Tag: Stephanie Fletcher

Heart Change

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 44 & 45

POETRY: Psalm 107

NEW TESTAMENT: James 2:14-26

Faith or Works

How are we saved?  We are saved by grace alone, through our faith in Jesus Christ.  But what comes out of our faith?  Shouldn’t it be works?

If we start with works and try to earn our righteousness, we won’t get there.  We cannot earn salvation.  However, if we have faith, works should come out of that.

I think most people reading this probably know these things.  You’ve probably heard a sermon, read a devotion on it, etc.  But do we live that way?  Do we live in a way that is trying to work on all the individual things in our lives, to clean them up one by one, to do the good things we are supposed to?

Alternatively, we can focus on growing our faith.  On accepting the gift given to us and let the good works come naturally as a result of that.

The youth group at our church recently read in Romans 12 which lists many snippets on how we should be living “love must be sincere…be joyful in hope…share with God’s people who are in need.  Practice hospitality…live in harmony with one another…do not be conceited…” and many more. 

We could use this as a checkbox of good works to make sure that we are doing the right things to show our salvation.  But that doesn’t address our hearts.  If we need a checklist to make sure we are loving one another, we need to go back and look at our hearts.  What we talked about in class was to pray to have our hearts changed so that living this way would come naturally out of the overflow of our hearts.  And I think this relates to the faith vs works question. 

If our faith is sincere, our hearts are changed, and the result of that is good works.

A checklist can be a good way for you to ask yourself – am I living as one whose heart has been changed – but I don’t think it is good to be living our lives based off of a checklist.  It focuses you more on the tasks rather than the effects of what you are doing or the purpose behind it.

So maybe ask yourself if you are doing these good things, or avoiding the bad, but if you aren’t meeting the things on that list, don’t place your focus there.  Instead, pray for God to change your heart and you should start to see that happen more and more.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Where have you seen faith without works? Where have you seen works without faith? Why, do you think, God is looking for both, working together?
  2. Are you living as one whose heart has been changed? Are you living out your faith daily? What evidence do you have to support your answer?
  3. What specific heart change can you pray for?
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Do You Know?

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 41-43

POETRY: Psalm 107 (the rest of this week)

NEW TESTAMENT: James 2:1-13

I want to jump back to Isaiah today.  Chapter 40 was actually the scheduled reading from yesterday, but it ends with some of my favorite verses – Isaiah 40:28-31

28 Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

I don’t have much of a devotion for you, but here is my suggestion.

Read these verses again.  Let the amazingness, goodness, incredibleness of God wash over you.  Be in awe of Him.  And lean into the reminder that those who hope in Him will have their strength renewed.

Sometimes, we read large chunks of chapters or verses, and for me at least, I fall into a traditionally schooled trained pattern of just trying to absorb information to be able to answer questions.  But the wonder can pass me by when I do this. 

So stop.  Read this small section, and be amazed by the Creator.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Do you know that the Lord your God is the Creator of the world? What does that mean to you? What does it mean to you that He is everlasting?
  2. What can you not fathom about the Lord God’s understanding? When has He given you strength when you were weary? How would you use His strength today? Pray for it. Thank God for it.
  3. Where do you put your hope?
  4. How many times can you read this passage today? Whatever number you said, can you read it 5-10 additional times beyond what you thought you could.
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Religion that is Worthless

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 38-40

POETRY: Psalm 107

*NEW TESTAMENT: `James 1:19-27

Have you ever spoken without thinking and hurt someone as a result?  Maybe you have seen this object lesson before, but think of a tube of toothpaste.  It is really easy to squeeze the toothpaste out (my kids are happy to do so in excess if they make it to the counter before me).  But once it is out, it is incredibly difficult, time consuming, and messy to get that toothpaste back in.  Once you speak, you can’t take your words back.  You can apologize, but that doesn’t change the fact of what you said.

How quickly do you become angry?  I like verse 20 which gives us a reason why we should be slow to become angry – “for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”

It is easy to get angry, to speak rudely, to interrupt others’ speech.  But these things do not help us to live the life God wants us to.  It might make us feel better for a second to have an outburst, but usually, we feel worse afterwards and it has done nothing to improve our lives.

