Category: truth

An Exhausting Book

Old Testament: Numbers 10

Poetry: Job 9

New Testament: Acts 23

I don’t know about you, but I find reading the book of Job to be a bit (or downright) exhausting. I’m not saying I don’t like the book, but it takes some work. This year might be the first year I have tried reading just one chapter of Job a day. Perhaps it is not as tiring when taken in small chunks. Though I also am considering finding a chunk of time (estimates say about 3 hours) to read the book as a whole to more clearly see the big picture, including the progression of thought and the conversational back and forth between Job and his friends which takes up so much of the book.

I think I have decided what makes the book of Job more exhausting for me than any of the other 65 books of Scripture. Partly, sorrow is hard, whether it is your own or someone else’s. And Job has a lot of good reasons to be sorrowful. In the first two chapters Job was struck with monstrous trials: the loss of his material goods and livelihood, the death of all of his 10 children at once, a painful disease that affects his entire body with sores from his head to his toes, and a wife who tells him to curse God and die.  We know that these ordeals were not a result of God’s judgment on Job for some large, grievous, hidden sin because in Job 1:8 we heard God’s own description of Job – “he Is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

I admire his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, for coming alongside their suffering friend.  Job 2:11-13 says when they heard of Job’s distress they made a plan to meet together to visit Job to sympathize and comfort.  When they saw him they wept – and then they sat with him in silence for seven days and seven nights.  To think, how often do I have trouble making the time to just send a card to a hurting friend?  And here they are starting out with spending 7 days hurting with their grieving friend. These friends had the best intentions and were certainly giving of themselves in a time of crisis.  But, good intentions are not always enough. We will hear many conversations between Job and his friends who came to console him, but then turned to some questionable counseling instead.

Along with their good intentions, they also were armed with some very true and accurate knowledge of God.  Throughout the passages of Job there will be many times when Job’s friends – and Job himself – will share solid truths about God, His majesty, sovereignty, power, love, justice and faithfulness.  In today’s chapter 9 Job is speaking (wisely and correctly) of the truth of God’s majesty and power.  Some of my favorites from this chapter are:

vs 4 – “His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.”

vs. 8-10 – “He alone stretches out the heavens
    and treads on the waves of the sea.
9 He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
    the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
10 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
    miracles that cannot be counted.”

I can learn a lot from Job and his friends as they relay to one another the awesome qualities of God that we sometimes casually dismiss or even forget. He is the Maker of Heaven and Earth! Nothing compares to His wisdom and power! He is in control of nature, and wonders and miracles. We can not understand all He is and all He can do. Our God is greater than anything. He is the Greatest!

But sometimes, even starting with good intentions and a knowledge of the truth (or some truth), is not enough. Sometimes we can start with a true view of God and still come up with false conclusions.  And I think that is the biggest reason the book of Job is mentally exhausting for me. It’s a little bit like playing a game of two truths and a lie – always questioning where the lie might slip in. As I read beautiful descriptions of God’s power and love I nod, smile and agree. I have the same big God. But then, sometimes in the very next verse or stanza the same speaker continues saying, “He would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds for no reason” (9:17). Wait. No. I do not agree. I shake my head as my brows furrow. YES, God is powerful, that is true. But NO, God does not use His power to crush and wound for no reason.

As we read through Job let’s look for instances where his friends (and Job) begin with their good intentions and a truth about God and mankind – but come up with false conclusions. One example repeated many times over will be – God is just – so if you are suffering you must have done a terrible sin for which He is paying you back with trouble. 

Also, while we search for those truths that were then twisted in the ancient book of Job, let us also search our society, our community, our church, ourselves. Where do we find true descriptions of God (such as, God is love) leading to false, twisted conclusions (so His love for sinners means He won’t punish sin)? What songs do we sing, books do we read, people we listen to, that we agree with the first verse/page/post/thought, but then find untruth in the next? It can be exhausting keeping our guard up. The lies can be hard to discern when they are buried amongst truth. Stay on your guard. Don’t buy the lies and untrue conclusions the world has accepted about God. Keep seeking Him and the truth of who He is and what He does.

