Tag: Bible

Bad Shepherds

*Jeremiah 23-24

*Psalm 127

Luke 10

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

      “1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” says Yahweh.” (Jer 23:1, REV).  Jeremiah isn’t called the “weeping prophet” for no reason, he is not only torn and anguished by the compounded sins of his people, but he’s distressed because there are prophets who are telling the people lies (See Jeremiah 14:14), bad shepherds.  We see in that chapter that not only are the “prophets” lying in God’s name, but the people who are listening to these lying prophets instead of God are going to be penalized (See Jer 14:16).  He is constantly and faithfully relaying the word of Yahweh to the people, a word of warning and a call to repentance, and the lying prophets are saying “there will be peace.”  Of course he’s frustrated to the point of tears, these are his people, and God is speaking to them but they’re just not hearing it.

            So while there is a woe that will befall the bad shepherds (this is also brought up in a few other places: see Eze 34:2 and Zech 11:17 for a couple other references to this theme), it should be very sharply understood by the sheep that if they choose to ignore God and have their ears tickled instead, it won’t end well for them either.  For us.  We are the sheep.  So how do we know if we’re doing right, and following the right shepherd?  How do we know we’re not galloping en masse toward the edge of a cliff, or about to be eaten by wolves?  We, as sheep, need to take some responsibility for our own well being: because it’s our lives that are at stake.

            Here are just a few suggestions:

  1. Scripturational Awareness:  “Turn to the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light of dawn in them. ” (Isa 8:20, REV).  Situational awareness is very important, but scripturational awareness (yes, I know it’s a made up word, but it works so shh!) is even more important.  Know your scripture.  It is SUPER easy to believe something a charismatic smiling guy is telling you with a look of sincere conviction, even if the only reason he believes it is that at some other time some other smiling charismatic guy told him the same thing with a look of sincere conviction.  Don’t fall for it.  The scripture is our ruler, our standard.  Not tradition, not guys in suits, not any specific denomination, but God’s word, and God’s word alone.  I don’t need a  guy in a suit telling me something that sounds beautiful if he has no dawn, I want to see the dawn.
  • Situational Awareness: “…You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you are not able to interpret the signs of the times. ” (Jesus, Matt 16:3, REV).  I have watched someone I love happily and obliviously counting out a stack of money onto their lap while a street gang looked on with intensely growing interest behind her.  Acknowledging your situation can save your life.  Ok, look around you.  Be honest.  Does it look like we, as a people, are listening to the voice of God and humbly and obediently following His will?  If not (spoiler alert, the answer is no) you should be reeeeeeeaaaally careful to not listen to anyone saying “peace, peace, tomorrow will be just like today, only better” because at least according to scripture (the testimony and the law), that’s just not how God operates.  Read the room, because like it or not, this is the room that you’re standing in.  Maybe clean out your corner of it before Dad comes home.
  • Relational Awareness: “The earth is Yahweh’s, and all it contains; the world, and those who dwell in it. ” (Ps 24:1).  Since the beginning of time, when man was created in the image of God, man has taken that authority and ran with it.  Sometimes a little too far and a little too fast.  Yes, we were created in the image of God, but we were also created by God.  So is everything else here on the earth.  It’s all created by God, even us, and it all belongs to Him.  We are all under the authority of God, but most of us have either forgotten or chosen to ignore this very simple foundational understanding that brings life: there is a God, and you are not Him.  Know your role, and humbly seek to obey your creator.  Pray, fast, humble yourself, and seek God.

            This is all very concerning, for those who are paying attention, but there’s hope.  Jer 23:4-5 says “I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them, and they will fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor will any be missing, says Yahweh.  Behold, the days are coming, says Yahweh, that I will raise for David a righteous Branch, and he will reign as king and deal wisely, and will execute justice and righteousness in the land.” (REV).  We believe that this righteous branch has come and will come again, our Messiah, the king, Jesus.  Please also note that the word that is translated as righteous/ness here is (once again) “tzedakah”, do a search (just type in “tzedakah” in the search bar on this website) to get a fuller understanding of what that means and implies.  It’s important.

