Category: good works

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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Working on a Good Name

Ecclesiastes 7-8

Psalm 105

1 John 3

-Devotion by Paula Kirkpatrick (MN)

My Grandpa Burnett was a quiet, unassuming man.  When I was young, he was a hard-working farmer, milking cows and raising chickens and other livestock.   Even after he and my grandma moved off the farm to a house at the edge of town, he was always busy with chores and responsibilities.  I rarely saw him sit down and rest. 

Grandpa Burnett was always willing to lend a helping hand to a neighbor.  Sometimes, the neighbor might not even be aware of it.  I remember my mom saying this about her dad. 

“If your grandpa found a hole in his neighbor’s fence, he wouldn’t tell the neighbor.  Grandpa would just fix it himself.”

That story from my mom has stuck with me through the years and embodies who my grandpa was—a good man, a Christian man, a man with a good name, a good reputation. 

Ecclesiastes 7:1a says, “A good name is better than precious ointment.” (ESV) In Bible times, ointment was a perfumed oil used for anointing, healing, and beauty.  Ointments were made with olive oil and fragrant spices that were usually uncommon and expensive. 

Young King David was anointed with oil by the prophet Samuel; Jesus’ dear friend Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair.  These examples reflect the reverence and high regard of the individuals giving and receiving the oil or perfume, and they help us to better understand the intrinsic value of a good name. 

The rich sweet smell of the costly ointment will eventually fade away.  A good name, a solid reputation, will endure the test of time. 

The author of Ecclesiastes finished the verse with a stark contrasting statement.  “And the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.”  What is he saying?

At the end of our lives, we can look back and see our journey with our Creator.  We can reflect on the winding paths, the mountains and valleys of life we encountered, exalted in, endured.  We can testify to God’s goodness and love, affirm his steadfast faithfulness every step of the way.

Let us endeavor each day to serve God fully, seeking His glory and not our own.  Let us strive to have “Good names” by the grace of God. 

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” 

Micah 6:8 (ESV)

Reflection Questions

  1.  Who do you know who has a “good name?” How did they get it?
  2. The writer of Ecclesiastes compared a good name to a precious ointment.  What item comes to mind, if you would make a similar comparison? 

Prayer

Dear God – I praise You. You have the perfect name forever and ever. Help me stay focused on You and what You want me to be and do. Give me the desire and energy to faithfully serve and give of myself with a good attitude. I want my light to bring others to You and Your Son and eternal life.

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Good Works

*Nehemiah 9-10

Psalm 90

*Titus 3

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            The restoration of a people is a beautiful thing.  When the (1st) temple was destroyed in @587/586 BC and the people were taken captive and led off to Babylonia as a result of their sins, they languished there for 70 years.  The return happened in waves: Zerubbabel went to start rebuilding the Temple (@538BC), Ezra went later and restored the law (@458BC), and then Nehemiah returned (@445BC) and rebuilt the wall, the infrastructure, and finished restoring the law to Israel (with Ezra).  Tying prophecy to history is sometimes confusing and can be very subjective depending on your interpretation and understanding.  One of the things that confused me initially is that the Jewish year has 360 days in it, our calendars today have 365 days in it.  Over time that can skew calculations, but keep in mind that the OT prophecies (as most scriptures) were written for ancient Jews.   That’s important to keep in mind, particularly to keep a correct context and exegesis when interpreting scripture: the target audience was (at least initially) the Hebrews, God’s chosen people.

            The ancient Jewish understanding of God is very clear in this exceptionally beautiful prayer of repentance by the people in Nehemiah 9.  To help give yourself that same understanding, I highly recommend that if you have a bible that translates the name of God as “THE LORD” (all capital letters), highlight that every time you come across it.  Then, somewhere on that same page write a note “YHVH”, the sacred and holy personal name of God, and highlight that.  Note that this will not be a quick task, because the personal given name of God occurs about 7000 times in the Old Testament, more if you count the abbreviated “Yah” or compound titles like “YHVH Tzevaot”.  The correct pronunciation of this is debated (The V is thought to be pronounced like a W in ancient Hebrew), but the important thing to remind yourself every time you come across it is that this is a personal name, not a title, and it’s the name God asked to be identified by (in Ex 3:15) “forever”.

