the name of God holy.

Isaiah 6:3(NLT) They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

God makes His name holy which is the center of who He is and is His nature. God demonstrates his holiness in His love for people and in the salvation that He brings to His people.

“Let it come soon, your kingdom”

Luke 17:20-21(NLT) One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. 21 You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.”

Jesus’ kingdom is not from here on earth but is from heaven. It comes to us in the person of Christ. It is both near to us and far away. It is soon but we do not know when. It comes alive when we obey God and do His commandments.

The help we gain by praying for the coming of God’s kingdom is that it gives us a connection with all past, future and present events and persons. It encourages us who are involved in the doing of God’s will in the current heaven and earth. Our prayer is for the will of God to be done here and now. And then we pray for the new heavens and earth to come..

“Let it be done, your will on earth as it is in heaven”

God’s will is done in heaven always but God’s will is not yet being done on earth except when His people obey Him. God directs all of history but gives each person the freedom of will to choose what they do and how they act. When we do God’s will now the kingdom comes alive today in our lives. Prayer connects us to God every day.

“Give us today the bread of our need today” (Aramaic translation)

It is in the middle of the prayer and is generally the focus of our daily lives. We are concerned with our food, but also all the things that it takes to live in this world. That is what the term “bread” means in the prayer.  God is concerned with everything that we need to live.

It is not a prayer to get riches or wealth but to meet our needs in every way we need. Our food, clothing, shelter, and health are all in God’s care.

John 6:32-35(NLT) Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.” 35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

How can we change from the desire for physical bread to the desire for spiritual bread?

“Forgive our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us”

See how Jesus connects God forgiving us of our sins to our forgiveness of others.  This wasn’t the way that the Jews treated people at that time.  In many ways they wanted God to forgive  them, but they didn’t take any responsibility to forgive others. 

What should be our attitude toward those who have wronged us? 

Why is the forgiveness of others so important to our walk with Christ?

“Let us not yield to temptation”

These words are filled with difficulty:  What is temptation?  Or is it trials? 

God doesn’t lead us into temptation or give us trials. We are tempted from our own selves, and this causes us trials in life when we sin and disobey God. Temptations are of our own making.

James 1:13 (KJV) Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

Our human nature is to do what God has told us not to do. The prayer is then for God to help us to resist and then avoid the trials of  the making from our own self-destructive nature.

“Rescue us from the evil one”

Can be translated as “deliver us from evil” or as “deliver us from the evil one”. 

There is a personal and impersonal side to Satan. He does not have power to directly affect us when we are in fellowship with God. But we need God’s help for deliverance from the evil one. Our human failing and sin defeats us when we do not trust God in our lives. Fear defeats God’s promises and help.

Job 3:25 (KJV) For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. 26I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

Job is almost destroyed by Satan because of his fear of God not blessing him. Our prayer to God is in the name of Jesus Christ and our trust that God will help us in every way is what will defeat the Satan in our lives.

John 14:12-14(NLT) I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

We see a great example of prayer in Ephesians where Paul prays for the church and the people in it.  This is a good guide for us to follow.

Ephesians 3:14-21(NLT) When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

What can we do to improve our prayer each day as Jesus taught us and then trust in our Father in heaven to be with us?

Prayer

Father God our Abba, help us to change our hearts to be obedient to Your Word and direction.  Thank you for changing our thoughts to be like Your thoughts.  Thank you for changing our eyes to see like Your eyes and hear with Your ears.  God, You have given us grace and mercy without measure and we love You.  Thanks for the Gift of Your Son who has redeemed us and make us able.  We pray in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ this day.

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Who Touched Me?

*Jeremiah 15-16

Psalm 126

*Luke 8

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            If you read yesterday’s devotion, do you remember there being at least 8 devotions worth of material in Luke 8?  Well, lucky day, since Luke 8 is partially in today’s reading too, one of them (the woman who touched Jesus and was healed) is going to be our primary study today.

            Before we go there though, just a touch upon our Jeremiah reading today.  If you read through these chapters, it really sounds like God is super-pi….well, let’s just say really angry. If you wonder why, check out the devotion from  June 17th this year entitled “Tingling Ears”.  Manasseh means “forgetting” or “causing to forget”, and Manasseh caused the Israelites to forget about God, while being credited in a number of scriptures as being so bad that he pretty much caused the babylonian exile (and the destruction of the temple) because of his sins.  In Jeremiah 15:4 specifically it says: “And I will make them an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, because of what he did in Jerusalem.”.   Just another clear reminder that just because you come from good stock doesn’t mean you’re good.

            Moving forward to Luke 8, let’s talk about the woman who touched Jesus, as there are a couple interesting points to make here.  First let’s set the scene a little.  Jesus and the twelve are travelling about, preaching and healing people, along with a group of benefactor ladies (Luke 8:1-3).  Huge crowds are gathering to hear what this Jesus guy is saying, people are even being healed, so everywhere he goes there’s a crowd either curious to hear his words or maybe even to get lucky enough to be healed of an affliction.  Maybe even both.  Jesus got in a boat to get some peace, calmed a storm, cast out demon(s), and then returned.  When he got back, the crowds were waiting on him.

            So, did you ever wonder if Jesus obeyed Jewish law?  He did.  When the woman in the crowd touched Jesus and was healed, she touched what is commonly translated as “the hem of his robe”.  What she actually touched was the fringe (or tassel) of Jesus’ garment, which was the part of the clothing known as the “tzitzit” worn by faithful Jewish men in obedience to biblical commands (found in Num 15:38 and Deut 22:12).  So yes, our Messiah was a very faithful and law obeying Jewish man, just as it was prophesied throughout scripture that he would be.  The seed of the woman, an Israelite man which God would raise up from among his brothers “like Moses” who would be completely obedient, a genealogical descendant of David.