But how do we go about avoiding this temptation that is easy to slide into?

“get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.”

In a small group I was a part of in the spring, there was an idea that kept coming up from discussing the sermons – if you aren’t producing good fruit in your life, take a look – are you letting sin have a hold in your life?  We have to be constantly on the lookout for where sin seeps in and push it out in order that our fruit can show.

Verse 22 – “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says[!]”  You have to act.  It is great to go to church, listen to sermons, classes, read the Bible on your own, etc.  All great things.  But if all you do is listen, it isn’t going to make a difference.  You need to actively push the sin out of your life and pursue the good.

To circle back to the beginning of this section, here is what James writes in verse 26 “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.” 

That is strong language!  Do you thing about your words having such an impact as to make your religion worthless if you do not control your tongue?

Think about your speech – do you need to work on controlling what you say?  Is there speech you need to ask for forgiveness for?  Is there speech you need to forgive someone else for?  What moral filth do you need to get rid of in your life in order to be able to accept God’s word?

Silence has value.  In the words of Thumper “if ya can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.”

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Do you thing about your words having such an impact as to make your religion worthless if you do not control your tongue? When might you have questioned someone else’s religion because of what they said? When was the worth of your own religion decreased due to what you said?
  2. Think about your speech – do you need to work on controlling what you say?  Is there speech you need to ask for forgiveness for?  Is there speech you need to forgive someone else for? 
  3. What moral filth do you need to get rid of in your life in order to be able to accept God’s word?
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God Won’t Give You Anything Beyond…

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 36-37

POETRY: Song of Songs 8

*NEW TESTAMENT: James 1:1-18

Do you feel joy when you go through trials/temptations? I would guess not as it is opposed to our natural inclinations.

But when we go through hard times, we can come out on the other side stronger. 

Have you heard Christians say that God won’t give us anything beyond what we can handle?  That is a perversion of the truth. 

We weren’t created to be able to handle this life on our own.  We were made with a need for God.  The trouble comes when we recognize our need for something beyond ourselves but turn to something or someone besides God and become dependent on that.  That is when idols are created.

God won’t put things in our life that can’t be handled with His help.  But there likely will be things in your life that you can’t handle on your own.  That is your reminder, if you aren’t already, to depend on God.

1 Corinthians 10:13 is where people get the wrong idea.  But they just read part of it.  They read “he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.”  The verse continues though to say “But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”  He will provide a way!

When we try to do things on our own, we can quickly become prideful – thinking we are great, or, become depressed because we can’t do what we tried to. 

We can come out of the other side of trials and temptations with a stronger faith if we leaned into God during this time.  It should allow us to become more mature in our faith and deepen our relationship with God.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. What is a past trial you have gone through with God’s help? How did He help you? How did your perseverance grow during this experience? How did you mature through the process? What joys can you take away from that past trial?
  2. What joy can you find in your present trial?
  3. Consider some of the Christians that you most look up to. Have you ever met a really strong Christian who has had a really “easy” life?
  4. What will you say the next time you hear someone say, “God won’t give us anything beyond what we can handle?”
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Popularity – and Rejection

Old Testament: Micah 1 & 2

Poetry: Psalm 135

New Testament: Matthew 21

As we come to the Christmas season, reading about these last days of Jesus puts a different light on the passage. 

At the beginning of the chapter, we see Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey as the king he was prophesied to be.  This lines up with what was expected from his birth!  And yet, as we continue to read though the last parable in the chapter, we see that rejection starting to come.

In the parable of the tenants, we see a landowner who planted a vineyard, took care to put in safety precautions, then rented it out when he moved.  He sends his servants back first to collect the harvest.

The result?  One is beaten, another killed, and a third stoned.  He sends more servants, and they continue to treat them in the same way.

Finally, the landowner decides to sends his son, certain that he will be respected.  Instead, the tenants kill the son in an effort to steal his inheritance. 

Jesus explains that those who behave in this way – those that reject God’s servants, and ultimately his son – will have the kingdom taken away from them and given to someone else who will produce fruit.

