Tag: daily devotion

Invitation

Old Testament: 2 Kings 15-17

Poetry: Psalm 75

New Testament: Luke 14:15-24

And so it begins. The words of Amos fell on deaf ears.  Time and again, the northern kingdom of Israel fails to commit to repentance, leaving the high places standing against the Most High God’s repeated warning. Through the course of 2 Kings 15-17, Israel unravels, becoming a nation of idolatry and insolence.  The very things that the previous generations had fought to keep out became the way. The Creator’s voice was ignored.

This is the exact picture painted in the “Parable of the Great Banquet.”  In the same manner, a certain man extends an invitation to friends for a great feast.  Every RSVP is returned with an excuse. Work, family, and other obligations trump taking the time to attend. In a move that represents both social and fiscal wisdom, the host extends the invitation to those who will actually show up – no questions and no excuses.  When the party is well under way, those initially invited become indignant when they realize they no longer can attend.

While these words are meant specifically for the audience in front of Jesus with allusion to the historical context of Kings and Amos, we can most definitely apply them to the invitation that has been extended to each one of us.  We are invited into conversations through reading and prayer.  We are invited to be with our church body to commune in worship and fellowship. We are invited to take on baptism, fasting, and other spiritual disciplines.  Life gets understandably busy, and so we ignore the greatest invitation we could receive: to sit down at the table with God – far more incomprehensible. And so, our place within God’s plan awaits our seating.  We tend to our field, try out our purchases, and busy ourselves with another accolade, leaving our food growing cold and the high places standing.

The words are a sobering reminder to prioritize God and His kingdom above everything else.  Our bodies, beings, and calendars should be given to Him first. Accepting His invitation to Sunday morning worship doesn’t make you a follower, but constantly rejecting it does mean you follow someone or something else. Volunteering to give your time to a mission or ministry doesn’t make your efforts an act of service, but never doing this most certainly makes you self-serving.  Likewise, neglecting baptism, Bible study, and evangelism means we have placed our efforts and urgency somewhere else, making an offering of excuses instead of accepting the gracious offer in return for our small sacrifice.

Finally, we should reflect that this invitation is not exclusive to us.  There are no country club, buyer’s membership vibes, or secret handshakes. It is now open to the general public.  The overlooked and marginalized have every right to participate, and frankly, might have a more open social calendar if they just received the word. God invites all to sit at His table.  We are to embody the generosity of our host as conduits of His call.  There will always be excuses, but if we continue to ignore our invitation or fail to invite others, we could find ourselves on the wrong side of the door after the celebration has begun.

-Aaron Winner

Reflection Questions

  1. What excuses have you used when God has invited you to come sit at His table? What do you think God thinks of your excuses?
  2. Aaron wrote, “We are to embody the generosity of our host as conduits of His call.” How can you put God’s generous call into practice in your life? Who is waiting to hear about their invitation? How can you deliver the invitation to them?
  3. What is the difference between being invited to the party and actually attending the party? Where are you? Where will you be? Can you be a church attender who is ignoring God’s invitation? What might that look like?
  4. What is your greatest priority? What should be your greatest priority?
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Posts and Planes

Old Testament: Amos 7-9

Poetry: Psalm 74

New Testament: Luke 14:1-14

“This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. And the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,” I replied. Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.” Amos 7:7-8

 Three summers ago, I took on the task of building 300 or so feet of fence in my backyard to enclose the wandering space of two quickening toddlers.  I am far from a carpenter by trade, so in every way, it took me significantly more time to get the job done; however, I was committed to doing it right, building something that had some staying value. It was my Great Wall.  After doing some YouTube research, I knew even the smallest deviation, a single degree to the left or right on a plane, could have pretty severe consequences.   If you can’t imagine the measurements of fence posts, an example more relevant might be one drawn from James Clear in Atomic Habits.  He asks his reader to imagine an airplane taking off from California destined for New York. Just after takeoff, the heading is adjusted by the smallest degree shift.  This unnoticeable change, if never corrected, will have you arriving in Florida, not New York, roughly 1000 miles away from your destination.

Whether it is posts or planes, we can see that God is using a measure for Israel and us, that is making sure that we are vertically aligned with Him.  Amos alludes to the scattering of Israel and a final judgment at the return of Jesus. Unchecked cultural allowances passed from generation to generation compound their effect and become paradigm shifts.  While Israel was at the height of its economic and political power, seemingly built on a great foundation of previous generations, small allowances and leanings away from God, moves Israel away from God’s chosen, eventually leading to their conquered and scattered status in the 1st century.