            When the woman touched Jesus’ tassel and was healed, he felt the power go out of him.  There’s an interesting discussion here in Luke 8:45-48, in which Jesus asks who touched him.  Once, while attending a “traditional, orthodox” church,  a teacher speaking about this event told me (and the rest of the class) “well, he actually already knew, because God is omniscient…”.  Let’s pause a moment there and consider that.  While I’d agree that omniscience is probably a trait of God (Yahweh),  it seems as if in addition to many of the other notable traits and characteristics that distinguish the son of God (Yeshua) from God Himself (Yahweh), Jesus did not share this trait.  To imply that Jesus, our Messiah, would intentionally dissemble and mislead seems rather silly to me, and ill informed and ungracious at best.  Jesus, as the man God sent, only spoke the words that God told him to speak (and that’s according to Jesus himself, see John 12:49) so I think we can safely rule that theory out completely and move on to the simpler, more honest, reading.

            We don’t know the woman’s name* who touched Jesus in the crowd, the bible doesn’t mention it.   We do know that she was suffering for 12 years from  a chronic bleeding condition, “a discharge of blood” (possibly menstrual), which would render her ceremonially unclean and socially isolated under Jewish law.  To even touch an unclean person under Jewish law meant that you became unclean too.  What’s the big deal though?

            It’s a bigger deal than you can possibly imagine.  In the ancient world, the Jewish people had at the core of their social identity as a people the common belief in the one God, the God who had saved them from Egypt and claimed them as a people, and there was only one place in Israel that it was acceptable to go and worship this God, and that was at the Temple in Jerusalem.  You could not enter the temple if you were unclean, not without a very specific (and time consuming) ritual cleansing.  If you had a chronic bleeding condition, you could never become ritually clean, and therefore you could never enter the temple.  You couldn’t make your sacrifices before God.  You were cut off, not only from your people, but from your God. 

            Put it in your own social terms.  Let’s say you live in a medium-sized town, and everybody in this town goes to one church.  Now imagine that nobody will socialize with you or even approach you, and the only place that you can go to that everyone else goes to is denied to you.  In addition, even though you want to serve God, the only place you’re allowed to do it is at this church, which you’re not allowed in.  Feel isolated yet?  It was exponentially worse for this woman, because the core of the Jewish identity centered around the temple, and the belief and worship of the one God, which could only ritually take place in the temple.  This woman had no friends, and couldn’t even officially approach God, not like the rest of the Israelites could.  Just imagine how that would make you feel.

            When Jesus found out who had touched him, he didn’t rebuke her.  He didn’t scold her as an unclean woman touching a faithful and ritually clean Jewish man.  He blessed her, and told her that her faith had made her clean.  From this point, all she had to do was to go and see a priest, serve out the prescribed time for purification, and then she could enter the Temple.  Jesus restored her ability to have a direct relationship to God.  He brought her back in to the tribe of Israel socially as well, and enabled her to be a part of the nation that was no longer isolated and excluded.

            No matter who you are, no matter what tribe you are from, no matter what the color of your skin is, what language you speak, or what nation you live in: Jesus offers us this same invitation.  A chance to remove our affliction, to restore us to our God, and to be a part of the kingdom.  An opportunity, for those of us bold enough and willing to just reach out and try to touch him.  Even if it’s just the hem of his robe.  All praise to the God who sent him, our king is a restorer, a mender of the breach, a repairer of what is broken.  Thank you, Jesus.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

  1. Had you ever considered the social and spiritual ramifications of having a chronic bleeding illness in the ancient Israelite world, based on Jewish law?
  2. Had you ever considered that our king, Jesus, was a (Jewish) law abiding man, and what the ramifications of that are to us today?
  3. Had you ever considered the deeper implications of why Jesus didn’t know who touched him?

Prayer

Father God, thank you for sending us your son.  Please heal us.  Thank you for all of the blessings that you have given us, all undeserved and unwarranted on our part.  Please help me to glorify your name, to obey your laws, and to follow the teachings of the one you sent to us.  In Jesus name, Amen.

* It should be noted that later “church tradition” does identify her by name with some other interesting and apocryphal trivia about her, but like any church traditions that aren’t explicitly in scripture, they should be discarded with the waste water.

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False Prophets

*Jeremiah 13-14

Psalm 125

*Luke 8

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            Luke 8 alone (ironically) has enough material for about 8 devotions all by itself by my reckoning, so please read it thoroughly as we’ll be moving along quickly to get to some other juicy bits today.  Aside from the (1)women supporting the ministry (see below), we have (2) the parable of the sower (hugely important concepts) and it’s explanation, (3) the parable of the hidden lamp (nothing is hidden that will not be revealed!), (4) Jesus’ mother and brothers (are the ones hearing and doing the word of God), (5) Jesus calms the storm (and teaches about faith), (6) Jesus casts out demons (into pigs, and gains a follower), (7) Jesus heals a woman who touches him (whose affliction would have kept her from going to the temple to worship), and (8) Jesus raises a dead girl (who he says has “fallen asleep”).  Whew.  Busy chapter, easily 8 full devotions worth.

            The first 3 verses here are interesting because after it mentions Jesus and his disciples (specifically “the twelve”) travelling about and preaching, it also says “certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, and then lists 3 specific names, but says that there were “many others” who were providing for them out of their own resources.

