Thursday Devotional - Snake Bite Purpose

I wonder what Paul thought when he got the snake bite? Was he afraid? Did he wonder why God allowed yet another challenge and more pain?

After the drama we saw last week around the snake bite, we quickly see it was a way God used to draw attention to Paul and the Holy Spirit’s power and message through him.

Acts 27:7-10 ⁷ There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. ⁸ His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. ⁹ When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. ¹⁰ They honored us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.

The passage doesn’t say Paul preached the gospel and told the people on Malta about Jesus, but I don’t think Paul went anywhere where he didn’t talk about God’s message of Salvation. He must have told them it wasn’t his power (but God’s) that healed them. Paul could see now how God used the snake bite to give him a platform for sharing God’s power and message.  

This reminds me to have a different perspective when a family member or I experience pain or suffering. I can ask God for help AND ask Him to help me see how He is going to use it for His purposes.

That certainly wasn’t my first thought when my son, James, had a gymnastics injury Monday that left his vision blurred and half his face numb. I definitely asked God for help! It was a few hours, though, before I asked Him to show me how He might be using this for His purposes. As God answered prayers for direction and next steps (such as one of our doctors personally talking to us on the phone right as we got to ER and letting us come to his office immediately for an assessment, bypassing ER), we were able to share these answers to prayer with family members, coaches, and doctors!

James is still dealing with several issues, but we’re praising God he didn’t end up with a concussion and the nerve damage shouldn’t be permanent!

The next time you and I face a challenge, let’s remember to not only ask God for help, but to help us use it for His purposes!

Alice

Boney James is Like God ... Kinda

 

Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven.
    And everyone will see him—
    even those who pierced him.
And all the nations of the world
    will mourn for him.
Yes! Amen!

“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”  Revelations 1:7-8

I am a jazz music fan.  I like classical jazz, but I absolutely love modern jazz.  As such, I make a lot of CDs to listen on long drives, and armed with it, I could literally drive for days (Driving from coast to coast is a bucket list item).  One of my favorite artists that I listen to is a guy named Boney James (Yes, that is his name).  I love when his songs come blaring from the sound system.  They have this distinct sound, and the melodies always soothe me.  They give me a pep in my step, and there is a smile that comes over my face showing the joy in my listening to it.  It does not matter how good the song is before or after him or whether his song is at the beginning or end.  His songs stand against all others.  It made a silly thought come into mind.  Could Boney James be God?  Of course not!  But his music does have some attributes of God that remind me of Him.  That is not a bad thing.

 It is important to remember how great God is.  One of my favorite words when I think of God is the word ‘Dominion.’  Dominion is defined as the power or right of governing and controlling; sovereign authority. rule; control; domination. We are given dominion over all of God’s creation as Genesis 1:28 (NKJV) says, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.””  One of the good questions I had in my head is why doesn’t the Bible say God has dominion over us?  The answer is that there is a subtle but important difference between dominion and control.  We have dominion over all animals, but try that line with a hungry cheetah chasing after you.  Doesn’t work so well, huh?  However, God has control over everything.  He makes a rule and breaks it just because He is God.  He will make ways when we cannot, and in my scenario, He will put a barrier or diversion to save you in a situation where the cheetah is chasing you.  God is not what we always want Him to be, but He is always what we need.  There can be nothing greater than that.

 We should learn to embrace the control God has over us.  A line I often reference to is from the movie 'Rudy' where a priest is questioned on his certainty about God, he answered that there is a God, and "I am not Him."  A great sermon at my church spoke of how Jesus can be unfair as He healed a man who could not walk on the Sabbath. But that was to show His authority as the Son of God and not focus on the fact maybe others needed healing that day.  Sometimes our pain is there for us to learn something like Paul dealing with his imperfection (Romans 7:14-25) or Jacob’s hip being out of socket (Genesis 32:22-32).  But no matter what we are dealing with, we know that if we place our trust in God knowing He is in control, everything will turn out alright.  Like a Boney James song, it does not matter whether God comes at the beginning, the middle, or the end.  He will always be right on time.  What things are you pressing for control over that God has?  Do you acknowledge God in everything that you do?  My prayer is that we find the greatness of God in all things … even Boney James.  Amen.