Additionally, at the beginning of Luke 14, Jesus reminds us of the measure we should use. The Pharisees took great pride in regularly measuring themselves to a standard.  Unfortunately, the rules they followed were often legalistic, self-imposed, and focused solely on their status with one another. Taking seats of honor, refusing to help on the Sabbath, and blessing only those who can repay you are incorrect measures that can skew the outcome of your vertical alignment more quickly than one or two poles being out of line.  Jesus gave them the measure, “but when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” Alignment with God means blessing those who cannot return the favor.  Simply put, this is the Father’s love shown through Jesus Christ paying a debt we could never repay.


So how do we combat these leanings that will make our defenses weak? First, we are encouraged to regularly check our progress or face being cut out of the plan of God.  Here’s a quick check-in: the average American takes in 100,000 words a day through conversation and content. Reading a Bible study like this is 2,000 of those, solely if you stick to the plan and stay away from devotional.  Over the course of a year, not reading a daily Bible plan misaligns you by 800,000 words, roughly 8 full days within a year without God’s presence.  This is only a single, simple action, which does meet the requirements of the plumb line alone in isolation. Giving up a hundred words here and there may seem harmless, but they add up, and could place us far from our destination in a matter of months. 

Start today with something small to plumb. Pray for patience over your first cup of coffee.  Offer a line or two of a worship chorus when you hear the rain. Thank God aloud whenever you arrive home safely. If we check in with this single task daily, how much more aligned would our life be to Christ’s in a few months?  We cannot spare any more time without God’s presence beckoning the standard in Christ and shoring up our shortcomings. Daily measure against God’s standard and build your life with eternal value.

Reflection Questions

  1. What steps do you want to take to be well aligned with God? What practices and habits do you need to remove and replace because they are pulling you away from proper alignment?
  2. How does being just a few degrees off over time take you where you do not want to go?
  3. What does God’s standard look like? How can we follow it more closely?
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A God of Justice

Old Testament: Amos 5 & 6

Poetry: Psalm 73

New Testament: Luke 13:10-35

Justice is a solid theme throughout the book of Amos. Through the prophet Amos, God is pronouncing judgement upon Israel and neighboring nations. He first announces why said nation is being punished, and then warns of the coming consequences. It stood out to me how God cast judgment upon the same nations he would also be defending. For example, in Amos 1:12, the people of Edom are to be punished for crimes committed against Israelites. In 2:1, Moabites are punished for having desecrated the bones of Edom’s king. In later chapters, Israel is being punished for idolatry. God’s justice reigns. 

Whether a group was victimized or guilty, God did not let wrongs go unnoticed. 

God is a God of compassion and mercy, but he is also just. It can be difficult for us to fully comprehend how these attributes coexist, but that is because we are understanding these concepts in mere human terms. To simply put, God has a God brain, and we, with our human brain, will never be able to fully understand how God works through both grace and justice. Fortunately, we don’t need to know the how in order to believe He does. 

Everyone experiences injustice in their lives. Whether large scale injustice like racism or sexism, to smaller personal injustices within relationships and friend groups. No matter the severity, God is aware of them all. It is the smaller injustices I want to address, today. 

When our feelings are hurt, when lies or gossip has been spread about us, when we are betrayed by people we trust, we feel robbed and empty. We want someone to hear our side of the story. If we’re honest with ourselves, we really aren’t looking for God to rain down fire upon the guilty individual(s). Usually, all we really want is an apology. But there are some situations in which we will never get this. This can hurt, so deeply. I know. I’m in a situation like that now. 

If you’re like me, dealing with a relational injustice, you probably aren’t wishing terrible horrible judgment upon said person. You are probably just wanting closure or a chance to be heard. Take comfort in today’s reading. God is a God of justice, one who rights wrongs. While I may never get the respect I deserve, or the chance to rewrite the narrative believed about me, God knows, and God sees. In these cases, punishment need not necessarily occur in order for us to feel justified. The fact the LORD knows and sees can be justice enough.