-Marcia Railton

(parts of today’s devotion were originally posted on January 5, 2020 for SeekGrowLove)

Reflection Questions

  1. Sometimes people start with complete untruths about God (He doesn’t exist, He exists but has no power, etc…). Those can be easier to spot as false. Where have you seen a true description of God but then a false conclusion?
  2. One thing that bothers me about the book of Job is the large part Satan plays in chapters 1 & 2, but Job and his friends seem completely unaware of Satan’s presence and power and responsibility. Are we as clueless, too? What role do you think Satan plays today?
  3. Don’t miss out on the wonderful foreshadowing found in Job 9:32 & 33. Who is able to “lay his hand upon us both” (vs 33 original NIV)? What difference could that have made for Job? What difference can it, or has it, made for you?
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What is the Gospel?

Old Testament: Genesis 47 & 48

Poetry: Psalm 21

New Testament: Matthew 16

If you were asked what the gospel is, what would you say?

Most Christians today would tell us that the gospel is primarily about Jesus dying for our sins and rising from the dead. While that is certainly good news, and necessary for our salvation (see 1 Corinthians 15:3-4), is that the entire story? Our passage today tells us something different, in a verse that is usually “skipped over”: it is Matthew 16:21, which states that “from that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.” If Jesus only started talking about his death and resurrection in chapter 16, what has he been talking about the previous 15? We are already halfway through Matthew: are we missing something important that Jesus meant to share with us?

If we return to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Matthew, we read that after his baptism and temptations in the wilderness, Jesus began preaching about the kingdom of God/heaven: “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” If you look back throughout Matthew, almost everything that Jesus talked about revolved around the kingdom of God. In another book, the Gospel of Luke, Jesus clearly tells us that his primary purpose in ministry was to teach about the kingdom of God: “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” (Luke 4:43)

It is an unfortunate reality that many Christians today are completely unaware of what Jesus taught concerning the kingdom of God: they have only been introduced to his death and resurrection. A friend of mine was at a pastor’s conference and asked a group of pastors what the gospel was. Of course, they answered as most people would, that the gospel is about Jesus dying and rising for our sins. Then my friend directed them to Luke 4:43 that we just read, and they were stumped. Remember, these were PASTORS, and they had no clue about Jesus’ kingdom message…

Brothers and sisters, Jesus’ death and resurrection are crucial parts of our salvation: we have no hope of being saved without it. However, we shouldn’t neglect the largest message of Jesus’ entire ministry: the kingdom of God. I want to encourage you today to skim through Matthew and find out what Jesus says about the kingdom of heaven/God. You may be surprised at how often it shows up and how important this kingdom is.

So I’ll ask you again, what is the gospel? May you find the truth that Jesus revealed to us today.

Talon Paul

REflection Questions

  1. What do you find Jesus teaching about throughout Matthew? 
  2. What is the danger in missing what Jesus taught?
  3. If you were asked what the gospel is, what would you say?
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Merely Human Rules

Old Testament: Amos 3 & 4

Poetry: Psalm 129

New Testament: Matthew 15

Jesus is on a bit of a tirade at the start of this chapter.  He has got to be pretty sick of the Pharisees!  But when he quotes from Isaiah to them in verses 8 and 9, I wonder if we fall into this trap too, and how frustrated he might feel with us at times. 

8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’”

I have been doing some reading on church history earlier this year, and it seems this was some of the problem that started the reformation back in the 1500s.  Some brave individuals stood up to the churches that led culture at the time and said that people were no longer following the word of God, but rather they were just following the church’s rules which were made by people, often for political reasons.

Are we still doing this?  Teaching things that are merely human rules rather than focusing on God?

While we are to follow the laws of the land that were created by people (as long as they don’t contradict God’s laws), we should not be so focused in our churches on following a set of rules of how a worship service should be set up, or the exact number of times per year you should have communion that we miss out on looking at the heart.  There is a difference between Jesus’ teachings and a tradition set up in a church.

Traditions can be good, but when we focus so much on them that we don’t pay attention to the results of what is being done or said, they have no purpose.  If someone new comes in from another church and they ask “why are you doing things this way?” people tend to get defensive even when the question is asked with a genuine desire to understand rather than to criticize.  The truth is, we should be able to answer that question, or if we can’t, consider the practice to determine if what we are doing does still make sense, or if it has become an outdated tradition that could be changed to better serve people.