            Of the 3 ladies mentioned by name, Susanna has no other references in the bible, Mary Magdalene* has numerous other references in scripture, and then Joanna, who was married to Chuza, has no other mention in the bible.  An interesting note though: Joanna was Chuza’s wife, who was Herod’s manager.  This would be Herod Antipas, there were 5-6 Herods in scripture starting with “Herod the Great” (who was not so great, and was responsible for the massacre of infants in the Bethlehem area shortly after Jesus birth).  Herod Antipas was Herod the Great’s son, and is noted for his rule and roles in the executions of John the Baptist, and Jesus of Nazareth.  That Herod.  His manager’s wife was a noted follower of Jesus.  Interesting, isn’t it?  You’re welcome, history nerds!

            The Jeremiah reading today is going to be our focus.  In Jeremiah 13, God commands Jeremiah to buy a linen loincloth (skivvies).  The word used here can also be translated as “belt, waistband, or girdle”, but the idea is that it was a cloth that was worn close to the body around the waist.  He’s told to go bury the loincloth and then retrieve it “after many days” and when he does it’s worthless and gross, and this is to be a visual sign to Israel and Judah.  As visual signs and prophecies go, as gross as it sounds putting on a nasty ruined loincloth, in this instance Jeremiah could have had it a lot worse (See Isaiah 20 for comparison).  This visual prophecy, like most that God gives His people, is another attempt to guide them back to Him, which really speaks a lot toward the character of our loving and merciful God.

            Here’s what I’d like to focus on today, though.  In Jeremiah 14, false prophets have come among the people of Israel, telling them that everything is going to be fine and not to worry.  Jeremiah is upset about this, and mentions it to God, see below:

13Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You will not see the sword, nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace and prosperity in this place.’” 14Then Yahweh said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in my name. I did not send them, nor have I commanded them, nor did I speak to them. They prophesy to you a lying vision, and worthless divination, and the deceptions of their own heart. 15Therefore this is what Yahweh says: As for the prophets who prophesy in my name although I did not send them, yet they keep saying, ‘Sword and famine will not be in this land,’ By sword and famine those prophets will be consumed. 16And the people they prophesy to will be cast out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, and they will have no one to bury them—them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters—because I will pour their wickedness on them. (REV translation)

            There are false prophets among the people, they are telling the people what they want to hear, but they are telling lies and God didn’t send them or tell them to say these things.  Sound familiar? The point of concern here though is that the people will still be held accountable!  God gave us His word as a template, by which we are to measure the words of men.  Why is it important to be discerning with your understanding of scripture? Because God has already told us: of His nature, of what is to come, of what our expectations are.  We change these precepts, ignore them, or listen to others who speak contrary to these things at our own peril.  We will be held accountable.

            There are false prophets today, too.  In 1 Timothy 4:1 it tells us that in the last days they’ll abound.  We generally think that we’re in the last days now.  Why would they do such a thing, though?  Well, we had a discussion about this just recently at church Saturday morning: it could be people seeking profit or gain, it could be people seeking fame or social status, and it could also be genuine people who themselves have been deceived and are now in all earnestness and good intentions deceiving others.  The point is, it doesn’t matter why.  If you allow yourself to be misled, you will be held accountable.  How then are we to discern what is truth, and what is a lie?

            Isaiah 8:20 “Turn to the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light of dawn in them.“  (REV translation used).  Think about it.  If you listen to someone who speaks against exactly (and only) what the Bible says, they don’t have a morning, and neither will you.  Be discerning.  Abhor tradition and teachings where it contradicts scripture.  In Ephesians 6:10-17 when speaking of the “Armor of God”, among all of the defensive items of armor listed there is only one offensive tool mentioned with which we can fight, and it is the sword of the spirit, the word of God, the scriptures.  If you don’t know how to wield it, there’s a good chance you’re going to get murdered.  Practice with your sword and read your Bible, for your own sake, and for the love of God.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. How many false prophets can you think of, off the top of your head?
  2. How many of these do you think are genuinely earnest people, who have themselves been decieved?
  3. How many times a day/week do you read your Bible?  Would you read it more if your life depended on it? (spoiler alert: it does.)

Prayer

Father God, you have warned us of those who have eyes but are blind, and those who have ears but are deaf.  Please Father, open our eyes, clean out our ears, and speak to us clearly so that we are not deceived.  Lead us and guide us, whisper to us and tell us the way in which we should go.  Have mercy upon your people, Lord God, for your own name’s sake.  Thank you, in Jesus name, amen.

* Since the rooting out and exposing of unscriptural church traditions has become something of a hobby for me, it should be noted regarding Mary Magdalene that the belief that she was a repentant sex worker or the sister of Martha and Lazarus stems from later church traditions and misinterpretations, not from scriptural text. She was however “healed of seven demons” and contributed to Jesus’ ministry financially, in addition to getting honorable mention in all 4 of the gospels, and being the first to arrive at the empty tomb of Jesus after his resurrection.

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Jesus Announces His Ministry

Isaiah 62-64    

Psalm 121        

Luke 4

-Devotion by Tom Siderius (MI) – Some days are hard…but taking some extra time in God’s Word never hurts..so today – you get to have two devotions – here’s your second one on today’s passages.!

What an extraordinary series of readings we have today.  We read in Isaiah so much revelation showing us the true nature of God.  These chapters give us so many examples of how God relates to his people and how they should respond to Him.  We read in Isaiah 64.

Isaiah 64:4-6(NLT) For since the world began,
no ear has heard
and no eye has seen a God like you,
who works for those who wait for him!
5 You welcome those who gladly do good,
who follow godly ways.
But you have been very angry with us,
for we are not godly.
We are constant sinners;
how can people like us be saved?
6 We are all infected and impure with sin.
When we display our righteous deeds,
they are nothing but filthy rags.
Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall,
  and our sins sweep us away like the wind.

Why does God always have to bring up the problem of sin in our lives?