            Chapter 9, v1-3 gives a very, very important description of how the people approached God, one that we should take to heart when we’ve transgressed and are seeking to return to His favor: humble yourself .  These folks fasted, humbled themselves, and confessed their sins.  They called upon God by name (v5) and blessed the name of God.  Then they pronounced this critical statement of faith that was central to the entire faith of all Jews: “You alone are Yahweh“, and followed with a list of accomplishments and deeds that God had done (v6-15).  They continue on and confess their sins (v16-31), and then while acknowledging their own guilt and the righteousness of God in punishing them for it, they ask for mercy (v32-37), and ask to enter again into a covenant with God (v 38, and then all of the specifics of the covenant are listed in Chapter 10 in it’s entirety).

            In Nehemiah c9v27 about 3/4 down the verse it says: “You gave them saviors, and they (the saviors) saved them (the Israelites).” (LSB translation).  So, who sent them saviors?  God did, we see throughout scriptures that God interacts with His creation through agents, but that even though the agent may have physically performed the task, it was God who caused it.  So who saved them? God did, again, because He sent the saviors (the judges, in this instance).  Even today, we understand that if a subordinate performs an action on behalf of their superior’s direct orders, it was actually the superior that caused the action to occur.  The Jewish folks have a legal term for this, called “shaliah” (see 1/27/26 devotion).  It’s critical to understand this concept in order not to misinterpret or misunderstand scripture.

            Here’s a good example of why: in Titus 3:4 it says “4 But when the kindness and benevolence of God our Savior appeared,” (REV) , and then down a little bit further in Titus 3:5-6 it says, “5 he saved us, not because of righteous works that we ourselves did, but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of a new beginning and renewal by the holy spirit, 6 which he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our Savior” (**Note that I’d originally had the LSB pulled up, but switched to the REV for this quote because the LSB evangelical bias was showing pretty strongly: holy spirit had been capitalized, and “which” had been incorrectly translated as “whom”, attempting to nudge the readers in a specific direction of interpretation.).  In the above comparison, we see that God is stated as being our savior, and then Jesus is stated as being our savior.  Does that point to a hidden “complex” understanding of God then? 

            Certainly not.  We understand that when God sends an agent, the credit for the actions of that agent are reflected to God, since God sent them.  While we can absolutely say that Jesus (the) Christ is our Savior due to his obedient submission and sacrifice, we can also absolutely say that God is our Savior because He sent Jesus.  God initiated the action, Jesus performed the action.  Jesus himself explains this to us, saying that God sent him about 30 times in the book of John alone.  This is very clearly explained throughout scripture.  I sometimes find myself getting a bit passionate about this very simple scriptural understanding, particularly when later traditions are presented to me as biblical truths, and particularly in a “church” environment.  That can be dangerous, though.

            That same passion is probably exactly what allowed men’s hearts to be corrupted, and to torture and murder fellow believers, when they believed differently.  We see in Titus 3:8 that: “those who have put their trust in God will apply themselves to good works” and in Titus 3:9 that we should “avoid foolish speculations and genealogies and strife and fighting about the law, because they are unprofitable and pointless.”.  Our focus should be on doing good works.  We’re just humans.  Regardless of what you believe, how are you acting on that belief?  This scripture tells us that we should be more concerned about performing good works in God’s name.  I absolutely believe that scriptural truths are important, but I also don’t want to be the most correct theologically understanding guy that didn’t make it into the kingdom because I didn’t act with love towards my fellow creation.                      

            So what is the perfect balance?  It’s tricky.  We see from scripture that our priority should be to trust in God, and to focus on performing good deeds to the glory of God.  That being said, it’s also important to understand scripture properly, because “God seeks those who worship Him in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24), and I believe it’s a very good thing to share our understanding: provided we can do it in love.  Humbly, gently, with overwhelming concern and patience, and considering others to be greater than ourselves: but also firmly, and unwaveringly, using the scripture as our foundation.  Pray to God, and He will grant you wisdom.  In the meantime, if you’re not sure on how to proceed, focusing on good works will show where your heart is to those around you.  It will take time, patience, love, and God’s wisdom to affect any changes in understanding that are deep and meaningful.  Be a light to the world around you, don’t beat up the world around you with your light, but let it shine.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

  1. Have you put your trust in God, or are you still trying to run things your way?
  2. What good works have you done this week?
  3. Do you plan your good works, or just wait for opportunities? Why?
  4. Which is more important to you: a correct understanding of scripture, or the correct implementation of the scriptures you understand?  Why?

PRAYER

Father God, grant me the heart to do Your will here on the earth, in a manner that pleases You.  Help me to love as deeply as You’ve loved us, and to share my faith in a manner which honors and pleases You.  Help me to be humble, and to follow Jesus’ example.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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