Devotional

Tuesday Devotional: John 2

Devotional

Read John 2:1-11bible

All the miracles of Jesus Christ, while differing in context, exhibit similarities.  First, they address an immediate need.  In a culture where wedding celebrations were often a weeklong affair, preparation for entertainment that lasted the duration was paramount for the host families.  Failing to provide for the wedding guests throughout the celebrations would be a humiliation and embarrassment.  Although it appears that Jesus had no intention on displaying his power and glory at this point in time, he was aware of was the present situation and the need for assistance.  In the same way that the heart of Jesus went out to the widow who had just lost her son in Luke 7:11-17, his heart went out to the families facing this humiliation, and he acted.  Jesus never sought self-protection or self-glorification.  With every miracle he brought more attention to himself as the Messiah, which was a claim punishable by death.  After many of his miracles he instructed the healed to not announce his role in the miracle.  His heart sought the healing of others at the expense and sacrifice of his own comfort or safety.

Secondly, the miracles of Jesus always use what is available, what is present, to remind us that he is with us and is all around us.  We were never meant to assume that faith in him meant only to seek him beyond the world we live in.  We must understand that we are in this world but not of it.  His miracles help us understand that his healing power is present in this world and can change it with what he has already provided.  The miracles are in us already, and around us daily.  They are simply sitting idle, awaiting the releasing power of the Holy Spirit, which can change jars of stone and well water into the finest wine.

Lastly, the miracles of Jesus release a quality and experience that exceeds anything we have ever experienced before.  His healing is not a return to normalcy, but an entry into new life.  A life healed by the miracle of Jesus Christ is not simply improved.  A life healed by the miracle of Jesus Christ is made new in the most unexpected ways.

 

Tuesday Devotional: Malachi 1

Devotional

Read Malachi 1:6-14bible

Most of the “religion” found today is purely an illusion, something man has created in order to serve himself.  Religion, for some, is a means to get what you want in life.  For others, it is a guideline of how to do the “right” things in this world.  Some use it as a standard of judgment and legislation that can control the good and bad of this world beyond the powers of our political and judicial systems.  Religion to many people has nothing to do with God and has everything to do with themselves.  It is a means to retaining control of their own lives, and being served and rewarded in the process.  Only when looking at the words of the Lord will one begin to notice the horrifying hypocrisies and delusions that religion in our world has often demonstrated and promoted.  To many believers in religion, God is no more real than Santa Claus or the legends of Genies in Lamps.  He is an image of hope or an encouraging figure of goodness and power that we all wish were true but, due to his radical claims, can’t possibly be.

Although religious people spend hours worshiping this God, they remain unchanged as a result of a complete lack of faith.  If God is God, he has to be understood and approached as God.  If God is God, we are nothing compared to him.  If God is God, we cannot escape him.  He is everywhere and knows everything.  If God is God, without him we have nothing and deserve nothing.  If God is God, he knows what is best for us better than we ever could ourselves.  If God is God, his words are stone and will last beyond our final breaths in this world.  If God is God, he deserves all that we have without any compromise or bargaining.  The truth is, many people have never genuinely approached God in these ways.  For many, God has less value to them than their boss, their family, their president, their celebrities of pop-culture, and ultimately themselves.  In many ways, God comes last.  God is the scramble for a few loose coins in the pockets of those caught off guard by the incoming offering basket on Sunday at church.  He is an afterthought. An inconvenience.  A burden.  In ignorance of the Word, one can maintain this position of complacency and disrespect.  But in the presence of his Word, this position is unacceptable and inexcusable.  God cannot be God while allowing us to reduce him to an insignificant figure standing in our over-powering shadows.  If he is God, we are always and ever in his shadow, and cannot see the realities of this world in any other way.

 

 

Tuesday Devotional: Zechariah 14

Devotional

Read Zechariah 14bible

Our lives are constantly filled with the pressure to make decisions.  Sometimes these are relatively easy to make.  On the other hand, they may be nearly impossible to make, and we often put them off in hopes that one day we will not have to take a firm stand one way or another.  In those moments that we find it difficult to decide a direction, we are often paralyzed by the fear of making a bad choice.  We fear that a bad decision will result in our losing something precious.  We fear that a bad decision will result in suffering that possibly could have been avoided.  At the heart of hard decisions is fear.  The irony of that matter is that the fear of making the “wrong” decision pales in comparison to the fear that we ought to have of our prolonged indecisiveness.  We develop a notion that making no decision is making a safe decision.  On the contrary, making no decision is the most dangerous and self-destructive position to take.  We think that committing to a “non-position” in the middle of two difficult ones will keep us safe from the consequences of either.  This is a man-made delusion. Merely a coping mechanism and nothing more.  A non-position is in fact a position.  It is simply a position that refuses to label itself as such.