After Jesus speaks, the disciples come out like “hey, did you know what you said upset the Pharisees?”  Jesus doesn’t care if they were offended by what he said.  He spoke the truth and wants people to realize the meaning and intent of things.  Yes, washing your hands before you eat is a good practice.  You are less likely to consume bacteria that way.  But not doing that doesn’t defile you spiritually.  The things that come out of your mouth (which come from your heart) do – evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. What is something in your life that needs to be examined to ensure your heart is in the right place?
  2. What instances can you think of in which the church is following mere human rules and not the word of God and teachings of Jesus?

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Voice of Truth

Old Testament: Jeremiah 17 & 18

Poetry: Proverbs 12 and today’s Devotion on Psalm 12

New Testament: 1 Peter 4

One of my favorite Christian songs of all time is “Voice of Truth” by Casting Crowns. In this song, the band talks about choosing to listen to the voice of Jesus out of all the different voices calling out to them. Although those voices keep laughing at us, reminding us of all the times we’ve failed before, and saying that we will never be enough, Jesus says something different. Jesus tells us that we are strong with his God, that we are forgiven, and that we don’t need to be afraid. Everything that happens to us is only for his glory and the glory of his God, and we just need to listen to what he says.

Psalm 12 talks about two different voices that are shouting at King David: the wicked who flatter themselves and destroy God’s people, and the pure voice of the one true God that is like silver. King David stands in the middle and must make a choice: will he listen to voices of wicked, powerful forces that tear him down, or the voice of God that promises to preserve and keep him forever (verse 7)? King David makes the right call and follows after God’s voice, resulting in him being saved from those forces surrounding him (verse 5).

We also have a choice to make: what voice is shouting loudest at you? There are many voices around you that will claim that you are not good enough, are a failure, are ugly, or worthless. Every single person has these voices surrounding them, sometimes coming from mean people or from ourselves. However, our God through Jesus tells us that we are precious, worthy, and loved. There is nothing that will be able to separate us from God’s love in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:38-39), if we will just listen and trust in that great voice over the others. We can have rest, assurance, peace, and joy if we listen to the voice saying, “You’re my son/daughter: I love YOU”.

Brothers and sisters, you are more loved than you can imagine. Although you have people saying horrible things about you, and may be saying horrible things to yourself, you are a child of the one true God: you have value, purpose, and a family. Please find hope and encouragement today in knowing that this Voice is greater than all the rest and speaks the truth.

-Talon Paul

Reflection Questions

  1. What lies about yourself have you heard, and sometimes believed, from others or from yourself? Why are they wrong? Why are they harmful?
  2. What does God say about you and His love? What is Jesus’ role in sharing God’s love and truth?
  3. How can you listen LESS to the lies and MORE to the truth?
  4. How can you help carry God’s words of truth and worth to those who are listening to lies?
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If the Lord Wills

OLD TESTAMENT READING: ISAIAH 63 & 64

POETRY READING: PSALM 90

NEW TESTAMENT READING: James 4

As we focus on James 4. We are going to look particularly at 4:13-16. Let’s walk through this text together, see the picture of God that is here, and how James says it should affect us. Who Is James addressing?

James 4:13, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.'”

James is reprimanding some folks here – perhaps businessmen or merchants – but it is stated very broadly to include virtually anyone. Anyone who does what? Five things:

1.      They plan to set out on a trip today or tomorrow: “Today or tomorrow we will go . . .”

2.      They plan to arrive at a destination: “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city.”

3.      They plan to spend a certain amount of time there: “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city and spend a year there.”

4.      They plan to engage in business and carry through a plan of action while they are in that city: “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, and engage in business.”

5.      They plan for the business to have certain results: “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, and engage in business, and make a profit.”

What’s the problem here? Is this wrong? To plan and intend to go places and do things? No, not really. In verse 15 he is going to say it is legitimate to plan to do this or that. What’s wrong then if it’s not planning?

What’s wrong is that the plan that is made in verse 13 is made in the mind and spoken with the mouth (“Come now you who say . . .”) without taking a true view of life and God into account. Verse 14 talks about the true view of life that is not being considered, and verse 15 talks about the true view of God that is not being considered when they plan their business venture.

In verse 14, James says to those who are planning this business venture: “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” In other words, in all your planning and in all your talk about your planning (“Come now you who say . . .” verse 13) you are not taking this view of life into account.

