Thursday Devotional - God Is With Us In Injustice

 If someone snatches something from us, we usually try to grab it back. When my kid’s sweatshirt was supposedly stolen, we tried to get it back. I wonder what would have happened if we had applied Matthew 5.

Matthew 5:38-42 ³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ ³⁹ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. ⁴⁰ And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. ⁴¹ If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. ⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Instead of trying to get the sweatshirt back, what if we had given a fashionable coat to the person we thought took the sweatshirt?

 

This is extremely difficult on the “sweatshirt” level, much less in larger situations. We’ve had renters abandon apartments or not pay their last month’s rent. We haven’t written them a check equal to a second month’s rent!!! Maybe this would “kill some with kindness.”

Romans 12:17-21         Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

God sees the injustice! In Matthew 5, Jesus commands us not to get even or retaliate. God sees and it is for Him to avenge. This is super hard for me to truly trust and apply!!!

 

Alice

Thursday Devotional - God Is With Us When We’re Tempted

When you are being tempted, do you usually feel surrounded by darkness or by God’s loving arms? It may depend on the temptation, but it can feel like a heavy weight of darkness!

As Joe and I continue walking through some situations with one of our children, our timely Matthew study has helped us! We studied repentance last week (in Matthew 3) and temptation this week (in Matthew 4).

Matthew 4:1-4, 8-11      Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”  Jesus answered, “it is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’.” … Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.  “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”  Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’.” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.  Matthew 4:1-4, 8-11

God doesn’t tempt us, but He does allow us to be tempted just as He allowed Jesus to be tempted. However, God always provides a way out (I Corinthians 10:13).  Knowing His Word (like Jesus did) will help us recognize and choose the “way out.”  The “way out” may even include choosing not to go somewhere or do something in the first place that might lead to a tempting situation. 

We can run into God’s open arms instead of into the trap of temptation. As we’ve been trying to convey to our child, God is ready to help us, if we will turn to Him. He can surround us and provide what He knows we need, just as He provided strength and truths during Jesus’ temptation. He then sent angels to attend to Jesus’ needs afterwards. 

Our child thought of several verses they could quote when tempted and they realized they could pray before doing everything (even small things like washing their hands). They said it seemed silly and really hard. Yes, but if we could all do that, imagine how God-focused and obedient we would be!!!   

How will you be ready to recognize and use God’s presence and help when you’re tempted? He’s ready with open arms to embrace you and me when we run from temptation!

Alice

Golden Silence

 Sometimes, I am my own worst enemy. Sometimes, I simply cannot resist speaking up and making clear exactly how foolish I am. Sometimes. Okay, way too often. I struggle with the difference between assertions and questions. Even when I try to use questions, they come out sounding like thinly disguised assertions - because they often are.

Why is silence is so difficult? Jesus did it. He didn't answer His accusers. He didn't feel the need to correct their foolish accusations. When they struck the truth, even obliquely, He affirmed it. Yet He never defended Himself. He was like a lamb led to slaughter, the Lamb of God, taking away the sin of the world.

The psalmist, probably David, reminds us of the power of silence:

My soul waits in silence for God only;
From Him is my salvation.
(Psalms 62:1 NASB)

In the NASB text, "waits" is in italics, which means this word has been added for clarity. Literally, it reads "Only to God silence my soul, from Him my salvation." Which explains why it needed some clarity. Hebrew poetry is both beautiful and, well, difficult.

When we continue on in the psalm, though, it turns out that David is pointing out that the rest of his world seems out to get him - it's noisy and chaotic, dangerous and deceitful. With God, though, it's different.

Only to God can he find that quiet for his soul. Only before the presence of the True King can he find the peace that quiets the chaos around him. Why is that? Because as David approaches God, he becomes more aware that any hope of salvation, deliverance from his adversaries, any hope of seeing through the deceptions, all David needs is found in God.

Last week, Erin Miller wrote about waiting for God when all is dark, inside us or around us. So often, that's how it feels, and it felt that way for David (and the prophet Micah, as Erin pointed out).

Be comforted by salvation in our Creator, not in ourselves or through other creatures. I didn't save myself, nor do I remain my Father's child by my own efforts. I can wait for my Savior, even when it seems dark, when chaos surrounds me, when my paranoia sets in and my fears mushroom, when my imagination lies to me and friends don't have time for me. 

Only to God. Silence, my soul.

