Category: faith

Show Me the Land

Genesis 12-15

The first 9 verses of Genesis 12 hold SO much promise!  In fact, we’ve all heard of a lie that starts out small but just grows and grows – that’s bad.  But, what about a TRUE promise from the Lord Almighty that starts out in verse one and just grows and grows and becomes one of the largest and very best promises in the world?  Sometimes this is referred to as the Abrahamic Covenant. 

In Genesis 12:1 the Lord calls Abram (whose name will be changed to Abraham in chapter 17) to leave his country and father’s house and family to go to a land that God himself will show to Abram.  God is telling Abram to leave the known and comfortable and so much of what has been important to him thus far.  But God says when Abram does this, God Himself will show Abram the land that God has already picked out and reserved for Abram.  In the next two verses we see 7 promises given to Abram:

  • I will make of you a great nation
  • I will bless you
  • And make your name great
  • So you will be a blessing
  • I will bless those who bless you
  • And him who dishonors you I will curse
  • And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.     (Genesis 12:2-3 ESV)

That’s a lot of promising promises!  He is going to bless Abram in some big ways so that Abram can be a blessing to others, even to all the families of the earth!  And God’s not done – He’s got even more good news for Abram.  But first, Abram has to get moving.  He has to believe the promise enough to start acting on it. 

And he does.  75 year old Abram leaves his comfortable couch in Haran and starts out, not knowing where he is going or what the land will look like or when he will get there or what he will have to pass through to get there, but believing that when the Almighty gives His Word He is good for it and good will come of it.  So, he moves out in search of the land God will show to him.  I love that part!  Sometimes decision making is hard and we find ourselves overthinking or second guessing so we don’t move at all.  But God told Abram you get moving and I will show you the land!  Maybe that means you go through some lands that aren’t the right fit and isn’t what God is saving up for you, maybe you try some ministries that give you more experience and empathy but aren’t where God is going to plant you.  It is okay.  It is part of the journey.  You keep moving.  You keep trusting your faithful God to show you when THIS is the land He chose for you.

Can you imagine all the feelings old, childless Abram who got moving and has just travelled about 550 miles from Haran and was now passing through the land of Canaan would experience in verse 7?   “The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ’To your OFFSPRING I will give THIS land.’”  The promise just exploded and got so much larger!  Not only was he now SEEING the land God had said He would show him, but now he also heard that he would somehow, someway yet have offspring?!?  Abram’s response – he built an altar to worship the Lord, which also acts as a witness to others.

Sometimes we question God’s timing of the fulfillment of His promises.  Is it now, God?  When God showed Abram that this was WHERE, the question became WHEN.  It wasn’t time for him to settle there, yet.  But it was then also promised to his offspring, yet another great part of the promise. 

It is good news for us that God does not take back his promise from Abram when Abram is less than perfect (telling less than the truth to try to protect himself in Egypt).  In fact, it is after this that the promise has yet another amazing addition with some incredible implications for you and I.  Genesis 13:14-16 (ESV) says:  “The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, ‘Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.’”   Did you catch the NEW piece of the promise?  It’s a little 7 letter word that never ends!  This land would be given to Abram and his (as of yet non-existent) offspring that would become as numerous as the dust of the earth FOREVER!  Abram’s response – he builds an altar to worship and witness and he settles into the land that God had promised and God had shown! 

As beautiful as those chapters are – don’t miss chapter 15.  Abram is having some doubts.  How could all this be?  Sure, it sounds great, but he still doesn’t have any offspring! How long God until your promise is fulfilled?  The word of the Lord comes to Abram and it is the first recorded time the beautiful, comforting, often repeated phrase, “FEAR NOT!” appears in the Bible.  Why do we fear not?  Because God tells us HE is our shield and our very great reward!  HE has given a very great promise and He is working out the details.  He has chosen the land and He will show it to those who believe enough to get moving and in His perfect timing we will settle there and in His perfect timing we will see and cherish our offspring as numerous as the stars.  Verse 16 is quoted 3 times in the New Testament:  “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” He believed.  It doesn’t say he understood.  He didn’t have to engineer the plan.  He had to believe, and move, and let God show him the land. 