My Life Is a Vapor. So What? So what is the point? The point is that for James, and for God, it matters whether a true view of life informs and shapes the way you think and how you speak about your plans. Your mindset matters. How you talk about your plans matters. Think about this. Believing that your life is a vapor may make no practical, bottom-line difference in whether you plan to do business in a place for one month or one year, or ten years. But, in James’ mind – and he speaks for God – it makes a difference how you think about it and talk about it. “Come now you who say . . .”

Why? Why does that matter? Because God created us not just to do things and go places with our bodies, but to have certain attitudes, convictions, and verbal descriptions that reflect the truth – a true view of life and God. God means for the truth about himself and about life to be known and felt and spoken as part of our reason for being. In other words, it not only matters that you have a right view of life when you make your plans – you are like a vapor – but it also matters that you have a right view of God as you make your plans. And that you give an expression of this true view of God: “You ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.'” Look at some of the plans you have made and ask yourself today “Have I considered God”? We will finish James 4 tomorrow and answer the question “What is the right view of God?

-Andy Cisneros

Reflection Questions

  1. As Andy suggests, look at some of the plans you have made and ask yourself today “Have I considered God”?
  2. How does remembering that your life is a vapor affect your planning and how you speak about your planning?
  3. What does the phrase, “If the Lord wills” mean to you? Do you use the phrase? Do you have that mindset? How would it affect your hearers if you were to use it?
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Fads Come to Church

Theme Week: Review of Paul – 2 Corinthians 11

Old Testament: Ecclesiastes 7-9

Poetry: Psalm 52

Tik Tok.  It’s a fad.  Fads are nothing new.  My grandparents probably said “23 skidoo”.  (I have not verified the spelling).  The generation right before me were really into hula hoops and they danced “the twist” and the “watoosi”.  My generation had pet rocks and mood rings.

Fads come to church too.  Anybody still have a WWJD wristband?  Are there any Prayer of Jabez plaques in your house. (Ask your parents about these fads).  Many religious fads can be innocuous.  Some fads can be pretty significant for good or for bad.  The Late Great Planet Earth promoted a view of the rapture that had vast societal and political implications.  A resurgence of Calvinism is impacting the way many Christians view the church’s role in society.  The recent trend of doing church online and eschewing in person worship which began during the Covid lockdown has continued for many and may be weakening many congregations. (Who needs to spend an hour or two at church when you can watch a 45 second tik tok sermon in your pajamas?)  But I digress.

What exactly do we mean by the term “fad”?  “Sociologists classify fads as a form of ‘collective preoccupations’  where many people over a relatively broad social spectrum engage in a similar behavior and interpret it in similar ways in order to identify their place in society” (See Pop Culture Christianity: What fad would Jesus follow” by Jim White). Another definition is: “An intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-lived and without basis in the object’s qualities; a craze.”  Fads are not a modern phenomenon.  It appears that even the Apostle Paul had to deal with the religious “flavor of the month” in his first century ministry.

As we have been reviewing Paul’s life and teachings this week we have seen how he was specifically met by and called by Jesus Christ to bring the good news of the Kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles (everyone that wasn’t a Jew).  Paul traveled extensively presenting the Gospel to new groups of people and then following up to see how they were doing in the faith.  In today’s reading in 2 Corinthians 11 Paul is writing to the Church to offer correction to their following a new religious fad.  New teachers came in behind Paul who apparently were more slick and polished than Paul was and who had packaged a different message that was appealing and persuasive and was drawing the Corinthian disciples away from their “sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (vs. 3).

Paul goes on to use some very strong language to warn the Church against blindly following these fancy new teachers and their faddish preaching.  He uses words like: deceived, led astray, another Jesus, a different spirit, a different gospel, false apostles, disguised as preachers of righteousness just as Satan is disguised as an angel of light.  That’s a lot of clear, hard teaching.  It’s not always easy to hear clear, hard teaching, but it’s sometimes needed.  7 years ago I had a doctor who gave me some clear, hard teaching.  He diagnosed me with cancer.  The cancer needed treatment. I needed surgery or radiation or both (it ended up being both).  If I chose to ignore the doctor’s warning I probably wouldn’t still be around today.  Fortunately, he cared enough to tell me the hard truth and fortunately I received it and acted upon it, had the surgery and radiation along with a lot of prayers, and I’m still around.