            This is of the utmost importance.  In a world with thousands of shepherds, each herding their sheep in a different direction, we need to ensure that we’re listening to the Good Shepherd, the man God sent, our Messiah.  Yesterday’s devotion touched on this a little as well.  We need to listen to Jesus.  There’s an ancient book called “The Didache” that deals extensively with the workings of the (very) early church.  In it, one of the methods offered by which to discern a false apostle or bad shepherd was “do they ask for money? If they do, they’re a false apostle.”.  Jesus never asked for any money, just saying.  All I remember Jesus saying about money is that one cannot serve both God and money (Matt 6:24).  Hrmm, interesting.

            That means that even if someone else has a very melodious voice, even if they’re very handsome and charismatic, even if they preach at a mega-church (which are in and of themselves all fine things), even if they have thousands and thousands of followers: if they say anything other than exactly what Jesus was saying, it’s because they have no dawn.  They won’t see the morning when the morning comes.  The people who are following them blindly won’t either.  Let that sink in.

            We have a God that loves us intensely, whom we have grieved over and over with our disregard and misplaced priorities.  Yes, God is love.  He sent us Jesus as a way for us be be reconciled, to once again dwell with our God: we have one good shepherd that will lead us back to our God, and a thousand bad shepherds that will lead us to destruction.  We only need to listen to the one that God sent.

            “If Yahweh does not build a house, those who built it labored in vain. If Yahweh does not watch over a city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. ” (Ps 127:1, REV).  Please, be careful.  Examine yourself daily, speak to God regularly, ask Him to reveal to you your own hidden faults, and seek His wisdom in correcting them.  Act generously towards your fellow creation, and seek to the best of your ability to fulfill the tasks that we as servants of the living God have been given.  Listen to Jesus, follow the only Good Shepherd, the one God sent.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. Why do you think there are such a large number of bad shepherds in the world, and why do you think they are thriving?
  2. If I gave you $100 for every bible verse you memorized, would you memorize more verses? 
  3. Why? (It’s a deep question.  Think about it.)

PRAYER

Father God, Thank you for life.  Please guide me, there are so many distractions here, so many things and theories that are not from you, please grant me discernment and wisdom and help me to follow Jesus alone, to your glory.  Thank you Father, in Jesus name, Amen.

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Martha, Martha, Martha!

Mary listened to the Lord's teaching at his feet

Jeremiah 21-22

Psalm 127

*Luke 10

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            Ok, to be fair, in the target verse I took the title from there are only 2 “Martha”s, but every time I read this verse I think of the old Brady Bunch television show and crack up laughing.   In the context of the show, Jan (a younger sister) would often complain that Marcia was receiving all the attention, leading to the whined repetition of her sister’s name. This is often (and incorrectly) quoted as “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!” (it’s actually “Marcia”, pronounced the same, spelled differently).

            The sentiment expressed biblically is exactly the same though: hey, why are they getting all the attention, when I’m the one doing the work here?  How often do you feel as if you’re going above and beyond when _______  (insert any name here) is really just not trying nearly as hard.  I know I’m absolutely guilty of that at times, both at my job and at my home. 

            Here in America (where I live), we have a phrase: “phoning it in.”.  It implies that the person in question is too lazy to even show up to work, and they are “phoning it in.”.  I say with shame that I have on occasions in the past when I have felt like I was shouldering the majority burden of a load around the house called out to my wife “Hey, it’s 865.”.  To which she’d go, “What is?”  and I’d reply “that’s our area code, so when you’re phoning it in you’ll at least get close to where we live.” (I know, I know…).

            The problem with that is, and I’ve said this many times: when we stand before the throne of judgment on the last day, what other people have done will not enter into the conversation.  Each person’s actions are between them and God, when we make preliminary judgment we’re taking a dangerous action.  Remember the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (in Luke 18)?  The Pharisee was puffed up by all the things he had done, the Tax Collector just begged God for forgiveness, and only one of them went home justified that night before God.

            The verse that the title is taken from is near the very end of this chapter, and says (Luke 10:41-42): But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,but one thing is necessary; indeed, Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (the REV translation is used throughout this devotion).

            Like us, Martha is anxious and troubled about many things.  Jesus tells her, and us, though: but one thing is necessary.  What is the one thing?  To listen to Jesus.  To sit obediently at his feet and listen to the things that he tells us.  Mary got to do this in person, to gaze up at our Teacher as he spoke.  We have to rely on the scriptures, and the urgings of the spirit, but the one thing that is necessary remains the same.  Listen to Jesus.