~ Emilee Ross

(originally posted July 10, 2020 for SeekGrowLove)

Reflection Questions

  1. Amos 6:12 says: “But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness”. What might this look like?
  2. Justice is important to God. How does He show justice?
  3. How can you work to establish justice?
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It was All Oppressive UNTIL…

Old Testament: Amos 3 & 4

Poetry: Psalm 73

New Testament: Luke 13:1-9

(Originally posted, April 25, 2020 when we were doing a chronological Bible reading plan so the reading for the day was 3 psalms, including Psalm 73, and the previous day we had read from 1 Chronicles.)

Yesterday we read the short short story (2 verses) of Jabez (1 Chronicles 4:9, 10).  He prayed.  God granted his request.  Remember, we don’t know the timeline for the life of Jabez.  Since he had requested from God the expansion of his territory (amongst other things) I feel it is most likely that this answer didn’t come with a snap of the fingers  -though God can certainly work that way when He wants to. I wonder if this answer was achieved over a period of time, with some persistence and wisdom and work required from Jabez.  But still – it sounds so simple and sweet. A fairy-tale ending in just two verses. Jabez prayed.  God granted his request.

But, what about the times when the answer isn’t coming.  We may be praying hard – with a good measure of persistence, wisdom and work, too.  But, it’s just not coming together like we thought a good God would do.

I think of Job and the 41 long, difficult, trying chapters of his story – before the final 42nd chapter when we see God finally shower Job once again with double the blessings.  It would be great to read the book of Job today to remember Job’s anguish – and God’s answer.  Or, you can read Psalm 73 – it is like a mini book of Job boiled down into one powerful psalm.

The author of this psalm begins by acknowledging that he knows God is good.  And, yet, he personally had nearly lost his way and his faith because of his own serious struggles while simultaneously watching the wicked prosper.  He saw boastful, callous, violent, evil men succeeding and growing in popularity and wealth, all while denying and even mocking God.  Are we sure this wasn’t written in 2020 (or 2024)?  Haven’t we seen and heard the same things this week and shook our heads and asked, “Where is God?  This isn’t right or just or fair?  The world is too messed up!”  And we sink down deeper in our despair.   As the psalmist said, “When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me…” (Psalm 73:16)

UNTIL…

Yes – keep reading!  The good stuff is coming – just like it came for Jabez and Job and the psalmist,  it is coming for you and for me.  Though it does require a little bit of action on our part.  The psalmist reveals the secret.  He wrote, he was oppressed UNTIL he, “entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.” (Psalm 73:17).  Look to God.  Put yourself smack dab in His presence.  Intentionally seek Him out.  Change your focus.  Consider the whole timeline, the big picture.  Look into the future.  Consider the consequences and coming judgement.  Rest in knowing God has got this.  And He has got me.  And if you let Him, He has got you.

The rest of this psalm has beautiful passages of God’s strength, guidance, comfort, plan, wisdom, & protection in any and every situation.  Don’t miss the chance to read it for yourself and soak it in.  Which verse is your favorite in Psalm 73?

Also, don’t miss out on the powerful truths in Psalm 77 & 78. (We will officially be reading those next week, but you could look ahead now.)  Psalm 77 begins much the same way Psalm 73 did – in agony and despair.  And maybe you have been there yourself sometime?  Perhaps you have asked yourself, “Has his unfailing love vanished forever?..Has God forgotten to be merciful?” (Psalm 77:8, 9).

And yet – here again we will see a great turn-around.  In a few short verses he will be writing, “Your ways, O God, are holy, What god is so great as our God?” (Psalm 77:13).  What makes the difference?  What happened in-between verse 9 and 13?  Did he win the lottery?  Did he get all his wishes granted in the sudden snap of his fingers?  It had looked so hopeless.  What changed?

10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
    the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will consider all your works
    and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

His situation did NOT change.  His thinking did.

What he was focusing on changed.  He rewired his brain, his thought processes, his attitude, his words, his outlook.  He remembered the good God had done.  He meditated on God’s work.

The anguish and oppressive depression doesn’t have to win, even in a situation that appears so bleak.  You may find yourself in the dark, questioning God.  You are not alone.  But, don’t allow yourself to remain in the dark.  Keep stepping towards the light.  You don’t have to wait until your circumstances change.  Instead, change your view.  Enter His Sanctuary.  Search for the good things He has done – in the past and today.  Seek Him.  Read His Word. Remind yourself of His power, faithfulness and love.