I’m not sure how the Christians in the first century Church of Corinth responded to Paul’s hard teaching.  Did they accept it and act accordingly or did they ignore it and keep on doing what they were doing, following the latest fad instead of returning to their pure devotion to Christ?

Paul tried to appeal to his listeners by laying out his resume, his credentials.  He talked about his background and the foundation he received.  He talked about how his dedication to Christ was evident in his actions and his willingness to keep going amid so much opposition.  Paul recognized that when he went around preaching the gospel and telling people about God’s Kingdom and God’s chosen King, Jesus, he was involved in spiritual warfare.  The enemy or evil one tried to stop him wherever he went – that’s why he had so much opposition.

Do you ever run into opposition or challenges when you are trying to do what God told you to do?  500 years ago a teacher named Ignatius helped his students practice discernment of spirits.  I think he had some helpful teaching.  He said, rightly I believe, that when we are doing morally bad or sinful things, the evil spirit or enemy of God makes them look and feel pretty good.  I’m not going to lie, sometimes doing bad or sinful things feels good in the moment.  The devil wants you to feel good about doing bad so he “rewards” you with those temporary good feelings.  Meanwhile, God comes along and drops bad feelings like guilt or shame (what a buzz kill).  Just like my doctor- I’m enjoying life and he has to ruin my fun by telling me I have cancer.  But guess what, listening to him saved my life.  And listening to the guilt when we are doing things that bring us away from God can save our spiritual life by turning us away from sin back to God’s path for our lives.

Here’s the flip side to discernment.  When we are sold out on following Jesus Christ, when we are on fire for the Lord and willing to take up our cross and follow Jesus, the evil one comes along and tries to throw as many challenges and obstacles in our way to trip us up and get us to give up our faithful commitment to God.  But while the enemy is trying to destroy us, God will come along with his spirit and offer us his love, comfort and the promise that he is with us.  He might use a song, a scripture, a sermon, another Christian, a beautiful sunrise, a rainbow in the sky, who knows what God will do to let us know that he is with us?

For me, when I was diagnosed with cancer one of the things that helped get me through it was my Church family.  When I was going through 6 weeks of daily radiation every Sunday my Church prayed for me in worship.  When I was going in for surgery, my church filled the sanctuary with happy face balloons and signs of encouragement.  I was surrounded with love and encouragement.  That kept me going.  Now I try to return the favor and show love and encouragement to others when I sense the evil one is trying to trip them up.  Maybe someone reading this today has been under attack from the evil one.  Be encouraged!  God is with you.  Turn to Him, keep the faith.  And be sure to use good discernment when a new fad comes along.  Some may be harmless, but others might be a tactic that the enemy is using that might appear innocent but is actually turning your heart away from it’s sincere devotion of Christ.  The enemy has been doing this a long time and he’s pretty skilled… don’t let him trick you.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Can you think of examples of religious fads that might appear innocent but can be potentially dangerous?
  2. How might you use the tools of discernment to better evaluate things in your life, good and bad?
  3. How might God use you to lovingly warn or share hard truth with someone who might be on a path that’s leading them away from Christ?
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Glad in God’s Guidance

Old Testament: Job 13 & 14

Poetry: Psalm 37

New Testament: John 17

Whether it is my teenagers at school or my three-agers at home, much of my day is filled with offering corrections for behavior. I have often wondered how many times I say “no” within the course of 24 hours.  As both a teacher and a father, I know that the guidance that I offer is constructive and for the benefit of my children, but rarely is it received with thanks. I get it. When I am offered criticism, even more so when it is justified, I am defensive.  If I would put the same effort in my adjustment as I did my defense, I would find myself rapidly growing professionally, personally, and spiritually. For every one of us, we should be glad of just criticism with good intentions because someone has decided to improve us instead of letting us remain as we once were.

“Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him. This also will be my salvation, For a godless person cannot come before His presence.” Job 13:15-16

More than anyone else, our Heavenly Father is interested in improving the quality of our life we have now to prepare us for the life to come.  When we are in a rut, He doesn’t let us lay in the muck and the mire.  Our God is actively working on our hearts, imploring us to read His Holy Word or listen to His people speaking truth into our lives. Either one of these can be a tough pill to swallow. According to Hebrew chapter 4, the Word of God is a two-edged sword that cuts deeps, separating the bone and marrow.  It isn’t merely a flesh wound, but a fatal strike against our spirit of selfishness in order to die, so Christ may live in us. (Gal 2:20)

“They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” – John 17:16-19

But are we glad for this guidance? Are we asking for these amendments to be placed into our lives? Maybe this is where we need to change our prideful spirit in order to trust in God’s plan and walk closer to Him.  This means letting go of our justifications for the negligence and sin we continue to carry in our lives.  If you really are putting your hope in God Almighty, let Him slay your heart. He  is beckoning you to forgive your neighbor. He is challenging you to share the Gospel with your friends. He is calling you to set aside your ambition and choose church.  He is imploring you to seek help for addiction. He is challenging your will and way, so He can help you live your life more abundantly. 

“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:  He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.” Psalm 37:4-6

The desires of our heart are on the other side of God’s guidance. To delight in God is to live the life He is setting before you.  Trust the process because the Lord will give you gains like no other. He will vindicate and exonerate those who choose Jesus Christ, His Son, above anything else.  Rejoice and be glad that our Heavenly Father is offering direction to help each one of us stay on His straight and narrow way that leads to the coming Kingdom.

-Aaron Winner

Reflection Questions

  1. What is your typical response to constructive criticism or guidance? Is your response sometimes prompted by selfishness or pride rather than truth?
  2. What do you think of Aaron’s statement: “More than anyone else, our Heavenly Father is interested in improving the quality of our life we have now to prepare us for the life to come”?
  3. How can you better seek God’s guidance, receiving it with gladness and acting upon it?
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When a Friend is Suffering

Old Testament: Job 5 & 6

Poetry: Psalm 33

New Testament: John 13

The greatest mystery in the book of Job is not why Job suffers, but why a man crippled by suffering is forced to fight a long, drawn-out theological battle with people who are supposed to be his friends. (Mike Mason, The Gospel According to Job)

Job’s friends start out pretty good. They find out about what’s happening in his life and come from far away with the intent ‘to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.’ After emotional expressions ‘they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.’

Sadly, after such a strong start, they end up kind of being the worst, saying things like:

Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?

Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

Yikes. The guy just lost everything, his livelihood, every one of his children, and he himself is covered in ‘loathsome sores.’ It seems incredibly insensitive, but honestly, it’s a pretty typical Christian response to suffering. 

We often begin by sitting with people in their suffering. But maybe because it’s uncomfortable to stay there, or maybe because we feel an urge to ‘speak truth’ to them, we muck it all up by sermonizing. Like Job’s friends, we think we’re encouraging by offering reasonable answers to their situation.

And the thing is, what they’re saying (what we often say) isn’t necessarily wrong. Job’s friends are quoted in the New Testament. (5:13 is quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:19 and 5:17 is quoted in Hebrews 12:5). But while it may not be wrong, it is unkind, insensitive, and perhaps mis-applied.

I cringe when I hear a well-meaning believer simply quote scripture to a hurting brother or sister. Sometimes, often times, the most effective thing we can do as a spiritual friend is not to counsel, teach, direct, or judge. The book of Job would be a lot shorter if Job’s friends understood this.

We haven’t gotten to the part yet where God speaks. And that answers the question that most often causes me to open my big yap and offer up my meager two cents… but if I don’t speak truth to them, who will? Um… God, maybe?

How many people have our good intentions hurt?

C.S. Lewis wrote in A Grief Observed,

“Talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively. But don’t come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don’t understand.”

-Susan Landry

Reflection Questions

  1. Have you ever been in a time of suffering and someone said or did something you found comforting and helpful? If so, what? (Feel free to leave a comment to share good examples and ideas with us.)
  2. Pray to be a sensitive and compassionate comforter to those in need.
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Ego Problems

New Testament: Esther 3 & 4

Poetry: Psalm 27

New Testament: John 7

And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage.   Esther 3:2

When I read this description, it reminds me of a scene from a movie. In The Avengers, Loki tells a group of people outside an opera house to kneel before him. There’s one old man in the crowd who stands when Loki says to the people,

“In the end, you will always kneel.”