Those who are reading these devotions are probably Christians.  But do we have times in our lives where we reject God’s son all the same?  Probably not an outright rejection or denial, but we might push him to the side of our lives or we might not be willing to speak of the gospel in front of others which is another way of denying him.

As we get closer to Christmas, let’s remember the amazing miracle of Jesus’ birth through the ultimate proof that he was the Messiah by his resurrection and focus on sharing the good news rather than denying his name.

~Stephanie Fletcher

A short bio about me: I live in Minnesota with my husband and our two kids – 5 & almost 3.  We may be a little crazy, but a couple of years ago, we bought a home with my parents – it is like two regular sized homes stacked on top of each other, and we all live there together.  For a short while, my sister, her husband, and their baby lived there too.  We live there with our dog, Indiana (a compromise from Han Solo or Ford based on my liking of Harrison Ford), and a pet fish – Mickey Rainbow Mermaid Fish (name courtesy of my daughter as technically, it’s her pet).

Reflection Questions

  1. What can you learn from Jesus in how he handled popularity? And, from how he handled rejection? 
  2. How have your actions or words (or lack thereof) been a denial of Jesus Christ?
  3. How can you do better? 
  4. What fruit is the landowner looking for? 
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Your Compassion

Old Testament: Jonah 3 & 4

Poetry: Psalm 134

New Testament: Matthew 20

I do not care for the ending of Jonah.  It is such a cliffhanger to me.  I love to read stories.  And when I read stories, my judgment on the quality is if it makes my stomach clench throughout.  Even a book I have re-read 5 times can have that same effect on me.  I know I’m involved with the characters when that happens.  And Jonah is a pretty good story.  But if the ending of this book was in the ending of another book I have read, I would be quite upset.  I want to know what happened!

So post-preaching to the Ninevites, Jonah has a bad attitude.  He starts out in a good mood, sitting down to wait for the smiting of his enemies.  But as time goes on and it doesn’t happen, he gets grumpy.  To the point of comedy in my opinion.

Do we see that in our own lives?  Maybe not the waiting for the smiting of enemies (or maybe for some readers, that is true), but just for the fulfillment of what we want?  Maybe you have something in your mind of how things should go, and you are happily waiting to see that happen.  But when it doesn’t, you get angry, grumpy, and over-dramatic.  Do we stop to think that maybe what we want isn’t always the best way?

God’s response to Jonah in the last chapter is powerful to me.  He says to Jonah, “I made them, who are you to decide they need to die?  You care more about a plant that you didn’t even plant than these living, breathing people that I designed.” (not actually a quote from Scripture – my paraphrase).

Do you ever care more about what you want to have happen than the people God designed?  Again, it might not be that you are waiting for them to die.  But maybe you are more upset that your order at a restaurant was messed up than the fact that the person taking your order was having a really bad day and made a mistake.  Maybe you want so much to be proven that you are the most right about something at school or work or church that you are alienating people that you could be having an impact on?

When you are focused on yourself and what you want, remember that other people matter too. The fact that someone managed to show up for work might be a huge victory for them, even if your order got messed up.  Taking the time to care about people more than your own selfish, petty desires, not only can improve someone else’s life, but your own too.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. How would your rate Jonah’s compassion? God’s compassion? Your compassion?
  2. When do you find yourself more focused on what you want than on what others need and how you can serve them?
  3. What do you learn from Jonah in the book of Jonah? What do you learn about God in the book of Jonah?
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Reluctant Obedience

Old Testament: Jonah 1 & 2

Poetry: Psalm 133

New Testament: Matthew 19

The book of Jonah fascinates me.  I think the main reason is that my understanding of it has changed so much since I first heard the story as a child.  And honestly, even now when I read it, my opinion of Jonah is still changing as I keep changing.

In children’s’ classes, the story of Jonah is typically used as an example of obedience to God.  He didn’t listen at first, but then he was swallowed by a large fish and changed his mind and went and did what God told him to do.  So that was my opinion of Jonah growing up for the most part – great example of obedience.