Marcia Railton

Reflection Questions

  1. Psalm 73:2 & 3 says: “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. 3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” How does it affect you when you see the wicked prosper? How have you seen others affected? How can it lead to stumbling? What would be a better response when we see the wicked prosper?
  2. How does your view of things (the wicked, your suffering, the future) change when you enter God’s presence? How do you enter God’s presence?
  3. Which verse is your favorite in Psalm 73?
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Your Purpose

Old Testament: Amos 1 & 2

Poetry: Psalm 73

New Testament: Luke 12:22-59

Have you ever wondered what your purpose is? Why are you here? What am I suppose to accomplish in this lifetime? 

I think it’s pretty simple yet we make it so complicated sometimes, or at least I do. 

Luke 12:22-23

Do Not Be Anxious

[22] And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. [23] For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

I am blessed because I rarely worry about what I am going to eat or what I am going to wear. If Jesus is telling his disciples not to worry about their essential needs, I highly doubt I should be worried about what others may think concerning the kind of car I drive, the shoes I wear, the house I live in, or even if I’m going to have enough money saved so I retire in 30 years, etc.  Don’t get me wrong, I believe there is value in planning ahead and being wise with your money, but if you do it at the expense of being less generous, spending less time with family and friends, and most importantly getting so consumed that you forget about your relationship with God. It’s all in vain and meaningless. 

Luke 12:31

[31] Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

This sums up how we ought to live and where our priorities should lie. Seeking the Kingdom isn’t always the easiest decision in the moment, but it is always the best decision. Seeking the kingdom isn’t always the best financial decision in the moment, but it’s always the best financial choice in the end. Seeking the kingdom won’t always give you everything you think you need and want now, but it will give you everything you thought you wanted and needed and so much more when the Kingdom is revealed. 

I challenge you and myself to see how we can make a real difference for the coming kingdom now, and how we can store up treasure in heaven where no thief can steal and no moth can destroy! 

Luke 12:33-34

[33] Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. [34] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

-Luke Elwell

(originally posted for SeekGrowLove December 19, 2022)

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. Is there a time when you where anxious about something? How else could you have reacted?
  2. What are some ways to seek the Kingdom? How will you personally seek the Kingdom today?
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Jonah’s Object Lesson

Old Testament: Jonah 4

Poetry: Psalm 73 (on repeat the rest of this week)

New Testament: Luke 12:13-21

In Jonah chapter 3, the great city Nineveh repented, and they turned towards God. Afterwards, God had mercy on the people and relented on the upcoming disaster that Jonah was warning them of. 

For those who follow God, it should be easy to rejoice when God shows his mercy and love. However, in Jonah chapter 4 we see that Jonah was displeased with the mercy that was afforded to the people of Nineveh. Why was Jonah angry at this? This is possibly due to Nineveh being the capital of the nation of Assyria, an enemy of Israel. Perhaps being on opposite sides, Jonah wanted to see his enemies destroyed, or perhaps his own personal morality guided that the Ninevites deserved destruction. Perhaps the disaster never befalling Nineveh also delegitimized the words that he spoke to them, and made him feel less powerful. Either way, Jonah’s heart was not in the right place, and God saw to it that Jonah saw this too. 

After Jonah complained to God, he rested. There, God allowed a plant to grow. Jonah found joy in this. Then, God caused the plant to die in the morning, and called in a great heat to overcome the area that Jonah was in. Again, Jonah cried out at the demise of the plant that he had. 

God then likened this plant to Nineveh. It gave great joy to Jonah despite him not being the reason it grew, and it was only there overnight. So too Nineveh should also receive mercy even if recently they turned from their wicked ways. 

Although only 11 verses long, Jonah 4 reveals a lot to us about who God is, and how we should interact with him. First off, God used the plant as a metaphor for Nineveh, much like how his son Jesus would use parables to teach spiritual lessons to people in ways that they may understand. 

Secondly, God has love for people, even for those that are not his chosen people. Perhaps Jonah may have disagreed with this at the time, but regardless this goes on to show the legitimacy of the great commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28, and carried out through the rest of the New Testament. The love of God is for everyone. 

Thirdly, we should always want what God wants. Even if we do not understand God, or if we do not agree with the way things may be going for us, we must adopt the viewpoint that aids so many people throughout the Bible: “not my will, but yours be done.” “Yours” referring to God, our father in heaven. 