“Not to men like you,” the gray-haired man says.

Loki responds arrogantly, “There are no men like me.”

“There are always men like you.”

Turns out, he was right! There have always been men like Loki, people who are consumed with pride, hungry for power and so murderous in their pursuit of it that they are willing to wipe out a population of people. Genocides in Rwanda, Bosnia…the Holocaust. These modern tragedies, though horrendous, are not new.

Haman, from our passage in Esther, was so like Loki that he set out to destroy not only Mordecai, but his entire people.

Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.  Esther 3:13

I don’t watch scary movies…but isn’t that kind of the plot of The Purge?

Haman was clearly a petty man. Willing to murder an entire race because one man didn’t give him the respect he felt he deserved.

…when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury. Esther 3:5

Most of us won’t commit genocide over a slight. Most of us won’t even get filled with fury when we don’t get the recognition we deserve. But we may become filled with jealousy, or bitterness, or discouragement. Ego can take a lot of different forms.

Haman based his worth in his status, and it was easily dismantled when that status was challenged. Like Haman, we can find our worth in the wrong place. Our successes or wins, being right, our appearance, finances, being liked, our intellect… really any number of things. And when that worth is dismantled (as it will surely be) we can go the way of Haman and act out to try and earn what we have lost, or we may simply feel worthless.

I don’t think we’re any more aware of doing this than Haman was. We are deceived, and we experience the results of our deceit, causing us to react. Maybe instead of trying to change our reactions, we would be better served to dig a little deeper and expose where it is we believe our value is based. Awareness may not eliminate our bent, but shining a light on deceit is the first step in seeing the truth.

-Susan Landry

Reflection Questions:

  1. How would you describe Haman? How would you describe Mordecai? How are you like, and unlike, each of these characters?
  2. How are you most likely to react when your ego is damaged?
  3. Where do you find your worth? Is it serving you well? Are there adjustments to be made? What does God say makes you valuable?
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Destruktion and Sine qua non

Theme Week: Death and the Kingdom – 1 Corinthians 15
Old Testament: 1 Kings 17 & 18
Poetry: Psalm 124

In this devotion I will use words like “philosophical” and “deconstruction” and will even translate a Latin phrase. However, these are not scary concepts, and they are infinitely practical. So please bear with me. This is centrally important.

In our world today, there are many people “deconstructing.” 

“Deconstruction” is a term from Jacques Derrida, a postmodern philosopher, which means, basically, picking apart every idea and belief we have to find the core, deep, central “dialectic”, words that are opposites (e.g., “being” and “nothing”) and hierarchy of ideas (e.g. that “being” is better than “nothing”). In a nutshell, Derrida believed we must pull apart an idea until we see what is at the “bottom”. Derrida believed that at base, every idea had opposing words or thoughts that in turn governed how we thought (like “being” and “nothing” governing our idea of “existence”). He believed these words, in opposition and conflict, were needed to make sense of the world, but we need to be aware of them. 

However, the “Destruktion” of Derrida has changed. 

Today, when people say they are deconstructing, it is almost exclusively of “traditional” Christian values and beliefs. The approach they take to marriage, LGBTQ+ issues, abortion, and other “hot-button” or political topics usually pushes people to reexamine their moral understanding of scripture AND their belief in the factual claims of the Bible. Many have “deconstructed” and no longer believe in large parts of scripture: from famous YouTubers, to our best friends, to some of us reading right now. 

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Latin, though a “dead” language, is used a lot to convey ideas that might otherwise be clunky. (e.g., “E.G.” comes from “exempli gratia”, or “for example”, which doesn’t really prove my point , i.e., that Latin helps with clunky phrases (“I.E” stands for “id est” or that is.)) 

“Sine qua non” is a phrase that means “without which, nothing”. The sine qua non is the most essential element of any political body, philosophical system, or religious doctrine; if you take away the sine qua non, that thing no longer functions, it ceases to be what it was. 

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul expresses to the Corinthians the sine qua non of Christianity. Paul says that it was of first importance that Christ died for our sins. That he was buried. That he rose. And that he appeared to many disciples. 

However, the rest of the chapter focuses primarily, not on his death, but on the resurrection. Paul indicates a couple things to his readers. 