I know I had read through the whole book, but I must have glossed over the ending.  As a parent, I understand why most classes do stop at Jonah’s obedience to God in going to Nineveh.  My kids need good examples.  They don’t really need more ideas of bad behavior or attitudes – they can come up with plenty on their own.

When I got a little older and continued to read through this story, it finally struck me – yes, Jonah did obey God’s direction to go to Nineveh, but 1) that was after he had been swallowed by a giant fish, lived, and was spit back out, and 2)his behavior is like a child telling a sibling they were sorry for hitting them because they were told by their parents to do that.  Not because they really felt sorry and wanted to, but because they were made to.  His obedience didn’t really seem to come from the heart.

And we see that as the book continues.  He did what God asked.  He told the Ninevites that they were doing bad things and that God was going to destroy their city.  And this changed their lives!  They turned from their evil ways – at least for a time; we do know they went back to evil – but Jonah didn’t care about that.  He only wanted to see the destruction that he preached.

While this isn’t the example I want to present to my children, I get it.  Jonah speaks to me as an adult as a reminder that I can’t just do the “right” thing.  I have to do it with the right heart.  It reminds me of 1 Corinthians 13 which lists all these things that one could do that are good, but says “but if I have not love, I am nothing.”  We can do all the right things.  By the book.  But if we do them without love, does it really matter? 

The Ninevites were saved for a time by Jonah’s preaching.  His reluctant obedience made a difference for their lives.  But did it make a difference in Jonah’s own life?  I think God can use our reluctant obedience to still make a breakthrough to others, to serve them.  But when we do things without love, we miss out on the best God has for us – the joy and blessings of serving.

More on Jonah tomorrow.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. When have you obeyed – but reluctantly and with a wrong heart? In your case was that better than not obeying at all? How might have things been different if you had obeyed – done the right thing – with a right heart?
  2. Re-read Jonah’s prayer in Jonah 2. What do you learn from Jonah in this prayer?
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Refocus

Old Testament: Obadiah

Poetry: Psalm 132

New Testament: Matthew 18

Who is the greatest?  The GOAT (is that still a thing)?  This is what the disciples come to Jesus asking at the beginning of Matthew 18.

Jesus doesn’t answer them directly, per usual.  Their question isn’t even worth answering.  It doesn’t matter who is the greatest.  That comes with the wrong focus.  Instead Jesus tells them:

3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 

Your position is not important.  Rather, not viewing yourself as the greatest will put yourself in a better, more humble position.

There are several parables in this chapter, and I think you could probably tie them all to humility in some way, but I want to look at the last section.  It starts with:

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[g]

That is going to require humility.  When someone sins against us, we probably feel we are in the right to be angry or to hold a grudge.  After all, they sinned against me.  But Jesus’ instructions don’t allow for this kind of pride.  Instead, we are to go on forgiving our fellow Christians time and time again, swallowing our pride, pushing it aside, for the sake of forgiveness.

We might think this is unfair, but through the parable Jesus tells of the unmerciful servant, we can see that God forgives us so much!  For us to accept God’s forgiveness for our own sins, but to hold another’s sins against them is prideful.  It is saying that you deserve forgiveness more than them, or that your sins weren’t as great.

Instead, Jesus wants us to humble ourselves, to admit that we are just as low, or even lower, than others and offer the grace to others that we have been given.

Humility is a topic that has come up often in my discussions and readings the last few months.  It is hard – it is against our human nature.  But I really believe it is one of the most important things for us to focus on.  And likely, it isn’t a one-time thing.  We need to constantly be reminded and refocus on humility to make sure that pridefulness doesn’t seep into our lives, because pride does come naturally.  But humility is key.  It is key to forgiveness, to serving others, to spreading the gospel.  Your message will be better received if it comes from a place of humility rather than pride.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. What does pride look like? What does humility look like? Why do you think Jesus teaches humility? Which type of person do you prefer to be around? 
  2. When and how does pridefulness seep into your life? What has helped you remember and practice humility?
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The Search for Knowledge?

Old Testament: Amos 7-9

Poetry: Psalm 131

New Testament: Matthew 17

Our Psalm reading starts today with this verse:

1 My heart is not proud, Lord,
    my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
    or things too wonderful for me.