-Colby Leggitt

Reflection Questions

  1. Even when we feel that we are worthless, how can we remind ourselves of the greater purpose that God has called us to?
  2. Why was Jonah so upset that God relented to the disaster to befall Nineveh? How can we connect this to times in our lives when we are angry that things don’t go our way? 
  3. What does God tell us about the worth of being angry (without very good reason)?
  4. Was God’s lesson on Jonah too harsh? Are such tribulations the kind of tough love that is needed sometimes for us to see things the way God wants us to?
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He Answered Me

Old Testament: Jonah 2

Poetry: Proverbs 31

New Testament: Luke 11:14-54

What do you find in every one of the four chapters of Jonah?

Not a great fish – but prayers.

And, chapter 2 is just about all a prayer from the prophet Jonah to his great big God – while he waits, inside the belly of a fish sent by God.

What might you pray if you ever were to find yourself in such a predicament, or an equally stuck and potentially stinky one? What predicaments have you found yourself in that shared some characteristics, even though there were several differences, too? What did you pray for in those instances? I am guessing my prayer would include a whole lot of “Get me outta here, God!” If there is one type of prayer that most of us seem to have mastered, perhaps it is the prayer for deliverance. Lord, deliver us from sickness, from unemployment, from stress and anxiety, from dysfunctional families, from bad grades, from disgrace, and yes, from evil, and the list goes on. Turns out there are a lot of places we do not want to be – including inside the belly of a great fish.

But I find the prophet who was trying to run away from God in chapter 1 has a lot to teach me about prayer in Jonah chapter 2.

I am guessing that given 3 whole days and nights Jonah had the perfect opportunity to say a lot of things to God. He might have very well included some prayers for deliverance. But, that is not what is recorded in the 8 verse prayer of Jonah 2. Jonah sees and recognizes and gives God thanks for taking care of him, thus far. He sees the belly of the great fish not as a trap but as one more step of God’s merciful path toward salvation. And he thanks God. It could have been so much worse. He would have been at the bottom of the ocean, lifeless. But God has sent salvation. (Maybe that was the name of the fish?) He delivered from the deep. He provided a spiritual time-out for Jonah. He helped Jonah put his life and his death into perspective to see again God’s greatness and the privilege we have to follow Him, to fulfill our vows to Him, even into the scary land of the Ninevites (but more on that tomorrow.)

-Marcia Railton

Reflection Questions

  1. What conversations could you have with God for three days and three nights if you removed all distractions around you except those that could be found inside the deep dark belly of a great fish? How could you create and take advantage of a spiritual time-out to meet with God for an extended time?
  2. In the midst of your big fish, or when you felt you were sinking, what have you/can you thank God for?
  3. When did you need a reminder that “Salvation is from the Lord.” How did Jonah know that to be true? How do you?
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Jonah Ran

Old Testament: Jonah 1

Poetry: Proverbs 30

New Testament: Luke 11:1-13

(You will notice we are not done with 2 Kings yet, but we are taking a pause to add in the book of Jonah at this point. Through the rest of 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles we will be inserting the 17 books of prophecy and the rest of the books of history – Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther – in a chronological fashion. However, when we start a book of prophecy we will read the whole book even though the events might span a good chunk of history throughout Kings/Chronicles. Thank you to Robert Jones of Atlanta Bible College for his help in ordering these books amongst the Kings and Chronicles.)

The story of Jonah is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible. However, the book of Jonah is one of the least read books in the Bible! Let this devotion serve as a challenge to read this book with fresh eyes this week.

Jonah is perhaps the most unique prophet in the Bible. Isaiah, Daniel, Elijah, and so many others serve as intensely righteous men who carry about the Lord’s message with great zeal. Habakkuk shows shocking honesty and transparency in his prayer life. Amos shows us that the most humble people– yes, even the shepherds– are called into ministry of some kind. But what about Jonah?

Jonah shows that rebellious streak that runs within all of us at some time or another. God has called him to preach to the city of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, and Jonah does not listen. It’s understandable; Nineveh is nearly 700 miles away from Jerusalem. That would take well over a month to travel there in his time! But wait– Jonah doesn’t just say no to God. He actually runs away in the opposite direction!

So Jonah runs away and God lets him know that there’s no running from God. In fact, throughout Jonah’s refusal to minister to the Assyrians, it still brings glory to God. The sailors he’s traveling with tremble with fear when they discover who Jonah’s God is. Notice that, in 1:11, the sailors want to please Jonah’s God, and instead of saying, “Let’s turn this ship around and head to Nineveh,” he says, “Just throw me overboard.”