            So backing up in this chapter, Jesus says and does a few things.  Let’s listen to Jesus.  If you flip back to the previous chapter (9) Jesus sends out the 12.  At the beginning of this chapter, he sends out the 72, with roughly the same mission.  One of the things he said to them stands out to me, in verse 3 he says “…I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”. 

            When I first began attending Atlanta Bible College, freshly come from life as a career criminal (yes, of course there’s a story there…), Kent Ross asked me about a week in how I was doing with it all.  Kent was awesome.  I had to think about it really hard, so it took me a second to answer him, and I said “Kent, I feel like a wolf among sheep.”.  He just smiled and patted me on the shoulder and said “It’ll get better”, and he was right.

            When the 72 returned, they marvelled that even the demons submitted to them.  Jesus warned them not to rejoice in this, but to rejoice instead that their names were written in heaven (presumably in the “book of life”).

            When a certain expert of the law (Jewish Orthodox Law) asked Jesus “What must I do to obtain life in the age to come?” (ie, the kingdom of God), Jesus replied, “What is written?”.  The implication here is that the understanding and practice of what is written in scripture can lead one to life in the age to come, in the kingdom.  The man quoted the Shema (Deut 6:4-5), the absolutely most important commandment, and followed it with Leviticus 19:18.  Both are pasted below, since Jesus himself said that this was the greatest and the next greatest commandment both here and in other accounts (in Mark 12:29-32).  You should know these verses and have them memorized, because according to Jesus these are the most important commandments:

The Shema, The Greatest Commandment (Deut 6:4-5): “4“Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh alone! 5Therefore you are to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. “

The Golden Rule, the second greatest commandment (Leviticus 19:18): “Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you are to love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh. “

            In the parable of the Good Samaritan, just after this conversation, Jesus tells us who our neighbor is that we are to love.  It’s everyone, every other vessel of clay that the Lord God Yahweh has made, which is all of us.

            What else did Jesus say?  Well, Jesus has a God, and tells us that his God and our God are the same God (John 20:17).  He says that God has sent him and that he can only say and do the things that God has told him to (John 12:49).  Jesus tells us that the Father, Yahweh, is greater than he is (John 14:28).  Jesus tells us that he is the Christ, the one whom God has anointed, the man whom God has chosen to be the king (John 4:26).  How has the modern church confused and altered such simple teachings?  Like Mary and Martha in this story at the end of Luke 10, we need to understand that only one thing is necessary: to listen to Jesus.

            If you really want to listen to Jesus, and want a concentrated dose of what Jesus said, I really think (ie, it’s my opinion) that reading and putting in to practice Matthew 5-8 are probably the most important things that we can do to become citizens of the kingdom of God, and to have our names written in the book of life.  Please read it for yourself, and tell me if you agree.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. Do you ever fall into this trap, of comparing yourself to another human instead of measuring yourself up against God’s expectations?
  2. What is the best way to avoid this pitfall, and how can we implement it in our daily lives?
  3. How often do we just shut up, when we are praying, and try to listen?  If we’re talking more than we’re listening, doesn’t that imply that we view the relationship in a skewed fashion?

PRAYER

Father God, please forgive my arrogance when I judge others.  Help me not to do that, help me to avoid the things that can trap me in wrong thinking, and please create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.  Teach me and help me to listen, guide me and give me the courage to follow, hold me and help me to know I am loved.  Thank you God, in Jesus name, Amen.

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Recurring Themes: The Kingdom and The Christ

Jeremiah 19-20

Psalm 127

*Luke 9

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            Lots of time in the scriptures we see a “recurring theme”; a central idea, message, or concept that appears repeatedly throughout a single work of art, a series of works, or across different narratives.  We see this a lot in scripture, and you can probably think of at least 3 examples of this without thinking too hard about it.

            In today’s reading of Luke 9, we see a couple of recurring themes that occur through this single chapter of scripture: 1 of these themes (the Christ, and what that means identity-wise)  occurs about 531 times directly in the new testament, myriads of other times semi-directly , and another (the kingdom of God) occurs about 365 times throughout the bible.