When we walk with God on the pathway to life, we are constantly faced with the problem of our sins and their consequences on our lives.  As Isaiah says to us our “sins sweep us away like the wind” sweeping away the autumn leaves.  UGH!  Why are the best works that I can do by myself compared to “filthy rags”? I am captured by the ugly thoughts and depression of constantly being less than I know I should be.  Our memories of our sins and shortcomings follow us around like a bad smell keeping us from relationships with God and others. 

However, God doesn’t leave us in the midst of our bad smell and depression.  He has given us an answer in the person of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.  Read the uplifting verses from Luke about what Jesus does in synagogue when he reads that daily reading.

Luke 4:14-21(NLT) Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19 and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.”
20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

God gives us the answer to sin and death, and his name is Jesus Christ.  Jesus reads the daily reading from Isaiah 61 which we looked at yesterday.  God sees the spiritual captivity of people, and their need for help because we are poor in all parts of our lives.  God sends Jesus to open our eyes and unstop our ears that we can see and hear the truth of His Word.  God has not left us in our sins and faced with death.  Jesus reads and then claims the prophetic mantel that Isaiah spoke so long ago. 

Does this section of scripture send your heart to God for help?

Jesus begins his ministry that starts here in his hometown of Nazareth and then proceeds to go about Galilee and then further throughout the land there.  What starts here goes to the uttermost parts of the earth.  Indeed, there is no place where the Word of God has not gone with the record of His love for us and the salvation He has offered to all who obey Him.  God is the author and originator of salvation, and then Jesus is the agent that God uses to bring mankind back to Him.  God desires to save us from captivity, heal our diseases, give us an abundant life, and then save us from death with gift of life eternal with Him.

Isaiah 64:8-9(NLT)  And yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, and you are the potter.
We all are formed by your hand.
9 Don’t be so angry with us, LORD.
Please don’t remember our sins forever.
Look at us, we pray,
and see that we are all your people.

What is the form of the clay of your life that God is shaping you into?

Luke 4:42-43(NLT)  Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them. 43 But he replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.”

Jesus is sent by God to preach the good news of the gospel to the children of Israel.  Then  as well to those that heard his words and saw God’s power revealed in Jesus’ life.  This responsibility of speaking these words of life have now been given to us that are the followers of Jesus.  We are now the agents of salvation speaking the words of life to all that will hear.  We are God’s chosen people today.

Acts 1:7-8(NLT) He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Reflection Questions – and above

What is the message of salvation that we bring to all the world?

Can you give a summary of this to people who ask?

PRAYER

Father God, the God who is like no other, we pray earnestly to You today.  We ask for the reassurance of Your love for us that comes from Your Word.  We thank you for this  forgiveness of sins that You have so freely extended to us.  God shape our lives to Your purposes and direction.  We pray for Your help in all our lives as we strive to find You and obey You.  Thank you for this wonderful gift of life in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.  In Jesus’ name we pray to You. We love You Father.

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Learning from Jesus

Quote from Luke 4:43 (NIV) on a blurred map background, stating the necessity of proclaiming the good news of God's kingdom.

Isaiah 62-64

Psalm 121

Luke 4

-Devotion by Kyle McClain (originally posted for SeekGrowLove on Dec 5, 2019)

In Luke chapter four, we finally get to see the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  However, before we get there, Jesus spent forty days and forty nights in the wilderness by himself with no food.  He was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit.  We are never told the purpose of the Spirit leading Jesus to the wilderness, but I imagine it served as a great time for Jesus to focus in on God all by himself before he began his earthly ministry.

While Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days, the devil came to tempt Jesus.  Three times the devil tempted Jesus, but he had zero success.  To combat the temptation, Jesus responded each time with scripture (verses 4, 8 and 12).  Scripture offers us a great way to combat temptation, as Jesus demonstrated here.  Psalm 119:11 supports this notion, as it states, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Whenever we are confronted with temptation, as we all are, a great way to resist and combat that temptation is by quoting scripture.  Now, this is only possible if you have scripture memorized in the first place.  This is a big reason why it is important to store God’s Word in our hearts.

After Jesus withstood the temptation of the devil in the wilderness, Jesus officially began his earthly ministry in his hometown of Nazareth.  He did not have quite the warm welcoming, as the Jews tried to throw him off of a cliff (Luke 4:29).  This was just the beginning of the Jews seeking to end and kill Jesus.  They were constantly taken back by Jesus’ bold claims that he makes.  In the end, the Jews send him to the Roman government to have him killed because Jesus claimed to be the Son of God (Matthew 26:54).  The Jews seldom got along with Jesus because they did not believe that he was the Christ, the Son of God.

Luke chapter four ends with Jesus telling us his purpose, as Jesus states, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent,” (Luke 4:43).  Jesus himself stated that his purpose was to preach the good news of the kingdom of God.  From the very beginning of his ministry, he preached all about the Kingdom.  The message of the kingdom was at the heart of Jesus’ ministry, and it should be at the heart of our ministry as well.

Reflection Questions

  1. Why do you think Jesus fought temptation with Scripture? What Scriptures could be most helpful when you are facing temptation?
  2. What Scriptures do you already know and have memorized? When do you bring them to mind? How have they been helpful? What verse would you like to memorize next?
  3. What is your God-given purpose? How will you seek to do that today?

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father – Thank you for Your Son Jesus who You gave to save the world including me. Help me learn from him and follow in his steps. Show me how to be victorious against temptation. Guide me in fulfilling the purpose You have for me, that I might be faithful to You in all things. Protect me from evil until that glorious day Your Son returns to earth. In his name I pray, Amen.

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Your Righteousness Will Go Before You

A serene background featuring a soft gradient of purple and orange hues with inspirational text from Isaiah 58:10, emphasizing offering oneself to help others and the promise of light in darkness.