From Him my salvation.

Thursday Devotional - God Is With Us When We Repent

Is it hard for you and me to say “I’m sorry?” Sometimes it can be very difficult to acknowledge we messed up. Many of us probably want to move on like it didn’t happen and forget about it. However, to truly repent means we confess it, grieve it, turn from it, turn toward God and desire to set things right.

One of my kids has had to write several apology notes to teachers and fellow

students over the years. Sitting and writing a complete and lengthy note of

confession has been quite challenging. Plus, making restitution to try and set

things right has painfully consumed much of their own money!

As we faced yet another one of those situations, God had us timely study Matthew 3 in Bible study this week, with a focus on repentance!

Matthew 3:1-6     In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ² and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” ³ This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’”

⁴ John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

The kids played a game and used sign language to emphasize the full understanding of repentance and how God is ready to welcome and help us with our repentance.

Where do you and I need help to truly repent? God calls us to repent so we can have restored relationships with Him and others. He doesn’t expect us to do it in our own strength, but is quick to help us!

Alice

Thursday Devotional - God Is With Us When We're Afraid

Have you ever been really scared, all alone in the dark?

When I lived alone, I came home late one night from Bible study and found my back door open. I was paralyzed in fear. Staying in my car, I prayed and tried calling various family members and friends. No one answered their phone. Then, I prayed again, knowing God is always available and there with me. 

In a state of continual prayer, I scoured the house looking in all the closets, behind every door and under the beds. Finding no one, it appeared I must not have closed the door securely and it blew open. It was quite scary, but I was comforted knowing God was with me no matter what.

Joseph and Mary were in the dark and probably in a greater state of fear much longer than me! Their journey to Egypt was over 100 miles and started in the dark.

Matthew 2:13-16 “When they [the Magi] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.”   Matthew 2:13-16

God didn’t remove the threat or the fear, but He was with them and directed them through it.

What is your greatest fear right now? Will you and I take comfort knowing God is with us? He has a plan for us, and His plans can’t be stopped. He will give us direction when we’re afraid.

Alice

Aliens Among Them

 Ever know something you simply can't figure out how to explain with - English? Or any language you may know. That feeling of both frustration and wonder with something you can sense, you almost feel or touch, but can't explain. There are no words, only pale metaphors and similes.

If you thought of something, then just imagine how our Creator feels as He tries to explain to simple-minded creatures just how vast is His love for us. And yes, we are simple-minded. It's just the way it is, it's best to get over it. He loves us anyway, so no shame, just smile and thank Him.

We have a few clues as to one of the weirdest part of our life with our Creator, while still trapped here on earth. One of them is found in 2 Corinthians:

Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:16-19 NASB

To us has been committed the ministry of reconciliation; the spreading of the message that God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting our trespasses against us. So, what we're doing here is spreading a message for our Savior. Okay, but how do we do this? If you've tried, it isn't easy. People want proof. What proof do we have? Well, then there's this passage:

But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.
1 Peter 3:14-16 NASB

There seems to be a responsibility to give an account for the hope that is in us. Fun fact: this world is hopeless. Not so fun fact: Disciples of Jesus seem just as hopeless. Why is that? Are you? Or, in the face of all the pervasive evil of this world, do you persist in hope? Or, as you look at this world, does the hopelessness seep into your bones? Does the evil seem to overwhelm you? It might. There's a lot of cultural and societal pressure to give into the hopelessness. And then God tells us this:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written,
“FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31-39 NASB (emphasis mine)

We have everything to hope in. And our hope is sure, not an imaginary illusional thing. We have the guarantee of the Spirit of our Savior within us. Okay, yay! We have a hope, but what about this world? As the passage above says, we face a lot of stuff every day. How do we do that, and maintain our hope over time? There are two things we are to do. 

First, we live our lives:

“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.’
Jeremiah 29:4-7 NASB (emphasis mine)

This is about exiles, or those under the punishment of God. We're not here because of judgement. But, like them, we are aliens in a strange land. Like them, we live among foreigners. Unlike them, we are actually here as ambassadors (see 2 Corinthians 5:20). This isn't judgement, it's a ministry. But, like them, we are to live among those around whom our Savior has placed us. Like them, we have hope (see Jeremiah 29:11). But there's more.