The Art Of Listening

His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”

He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not.  To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.  That is why I use these parables,

For they look, but they don’t really see.
    They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.”  Matthew 13:10-13

 When do you speak?  When do you listen?  These have been questions in my mind for most of my life.  When I was young, I would run into the house library where my mom was on a conference call with her government colleagues.  Before I could say a word, she would raise up her pointer finger.  That meant for me not to talk and wait patiently until she was done.  Sometimes, it would only be for a moment.  Other times, it felt like hours.  Once, I actually fell asleep on the floor waiting for her to be done.  However on other occasions when I was fully alert, I would watch her negotiate and debate issues with her esteemed coworkers.  It was fascinating listening to her.  In the process as I grew older, it also taught me to be a rather good listener.  For example, I learned to pause before speaking whenever it seemed a person and me were both talking at the same time.  It would also make sense that you should let a person talk 75% of the time for greater understanding of what to say.  All of this is probably funny to many who know me because they will tell you I can talk with the best of people.  But it was only because I was always willing to listen first.  The same applies when it comes to God. 

We must always prepare ourselves to listen to what He has in store for us.  In today’s verses, Jesus shared with His disciples the purpose behind His parables.  It forced them to pay attention and hear what He had to say.  It also required greater thinking to thoroughly understand what He wanted them to learn.  It is great to talk with God about our troubles and shower Him with praises.  But every so often, I find myself doing all that and not really listening to what He wants me to do.  Perhaps I read something and might dismiss it or hear His prompting but fail to act.  Listening to God is the only way to acquire wisdom.  Prime example.  Have you ever tried to read a book with someone trying to talk to you?  It is far easier to reflect on what is read in a nice quiet place than amidst calamity about you.  More importantly, how much do you retain when uninterrupted versus interrupted?  The point is if you are busy talking to God or listening to other things, how can you truly hear Him?  And if you cannot hear Him, how can you acquire the wisdom He provides?  How can you pause and reflect to understand what it all means? 

God expects us to listen to Him.  Put another way and as today’s verses point out, we cannot be close to God unless we gain knowledge of who He is.  The importance of this lies in verses from the book of Proverbs, where it says:

Joyful is the person who finds wisdom,
    the one who gains understanding.
For wisdom is more profitable than silver,
    and her wages are better than gold.  Proverbs 3:13-14

Wisdom and understanding are the true currencies in the Kingdom of God.  As such, let us focus our attention spending time on what God is saying to us.  Do you dedicate time to ensure you are listening to Him?  What techniques allow you to best meditate on what God is telling you?  My prayer is that we utilize time and efforts toward hearing God through the art of listening.  Amen.

Turn On The Switch

“And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’  For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’”  And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says.  And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?”  Luke 18:3-7 

There was a book that I often refer to called Switch.  It focuses on how to create change when change is hard.  It speaks of the dynamic of three key elements.  There is the rider, the elephant, and the path.  The rider represents our rational side of things.  The elephant represents the emotional side, and the path speaks about the environmental factors.  The goal is to ‘instruct’ the rider, ‘motivate’ the elephant, and ‘shape’ the path.  I will put it into current relevant context.  When we look at what has been happening over the George Floyd incident, all three dynamics are in play.  First, there is the rider.  The rider sees the video, and thinks, “Who in their right mind lays on someone for over 8 minutes to arrest a person?  That is ridiculously wrong!”  Now, there is the elephant, who reacts, “They are killing him!  We have to do something!!!”  Notice the difference between the two?  The path becomes movement toward change.  As we have seen, there were many pathways chosen.  Some were lawless and destructive such as rioting and looting.  Others chose the lengthy processes of pushing for legislation and ideas such as police reform.  Then there were the marches and peaceful protests.  These have proven to be the most impactful because it not only caused less damage but placed great pressure on others to act because of the sheer momentum of people that joined the cause.  That has become the chosen ‘path.’  Having said all this, I began to wonder.  Why is all of this happening now, and where is God in all of this? 