            Dissecting Luke 9, we see right off the bat (in v 1-6) that the 12 (disciples) are empowered to cast out demons and cure sicknesses, and sent out to (in v2): “…preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. “.  The last verse of this section says “6 And they departed and went throughout the villages proclaiming good news and healing people everywhere”.  So what is this good news?  What is the gospel that they are preaching?  They are preaching about the kingdom of God.  That’s the good news that Jesus sends them out to speak about.

            The kingdom of God (or kingdom of Heaven) is one of the recurring themes throughout scripture, and occurs about 365 times, give or take.  It’s mentioned 6 times in this chapter alone, and refers to God’s coming kingdom that will be established (on the earth).  When Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, a portion of the prayer includes …”your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10, Luke 11:12).  Jesus teaches us that we are to “seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.” (Matt 6:33), so it’s not just a priority, it’s top priority.

            Throughout the centuries since Jesus the Christ left us, the focus has gradually shifted away from attaining citizenship into this kingdom (after the resurrection of the dead at the second coming), and towards “going to heaven” when we die.  Unfortunately, this “traditional orthodox” understanding is not scriptural: scriptures themselves speak only of a type of “sleep” for the righteous (with the notable exceptions of Enoch and Elijah).  In scripture, there are no verses that say that the righteous will go to heaven when they die, and approximately 54 that state they enter into a state of “sleep”* when they die (prior to a day of resurrection) so it can be logically inferred that the majority of traditional “orthodox” understanding is probably erroneous in this matter.  I’ll spare you the bad joke about what Mozart is doing right now**, along with the rest of the dead.

            It should also be noted that the kingdom of Heaven/kingdom of God is, according to scripture, going to be established here upon the earth***, after the return of the Christ, the judgment, and the resurrection of the dead.  If we entered immediately into the kingdom upon death, there would be no need for a resurrection, or the establishment of the kingdom on the earth.  The kingdom of God is to be established here on the earth after a number of specific criteria and events have occurred (see Revelation for reference).  Scriptures that seem to uphold both this and the above paragraph are listed at the bottom, if you’d like to compare and contrast them with your beliefs, but by all means make your own interpretations and do your own studies.

            So, is the kingdom of God a big deal?  It absolutely is, it’s what Jesus preached about, and sent his disciples out to preach about.  Has it been misunderstood and misrepresented in these later times?  It would seem so, according to scripture.  We are also told that in the last days, there will be lots of misunderstandings (See 1 Tim 4:1) and misrepresentations, so this shouldn’t come as any surprise.

            Another recurring theme we see through Luke 9 is folks wondering who Jesus is, who is this Nazarene fellow that some are calling The Christ?  Herod wonders this in Luke 9:7-9.  In Luke 9:18-22, Jesus asks his own disciples who the people are saying he is, and then asks Peter.  In Luke 9: 35 we hear what is presumably the voice of God stating who this Jesus fellow is.

            So, who was the Christ?  What does “Christ” mean?  What relationship did Jesus have with God, according to scripture?  What relationship does Jesus have with God, according to “orthodox tradition”?  Are they the same answer?  Why, or why not?

            This is a recurring theme even today, and unfortunately, we’ve let years of tradition influence our answer in most churches.  There is a fantastic and disturbingly educational book I’ve read recently which explains how a lot of the current “orthodox” traditions were accepted by the church that I’m going to highly, highly recommend to anyone who is truly serious about separating fact from fiction from tradition.  It’s called: “Voting About God in Early Church Councils”, by Ramsay MacMullen.  It’s a book that draws on extensive verbatim stenographic records, and analyzes the ecumenical councils from 325 to 553, in which participants gave authority to doctrinal choices by majority vote.  Did you ever wonder how some of these things really went down?  This book tells you (with original sources quoted extensively).   Spoiler Alert: it’s disturbing.

            Forget tradition, scripture slone should be our measuring stick.  If we hear anything that does not perfectly align with the majority of scripture, then it should be looked at very carefully.  Luke 9, along with all other scriptures, give us some very specific things that it claims that Jesus, the Christ, is.  It is also notably missing some of the larger more ambitious claims of later “orthodox” doctrine.  While our job is not to hold a measuring stick up to our brothers and sisters, we are told quite extensively in scripture to examine ourselves.  With that in mind:

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

  1. What do you think the “kingdom of God” is?  Where and when does it take place? Which verses do you feel lend credence to your interpretation?  What level of priority should we assign to becoming citizens of this kingdom?
  2. Who do you say that Jesus is?  Does your belief line up with the majority of scripture?  Why, or why not?
  3. Possibly the most important question: how does your interpretation and understanding of scripture affect how you view and interact with both God and the rest of the humans he made?