Second, we endure:

And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain— for He says,
“AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU,
AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.”
Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”—
giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.
2 Corinthians 6:1-10 NASB

Notice how Paul slips into this paradoxical comparison toward the end? We are considered deceivers, but true. We are unknown, but well-known. And so on Paul goes, what is perceived about us is false, and what is true is richer, deeper, and more real than what can be perceived.

This is why we have a hope to be explained. This is why we have something that marks us as different. While  the world burns itself to ash, we stand untainted by smoke, with another standing with us. We have a hope, and we need to live, to love, to interact, and react in this hope.

I love that last line of 2 Corinthians 6:10, "...as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing, but possessing all things." Live as if that were true. Then we will have something to explain.

Thursday Devotional - God is With Us While Shopping

Have you ever prayed about what gift to buy for someone? I usually do. Sometimes it’s because I’m last-minute shopping or out of desperation for an idea! Either way, I know God knows exactly what the other person needs, could use, would be beneficial or encouraging.

Well, with sick kids the last couple of weeks and several family birthdays, I couldn’t get out and shop. I didn’t have much time to shop online, either. Thankfully, I did find several gifts in my closet that I had pre-purchased for various people and God directed a couple quick store runs. In fact, for James’s birthday, I dug out 2 gifts I had purchased after Christmas last year that were just what he needed and would enjoy (flannel sheets for winter and a craft kit). We wrapped up a pile of books for his third gift and he was thrilled! (God knew last Christmas what would be needed!)

Matthew 7:7-11 ⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹ “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 

Will you remember to pray the next time you go shopping? As much as we want to give good gifts to others, God cares even more!  

God cares about the big and small things and is with us even when we’re shopping!  

Alice

Different Similarities

 Once again, back to my typical analytical approach to Scripture, I found something I think is cool. It may bore you to death (or stupor). It was during a sermon yesterday on spiritual gifting, and it was enlightening to me regarding the spiritual gift of "miracles" (as some refer to it). It begins with Paul's opening setup in 1 Corinthians 12:4-6:

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.
(1 Corinthians 12:4-6 NASB)

Notice that, in the NASB translation, the word 'varieties' is repeated. That word in Greek is diairesis (Strong's G1243), which refers to distinctly different "distributions", or the idea that not everyone gets the same things or the same amount of the same things. Leave it to the Greeks to have a word for that.

Now notice the different words in each phrase, they are in sets of 2. In the NASB, they are "gifts" and "Spirit", "ministries" and "Lord", "effects" and "God". Notice that in each case, gifts, ministries, and effects are "different", while Spirit, Lord, and God are the same. Side note: if you want a nicely laid out Trinitarian passage, few are neater than this one. Same, same, same.

Don't miss Paul's point here: not everyone gets the same gift, ministry or effect, but the same God works in all of them regardless of differences. Let that be clear, up front, and on top.

"Under the hood", though, I found that "effects" in the NASB was tied to the Greek word, energema (Strong's G1755), where you can actually see our English word, "energy" right there inside it. So, essentially this is energy. But, think about this word for a second. What actually is energy? Well, to answer that, let's compare it where it's compared in Scripture (or, in this case coupled with another, similar, word).

For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
(1 Corinthians 12:8-11 NASB, emphasis mine)

The bolded text is what I want to focus on, not that the other isn't important. In the NASB, word "effecting" is the Greek word, energema (a noun, not a verb), and in the Greek text it is plural. The word, 'miracles', in the NASB is the Greek word, dynamis (Strong's G1411), where you can see the English word, dynamo. This word is also plural in the Greek text. That Greek word is normally translated as "power" in English translation. So, together, energies of powers.

Back to my question, what is "energy"? So, let's compare "energy" to "power". Are they synonyms? Let me put it this way, what is the most powerful source of energy in our world today, and I mean in a practical sense, where we get electricity to power anything? Arguably, nuclear power is the most powerful. We harness atomic fission to produce electricity. But how? How does a contained nuclear explosion produce electrical current? 

It's produced in one of the earliest mechanical inventions, the water wheel. Think it through, water over a wheel produces motion harnessed to something else, usually stones grinding wheat or a saw cutting wood, or something. But that's not how a nuclear power plant  works, right? Well, not exactly, but similarly.

Later development of the "water wheel" made it "portable" in the form of a steam engine. Development from that led to the steam turbine, and suddenly we have a lot of power from boiling water, even using nuclear energy. Now, notice how I used those two words, power and energy above?