Isaiah 58-59

Psalm 120

Luke 3

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN) – Originally Jeremy chose just THIS day to write devotions this week – but he then took on several more days when he very recently became aware of the need for more days to be filled. Thank you, Jeremy!

            I believe that today’s devotional may be the most important one I ever write.  In fact, I normally write a “block” of articles in a group, to create less of a headache for the lady who runs this website, but today is different.  I singled out this one specific bit of today’s reading because it is so important, so absolutely critical, that it may literally save your life (as I believe it did mine).  Even more critically, this may make the difference on whether you enter the kingdom of God, or are cast out “where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”, it’s that important.  So please, listen closely today, because a whole lot could depend on it.

            Isaiah 58:1-5 goes right into it, God (through His servant Isaiah) is chastising the people for the manner in which they are fasting.  The people are making grand displays of deprivation and wondering why God isn’t hearing them, thinking that fasting is like some magic trick that you perform to manipulate God, while continuing to act unrighteously.  That’s not what God wants, and if you want God to listen to your prayers, first act righteously (See for reference: John 9:31, Proverbs 15:29, Ps 66:18).  This is also what God spoke into my heart on about day 3 or 4 of my own fast after my father went blind, which led to a complete lifestyle change.  Reading through verses 1-5 here will give you a great idea of how not to do it, but the next verses immediately go into a remedial course on how you should do it.

            Isaiah 58:6-12 gives us not only a laundry list of things we should be doing, but an even more extensive list of why we should be doing them and what benefit it will bring.  This is the good stuff folks, pay heed.  I suppose I should also say that attitude matters; if you go into some of this thinking “Well, I’ll just do this and God will owe me…” you’re wrong.  God owns you already, and nothing you could ever do will be able to repay the debt that you owe God.  This is a way to humbly obey some of the things He has told us to do that please Him.  Going down line by line (this is from the LSB translation):

Isaiah 58:6-Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to release the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke?

            Wickedness is a trap, and people are enslaved by their sin.  When you choose to fast it’s not just a denial of food, it’s an opportunity to loosen the noose that is constricting your holiness before the Father.  Are you addicted to something that is taking your attention and focus away from God? Drugs, alcohol, sex, entertainment, money, your appearance, social media, cars, stuff: anything and everything that takes your attention away from God can be a sin.  Take a break from it.  This is an opportunity to loosen the leash a little, to not be a slave for a time, for freedom under God.  Take it.

Isaiah 58:7-Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the afflicted homeless into the house; when you see the naked, you cover him; and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

            Feed, shelter, and clothe people.  Engage with your family.  When Job was protesting his righteousness, one of his arguments was that he had done these things (Job 29:12-16, Job 31:16-17).  Keeping that in mind, remember how proud God was of Job at the beginning of the book.  These are the things that please God.  When we are told to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18, Mark 12:31) it equates this action to loving God.  Think about that, the next time you drive past a homeless person.  You were created in the image of God to have dominion on the earth, to represent the Creator to His creation.  This is an opportunity to love God, take it.

Isaiah 58:8-Then your light will break out like the dawn, and your recovery will speedily spring forth; and your righteousness will go before you; the glory of Yahweh will be your rear guard.

            This is one of the most important bits.  Not just that your illumination will rend forth from the darkness around you, not just that your recovery will speedily spring forth (and that’s a pretty important bit, if you’re struggling physically), but that your צִדְקֶ֔ךָ ( Tzedakah, or Sedaqa) will go before you.  The translation of “righteousness” is a pale shadow of the actual meaning, which can be more accurately translated as: “righteousness, fairness, justice”: all rolled up into one.  Do yourself a favor and look up Tzedakah on Wikipedia, and read it very carefully.  If you by your own actions are about to receive a bad judgement from God, to have your name erased from the Book of Life and written in another, less favorable book: this is one of the 3 things that can avert that judgment according to Jewish tradition: Tzedakah (not charity, but equity towards your fellow man), Tefila (sincere prayer, “crying out” to God), and Teshuva (repentance, turning away from evil and changing behavior).  Add all of those things to the fact that you’ll no longer have to watch your back, because Yahweh will be your rearguard, and it makes it a little silly not to actively seek to do these things.  When you help others you are literally helping yourself.

Silhouette of a person standing on the beach at sunset, with a biblical quote from Isaiah 58:9a NIV inscribed above.

Isaiah 58:9-12:  9 Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer; You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, 10 and if you offer your soul to the hungry and satisfy the soul of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your thick darkness will become like midday. 11 and Yahweh will continually guide you, and satisfy your soul in scorched places, and fortify your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. 12 Those from among you will rebuild the ancient waste places; you will raise up the foundations of past generation upon generation; and you will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the paths for one to inhabit.

            I have felt at times that when I called out to God He wasn’t listening to me.  On reflection, why would He listen to me? I hadn’t been listening to Him!  He has given us very clear instructions on how to make Him proud, and how we are supposed to act, and told us very plainly when we do these things He will answer when we cry out.  He will reveal Himself to us.  He will continually guide us and satisfy us, even in uncomfortable or dangerous places, and strengthen us. 

            The unfathomable grace of God can not be overstated.  He’s trying to give it to you now.  Please believe me when I tell you that these things are absolutely true,  I’m not speaking from a confident book-learning but from an experiential knowledge and certainty based on my own life experiences that God will do all of these things, and more.  If you want to truly experience God in your life, to have God whisper to you in your sleep and at quiet times, to have God utterly smash the things that come at you sideways to do you harm: try living this chapter.  Do you need healing? Do you feel lost and enslaved in darkness?  Do you want to see miracles? Then humble yourself, do these things in Isaiah 58, cry out to God, turn from any wickedness and stand back and be amazed.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. How many times a week do you seek an opportunity to perform Tzedekah (see above for definition)?
  2. Is there something in your life, any yoke or chain,  that is distracting you from God that you could either loosen or remove?
  3. Do you have a time scheduled for fasting?