God is a lever for change when the time suits His will.  Police brutality has been happening for decades, but no one acted on it.  Why?  It reminds me of the story of Moses in his talk with God, and God saying, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering.” (Exodus 3:7)  Getting back to the ‘Switch’ model, there was no motivation to change policing in most people’s eyes (an elephant problem), and others had no vision for what changes were needed (a rider problem).  The sadness of this all is that it took something so heinous and obvious that people could neither ignore the vision (all are created equal – a rider solution) nor sit idle and accept it (need to right the wrong – an elephant solution).  This bring us to where God’s plan comes in.  What does God’s path look like?  To be able to understand it, we must first trust in God to guide us for as Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”  Next, we are to pray continually for our journey and path to be taken. 1 Thessalonians 5:16:18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  Finally, we must act with the love of God.  Today’s verses are about action.  Whether it be through marches, financial support, volunteering, or other way of supporting the cause, we are to be as persistent as the widow.  No man can withstand the will of God if He is with us.  This is how God’s will is done. 

God’s work requires many elements to make change for His Kingdom and our lives.  It requires wisdom to see His vision, the strength to love to move mountains, and submitting to guide us toward His will being done.  Many will disagree that God does not need us to make societal change.  However, if that were true why did He use Moses?  Wouldn’t Goliath have been slain without David?  Would we need Jesus to act on our behalf to free us from the bondage of sin?  Jesus understood the power of action stating: 

“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?  Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!” Matthew 25:37-40 

Let us move boldly and relentlessly to achieve that which God would want for all of us.  Where is your vision to change lacking?  What is your heart prompting you to change?  My prayer is we lean on God as listed earlier in Proverbs, and simply turn on the ‘Switch.’  Amen. 

He Knows

God "will give to each person according to what he has done."  To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.  But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.  Romans 2:6-8

Around this time of year, many organizations spend time talking about raises and bonuses.  A lot of people focus on what they have, and are grateful for what they are to receive.  However, some are frustrated over the promotion they were passed over for or the increase that was not as great as they thought it would be.  They may get upset saying they don’t understand how one person got this, and they ‘only’ got that.  Early in my teens, I would have been one of those individuals always thinking that I should have gotten more.  However, my father taught me valuable lessons on getting things.  He said to not focus on what others have.  Instead, focus on those things that make you happy.  Furthermore, he told me not to get into who makes what.  Instead, focus hard on my own work, and the rest will take care of itself.  Now I won’t say that I got the message right away.  However when I did, my life seemed to get in order.  My family was never wanting and always safe.  I continued to grow in my job role.  Even the house that thought I’d never get suddenly became not only affordable but also available!  There is no doubt that my father knew what he was talking about.  But of course, he was a Christian long before I made that decision, and just as his father before him, somehow, he knew.

In understanding what God gives us, we are to always be thankful.  When reading these verses, it feels like one of those ‘faith by works’ verses, which we know is not how God operates.  However as the replay referee would say, “After further review,” these verses speak of ‘those who by persistence in doing good seek.’  If we seek for ourselves, God will be filled with wrath and anger, and the things we get have diminishing returns.  But if we focus on those things such as His glory, honoring Him, and focusing on eternal life, we will make decisions that are indeed ‘Godly.’  We are not focused on those things that are worldly at all.  We seek to please God, and trust that He will take care of us.  My pastor talked about tithing a few weeks ago.  I wasn’t always a tither, and even today I feel I could do better.  But thanks to a great friend, I learned to give faithfully.  This is not to either criticize those who haven’t given nor elevate me above others.  It is just about God and me.  My focus is on both my relationship with God and whether I have done His will or not.  I trust Him to take care of things, and then all works out for the best – His best, not mine.