Dear Lord, thank you for your promises that are always true and that just keep getting bigger and bigger. Please show me the land You have chosen for me to settle in – both now and when Jesus returns to set up Your Kingdom on this land. Help me get moving in the direction You have laid out. Thank you for the offspring you have blessed me with, help me also see and care for the spiritual offspring you have given. Help me worship You and be a witness to all You have already done and all You have yet to do. Thank you for being my shield and very great reward! Help me remember this so I do not fear but always believe in you and Your great Son. Thank you for your Word, and for keeping it FOREVER!

-Marcia Railton

Reflection Questions

1.When was the last time you made a covenant, a promise, or gave your word?  Can your word be trusted?  Can God’s word be trusted?  How do you know?  (Notice that God gave an example in Gen 15 of how trustworthy His word would be when he foretold the 400 years in Egypt and the exodus.  Who do you think God included this information for?)

    2. In what ways has God blessed you so that you can bless others?

    3. What might have happened if Abram would have declined God’s offer and promise to show him a new land?  Maybe he was just too comfortable in Ur, and then Haran?  Maybe he had a project he wanted to finish?   What if he loved his family too much to leave?  What might be holding us back from setting out to find the land (or purpose or ministry or Kingdom) God has reserved for us?  What might we miss out on if we stay where we are known and comfortable? 

    4. What similarities and differences can you find between God calling  Abram which begins the Abrahamic Covenant and 2,000 years later Jesus calling the disciples at the start of the New Covenant?  How are the two covenants connected?  Now, 2,000 years after Jesus’ call, what do you feel you are being called to do?  What part(s) of the Abrahamic and New Covenants are still being worked out by a faithful God?  What land has God already shown you and what land are you waiting for your shield and very great reward to show you? 

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    Joy of Every Longing Heart

    Job 1-5

    Students may feel time stands still, waiting the release of a school day, but where reality is truly suspended is at a school dance.  I am no scientist, but I believe Albert Einstein must have been chaperoning teenagers when he discovered the theory of relativity.  It isn’t just one thing that makes it feel like you are locked into an eternal session on “Cotton-Eye Joe” on a Friday afternoon, but the combination of the shouting,  the music, the shouting, the running, the shouting, the smells, and the shouting, create a enormous sense of anticipation and longing for escape.

    Today in our chronological study, we end up in a completely different book. Job is thought to historically settle in and around the time of Abraham, but there is room for debate. Personally, I like the fade to black, and the entry into another storyline.  Multiple narratives, whether in our texts or as we edify one another today, demonstrate that God is working to bring all things to one conclusion or resolution, which indeed is our great joy as we consider his uniting Kingdom.

    Conversely, the vast majority of Job’s story is within the walls of great suffering, where time seemingly stands still; the playlist is that of devastating loss. Job’s health, his wealth, and his family are stripped from him.  He slowly and surely unpacks the persistence of physical and emotional pain, reminding us of the sovereignty of God: it is His prerogative to give and to take away.

    Nonetheless, Job continues to seek joy and restoration with God, though time stands still in agonizing sorrow.  Leaning, reclining, and collapsing on God are the only available avenues to move forward through the most intense trials and longest of sufferings.  David says in Psalm 16:11: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” We long for security, satisfaction, and meaning, but the answer to these needs  do not come from momentary allowances. We can only attain this through God, who freely gives this and more through Jesus Christ.

    Through His  life, death, and resurrection, we have abounding grace.  Through trials of every kind we can receive joy and develop perseverance because we know that our narrative is only one of many, tied to a single storyline about our Savior.  Though at times it feels like we will never move again, seeking God, we will be inspired to join in the conga-line with those before us who have died longing and waiting for their joy made complete.

    Revelation 21:4 reminds us that eventually the noise and the music will stop, and we can finally go home  – “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”  Blessed be the name of the Lord! What great joy there is in eternity, to sustain us through the most taxing times where we feel the ticking of every second.  We will be in the presence of God. We will be made perfect and whole.  We will be reunited. Oh come, thou long expected Jesus.