PRAYER:

Father God, Please open my eyes and let me see.  Speak into my ear, and let me understand your word.  Grant me wisdom to discern the truth, and obedience to follow your word.  Forgive me of the many times I fall short, and help me to be as forgiving to the people around me when they do.  Thank you God, for life, breath, and all things.  In Jesus name, Amen.

* the “sleep of the dead” is extensively referred to throughout scripture: Gen 47:30; Deut 31:16; 2 Sam 7:12; 1 Ki 2:10; 1 Ki 11:21; 1 Ki 14:20; 1 Ki 15:8; 1 Ki 15:24; 1 Ki 22:40; 1 Ki 22:50; 2 Ki 8:24; 2 Ki 13:9; 2 Ki 14:16; 2 Ki 14:22; 2 Ki 15:7; 2 Ki 15:38; 2 Ki 16:20; 2 Ki 20:21; 2 Ki 21:18; 2 Ki 21:26. 1 Chron 28:10; 2 Chron 9:31; 2 Chron 14:1; 2 Chron 16:13; 2 Chron 21:20; 2 Chron 24:25; 2 Chron 26:23; 2 Chron 32:33; Job 7:21; Job 14:12; Ps 13:3; Ps 90:5; Dan 12:2. Matt 9:24; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11; Matt 27:52; Acts 7:60; Acts 13:36; 1 Cor 7:39; 1 Cor 11:30; 1 Cor 15:20; 1 Cor 15:51; 1 Thess 4:13; 1 Thess 5:10; 2 Peter 3:4.  Additionally, the entirety of Heb 11 is devoted to explaining this concept, with examples.

** “De-composing”, pa dum pum (at least until Jesus comes back).  Ok, so I won’t completely spare you.

*** The Kingdom of God established on the earth: Is 65:17-19, Dan 2:44, Mic 4:1-2, Zech 14:9-11, Heb 12:22, Rev 3:12, 5:10, 11:15, 21:1-3, and more.  These texts collectively affirm that the Kingdom is a literal, earthly government rather than a purely spiritual or heavenly entity.

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Clay Vessels

A person shaping a clay pot on a spinning wheel, with hands covered in clay. The image features the quote from Jeremiah 18:2 NIV overlayed on top.

*Jeremiah 17-18

Psalm 126

Luke 9

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            Genesis 2:7 states that God made man from the “dust of the ground“, and the literal translation of “dust” in this could equally be translated as “dirt/dust/clay/mud/earth”.  The literal origin of the species* happened at this time, according to scripture, when God made man (from the dirt/clay/mud  of the earth) and “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life“.  “Breath” in this verse is also the same exact word for spirit in the original language, by the way, so you could honestly say with accuracy that every human being who is living and breathing at this moment in time has a small piece of the “spirit” or “breath” of God in them.  That’s what animates us all, and gives us life.

            This is an important concept and it’s ramifications to our place in the universe are pretty extensive.  We exist solely because God (1) formed us out of the dirt and (2) breathed into us His breath or spirit, which gave us life.  This is a conscious act of creation, an act of will, an intentional making which caused us to be.  It’s easy to forget sometimes, when we see some of the other tiny little humans walking about that are famous, wealthy, beautiful, full of pride, etc. Etc.; but we are all creations, jars of clay formed by our creator, God.  We live solely because our lungs are filled with the “breath”, or “spirit”, of God.  Regardless of our status towards the other humans, we are all the same before God: vessels of clay, which He has formed and animated, creations which He owns since He made it all.

            There are a couple verses in Job that I like a lot specifically because they highlight these simple teachings.  In Job 33:6 it says: “Behold, I am toward God even as you are. I am also formed out of the clay. ” when the young Elihu speaks to Job, and later in that same conversation, in 34:14-15 he says: “If he set his heart on himself, if he gathered to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would die together and man would turn again to dust.“.  Think about that for a moment.  God, as the creator of the earth and all the things in it (even us) has absolute authority over all of it, because it is His.  This is clearly stated throughout scripture, and most beautifully put in Psalms 24:1 “The earth is Yahweh’s, and all it contains; the world, and those who dwell in it.“.