If our life is in alignment with God’s will, all things fall into place.  One of my favorite verses in the Bible is from Job that says, “ . . . the Lord gave, and the Lord have taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)  It is an understanding that we have in essence no control over what goes on around us.  The only thing we control is how we choose to praise the Lord.  Let us do our best to give all we can to glorify and honor our eternal God.  What have you been holding from God?  How can you seek more in your relationship with God?  My prayer is that we spend less time worrying about others and more time focusing on God because He knows.  Amen.

Blessed Assurance

“O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!”

The Lord replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you.  And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”  Jeremiah 1:6-8

What does it mean to have confidence?  As I mentioned previously, I can tend to worry about things and lose focus on what matters.  The other day, I had a challenge where for one reason or another, I could not seem to get a project done.  There were many distractions that prevented me from working on it, and before I knew it, I was hitting against a deadline.  In this case, there was this feel of calm that came over me as I began to work on the task at hand.  Deep down, I knew I would be able to get the job done because of the confidence in my abilities told me that as long as there was time the job would be done well.  And that is precisely what happened.

The word ‘confidence’ came to mind as I thought of how God is always there for me.  There were times where He seemed distant from me and others where I focused on things other than Him.  However, as I re-center myself and focused on Him things begin to align, and I felt comforted and assured.  One of my favorite hymnals from my early church is called ‘Blessed Assurance,’ which starts:

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine
O what a foretaste of glory divine

Heir of salvation, purchase of God
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

We should have full confidence in God’s presence and His word.  In reading the beginning of Jeremiah, Jeremiah was called to serve by God.  Jeremiah spoke to God like many of us when a situation or circumstance overwhelms us.  We look at our obvious deficiencies or flaws.  In this case, Jeremiah’s self-describe flaw was his young age, which estimated by scholars was in his early or mid-teens.  Instead of focusing on his age, God simply reassured him (don’t say ‘I’m too young,’ don’t be afraid), and instilled in him confidence (I will be with you and will protect you) needed for His will to be done.  We all can fall into the trap of looking at our deficiencies in face of what God may ask of us.  We have many reasons such as lack of time, something we’ve never done, or that’s not our responsibility.  We must remember all God has done for us, and as listed in the verses today when God says, “(Y)ou must go whenever I send you,” it kinda leaves out the ambiguity, doesn’t it?  We should go forward with confidence that whatever we are lacking in, God will provide for us.

God is always there for us.  He intercedes in ways where we will never know, and He provides for us when we do not see a way for us to do so.  This is how Moses was able to free the Israelites from Egypt after once asking God, “Who am I?” (Exodus 3:11)  It was how Peter walked on water when Jesus said ‘come.’ (Matthew 14:29) They, like Jeremiah, lacked the confidence to fulfill something, and God gave them all they needed to do the impossible.  Let’s us take from God’s word to have full confidence that He will always be there for us when we need Him.  Where in your walk of faith are you lacking confidence in Christ?  How can trust God more to fill in for what you see as a deficiency?  My prayer is that whatever troubles you today, you can have ‘Blessed Assurance’ that God will get you what you need.  Amen.

Heart Smart

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.  Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.  Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”  Matthew 6:19-21

One of my challenges as a Christian is taking God’s word too literally.  I am not here saying that what is written is not true nor that it should not be followed.  What I am saying is that we must always be careful not to take the words of God outside of their context and be prudent to discern its intent.  Here is an example.  This past week, my pastor used this verse:

The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? Jeremiah 17:9 NLT

Now in reading it, one might appear to believe that the heart is a bad thing, and thus, we must be ‘head smart’ whenever we are following God’s word.  Now I am not questioning the pastor’s use of this verse, and there is truth to being ‘head smart.’  However, we note that Samuel said to Saul about David, “for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” (1 Samuel 13:14b)  So this ‘heart’ thing can be very complicated.  Where does God want us?  Are we following His word above our heart?  I think of things my doctor would say about a healthy diet.  He talks about watching my sugar level and lessening my cholesterol intake.  These tips are as one spaghetti sauce label would say ‘heart smart.’  In that same vain, the answer to these questions lie in our intake of the right things toward having greater wisdom of what God wants from us.