    -Aaron Winner

    Reflection Questions

    1. What has God given to you? What has He taken away? Why and how can you praise Him for both? What “negative” things has He also taken away for you?
    2. Who or what else also shares responsibility for the suffering Job endures?
    3. Who do you know who has suffered much and continues to praise the name of the Lord?
    4. How can joy and perseverance grow in the face of trials, tears and suffering?

    Have you downloaded and printed the 2025 SGL Chronological Reading Plan

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    or just one month at a time – here’s January…

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    Dear Desire of Every Nation

    Genesis 8-11

    If you have ever spent time in an airport terminal, you know how truly small the world can be. Travelers from all walks of life, zoom around in every direction.  Despite differences in cultures, status, and language, there is a common purpose among all: a deep desire to get somewhere.  While that “somewhere” might be to make a business deal, take a vacation, visit family, or relocate, each of us move to add value and meaning to our lives, to move to be a part of something greater than ourselves.

    In Genesis 9, the world is a small place in a much different way. Those who survived the flood all belong to Noah’s family, who moved with a single purpose, obedience to the Creator.  God restored the connection in a covenant with all of creation.  A rainbow in the clouds became a sign of His promise, a reminder of both His faithfulness to a world, to redeem, restore, and sustain life, but also a reminder of the single sustaining purpose of humanity, to serve the Almighty God.  While God continues to uphold his side of the bargain, humanity once again falls into the trap of sin.  Noah and his family, like Adam and Eve, and like each one of us, are tempted by the self-serving desires of value, meaning, and knowledge that leads them astray from God’s command.

    In Genesis 11, we see a culmination of humanity’s desire becoming misplaced. At Babel, people attempted to build a tower that reached the heavens. It is not to honor a God who created the Earth and flooded it at His command, but to make a name for themselves because they had moved some earth.  Was their longing for unity wrong? Absolutely not. God has given us an inmate desire to be connected, but the work of man without God, will never lead to Utopia.  Repeated time and again in history is the danger of groupthink that allows for and even endorses the most despicable behavior.  God’s response is to scatter these people and confuse their languages, reminding them that true unity and purpose can only be found in Him.

    While the world still speaks some 7,000 languages, there is still a desire that binds each one of them. Jesus Christ has become the purification we receive in the flood and the desire for connection displayed in Babel.  He is both the covenant that brings us back to God, and the one who unites us as brothers and sisters in Him. The single purpose sought in Babel is now realized in the Church, where people of every nation, tribe, and tongue are united.  Like the airport, with a much greater sense of purpose and much less baggage, Jews, Greeks, slaves, free, men, women, impoverished and wealthy, and every other intersection of society are brought together.

    Jesus Christ, and the purpose he brings to life, is the dearest desire of every nation.  The hope he brings, no matter the direction we are moving or even the trespasses accumulated against him, is the groaning inside each one of us. More than any other other time since Babel, we have an opportunity, to connect with people, nations, and even languages far beyond our own. Whether it is to our neighbor or the ends of the earth, let us continue to move for a single purpose, seeking and building the Kingdom of God.

    -Aaron Winner

    Reflection Questions

    1. Do you sometimes get moving…but forget what your purpose is? What is your greatest purpose today – and this year? How will you work towards fulfilling it?
    2. What went wrong at Babel? Have you ever been a part of a venture that crashed for the same reason? How do we proceed more carefully in the future?
    3. How might the stories of the flood and the tower of Babel have been different if Jesus had already been born, grown, baptized and was ministering at those respective times? How would your story be different if you had been born before Jesus?
    4. What do you desire that Jesus gives? What does your neighbor desire that Jesus has made available?

    Download a print a yearly SGL Bible reading calendar…

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    or just one month at a time …

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    then find a Bible reading buddy for 2025.