            In our Jeremiah reading today, we get a pretty clear restatement of this simple concept.  Jeremiah 18:1-4 reads: “The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, “Get up and go down to the potter’s house and I will tell you my message there.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he was making a work on the wheels. Whenever the vessel that he made of the clay came out ruined in the hand of the potter, he made it again, into another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. “.  It’s a very straightforward visual lesson: perform the purpose for which you are created or else back in the bucket you’ll go.  God is the divine potter, we are his clay.

            A while back, there was a famous (and now disgraced) comedian who had a great bit in his show about a parental warning that his father gave to his 7 year old self that went something like this: “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out. And it don’t make no difference to me, I’ll make another one look just like you”.  Hilarious when presented in the comedy show, it’s a bit ominous and concerning when it turns out to be a scriptural accuracy that is clearly demonstrated in our reading today.

            Here are a couple verses to compare and consider, from Jeremiah 17 (please note that ALL scriptures from today’s devotion are quoted from the REV translation, available free online):

“5This is what Yahweh says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in humans and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart departs from Yahweh.” 

“7Blessed is the one who trusts in Yahweh, and whose confidence is Yahweh.”

“9The heart is deceitful above all things, and is incurable; who can know it?”

            To trust in humans is a curse, to trust in Yahweh is a blessing, and our own hearts are deceitful above all things.  This means that even if we really feel like something is right, we need to compare it to scripture and see if it meets the criteria before we can make a discerning judgment. 

            In my sabbath school class this morning, I heard for the second time a teaching I was unfamiliar with from scripture, the concept that Adam and Eve wore “robes of light” in the garden of Eden.  It’s a common belief in the denomination of the church I was attending this morning.  Everyone in the class was on board with this belief, but I was unfamiliar with it. 

            I double checked in scripture, and then raised my hand and politely asked about it.  We all had a very respectfully polite and loving conversation about it; while there were some later verses that could be read in a specific way to imply that such a thing might exist (or come to exist for believers), nothing in scripture stated this specifically and more to the point in question, there was nowhere in scripture during the creation story that stated or even implied that Adam and Eve were wearing such a thing (and some verses which seemed to potentially contradict this belief).

            As a result, and since scripture is the ruler by which we should measure all of our beliefs, we as a group came to the conclusion that while it was not necessarily detrimental to salvation and perfectly acceptable to be held as a personal belief, the belief that Adam and Eve wore “robes of light” in the garden couldn’t be found anywhere in scripture and therefore shouldn’t be spoken of with certainty when teaching (at least without a caveat mentioned).  This conversation was all done in love and unity, with a common seeking an understanding of God’s word.  We didn’t all agree on the “robes of light”, but we did all agree that scripture should be our guide.

            I offer the above (true) story as a template to a loving and respectful way that we can, as a body of believers, seek after the truth of God’s word in humility and respect and to weigh the truth of scripture against what our heart may hold dear as it has been presented to us in the traditions of man.  It’s ok to raise your hand.  It’s ok to ask questions.  It’s ok to lovingly request clarification on any specific belief or tradition.  Then, it’s required to compare that to what the scriptures say, because trusting in men is a curse, but trusting in Yahweh is a blessing.  Even if you really feel strongly about something in your heart, because the heart is deceitful above all else.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. Think of a time when you really wanted something to be true, but it just wasn’t.  How many things did you just think of?
  2. Of all those times you just thought about, how many times was your mistaken belief because you were deceived by others compared to you deceiving yourself?
  3. Do you find yourself sometimes thinking that your jar of clay is better than someone else’s, or vice versa?  Why?  Do you think that’s scripturally accurate?

PRAYER

Father God, you have created not only me but all things here on the earth.  You are my maker, I am your creation.  Father forgive me when I fall short, please mold me to serve the purpose which you intended for me.  Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me, for your glory.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

*-The question of the origin of the species can be boiled down to a simple and single binary question: is the existence of man(kind) planned or random?  Mathematical Physicist Robert Pemrose has calculated that the probability of a life-supporting universe arising by chance as 1 in 10^10^123, which is an infinitesmally small percentage.  This in turn suggests that the precise constants required for life make a random origin of our existence statistically impossible, thereby increasing the likelihood of a conscious creator to near certainty.  Just some math stuff for you nerds.