PRAYER

Father God, help us to listen.  Guide us, satisfy us, and help us to reflect your love to the rest of your creation.  Thank you for everything, you are amazing.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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My Salvation is Soon to Come

"Guard justice and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come..." Isaiah 56:1 NASB

Isaiah 56-57

Psalms 120

Luke 2

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            Today’s reading is one of those instances where digging deeper into the scripture really pays off, when you should really be rooting around in the original languages because if you like easter eggs, here are some juicy ones.  I don’t want to spoil all of the surprises, as some of these things will also be covered tomorrow in the devotion in greater detail.

            First off, let me clarify: “easter eggs” is the term that is used to describe a hidden surprise, usually in a video game, movie, tv show, etc.  The term was coined in 1979 by Steve Wright of Atari, who named hidden surprises in the game Adventure after the holiday tradition of hunting for eggs. There are a couple in today’s scripture that are huge.  It starts immediately in Isaiah 56:1 “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Maintain justice and do righteousness, for my salvation is soon to come and my righteousness is soon to be revealed.‘” (REV).

            In the above verse, the word that is translated as “righteousness” is tzedekah.  You’re going to hear me a lot talking about “sedeq” or “tzedakah”, the word that is normally translated as “righteousness” or “justice” and sometimes “charity” throughout scripture.  This is because it is SO PREVALENT throughout scripture (it or it’s root word occurs over 500 times) and yet almost no practicing Christian understands it, or the concept.  To translate it simply as “righteousness” is truly a disservice.

            Simply put, tzedakah is the understanding that our extremely generous God is the creator of all things and all people, and that as his representative you are to reflect that generosity as a form of religious obedience to the rest of his creation.  This is the heart of what Jesus calls the second greatest commandment “loving your neighbor as yourself”, and it also is a way to perform the greatest commandment of loving God with all of your heart (See Mark 12, starting at verse 29). It can be translated as righteousness, justice, or charity.  All are applicable, and all at the same time. 

            I like to translate this verse in Isaiah like this: “Maintain divine law (mitzpah) and do tzedakah, for Yeshua is soon to come, and MY tzedakah is soon to be revealed”.  To put this another way;  the reason that we should obey God’s word and to be obediently charitable, is because Jesus is coming soon, and then God will show us HIS charity.  The word charity here falls short of the full meaning of the word tzedakah, which will be an intense focus for tomorrow’s study, but I feel like it most accurately reflects a good portion of the meaning.

            When Jesus was asked what to do to gain eternal life in the age to come, he answered the man and told him to keep the commandments (this is told in multiple accounts, and can be found in Matt 19:16-22, Mark 10:17-22, and Luke 18:18-23).  The “mitzpah”, justice or divine law, as it can also be translated, are necessary and critical components to pleasing God.  The root of all growth as a servant of God is to do this: maintain divine law (also translated as “justice”), that is,  obey God’s word.  If you don’t start there, you don’t have life.

            I’m not going to belabor tzedakah, because tomorrow’s devotion focuses on that very thing, but I will say I think it is one of the most important, and one of the most overlooked, aspects of Christian obedience in scripture, and one that we fail at consistently.  Look it up on wikipedia for a full “flavorful” understanding of the word, and know that there are a huge number of teachings in the Jewish faith on specifically that term which I’ve found extremely enlightening.  It’s a critical aspect of salvation, it shows your trust in God.

            Here’s the coolest thing: the reason that you should be maintaining divine law and being justly charitable is that JESUS (Yeshua) is coming soon and then the just charity of God will be revealed.  If that doesn’t make your toes tingle it should.  Most of the time when you see “salvation” in the bible, it’s probably an easter egg, and Yeshua (Jesus) is probably inside.  Yeshua, Jesus’ actual name in Hebrew,  means “the salvation of God”.  You can determine if this is the root word used by digging in to the original language, any time you see “salvation” in the old testament.   It’s all over, once you start digging, lots of folks would call that “foreshadowing”.

Isaiah 56:2-7 “Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast: who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.” Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to Yahweh speak, saying, “Yahweh will surely separate me from his people,” nor let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” For this is what Yahweh says, “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths and choose the things that please me and hold fast to my covenant, to them I will give in my house and inside my walls a memorial and a name better than that of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.  Also the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh, to minister to him and to love the name of Yahweh, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it and holds firmly to my covenant—even those I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

            Scripture is full of clever word plays that sound even better in the original tongue.  Did you catch some of them just now?  “Let not the foreigner who has joined say Yahweh will separate me…”.  Did you catch the assurance to the faithful eunuch who will be given an everlasting name that will “not be cut off”?  That’s probably pretty reassuring to a recently made eunuch.  Another thing I notice in the above portion of scripture is that the Sabbath seems to be a prevalent and recurring theme of importance, even for the foreigners.  Interesting, isn’t it?  Just something to think about.

            Here is the heart of the matter: to be effective servants of God, there are just a few things we need to do, and to do fully.  We need to follow the commandments (mitzpah).  We need to represent God to the rest of His creation, and be righteous, just, and charitable (do tzedekah).  We need to love the Lord God with our whole heart, and love our neighbor as ourself, and commit ourselves to obeying God wholeheartedly.  These are the things that please God.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. The commandments are listed as a critical aspect toward attaining salvation, according to Jesus.  Have you got them all memorized, and do you follow them all specifically as stated in scripture? Why, or why not? (the “letter” of the law)
  2. How effective are you at loving God with your whole heart, and loving your neighbor as much as you do yourself? What can be done to increase either?  (the “heart” of the law)
  3. If you were to give yourself an honest exam, based on the criteria of scripture, how well are you  obediently doing the things that lead back to God and to redemption? (the “purpose” or “intent” of the law)

PRAYER

Father God, I need you.  Please keep me from getting distracted, and fill my heart with your purpose.  Please let me see and hear clearly when you speak to me.  Teach me with hidden wisdom.  Speak to my heart, and write your laws within it so that I can please you.  Help me, Father.  Thank you, in Jesus name, Amen.