A heart that is filled with love for God will make godly decisions.  The verses in Jeremiah do not necessarily say that the heart is bad.  Instead, it should be viewed as a warning.  It is to ensure that we are not blind to times where our heart is driven to do things that are not what God wants.  Think back to when you were a child, and your parents gave you a punishment for wrongdoing.  At the time, you probably felt emotions ranging from anger toward them to disappointment toward yourself.  Now ask yourself, “How did your parents feel?”  Do you think it brought them joy to discipline you?  Of course not!  Fast forwarding to today, we realize that they did these things out of love.  Not that they wanted to see us sad or take things away.  Their hearts were toward helping us grow to see what was right and good.  In that same way, God’s word will challenge us where at times we will be sad and disappointed when we do not follow His word.  That is a true measure of whether our hearts are in the right place.  David struggled in many ways.  But he recognized when he was wrong, and his heart broke for those things that God’s heart broke for.  That’s why David was a man after God’s heart, and likewise, it is what Jesus was getting at in today’s verses.  If we treasure those things that God treasures most, our hearts will follow His will.  It does not mean we will be perfect.  But like David, we will recognize our failures, and turn to God both in repentance and for forgiveness.

A heart for God is a great thing!  It guides us into following those things that God would ask of us, and it keeps us on that narrow and righteous path that Jesus spoke of (see Matthew 7:13-14).  There will be times where our hearts strings will be pulled.  Sometimes it is God, but other times it is our own wants.  Our goal is not to ignore those feelings.  Instead, we must look to God and His word for greater understanding, then apply it toward serving Him with love and compassion for others.  That’s what He wants for us.  Do you pause when your heart strings are being pulled?  How can you ensure that you heart is filled with God’s intent?  My prayer is that we focus on filling our hearts through His word to ensure that we are indeed ‘Heart Smart.’  Amen.

My 'Dr. Phil' Gift

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.  1 Peter 4:10-11

Lately, my life has been inundated with a wave of sadness, tragedy, and heartbreak.  The thing is none of it is directly relating to me.  It is as if somehow God has given me this ‘Dr. Phil’ gift.  Some of you know exactly what that means.  People seemingly come to you because in their mind they have no place else to go.  Being honest, I’m unsure how I got it.  However, I am grateful God gave it to me.  It is a privilege that I do not take lightly because it is like all other gifts God has given me.  They have a purpose that is not for me to question.  They are to be given and used as He sees fit. 

I knew God had gifted it to me one fall evening.  While visiting my mom in the hospital, I had left something in the car.  As I entered the hospital parking garage, a man was sobbing uncontrollably because he lost his child and needed to know why.  I felt his anguish and pain, and could not muster words to say to him because I did not have an answer to his question.  But I did have a shoulder.  I hugged and assured him it would be alright.  While I felt terrible for the gentleman, I could sense I was there at that moment just for that reason.  This is what it is like when you know God is using your gift.

God gifts us with abilities for His will to be done.  My pastors over the years have provided guidance as to what my gifts are.  Through greater awareness, those gifts have grown to where people rely on me for them.  If you have not taken note of what your gifts are, first pray to God for wisdom and discernment.  Ask Him to highlight those times where God showed up not for you but through you.  Then, take time out to ask someone who knows you.  Ask what they rely on you most for.  See if there are recurring trends.  I am not saying seek out and ask, “Kent, do you think I’m an empathetic person?”  Sincerely go up to someone who knows you well, and ask open-ended questions.  What makes me a great friend to you?  What do you come to me for?  Why?  Finally, ask God to give you clarity what on His will for you going forward.  Do as 1 Peter said; give freely.  You’re doing it right when the spirit in you moves positively with each act of generosity.  The goal is not for you to be perfect.  It is to grow in Christ as you continue to give that which He has gifted you for.