But God wasn’t done with Jonah. Jonah’s saved. But more importantly, Jonah experiences a spiritual reckoning: (Sneak peak into tomorrow’s reading of Chapter 2…) Jonah has a moment of complete clarity and offers up a remorseful, prayerful praise to God. He recognizes that God is the one in control (2:3). And he recognizes that salvation comes only from the LORD.

So here are a few questions for us to consider in all this:

Do we listen for God’s voice like Jonah does? 

Do we reject God’s call like Jonah did? Probably more than we realize.

Do we expect God to call us to the “Nineveh” of our lives?

Do we learn from our mistakes like Jonah did, and pray about it? 

Will Jonah learn from these events, and change his ways? We’ll have to find out this week.

-Levi Salyers

(originally posted for SeekGrowLove December 15, 2021)

ONE MORE QUESTION to add to those above…

What do we learn from the sailors in Jonah 1?

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Where is Your Faith?

Old Testament: 2 Kings 5 & 6

Poetry: Proverbs 25

New Testament: Luke 8

Reading today’s passage in Luke 8, I was surprised at how many incredible stories of Jesus are packed into just one chapter. It really shows the power that Jesus holds. He preaches messages to large crowds, he calms the storm, and heals a sick woman just from being touched. There are even multiple accounts of people being cured of evil spirits. Additionally, we even get to hear the miraculous resurrection of Jairus’ daughter. Jesus’ power is stronger than the ties of death. A common theme among these stories is the presence of faith or the lack thereof. Jesus asks his disciples, “Where is your faith” when they were scared and stuck in a storm. Some would point to Jesus’ ability to give commands to the winds and the waves and his power over death as evidence that Jesus is greater than who he says he is. But when we look at other accounts in the Bible of God using men to do his work and will, we can easily see that God is powerful enough to work through humans. Our reading today in 2 Kings 5 tells the story of Elisha performing a miracle through the power of God and healing a man of leprosy. There are many other examples of great miracles that could only be through the hand of God, such as in 1 Kings 17 when Elijah raised the widow’s son.

God is omnipotent and His power is not diminished when He works through humans. This same idea also extends to the fact that Jesus’ death on the cross covers the atonement for the sins of the entire world. How can this be since Jesus is a man? Through the power of God. This was part of God’s plan of salvation. Since sin and death came through a man (Adam), life and righteousness also come from a man (Jesus). Jesus could not have done it on his own accord- but through the power of God his sacrifice was sufficient. Therefore, it has nothing to do with Jesus’ qualifications and everything to do with the qualifications of God. This is great news for us because it means that God can use us in unimaginable ways because our God is greater and more powerful than we would be able to accomplish on our own and is waiting to use us when we offer ourselves to him.

Throughout the Gospels we can see the faithfulness Jesus shows to God. This is an important step to being used by God. Luke chapter 8 shows the importance of having faith. Jairus’ daughter was raised WHEN Jairus had the faith that Jesus could do it, the woman who was sick was healed WHEN she had the faith that touching Jesus would be enough. We can even see that the demons had faith in Jesus that he could command them to leave the man. The demons even acknowledge who Jesus is and recognizes that Jesus gets his power from the Most High.

Not only do we need to have our faith in God but we also need to be close to him and have a relationship with God. The parable of the sower likewise teaches us how a firm foundation in God keeps us rooted in God and His ways. We can believe in God for a time but if we are not continually seeking Him then we will not be listening for God when He tries to use us to accomplish His work.

-Makayla Railton

Questions:

Have you been building your firm foundation on God so that you can withstand life’s temptations and troubles and still be rooted in God?

Do you feel like you are waiting for God to qualify you before He can use you? Whose power are you relying on?

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Do You See?

Old Testament: 2 Kings 3 & 4

Poetry: Proverbs 24

New Testament: Luke 7:36-50

I want you to imagine with me. 


You are a powerful man in ancient Israel. You hear about a miracle worker and rabbi. This guy, in just the last couple days reportedly saved a slave of some centurion without even being near him. More than that, he brought the dead back to life! Could such a thing be? Nothing like it has happened in your lifetime. This man reminds you of Moses, Elijah, and the prophets that you have grown up hearing about and spent your life studying. You know that such a man must be holy, must be from God. You invite this man to eat with you, so you can see for yourself how this holy, miraculous man interacts with people.