    Hope of All the Earth Thou Art

    Genesis 4-7

    Jan 2, 2025 – Day 2 of the SeekGrowLove 2025 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

    Just a few months ago, my family and I found ourselves in the path of Hurricane Helene. While the storm left widespread devastation, we were fortunate to remain safe, experiencing minimal damage, and counting our blessings. However, like millions of others in our region, we found ourselves without power. Looking back now, I can’t remember exactly how many days we spent unplugged (although I most certainly knew the number at that time with every passing day) As I witnessed the unprecedented number of power trucks traveling in every direction,  I most assuredly knew the power would be restored, it was just a matter of time.  

    You better believe that Noah had hash marks on the side of the ark. Noah knew beforehand how many days it would rain, but he didn’t know how long he would be making his home with a boatload of animals.  On day 41, he saw with his own eyes the Word of God fulfilled, for He had completed an unprecedented thing.  So Noah waited, holding onto hope that God would provide a way to get off the ark.

    Noah’s enduring faith, to build the boat, to endure the storm, and to hang onto the promise, show the beautiful exchange of God’s grace and protection when we trust and hold onto hope. Noah found favor in God’s sight, but we can declare this to the world:  through Christ, we too can experience the fullness of God’s grace.  As we look to our Savior for this hope, we can emerge from the storms of life victorious.  Through the flooding waters of baptism we are cleansed.  But now, emerged from the flood, we wait.

    There is still plenty of work to do.  We do not twiddle our thumbs until the return of Jesus. Noah continued his calling to give life and care for his flocks, herds, and packs while awaiting the return of a dove.  Like Noah, we have been given charge to continue the work of Jesus, giving hope to every nation.  If we are awaiting the return of Christ, we are approaching two-thousand years into our tally, but we are sustained, knowing the promise of God is not fleeting or pending.  It is fulfilled in its perfect time through Christ Jesus.

    We would be crazy not to look to the horizon.  The fact that we do shows that we have a founded longing and are aware of the signs. We see the birth pains that lead to the return of Jesus with resurrection power, so let us declare and defend to every nation that He is the reason for the hope we have.

    -Aaron Winner

    Reflection Questions

    1. What have you waited for? While you were waiting what storms did you endure? What was the reason for your hope?
    2. What do we learn from Genesis about Noah? What do we learn about God from the account of Noah?
    3. How was Noah different from the rest of his generation? How can you be like Noah?

    You can download and print the whole year’s Chronological Bible Reading Plan in a compact 1 page booklet form:

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    Or download and print just one month at a time in an easier to read format:

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    Who would you like to invite to be a Bible reading buddy with you in 2025?

    Israel’s Strength and Consolation

    Genesis 1-3

    January 1, 2025 – Day 1 of the 2025 Chronological Bible Reading Plan

    In case we have forgotten, we serve the Almighty God who created the heavens and the earth. By His word alone, He spoke the universe into existence, forming the earth and filling it with life. From eternity to today, His hands continue to hold the world as a loving Father to humanity, created in His image—the climax of His creative acts. As part of this creation, it is a powerful reminder that we are not the owners but stewards in our Heavenly Father’s domain. Yet, we can draw from the strength and power present from the very beginning. The same power that called light into darkness, parted the Red Sea, called fire from heaven, and raised Jesus from the dead is also available to us. We simply need to stop wandering aimlessly in the garden, worrying about what we will eat next, and turn to Him.

    Ultimately, it is God who gave us free will—the freedom to wander or to follow. This choice is most simply expressed in whether we choose to worship and honor Him or to worship and honor something else, including ourselves. There are countless opportunities to follow our own flawed prerogatives that lead to peril because choosing sin over God is inherent in our nature. Genesis 3 presents the moment of humanity’s fall—a moment that could have marked the end of hope. Yet even in judgment, God extends consolation. He seeks Adam and Eve in their hiding, clothes their shame with garments of grace, and promises a future Redeemer who will crush the serpent’s head. This promise is repeated time and again to Israel, God’s chosen people (Isa 9:7; Gen 49:10, Deut 18:18-19), and now to us, His new nation (Rom 11:17,18, 1 Peter 2:9,10). This act of mercy reveals God’s goodness—His justice tempered with overwhelming compassion.