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This is the Psalm that…

Open Bible on a wooden surface with a glowing background, featuring the text 'I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. Psalm 119:16 NIV' in bold white font.

Isaiah 54-55

Psalms 119

Luke 2

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            For many of you “of a certain age” that grew up watching kid shows on TV, you might remember a cute little sock puppet named “Lamb Chop”, a creation of childrens show host and puppeteer Shari Lewis.  Lamb Chop made it’s debut on the “Captain Kangaroo” show in 1956, and starred in “Lamb Chop’s Play-Along” show through ’97 (which won 5 emmys), in addition to appearing in a number of other shows.

            On the “Lamb Chop’s Play-Along” show, they’d play a certain song at the end of every show to play them off, and if you’ve seen it you’re probably way ahead of me here.  The song was called “The Song That Never Ends”, and I’ve included it here for your amusement and a tongue-in-cheek punitive action.  If you’re young enough to have never heard it, look it up on youtube, and I’m sorry (because it will be stuck in your head forever).

The Song that Never Ends

This is the song that doesn’t end
Yes, it goes on and on, my friend
Some people started singing it not knowing what it was,
And they’ll continue singing it forever just because …. (repeats, ad infinitum, ad nauseam)

            When we read Psalms 119, the longest chapter of the bible, it seems like it doesn’t end. In my bible, it takes up about 3 full pages for this one chapter, with 176 verses in it.  About midway through reading it today, I heard the Lamb Chop song in my head and transliterated it “This is the Psalm that doesn’t end…”.  Good luck getting that out of your brain now. 

            All joking aside though, this is a great study with one overwhelming and pervasive message about God’s word.  It should be a very interesting point of study that the longest chapter in the book of  God’s word is about the importance of God’s word.   The author uses about ten different terms for Scripture such as law, statutes, precepts, commandments, etc. to highlight its perfection and necessity.

            Psalms 119 portrays the author’s deep love for and obedience to God’s instruction, presenting Scripture as a lamp and light for guidance and a source of comfort and strength during persecution, affliction, and trials. It emphasizes that meditating on and living by God’s Word brings joy, wisdom, and spiritual renewal, serving as the ultimate refuge and authority for a believer’s life. There are a couple very well known and often quoted verses that you’ll recognize as you read this Psalm.

            It seems like there have been quite a few additions made to God’s word, starting just a few generations after Jesus was resurrected.  Traditions, theories, and speculations.  These are dangerous, and everything you hear from the pulpit should be carefully weighed against the word of God.  1 Corinthians 4:6 warns us “…not to go beyond the things that are written… ” (REV).  Jeremiah 8:8 laments: “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of Yahweh is with us?’ But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.” (REV). Revelation warns us in chapter 22:18-19 that: “I testify to everyone hearing the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book, 19and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.” (REV).  Seems pretty important, right?

            Jesus says in John 5:39: “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have life in the age to come …” (REV) so yes, it’s super important, if you want to enter the kingdom of God. 2 Tim 3:16-17 says “All Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the person dedicated to God can be fully capable, thoroughly equipped for every good work. ” (REV).  Jesus himself (in Matt 4:4, and quoting Leviticus 19:18) declares that humanity lives not by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

            So if the word of God is that important (as we patently see that it is, as exhibited throughout scripture), if the understanding and practice of it can grant us life and literally be the difference between life and death both now and eternally; why don’t people read the bible more?  Why don’t we study it, dissect it, and spend almost every waking hour trying to love it as much as the author of Psalm 119, and to implement it into our lives actively?  We have a God who loves us and seeks to redeem us.  According to the scriptures there is also an adversary, who desparately seeks to distract us and draw our attention to other things.

            Here’s the thing: we are not promised tomorrow.  We live our lives as if they will never end, because we are so short sighted it’s hard for us to even accept that our bodies are finite.  We go through our lives blindly assuming that tomorrow will be just like today, only maybe better, but the reality is: God has set a timeline for these things, from creation to the time of the establishment of His kingdom.  We do not know that timeline, the angels didn’t know it, Jesus didn’t know it, only God knows it.  The point is, our time is limited, we don’t have forever; it would behoove us to do what we can while we’re able to study God’s word and to do His will.

            The below verse highlights this concept perfectly, taken from a portion of our other reading today: Isaiah 55:6-11: “Seek Yahweh while he may be found; call on him while he is near.  Let the wicked person forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and let him return to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” says Yahweh.  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow comes down from heaven and does not return there, but waters the earth and makes it bring forth and bud and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so will my word be that goes forth out of my mouth; it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do.“

            Each of us goes through different seasons in our lives.  Sometimes, we prioritize different things during these different seasons.  Psalms 119 tells us clearly that we need to prioritize the word of God, always.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

Right now, in this season of your life, what is your priority?

What is the potential gain that you possess by making this your priority?

What is the potential loss that you possess by making this your priority?

How can we shift our priorities to properly align with the design God has for us?