In the case of the gospel of Christ, the message of salvation carries with its hopeful and promising news a warning to those who refuse to respond to the message of the Lord.  The easiest thing to do is to casually dismiss the gospel and occupy a position of indifference.  Without actually reading the gospel, this choice can be defended.  Upon reading the gospel, this choice self-destructs.  The gospel is not casual.  It is deadly serious.  A “non-position” in the face of the gospel has the same qualities as complete defiance to the message of Jesus Christ.  A “non-position” indulges in ignorance, the weakest of all positions on any given issue.  In facing consequences for any important issue, the “non-position” will be given the least sympathy and understanding.  In fact, the “non-position” is the position to be pitied the most.  The message of Jesus Christ in regards to salvation and his future return is both a serious promise and a serious warning.  By maintaining a casual stance in the presence of a serious message, one adopts a position of irresponsible defiance, just for the sake of holding onto a “non-position” that has absolutely nothing to offer, and will lead to losing everything.

Tuesday Devotional: Haggai 1

Devotional

Read Haggai 1:1-15bible

The driving force behind most of our lives is the desire to find satisfaction.  Most of us will spend our entire lives seeking it out.  There are thousands of different ways we all try to grasp this elusive satisfaction, but regardless of what “it” is we chase, the fact remains that we all do a lot of chasing.  While we dedicate our lives toward striving to possess this satisfaction, the reality is that we repeatedly find ourselves closing ground on satisfaction, only to realize that we have not gained any real ground at all.  Regardless of the effort we put forth in trying to satisfy ourselves, we all are confronted by a harsh reality that we are never truly satisfied with whatever it was we chased for so long.  No matter how hard we try, we all want to have and be more than we are.  We all bear an expectation of satisfaction that nothing in this world can truly satisfy. Whereas our expectations of satisfaction are working off of a system of perfection and purity, the things with which we seek to satisfy this deep expectation are superficial at best, and do not possess the ability to satisfy us the way we expect to.

God’s desire that we put him first is not so that we can follow in melancholy servitude.  God desires our satisfaction.  If God is truly God, he knows far more than we do, and this must also apply to our needs.  While we convince ourselves that we have a firm grasp on what will satisfy us, the truth is that we don’t.  Just as a child would argue with a parent that candy is a far better choice for dinner than vegetables and fruit, the child is speaking as a child, with underdeveloped wisdom. To another child this reasoning works, but to an adult is ridiculous.  In choosing candy over nutritious food, the child is seeking to satisfy a superficial need for taste and pleasure.  While this candy is satisfying on the superficial level, it offers nothing for the child’s body and health and will make life much harder on the child if the years of candy-consumption proceed.  Similarly, God does not desire that we not be satisfied with our meals, but that he be fully content.  He desires that we eat what will truly be good for us and will provide for a healthier, more fulfilling life over time.  God is a “God with us,” and not a “God against us.”  His desire that we put him first does not mean him standing front of us, frustrating our progress.  Rather, he commands it so that he can lead us into a more satisfying life, and that he share in that satisfaction with us every step of the way.

Tuesday Devotional: Zephaniah 1

Devotional

Read Zephaniah 1:14-18bible

Our lives are filled with contrast.  We love the sunshine because we dislike cloudy days.  We enjoy the warmth of summer because we are tired of the winter chill.  We enjoy our time with friends and family because we lack that kind of fellowship in our weekly work obligations.  For every wonderful thing in our life there exists a counterpoint that provides for the utter enjoyment and satisfaction of the “good thing.”  However, while we enjoy the good things because they are good, we also find joy in them because of the absence of joy in the counterpoint.

This concept is represented in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The gospel of Christ is truly good news.  It is peace, joy, love and liberation.  To be moved and transformed by God requires that a person truly understand and experience the sweetness of the gospel of Christ.  However, while the sweetness of the gospel is overwhelming upon one’s first taste, without a contrasting consistency, texture or taste, a person might find the sweetness beginning to lose its appeal.  The glory of God brought to our world in the gospel of Christ is sweet.  Yet, the gospel of Christ repeatedly reminds us of all the bitterness of rejecting God and the consequence of choosing self over God.  In serving and following Christ one finds a balance of motivation.  On one hand, one cannot genuinely serve and follow Christ without ever experiencing the goodness of his news.  On the other hand, one cannot genuinely maintain appreciation, satisfaction and joy in serving and following God without the awareness of the counterpoint.  The counterpoint to the goodness of the gospel must never be downplayed or overshadowed.  The result of downplaying this counterpoint results in complacency of worship, and ultimately a lack of focus that can produce casual disobedience.  The counterpoint is bitter; it must be defined, described and experienced always as bitter.  The taste of salt is distinct.  It can never be confused with sugar.  We are aware of the difference because they are so different.  The goodness of the gospel of Christ must never leave our hearts as we proceed to follow and worship.  However, there must be an ongoing parallel awareness of the dangers of sin, and fear of separation from God.