    In our own failings, we find consolation in knowing that God pursues us in the same manner. He offers to cover our shame with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. This has been God’s plan from the beginning—that we would be redeemed and restored from our falls. In Christ, we are made a new creation. Yes, there is judgment and the penalty of death, but there is also the far greater promise of eternal life. Ultimately, we have a sustaining consolation like no other. God has given His Holy Spirit to us—not only as our Comforter as we await the fulfillment of His promises but also as a source of strength. Through the Spirit, we are empowered to reflect the fruits of our Creator and Father.

    -Aaron Winner

    Reflection Questions

    1. What is revealed about God Almighty in the first 3 chapters of Genesis?
    2. Do you sometimes forget some of the things that Genesis teaches us about God?
    3. What is revealed about man and woman in the first 3 chapters of Genesis?
    4. Do you sometimes forget some of the things that Genesis teaches about man and woman?
    5. What hope do you find in the first 3 chapters of Genesis?

    You can download and print the whole year’s Chronological Bible Reading Plan in a compact 1 page booklet form:

    SGL.2025.CalendarBookletDownload

    Or download and print just one month at a time in an easier to read format:

    SGL.2025.JanuaryFullPageDownload

    Who would you like to invite to be a Bible reading buddy with you in 2025?

    2025 Seek Grow Love Bible Reading Plan

    Welcome to the 2025 Seek Grow Love Bible Reading Plan! We will be reading through the whole Bible in a chronological reading plan this year.

    In our 2025 Bible reading plan we will read through the complete Bible chronologically.  The daily devotions will be written by a variety of people – from pastors and Bible college professors to high school students – all seeking to know God more and more, and willing to share their thoughts on God’s word with us.  Reflection questions are included to help us think further – and could be useful if discussing with a Bible reading buddy, family devotions, or a small group Bible study.  

    Subscribe at SeekGrowLove.com to receive the daily email devotions and questions.  Print the full 2025 Seek Grow Love Bible Reading Plan booklet found below and share one with a friend or Bible reading buddy! Or, you can print just January on a full page to get started with a larger font (the other months will be available later).

    God has wonderful things in His Word to show us in 2025!  Praying for you and your journey in His Word!

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    Born to Set Thy People Free

    OLD TESTAMENT: Malachi 1

    POETRY: Psalm 149

    NEW TESTAMENT: John 20:24-31

    While there are many who find their religion in removing Christmas decor before the New Year, no such tradition exists in our home. Oftentimes, Christmas decorations linger well into January (or even February) before finding their way back into totes and closets. With these symbols close by, we try to cling to the lingering sentiments of the season. Unfortunately, there is a sobering of one’s mind from the blinding joy of Christmas spirit as we return to work and school, say goodbye to family and friends, and begin to eat our vegetables again. In this in-between season, we must wrestle with more desperate realities; we are still in the thick of things in the present evil age. Grief, illness, relational discord, anxiety, and stagnation find footholds to beckon or challenge us with a candid question: “Jesus, where are you now?”

    If we say this, we are not unlike the captive Israelites of the Old Testament crying out. We are not unlike the apostles or those we have witnessed fall asleep in faith in our lifetime, all holding onto the promise of a soon-coming Savior. This week, as we transition our calendar from one year to another, our study and prayer echo the words of a three-century-old classic Christmas hymn, “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.” The first of these reminders, as we commingle a season of great joy with that of longing heart, is that Jesus was born to set God’s people free.