So you see him. And he’s shorter than you expected. Actually, he’s quite unremarkable in appearance. He is not wealthy, he does not come from money or make much when out teaching. He is lean from walking and fasting. He has an entourage of men with thick accents, no training, and a certain lack of decorum. They look and act like fishermen. To your surprise, you learn they ARE fishermen. One is even a tax collector. It’s only natural to begin to doubt. But when he opens his mouth to teach, it intrigues you. The passion with which he speaks. The intensity in his eyes. The compassion in his touch, to all people, draws you in, and you invite him over for dinner. Doubts gnaw at your mind, but surely in a personal setting those will fall away.

However, at dinner, things get really out of hand. As per usual, you have your home open to use by the people of the city, because God has blessed you for your devote life and upright character. Everyone, all thirteen (and more) of this teacher’s usual crew start to relax, kick back their feet, and eat. But, in the middle of dinner, she comes in. The years of hard life, of acting in such impolite, anti-social, uncouth, wicked and sinful ways, of trying and failing to do better, showed in every movement in the presence of this teacher. But instead of running like she should have, she bends down, weeping, and cries on his feet, wipes his feet clean with her tears. She takes his barely washed feet and anoints them with the sweetest perfume, the smell wafting over you all. She is making a scene, at YOUR dinner. And you know what kind of person she is. She doesn’t deserve this attention, she only wants to ruin your hospitality, because that’s the kind of person she is. 

No, no this man must be a phony. How could a man who raises the dead not know what this woman does every day? How could such a “holy man” allow so much uncleanness to caress his feet? Why let someone like her defile someone like him?


Then he says your name and breaks you out of your reverie. He calls your name. He tells you about two debtors, both forgiven – one much and one little. He asks “Who will love the forgiver more?”

“The one who was forgiven much,” you answer wisely. 


He turns to the woman and takes her worried, nervous, anxious trembling hands in his own. He turns his soft but piercing eyes to her own, red from weeping. He says to you, “Do you see this woman?” He lets the words hang in silence for a moment. She rubs her nose. For the first time you notice that some of her hair is starting to turn gray. You notice that she is not old, but the lines come from stress. You notice that she must have washed to come, as she looks cleaner than you have seen her in a long time… You see yourself seeing this woman, who you see everyday, in a new way. She is a whole person. She is more than the sum of her mistakes. She is loving this teacher. She is showing him honors “She has done for me what you have not,” he says. “She has much to be forgiven for, and so she loves, knowing now that she is forgiven. In your own eyes, your sins are so much smaller, and so your love is so much less.”


The rest of the table murmurs about the teacher forgiving sins, but as they talk he says to the woman “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.” She smiles at him with gratitude and joy…

Do you see this woman?

Or do you see the sins? The immorality? The wickedness? The hardness of life? The addictions? The abuse?


Jesus opened the eyes of the blind, and more importantly, causes the spiritually blind to see the world. May this imaging open your eyes. This man who raised up the dead, more importantly, raised up the living to new life. May this story cause you to raise the living to new life. 


And may this question reverberate in your head all day :

Do you see this woman?

(Optional note for those confused about the devotion : spiritual imagining, putting ourselves in the story, is an ancient spiritual tradition. One great example that is often used is in Luke 15, the parable of the “Lost/Prodigal Son”, or better “The Lost Sons” or best “The Searching/Prodigal Father”. You may see yourself as the son who runs off, the servants rejoicing, the son who is angry for forgiveness, or the father looking for his boys. It says much about ourselves and our relationship with God and others to see who we identify with, and to put ourselves in strange places in the story. Today we looked through Simon’s eyes in Luke 7, not because it is the best, but because of course he would doubt Jesus. Of course he would question him. Of course he would be offended at the woman. And of course, all of that is undue, because Jesus overcomes our doubts through miracles, our questions through answers and better questions, and our offense by unending grace. May this story take a new meaning to you as you ask yourself: Do you see this woman?)

-Jacob Ballard

(originally posted for SeekGrowLove March 16, 2021)

Reflection Questions

  1. Would you more often see yourself as the sinful woman or as Simon the Pharisee?
  2. What do each of these 2 characters need?
  3. Jesus initiates the discussion with Simon after Simon had just “said to himself”. What recent thoughts of yours might Jesus question if he were in your house today? What do you think he would ask/say/explain to counter your thoughts?
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