God gives us so much.  He gives us unconditional love, and provides us with protection.  He gives us grace and His Only Son to ensure we would have no barriers between Him and us.  When you think of it in that context, it sounds silly to keep that which you are gifted for your own personal gain.  Let us give share our gifts such that as God said in Matthew 25, “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities.” (Matthew 25:21a)  Do you know your spiritual gifts?  How can you go about both learning and utilizing them?  My prayer is we give of our gifts willingly and freely as my ‘Dr. Phil.’  Amen.

Our Spiritual War

He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”  Matthew 26:37-39

There is a spiritual war going on.  I say this understanding that this goes much deeper than just the things we see.  This is something we must feel.  I have felt closer to God lately reaching out in prayer seeking His wisdom and guidance, and for that, He has given me moments of clarity.  The war I see is always related to what I want versus what God wants.  More times than not, we are wanting the same things, but at times it boils down to wanting the same thing we both cannot have; control.  Do I have control or does God?  When I am responding to an attack, am I doing so through my own lens or a God inspired lens?  When it is my own, I immediately feel liberated, but often it is not lasting and can leave me with a level of anxiety, tension, and maybe even anger.  When I respond through God’s lens, it requires painful work, but I later feel love, strength, and inspiration.  These do not flee but instead become building blocks for something more lasting.

So, why is there a struggle?  It’s my favorite question exemplified by Paul when he says, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.” (Romans 7:15-16)  The key to solving any issue is to be aware what the problem is, and it is through that awareness we can solve it.

Prayerful connection to God always puts us in the best position to see the world through His lens.  Today’s verses speak of worn and battle-weary Christ praying before He must make the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.  I found myself feeling for Him and His condition.  Those initial verses are important to note because even Christ himself grew tired are as we often are when struggling and fighting through our spiritual wars.  He said, “Let this cup of suffering be taken from me.  Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”  I wondered why is He praying this prayer?  After all, He is God, and He already knows what must be done.  You see, that’s the beauty of this prayer; His selfless surrender to God.  It’s underlines the very spiritual struggle we must deal with today. We have this cup of suffering, a cross to bear, or a surrendering to God.  We do not want the cup for we know what it encompasses.  But for us to fully embrace the grace, love, and peace that only God offers, we must want what He wants more than what we want.  This is what perfection of Christ looks like.

God is a choice.  We may see it as a seemingly simple one, but as noted here, it Is anything but simple.  However, today’s verses are not filled with sadness.  Instead, they are to inspire and encourage you of the goodness of God and the love He has for each and every one of us.  So instead of worrying about the suffering, trust in Jesus Christ for He said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23b)  What ‘cup’ are you holding today?  Where can you give more control to God in your life?  My prayer is that we both acknowledge and deal with our spiritual war.  Amen.

Godly Discomfort

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.  Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them.  But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.  1 John 4:4-6

I had a great conversation the other day with a new friend in Christ. We talked on several topics touching on faith.  We discussed things we believed, and they spoke to me about preaching God’s word and not false teachings.  I let them know that I humbly pray that the things I speak of are truly God’s thoughts and not my own.  This is a huge part of my devotion writings.  My prayer is always that the words used speak for God and not me.  The use of my experiences is to give only context toward what God is trying to teach me, and many times, my devotion topic and its meaning have changed specifically because my understanding of the word challenged my belief at the time.  Why?  Because my original stance was Biblically unsustainable, and it made me uncomfortable staying with that original belief.