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Who Touched Me?

*Jeremiah 15-16

Psalm 126

*Luke 8

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

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

Prayer

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

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

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False Prophets

*Jeremiah 13-14

Psalm 125

*Luke 8

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

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

Prayer

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

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

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What path are you walking on?

Explore the call to holiness in Isaiah 65-66 and discover the hope of redemption through God’s sovereign love and grace.

Isa 65-66

Ps 122

Luke 4

-Devotion by Cayce Fletcher

We live in a world that takes a soft view of sin. Our highest virtue is acceptance. We believe that a person is noble if they are flexible on their boundaries. The person who is the most “loving” is the one who is willing to conform their beliefs to what is trending in culture. 

Isaiah 65 speaks to the same tendencies. The people are “obstinate” and pursue “their own imaginations” (v. 2). They say they are holy (v. 5), but they are actually doing the most base and unclean acts (“burning incense in altars of bricks,” “sit among graves”, eating the “flesh of pigs” (v. 3–4)). Quite simply, they call good evil and evil good (Is. 5:20). 

Though the sins of the people are different from those we see today, the heart behind it is the same. Pastor Adrian Rogers said, “We may not have metal idols, but we may have mental idols.” And when we choose to pursue these idols, we exchange the good things of good for the “dirty” things of sin. 

Romans 1 describes this downward slope into sin that comes from a heart of rebellion. It is the great exchange. We exchange the almighty Creator for these simple and unfulfilling created things. That ultimately results in a life that is debased and defiled. 

The beauty of the gospel is that we are rescued from this even if—on our own—we would never choose it. Is. 65:1 says, “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name,  I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’”

God calls us to him. He beckons us. 

We may be caught in the downward spiral of sin, but even there, God meets us and invites us back into relationship with him. 

The ending of our reading in Isaiah today points to our great and glorious hope. We see God’s sovereignty over all of time and space (“The heavens are his throne and the earth his footstool” (Is. 66:1)). And we see that the sovereign plan of God is ultimately to bring redemption to the world. 

God sets before us a choice—echoing that of Deuteronomy 30—in Is. 66:17: “‘Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one who is among those who eat the flesh of pigs, rats and other unclean things—they will meet their end together with the one they follow,’ declares the Lord.”

Under the New Covenant, we don’t have to worry about what we put into our bodies (other than making sure that we choose things that are healthy). But we do have to worry about what is coming out: our speech, actions, and attitude. 

Will we choose to follow the right, holy, and righteous path of God? Or will we pursue idolatry? Will we choose the unclean act of sin? 

May we choose the path of life!

If we do, we will dwell in the new heavens and the new earth. We will see the beauty, delight, and joy of the promises of Isaiah 65:17-25. There will be no more death, no more grief, no more mourning, no more scarcity. 

God will dwell with us. We will be His people. And He will be our God. 

What a wonderful hope! 

Cayce Fletcher is a wife and mom of three. In addition to homeschooling and other ministry projects, she writes and podcasts at amorebeautifullifecollective.com about faith, motherhood, and theology. 

Reflection Questions

  1. What are some of the idols that people pursue today? 
  2. What is the relationship between sin and uncleanliness or impurity?
  3. How does your future hope help you to live for God now? 

Prayer

Dear Lord, thank you so much for the gift of your Son. Thank you for the ability we have to take off the clothes of sin and unrighteousness and be dressed in the perfect, white clothes of righteousness. We look forward to your Kingdom. Help us to glorify you in all that we do. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

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Jesus Announces His Ministry

Isaiah 62-64    

Psalm 121        

Luke 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reflection Questions – and above

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

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

PRAYER

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

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Learning from Jesus

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

Isaiah 62-64

Psalm 121

Luke 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reflection Questions

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

Prayer

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

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Where Are We Looking?

Isaiah 60-61

Psalm 121

Luke 3

-Devotion by Tom Siderius (MI)

Psalms 121:1-4(NLT) I look up to the mountains—
does my help come from there?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth!
3 He will not let you stumble;
the one who watches over you will not slumber.
4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel
never slumbers or sleeps.