    Looking at today’s reading, we start with the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi. This book addresses Israel’s increasing spiritual despondency. No doubt, we can connect this to some season we are currently weathering—whether it be the day on the calendar, within our own walk with Christ, or the physical location and time we find ourselves. Malachi begins with the Lord God responding to the question, “How have you loved us?” Spurgeon states in his sermon, “God’s Love Shamefully Questioned,” that the gratitude we give to God is similar to a hog who eats acorns which have fallen from a tree, yet never once lifts its head to bless the tree that has provided the food. The Sovereign God promised a Messiah and delivered, born on the other side of the Silent Years (the time between Malachi and Jesus). His love was demonstrated in the fact that while Israel, and truly each one of us, acted as pigs in our incompetence, lackluster faith, misplaced priorities, broken offerings, accumulation of sin, and running away, He still miraculously gave us Christ to set us free (Rom. 5:8).

    We may know this truth, but honestly, it may show that we carry our concerns closer than our Christ when we ask for Jesus to show up in our prescribed time and location, much like Thomas.  We request to put our hands on His scars, or some other litmus test, as proof of His message, so we can freely live in faith.  Jesus replies to this skepticism, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). While there may be times of confirmation that the hand of Jesus is in our life, it is impossible for us to see, to hold, or to understand the preparations that have been made for our future hope.

    In this way, our response of faith does not require more evidence of God’s faithfulness to us; we are already redeemed. Instead, we should declare the joy and triumph that is found in the daily redemption that comes through the advent of Christ. Singing a new song and bringing a sacrifice of praise equally remind us of the promises of God, how He has loved us through redemption in His Messiah, and draw us closer to Him. The very words of God we use to sing give voice to the silence as we wait for an answer, an intercession, or the coming of our Lord Jesus. Our present circumstance may tempt us to despair, but the act of praising God rekindles our faith and recenters our thoughts on the saving power of our Heavenly Father.

    The challenges we may face in this coming season may have us crying daily, “Come, thou long expected Savior,” but know that God’s plan set you free long ago. Jesus is now interceding, preparing, and indeed, residing in our hearts as we carry our cross. We have yet to see our faith made complete in the second advent, but we can pray that our next year is the first within eternity. Until then, let our pining become our praise because God so loved us, He sent His Son.

    -Aaron Winner

    Reflection Questions

    1. How have you acted as a hog eating the acorns and never giving thanks? What can you do to change hog-like behavior?
    2. What are you waiting for? What is your relationship with God and His Son Jesus right now?
    3. How would you answer the question, “How has God loved you?”
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    Promises

    OLD TESTAMENT: Nehemiah 10-11

    POETRY: Psalm 148

    NEW TESTAMENT: John 20:10-18

    Promises. 

    I started learning about our cultural acceptance of the flexibility of “promises” when I was young: the revocability of a promise made with little crossed fingers, the lack of sincere meaning behind most promise rings given between teens, the recurring empty assurance that I could be Mario instead of Luigi the next time my friend and I would duel on her original Nintendo. 

    Promises matter, from a pledge on the playground, to a contract with a company, to sacred words at a wedding. Unfortunately, we live in a shattered world laden with insincere, neglected, and forgotten promises. 

    In Nehemiah, the Israelites came together to commit once again to following God. “The rest of the people…now join their fellow Israelites the nobles, and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord our Lord.” (Neh 10:28-29) As we discussed yesterday, throughout history, the Jewish race had been in a wild, cyclical, on-again, off-again relationship with God. That which began with Jacob/Israel as a beautiful tapestry of covenant between Almighty God and his chosen people became interwoven with heartache, death, defeat, and slavery. But they vowed that, this time, they would follow God! (Spoiler alert: they would disobey yet again before this book even ends.)

    God’s love to his people was a covenant, not a contract. A contract is a promise that one party will uphold their end of the agreement as long as the other side fulfills their responsibilities, while a covenant is a promise no matter what. God remained faithful even when his people were unfaithful, but they still had to face the consequences of their behavior. This covenant, originally for the Hebrews, has been renewed through Jesus to include the Gentiles as well. I am so grateful that we can all share in the hope God offers through Jesus! 

    Our family strives to emphasize the importance of keeping promises. My husband Dan can often be heard reciting, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no” (Matthew 5:37). My 7 year old, when feeling slighted by an unmet expectation from his older brother, will object, “But your word is your promise!” Even children can understand the potential detriment of dishonored vows. 