God should at times make us uncomfortable because that means He is changing us for His greater purpose. We often focus on our life and what makes us comfortable.  Along those lines, we at times expect God to make us feel comfort.  My devotion last week focused on relying on Jesus to give us rest in the storm.  That’s one comfort, but the comfort that is dangerous is the one that says, “I will do what I am currently doing because it makes me feel good.  And what feels good must be right.”  These have been some of the most difficult debates I have had within myself.  The question as I mentioned above is, “Am I doing what I want, or what God wants?”  We should spend time in His word and prayer confirming we are on the narrow and righteous path Jesus would ask us to follow.  Of course, we will never perfectly follow that course, which is why we need Jesus as our savior in the first place.  However, we should continue striving to make Christ centered choices such that we consistently choose His way more than we had previously.  This is what spiritual growth sounds and feels like.

Following Christ is a life transformative process. This choice does not mean all is a garden of roses.  Then being said, it resembles it in that before a rose bloom, it’s going to have thorns.  Knowing the time had come for one of His disciples to betray Him and His eventual crucifixion, Jesus prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Matthew 26:39b) These are the words of a God who intimately knew His Heavenly Father, and would follow His will even if it meant sacrificing Himself.  This is where we must be with God; willing to surrender all He (Jesus) wanted to do for what He (The Father) wanted.  Let us put in the work to ensure we follow this example.  What area do you struggle to surrender control to God?  How will you embrace the discomfort in your faith?  My prayer is that we continually work to the find a place of Godly discomfort.  Amen.

Godly Love

A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape.  So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.

Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.  Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!  The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself.  But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!"

The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.  Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  Acts 16:22-30 

The most difficult thing to do is to love someone when you have no love in your heart for them.  It is not often that I encounter such a feeling, but indeed it does happen particularly when I have been wronged by them.  The mere thought of feeling any kind of warmth, sympathy, or compassion for that person has me in knots inside.  Furthermore, it usually impacts my feelings with those in the middle of them and me.  When this feeling occurs, I hearken back to when a person in the middle became my saving grace.  It was him who brought into my sight God’s vision; one of His Kingdom, love, and grace.  Those things led to my finding love for my rival because God’s love filled my heart such that I could not do anything else.

To be filled with Godly love is transformative.  I say this not because it sounds easy.  In today’s verses, Paul and Silas are beaten and jailed, but are given the opportunity to escape.  Why did they not run?  The answer was quite simply love for their fellow man.  You see, the guard, who awoke to find the prison doors open, knew the government would find him responsible for the prisoner’s escape, which is why he would attempt to commit suicide.  Obviously, so did Paul.  Thus, Paul, Silas, and the other prisoners stayed giving up their own freedom to save another. 

As we recently celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Day, I was pushed to read his letter from a Birmingham jail cell.  Here is a man who is jailed for civil protest, and he too is being called a troublemaker by … other pastors?  Kinda hard to have love for your fellow man in that situation.  Yet, here he is not only addressing them, but doing so with both conviction for his cause and civility toward their dissenting opinion.  How could one could pull off such a feat.  The answer is simply love.  Here is the closing to his letter:

If I have said anything in this letter that is an overstatement of the truth and is indicative of an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me.  If I have said anything in this letter that is an understatement of the truth and is indicative of my having a patience that make me patient with anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.  

You can have love for your people and cause, and yet still love those who would oppress you.  Love for your jailer?  That’s Godly love.

We all have an opportunity to embrace the love God has shown us.  While one might consider being cold and hard toward someone who has wronged you, loving them is a much harder one to master.  However if you are willing to see the bigger picture of God’s Kingdom instead of your current circumstances, you will find that He has plans for you.  Let’s all have greater vision beyond our circumstances and focus on His love for us that is enduring and stronger than even our worse circumstances.  What challenge do you have today that needs a more loving perspective?  How can you replace your disdain with God’s love?  My prayer is that we focus on that which never fails; Godly love.  Amen.