PRAYER

Father God, thank you for caring enough to give us your word, to send us your son, and to continually reach out towards your creation for reconciliation.  Please help us to seek you while you are near, to seek understanding in your word, and to listen when your spirit guides us.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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A Lesson in Obedience, and Humility

*Isaiah 50-51

Psalms 119

Luke 1

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            In our initial reading of Isaiah 50-51, God is (justifiably) upset with His people, reminding them that He’s still their father and that He didn’t sell them off but it was their own sins that has removed them, and then moves on to say in verse 2: “Why was no one there when I came? When I called, why was there no one to answer?...” (REV translation).  Can you feel the pain?  I am constantly amazed at the longsuffering patience of God toward His creation, and particularly the longsuffering patience of God toward me specifically.  I read stuff like this, as a father, and I can imagine the pain: the righteous indignation of a faithful father whose children have abandoned him to chase after their own foolishness.  I was also that child who chased after foolishness, and now with my new perspective it makes me even more ashamed.

             Isaiah 50: 4-6:(REV translation) “The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught, so that I will know how to sustain with words the one who is weary. Morning by morning he wakens me, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.  The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn backward. I gave my back to those who strike me, and my cheeks to those who plucked out my beard. I did not hide my face from shame and spitting.” There are some critical traits we should emulate here, there are some habits that this servant of God has that we who wish to be servants of God should follow.  First note that God has given him words to say, to sustain the weary.  Every morning, God speaks to him and teaches him.  God speaks to him, and he humbly listens, and then walks in humility: accepting abuse, violence, and shame from those around him, while remaining obedient to God.

            I am fully convinced that God is still speaking to us.  The real question is, how many of us are listening?  “When I called, why was there no one to answer?”  On the rare occasions that we do listen, how many times do we rebel, or go backward?  “No, I don’t really have time for that right now, I’m busy ______ing my _____.”  Fill in your own blanks.  How many of us will humbly accept scorn or abuse (like Jesus did), and compare that to how many of us “know my rights and will defend them!” If we were to grade ourselves, what do you think your grade would be? Is it a passing or a failing mark?

            The thing is, we are supposed to examine and test ourselves, and to make sure that we are in line with our master.  2 Corinthians 13:5 says (REV translation): “5Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail the test?”  Did you catch that?  You can fail this test, this isn’t like field day at school where everybody gets a trophy.  Just because you once were “saved” (I hate that term, and prefer “redeemed”) doesn’t mean you are saved forever.  Paul is writing the above verse to active Christians, so that should immediately dispel that erroneous teaching, and also make us sit up straighter at our desks and pay attention to our Teacher.

            So listen.  Being a servant of God is more than just calling yourself a Christian and then going to church on Saturday/Sunday.  Being a Christian is more than just putting on a nice set of clothes for one day and then making sure you’ve got a smiling face for a couple of hours when you’re in a church building.  It’s more than just reading the bible on occasion.  Being a servant of God means that you are listening for God to speak to you, every day, and then obediently doing whatever it is that God tells you.  That’s going to be uncomfortable sometimes, but it’s not about you.  It’s about you being a servant of God.

            Most of us today have become so narcissistically involved in our own well being and self promotion that we don’t even listen for the voice of God anymore and if that’s the case I would caution you: to be a servant of the living God, you need to be listening to God, every day.  He will speak to you in your dreams, and give you instructions and testing.  He will whisper into your ear in the morning when you wake up.  He will place opportunities in front of you throughout the day to be patient, to be humble, to reflect His majesty toward the rest of His creation, and to do the good works which God has prepared for you.

            Forgive your coworker when they are an absolutely offensive jerk.  Help a little old lady with her groceries.  Tell someone God loves them, and you do too, even if you don’t know them.  Next time the driver in front of you is being an absolute idiot, remember that you were an absolute idiot too at least once in your life, and reflect the patience that God had for you upon that driver.  See that homeless guy over in the corner of the parking lot looking hungry? What if that was Jesus?  For the love of God, go buy Jesus a hamburger, if you can spare it.  DO SOMETHING besides just sitting there contently in your redemption.  Every one of these things is a chance to listen to God, go out of your way to show God you’re trying to listen.

            So, can I work my way into the kingdom?  Nope, not even close to what I’m saying.  This is not an action that’s led by you, this is an action that’s led by God: but if you’re sitting on your butt and thinking “I believe correctly and don’t do bad things and that’s enough” you’re incorrect.  Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are his handiwork, created in union with Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance so that we would walk in them.”  God didn’t redeem us to put us on the shelf and look pretty, God redeemed us to “do good works”.  James 2:26 goes so far as to say: “Therefore, just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also trust (or faith) without works is dead. “(REV translation).  It’s not that what you do is going to redeem you, it’s that since you have been redeemed you are required to do some things, specifically, the things God has prepared in advance for you to do, for His glory.  If you’re not listening to God to know what these things are, you might not do well.

            Isaiah 50: 10-11 (REV): “Who among you fears Yahweh? Who obeys the voice of his servant? He who walks in darkness and has no light, let him trust in the name of Yahweh and rely on his God. Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with torches. Walk in the light of your fire and among the torches that you have kindled. You will have this of my hand: you will lie down in a place of torment.”  This tells us that even if we don’t see (like my father), we are to trust and rely on God (also like my father) and not ourselves.  If you rely on yourself, even if you think you’ve got it all together, you’re going to be painfully disappointed.

“Why was no one there when I came? When I called, why was there no one to answer?...”

I want to be there and I want to answer, because I can feel the pain, and I’ve already caused God enough pain.  What about you?

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

(and some of these are very, very, serious questions that you should give deep thought to)

How can we better listen to God every day?

What opportunities did we have today to reflect God’s glory back upon His creation? Did we take them, or miss out?

PRAYER

Father God, help me to listen; to stop talking long enough to hear your voice, to shut out the clamoring of this world and to hear the words of the spirit that you are constantly whispering to me.  Help me to remember the instruction you give me in my dreams, and to pass the tests of my character when I slumber.  Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, and renew a right spirit within me, to your glory, and to the glory of your son.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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