  1. If there is no resurrection, Christ has not been raised. 
  2. If Christ has not been raised, we misrepresent God, because the Christian faith says God raised him.  
  3. If Christ has not been raised, then we should be pitied above all other people. 

If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and our faith is futile, and we remain in our sins. (v.12, 17) In short, the Resurrection is the sine qua non of the Christian faith. 

Paul is talking to people who were deconstructing. We can almost hear them speaking through the years. “Well, I held to the resurrection for a long time, but I think I have finally given it up. Why believe in something so backwards, so barbaric, so physical? I think it must have been a spiritual raising. Or, possibly, no real resurrection at all, but that the Christ-Spirit that pervades the universe now lives in our hearts.” Paul is saying “you are losing the essential quality of the faith!” This is THE central point!

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Today, you or someone you know might be deconstructing for a number of reasons. 

You want “freedom” from the “ancient oppressive norms.”

You want “reality” instead of “naive wish fulfillment.”

You want “truth” rather than “the superstitious ideas of barbaric goat herders.”

But Paul is not claiming that you must believe in oppressive norms that crush the spirit of people, nor is he saying that he believes the reports of people he has never met, nor did he even want Jesus to be raised from the dead. 

Paul, in a book that every scholar agrees comes from his own pen, claimed that he saw the man named Jesus who then changed his life. Then Paul, who had nothing to gain and everything to lose, gave up EVERYTHING, nearly died multiple times, to preach about Jesus to people who would often try to kill him. Paul did this all with sophistication and love that preclude the possibility that he was insane.

The resurrection is a fact. 

Paul is saying that he would like his readers to trust Jesus; not Paul, not the church, Jesus. 

Jesus, the one who gives freedom, because he gives us a new life now and a new life in the world to come. As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 

Jesus, the one who is the bedrock for reality, and the cornerstone of the new kingdom of God. Christ at the end will “reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”

Jesus, the fountain of truth, the one who can say “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

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The Christian faith comes with a lot of question marks.

Those hot buttons issues are *hot* for a reason. 

The Bible *is* frustrating. So many people have claimed it says different things! And when we actually read it, often the Bible tells us that the best way to live is the opposite of the way we are living right now.

  Your questions, your doubts, are pulling at your heart because the world is messy. And dark. I’ve been there too. Where questions and doubt are big, and I feel like I am at the bottom. I look up at the questions wondering “why would I hope? could life get better? wouldn’t it just be better if I wasn’t here?” Too much loss, too much pain, too much death. 

“The last enemy to be destroyed is death”

Paul is not playing at wish fulfillment, norms or superstitions. The Jesus he met, the Jesus Christ-followers met, the Jesus the church has met, has led to the fitting conclusion that “death is swallowed up in victory.” Death is no longer victorious. Death can no longer sting. Because we have been given victory. 

I have been given victory. 

And you have been given victory, if you choose to accept it. 

God is not scared of your questions. He is not scared of your doubts. He is not scared of your failures. 

What God wants to do is to give:

To give you victory that conquers your failures. Yes, you’ll still make mistakes, but always moving closer to God rather than in circles of pain. 

To give you hope, purpose, and passion that will bolster your faith in doubts. You may still ask questions, and you will need other people to sharpen your beliefs, but always moving closer to the God of all comfort.

To give you the Spirit who teachings us all things and guides us into all truth in our questions. You will still have questions but it is no longer the project of deconstruction, of “Destrucktion” where every belief is torn down, but where in the end, they are built anew of Christ the Solid Rock. 

In short, “Thanks be to God, who *gives us the victory* through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

-Jake Ballard

(If you need someone to pray for you today, or to hear your questions and doubts, or to tell you it’s gonna be OK, please consider emailing Jake Ballard (jakea.ballard@yahoo.com) or text at (937-561-1000), or find him on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/jacob.ballard.336_) or Instagram (@jakea.ballard). However, the best thing you can do, is find a local pastor you trust, and speak to them in person. God bless you all.)

Reflection Questions:

  1. Do you believe in the resurrection of Jesus? If so, why? How would you describe it to someone who has never heard of the resurrection? If not, why not?
  2. If you believe in the resurrection of Jesus, does that prompt you to live your life differently? If so, how?
  3. What is the timeline of events Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 15?
  4. What is the final verse of 1 Corinthians 15 and how can you put it into practice?
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