    As my son Gideon and I read from the Jesus Storybook Bible every night, he echoes the beautiful phrase that describes God’s covenant love in many of the stories: God’s “never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.”

    Today, may you rest in the promise of God’s covenant love while you continue to seek Him in all you do. 

    Similarities in today’s other readings: 

    Psalm 148:6b: “God made a law that will not be broken.” God is a faithful God! 

    John 20: Mary met the resurrected Jesus for the first time! His death and resurrection are amazing fulfillments of God’s prophecies and promise! 

    -Rachel Cain

    Reflections: 

    * Create your own phrase to describe God’s covenant love, like the one I included from a children’s Bible above. Praise God for his covenant love! 

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    Stop the Slow Fade!

    SEEK & SHARE

    OLD TESTAMENT: Nehemiah 9

    POETRY: Psalm 148

    NEW TESTAMENT: John 20:1-9

    “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction… it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation…”

    ~ President Ronald Reagan. 

    Reagan spoke these famous wise words during his inaugural address. It was a call for the country to not take our freedom for granted, to continue fighting to keep our freedom alive.

    That reminds me of the instructions following the Shema, a major tenet of Jewish faith and our faith, found in Deuteronomy 6. The Shema states: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” 

    Those words are super important, but is that the end? Is that all we need to know and do? A big, resounding NO! Immediately following these core words, we are instructed to pass along our faith deeply to the next generation and embed it into our daily rhythms: “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

    If I am interpreting this scripture correctly, it seems like we are supposed to be thinking and teaching about God, like, all the time, right? We need to be in a state of constant communion with God not only in our own hearts, but also sharing that with our children and others around us. 

    Nehemiah 9 describes Israel’s repentance, return to faith, and reinstallment of their covenant in a religious and legal document. Throughout the chronicle of their rebellion, they remember God’s covenantal love: “You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love” (v 17). They realize, though, that it is because of their sin that they are presently enslaved under Persia. 

    We can’t let the next generation forget! This happened too many times in Israel’s history, and it continues to happen with us. Oh, sure, we don’t intend to not grow our relationship with God and teach our kids to do the same, but there’s just so much vying for our attention: school and work and sports and sleep and Netflix. It’s a slow fade, a side effect of busy-ness and forgetfulness and complacency, but ultimately it’s an abdication of our responsibilities as followers of Jesus. However, it is vitally important, in our farm-out-all-our-chores-to-someone-else culture, that we don’t assume someone else will teach our children about Jesus, someone else will share the love of God with our restaurant server, someone else will volunteer to meet the needs of our local church and community, someone else will…

    We are called to be seeking and sharing about God from the time we wake up until the time we go to bed, whether we are at home or in another place. We are especially commanded to teach “them” to our children. (“Them” refers to commandments, but I think it means even more than that; I think it includes knowing and loving God enough to WANT to follow his commands, and passing that depth of understanding and passion onto the next generation.) 

    In Nehemiah 9, with the Feast of Tabernacles fresh on their minds, the people were still  remembering their history of being slaves in Egypt, then finding freedom, and then following a cycle of rebellion and enslavement… rinse, lather, repeat. After their work with Nehemiah, they were hungry to return to God and understand the scriptures. Again, this is why the Shema and the instructions following the Shema are important – we can’t let the next generation forget who God is and what He has done in our lives! 

    If we really peer outside our Christian bubbles, we will see a hurting and perverse world that is far from God. But it doesn’t have to stay that way! You can greatly influence your existing circle. Evangelist Gypsy Smith shared the secret to revival: “Go home. Take a piece of chalk. Draw a circle around yourself. Then pray, ‘O Lord, revive everything inside this circle.’” Start with yourself; renew your own relationship with God. Teach your family, and learn to follow Him better together. Then you won’t be able to keep it all inside! 