When reading through this, I had two thoughts on this first verse from different perspectives.

  1. Do we sometimes try to understand things that we just really can’t understand?  There are some people who want to know the answer to everything.  And searching for knowledge isn’t inherently bad.  But does it become so much of a priority that it is leading you toward pride?
  2. On the other hand, do we let this become an excuse to just say “well, I guess we can’t know” and give up on the pursuit of truth and knowledge?

I think there probably has to be a balance between these two things.  When I don’t know the answer to something (that I believe to be unanswerable – not like a math problem that has a clear answer), it just doesn’t bug me.  I know other people who just have to know and they spend so much time searching and studying and still not finding answers which frustrates them.  But I do let that be an excuse at times to not search for an answer and give up on something that I could know more about.

The passage goes on to say, “But I have stilled and quieted my soul […] O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore.”

That’s the key.  Our hope shouldn’t be found in knowledge.  Our hope should be in the LORD.  We should be at peace with the things that are above our understanding.  But I also think we should try to know the LORD as best as we can with our human minds.  In John 17:3, it says, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”  Eternal life is to know God and His Son Jesus.  And we can’t know Him if we don’t spend time pursuing Him even if we can’t have all the answers.

So we should be doing what we can to know and understand God, but also let go of our desire to have the answer to everything, humble ourselves, and live in peace knowing that God’s ways are greater than our own.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Is there some information you are content not knowing? Like what?
  2. Have you ever found yourself struggling with pride because of what you do know? How can you practice humility instead?
  3. What do you think God wants us to know about Him and His Son?
  4. Do you ever misplace your hope and put it in yourself and all you know and can do – instead of in God? What is the remedy?
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It Changes Everything

Old Testament: Amos 5 & 6

Poetry: Psalm 130

New Testament: Matthew 16

In our reading today, we see these verses:

3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
    Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
    so that we can, with reverence, serve you. – Psalm 130

This was written back in the pre-Jesus times.  Yet even then, the writer speaks of forgiveness of our sins.  How much more is that available to us with the blood of Jesus to wash those sins away?  We can be so thankful that the LORD does not keep a record of our sins.  If He did, we could not stand.

Has someone ever done something to you that you hold onto and struggle letting go of?  Now I do think there can be wisdom in remembering things that are dangerous – say, you play a game of pool with your then-boyfriend, and he hits you with a cue stick in the face on accident.  Then maybe, when you play pool with your now-husband, you are a little extra careful to make sure you don’t get too close when he is lining up a shot. 

That’s a joking example, but there are times when serious hurt may be done, and we can learn from those instances so they don’t get repeated.  But learning from things and keeping a record of sins to hold against people is very different.  As you are reading Psalms 130 today, ask yourself, is there someone that you need to forgive or something you need to let go of?

Our New Testament chapter for today is Matthew 16 which is where Peter makes the big confession – identifies the truth – that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.  If we too confess this, we can take part in the forgiveness of sins.

The Psalm continues on –

5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
    and in his word I put my hope.
6 I wait for the Lord
    more than watchmen wait for the morning,
    more than watchmen wait for the morning.

I don’t feel that I do a great job of waiting for the LORD with my whole being.  It isn’t in the forefront of my mind.  It is easy to live life with the focus not being on God with so many different things available to distract us.  How would my life look different if that was my main focus? 

We talked in a youth group class this year about how the good news should radically alter our lives.  It should infuse every aspect of it.  That thought came up again in a book I was reading related to parenting.  The gospel changes everything.  If God is my main focus, and I let the salvation that Jesus has made possible alter every part of my life, that includes how I interact with my children.  Parenting is what stood out to me in that, but that might not be where it hits you – maybe for you, you are struck that the gospel should change how you go to school, interact with your friends, work at your job, etc. 

If you want a song reminder of this Psalm, visit https://open.spotify.com/track/6A6GlReEZA0eG48K9yKK0J to hear a song written by Aaron Winner called “Wait For the Morning.”

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Is there someone that you need to forgive or something you need to let go of?
  2. How would my life look different if waiting on the Lord was my main focus? 
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