This Psalm has some of the greatest lines of poetry in it.  “Shall I lift my eyes up to the hills?” the psalmist asks.  The song was sung as the pilgrims ascended from Jericho uphill to Jerusalem for the feast days there at the temple.  The pagan worship places were often on the top of hills where the Astaroth and Baal idols were worshipped. The decision that we make is whether we will look to the hilltops of this earth or look to our God who made the heavens and the earth.  It seems an easy choice but we must consciously and willfully decide that this is where we are going to look and where to follow.  The world gives us religious thoughts and activities which are not truly Christian but close.  We need to raise our sights above the hills and purposes of this world to God above.

Where is our sight aimed?  What are the things that are close to our heart?

What a rich set of readings from the Word today.  After the uplifting of the Psalm 121 to build up our renewed minds to look to our God, we now read about John the Baptist and the ministry that he fulfills.  We don’t have to wonder who he is and what God has planned for him to do as Isaiah gives us the picture.

Luke 3:3-6(NLT)  Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 4 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said,
“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming!
Clear the road for him!
5 The valleys will be filled,
and the mountains and hills made level.
The curves will be straightened,
and the rough places made smooth.
6 And then all people will see
the salvation sent from God.’”

(From Is 40:3-5 if you are interested in looking it up.)

What is John’s true ministry?

Much of the teaching about John focuses on his coming before Jesus to prepare his way.  This teaching is not completely true.  John’s ministry is to come before Yahweh and prepare the way for repentance and change to bring the people back to God.  This ministry will also get people to look for the coming Messiah who is very close to them physically and will become revealed very shortly.  John is only months older than Jesus, and it would appear that both start their ministries when they are the age of 30 years, which in Jewish culture would be the minimum when you could start a ministry or teach. 

The preparation that John preaches is the coming of the LORD who is God Almighty. God is going to reveal His Son the Messiah to the world, and then obviously this will reveal Him in the ministries that both men have.  John is the servant of the most high God, and then Jesus as we will come to see is the ultimate faithful servant for God. 

Luke 3:15-16(NLT) Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. 16 John answered their questions by saying, “I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

John tells them that Messiah is coming soon and will be the promised one of God bringing salvation and judgment to Israel and the whole world. John tells them that he can only baptize them with the water of repentance, but Messiah will baptize them with holy spirit and power.  His message is of repentance for the people and that they will look to God to be obedient to God’s Law and promises.  Then to look for the coming Messiah.

Where does John aim our vision?

What is the baptism of water and holy spirit mean today?

Now read from Isaiah 60 where the prophesy of Jesus coming and his ministry are foretold to Israel.  Raise our sights again!

Isaiah 60:1-3(NLT) Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see.
For the glory of the LORD rises to shine on you.
2 Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth,
but the glory of the LORD rises and appears over you.
3 All nations will come to your light;
mighty kings will come to see your radiance.

And then even more specifically in Isaiah 61 where we see God telling His people about Messiah to come.

Isaiah 61:1-3(NLT) The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me,
for the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
and to proclaim that captives will be released
and prisoners will be freed.
2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn
that the time of the LORD’s favor has come,
and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.
3 To all who mourn in Israel,
he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
festive praise instead of despair.
In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks
that the LORD has planted for his own glory.

What is it like to say that God will plant people like mighty oaks of righteousness?

What would be another way to say this?

By extension as spiritual children of Abraham we are the nations and Gentiles that are also blessed by the coming of Messiah. God desires for all men to be saved and to come to an accurate knowledge of the truth. He sends his servants and prophets all through history to tell His story.  The New Testament gives us the revealed picture and understanding of what Jesus has accomplished for all the people of the world.  Repentance today is for people to make him Lord over their life and then believe that God has raised him from the dead. 

What is the true confession of repentance that God requires of us?

Isaiah 61:10-11(NLT)  I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God!
For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation
and draped me in a robe of righteousness.
I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding
or a bride with her jewels.
11 The Sovereign LORD will show his justice to the nations of the world.
Everyone will praise him!
His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring,
with plants springing up everywhere.

Reflection Questions above in bold

Prayer

Father God, we thank you that we are planted as Your lush garden of spring.  We thank you for planting us firmly as mighty oaks of righteousness showing Your power in our lives and establishing us as strong people of God.  Father please give us understanding of the spirit and power You have given us, and help us to grow into the people of God You have called us to be.  We praise Your Mighty Name and pray today in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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