    Connections to the other readings: 

    In John, the disciples discover the empty tomb, but they seem confused about the whole event. Though Jesus had told them he would rise again, they didn’t fully understand until it really happened. Like the nation in Nehemiah longed to be free from Persian rule, Jesus’ peers wanted to be free from Roman rule. When Jesus didn’t save them in the way they wanted, they turned on him because they did not understand that Jesus was saving them in an even better, eternal way! 

    Psalm 148 is a song of praise! The people in Nehemiah praised God for his faithfulness throughout this chapter. 

    -Rachel Cain

    Reflections: 

    *Listen to this encouraging song. Be intentional to start a revival in your home and community today! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlQQcQc0eHU

    *Read the Psalm as a prayer of praise and gratitude to God. 

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    Joy to the World!

    OLD TESTAMENT: Nehemiah 8

    POETRY: Psalm 148

    NEW TESTAMENT: John 19:38-42

    Joy to the World! The Lord is come. Merry Christmas!

    I never really considered Nehemiah as a Christmas devotional, but today’s reading actually fits in quite nicely! We read today about the Israelites finally being reintroduced to the Scriptures after completing the wall. They had forgotten who they were, and as the Torah was read to them, they cried – perhaps they were sad that they had not known this all of their lives? The Levites asked them to stop mourning and instead go celebrate by eating and drinking together. “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” (Neh. 8:10). 

    As the people heard and understood more of the scriptures, they learned about the Feasts: God-ordained parties that had long been ignored or forgotten! Realizing that they were near the appointed time to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (also known as Sukkot or Feast of Booths) and eager to reconnect with their roots and their God, they quickly gathered branches to create temporary shelters. The booths/sukkahs that they created to remember their ancestors’ wilderness wanderings following their escape from Egyptian slavery were also a tangible reminder of their recent history living in a tumbledown city, which caused a renewed appreciation for their newly rebuilt Jerusalem. I can only imagine the overwhelming feeling of God’s faithfulness they experienced! The restoration of the wall led to a restoration of the Jewish people and their faith. 

    A few months ago on a pleasant autumn evening, my family huddled with hearty bowls of soup under a makeshift tent (ok, so it was really just old bedsheets haphazardly pinned to the clothesline in the shape of an A by my Littles, but it’s the thought that counts!) in our backyard while we retold the story of Moses leading his people out of slavery only to wander in the desert and sleep in sukkahs – temporary dwellings – for 40 years until they were ready to enter the Promised Land. This God-ordained fall Feast of Tabernacles, which has been celebrated for centuries among the Jewish people, is a rich way to remember God’s faithfulness in the past (providing literal and metaphorical shelter for his people until they entered their Promised Land) and His promised hope for the future (the Kingdom). Through burps, unrelated laughter, and all the other chaos that occurs when doing almost anything with a small mob of children, we briefly discussed the parallels between Moses awaiting the Promised Land and Jesus awaiting the Kingdom through my best novice attempt to honor some of the traditional celebrations. (I encourage you to look more into the feasts and celebrate them, even at a basic level, with your family and friends!). 

    Through my studies of this feast, I learned that Jesus was likely born around the time of Sukkot, which could be another reason why (in addition to the census) the area near Jerusalem was so full with travelers. As the Jewish nation celebrated their humble past, our Savior and King was born nearby in a humble dwelling, ushering in a new beginning. As many of us celebrate CHRISTmas today, we thank God for the gift of His son, Jesus. Merry CHRISTmas! 

    Notes about the other passages:

    In Psalm 148, the writer begs everyone and everything, large and small, to praise the LORD! The people of Jerusalem were definitely praising God for the completion of the wall and the restoration of their faith. 

    John 19:38-42: Jesus was born around the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, but he died just before Passover, another important feast in which the Jewish people celebrate God’s provision when He led them out of slavery in Egypt. 

    -Rachel Cain

    Reflection:

    • Consider ways to renew your relationship with God and Jesus, such as celebrating the feasts, to help revive your joy and faith. 
    • During what times in your life has the joy of the LORD sustained you with supernatural strength? 

    This is a music video of one of my favorite songs about JOY. How will you let God’s true joy be your strength in spite of whatever you’re facing

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