So, in a sense, power is the application, or harnessing, of energy. That's a gross oversimplification, but the idea relating the two is still expressed. Now to harness the energy of this passage to empower us.

The Spirit of God somehow uses human creatures to harness the energy of our Creator to accomplish powerful  things in this word He created. Let that statement rattle around a bit. Think of the nuclear power plant. Think of the person seated next to you at church. What's the connection?

We, frail, fault-ridden, imperfect creatures are used as "power plants" by our Creator. But for what? We're not producing electricity, and remember, it's not everyone. Different people get different distributions from the same God, Lord, Spirit. But it all is for the same purpose:

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
(1 Corinthians 12:7 NASB)

But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
(1 Corinthians 12:11 NASB)

Once again, it's not about you. Of course it isn't. Why start now? The power is for our fellow disciples, those people in the pew next to you. Or, if they're the ones the Spirit uses as a "power plant", then it's for you. I suppose then, it would be about you - along with everyone else...

I always thought of this "gift" as something like "signs and wonders", and it may not be. It may be as dramatic as stopping the sun, or as simple as enabling a group of disciples to work through the night in a service project. Could the person delivering coffee at midnight be the "effects of power" person? I don't know, maybe that's "service". Or encouragement, or "helps" (whatever that is).

Or maybe we're looking at it too closely, and should step back. What does our congregation need to do what our Savior has called us to do? What has to happen to meet that need? Where will we find the power to see that happen? Does that make more sense? You may be able to think of better questions. Just ask our Creator and chances are good, He will answer. And answer with POWER.

Thursday Devotional - God is With Us When We're Frustrated

 After all the tragedies of Genesis 34, Jacob listened and turned to God. He recognized God had been with him all the time, through his frustrations, hardship and tragedies. He chose to turn towards God instead of further away.   

Genesis 35:2-3 ² So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. ³ Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.

Thankfully, I haven’t been through all that Jacob experienced. However, sometimes the small things in life can really frustrate or stress us. I wouldn’t say that’s often the case for me, but this week it was! After the first week of school, the kids snagged a terrible cold (definitely not COVID, with both testing negative). It meant being even more home-bound, than our new COVID normal. James also developed bad asthma, as he normally does with a cold. It meant numerous asthma treatments, horrible non-stop coughing, nightly wake-ups, etc. We also tried to keep the twins healthy, playing separately (and masked if in close quarters). I was praying each day for wisdom, but getting angry quickly about lots of “small” things.

Two nights ago, Joe and I just stopped and had a longer and more intentional time of prayer. God didn’t immediately remove all the frustration, but He did provide peace. We know He’s with us through it and will guide us as we listen. Yesterday, God gave me a better attitude, even though some things got worse and not better.   

God is always with us, available and ready to help.

What frustration or stress is wearing you down?

Will you take it to God and let Him walk through it with you?

Nothing is too big or too small for Him!

Alice

(a good moment in the midst of the illnesses...)

Lessons From a Wheelchair

 Yesterday, in our city, a couple of churches held a benefit for a young man in our town. He had been paralyzed in a surfing accident, and was now in a wheelchair. Yesterday, hundreds in our small town gathered to contribute to his care, and hear his testimony. We heard worship music, and the testimonies of his family, and finally from him. It was amazing, enlightening, and both difficult and beautiful to be there.

Many common verses and passages were brought up, although I was very pleased someone used John 9:1-3:

As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
John 9:1-3 NASB

While much was said about God allowing rather than causing such an injury, Zac also spoke of it being part of God's plan. And this plan, as Zac understood it, was to glorify God. He had already witnessed how his injury had brought glory to God. 

Clearly, this young man has a rough road ahead of him, and he has barely started on that journey. Regardless, at this point in that journey, he is convinced that this is part of God's plan. If you continue to read the rest of John 9, you find this man-born-blind "schooling" the Pharisees, so confident in his perception of what God has done for him, they cannot shake him. In their frustration, the Pharisees put him out of the synagogue, and he is found by Jesus and worships Him. 

In the end, the man-born-blind sees more clearly than those born with sight. It's one of several rich ironies in the Gospel of John. And that irony is now part of Zac's life. Please join me in praying for this young guy, and all those who will be touched by his testimony. There is a link below to the website about the event and in support of his care.

http://zacshope.com/