Tuesday Devotional: Habakkuk 1

Devotional

bibleRead Habakkuk 1:1-4

We are troubled by what happens in this world.  There are times in each of our lives where not only can we not understand the will of God, but we absolutely disagree with it.  There are times when good things happen to those not at all interested in God, and there are as many times when dedicated disciple experiences tragedy.  Observing these situations, we cannot help but ask “Why?”  Where is justice?  Where is faithfulness?  Where are the promises of God?

Our perception of who God really is affects every moment of our life with him, and the matter is no different in this instance.  Many view God as simply an all-powerful deity who orders us to serve and will judge and punish us if we refuse.  If that were so, being openly upset and angry with the will of God would be a punishable offense, to be avoided at all cost.  However, the God of the Bible never represents himself this way.  Is he a king to be honored and served?  Yes.  Does he have plans to judge and punish the wickedness in this world?  Yes.  However, is his character limited to these very two-dimensional attributes?  Absolutely not.  The God of the Bible is first and foremost creator and father.  While a father might know full-well that his will and plan are beyond the understanding of a complaining child, he will patiently listen to the child, seeing the necessity in allowing the child to express his or her emotions.  It is no different with God.  While he is well aware that we are perpetually shortsighted and hyper-critical of things we do not understand, Father God desires a relationship with his children, and at the heart of any fruitful relationship is communication.  Providing answers is not the sole purpose of communication; expressing emotion, even negative emotions like anger, is a vital part of communicating in a relationship.

While we must always understand the greater perspective of God, and be ready to not understand and avoid judgment or resentment towards him, we must not overlook the importance of sharing our complete heart with him, good and bad.  The fact is, he already knows our displeasure in what he has allowed to happen.  He simply wishes to hear us and be heard himself.

Tuesday Devotional: Nahum 1

Devotional

Read Nahum 1bible

God’s love must be understood as active rather than passive.  It is not something that has been done, there for us to gather up like shards of glass or crumbs on the floor.  Rather, it is constantly occurring; it is present and it is ongoing.  And not must we view God’s love as active, being fed into your life at this very moment, but it is a love that has to be viewed as interactive.  Any true love must be reciprocated and engaged.  A love limited to flow in only one direction is not love at all.  This is service.  Yet while it is reciprocal. God’s love is not love shared between equals.  In order to fully comprehend the love of God we must understand our position in respect to his presence.  Love among equals is deserved and earned and meets on the same grade.  In receiving this love, we may be affected, but we are not often truly changed.

To be loved by an individual far greater than yourself, to be loved by God, is to be loved far beyond what you know you deserve.  In receiving this love we are confronted by a power that not only overwhelms us with abounding joy as recipients but gives us the opportunity and hope to pursue a path greater and more fruitful than our own.  Understanding the love of God is like trying to understand the vast difference between a pebble and a mountain.  There is no comparison.  One is great.  One is overlooked and insignificant.  Yet God, in all his greatness, sees us pebbles and does not reject us. Instead, he sacrifices his beloved son Jesus Christ for our insignificance.

Tuesday Devotional: Micah 2

Devotional

bibleRead Micah 2:1-5

Within man is a yearning for harmony among all people.  In each of us there resides a sweet delight in witnessing peace, love and joy spread through communities, uniting groups that once stood at odds with one another.  Love in the heart of man is a pure and powerful force, but only when being used for the betterment of others.  If the same heart is used to empower or benefit the individual at the cost of others, this purity and power can quickly become more corrupt than anything we know.  This delicate balance between beauty and corruption is affected by how much attention we give to our own gain.  When we serve self, each new day is full of anxious anticipation on how to more effectively gain what we wish.  When we serve self, we treat the consequences of our actions on those around us flippantly, as long as our goals have been achieved.  From this perspective, the “self-made” man is a delusional and utterly fictitious view of self. Over time, with any level of success, serving self feeds the pride within the heart of man, leaving no room for correction, no room for competition and no room for a God who is ultimately in control.  The truth of the matter is that while man can achieve “greatness” in this world, man-made success pales in comparison to the consistent successes of the word of God.  There was a time when we were not, and God was.  There will be a time when we will cease to be, and God will remain.  The ways of man have the potential to create greatness in unity with others.   However, in seeking and serving the selfish nature of our hearts we delude ourselves in believing that our ways our unshakable and everlasting.  The ways of man are not represented by these words.  The ways of God are, and always will be.

Tuesday Devotional: Jonah 1

Devotional

Read Jonah 1bible

The pride of man is continuously fed by man’s ability and man’s accomplishments. The more success we have through our own effort, the more we believe “I can” and the less we are willing to hear “You can’t.” This foundation of pride grows in strength alongside us and, although unreasonable or perhaps ridiculous to those around us, in our mind and heart we begin to possess more faith in ourselves than anything else in the entire world. The only way to break this foundation is for us to repeatedly collide head-on with defeat or limitation. For some, the foundation of pride is cracked after only one violent collision. However, for others, this crack only appears after years of repeated collisions. While these collisions are painful, once this foundation is cracked the desire to build a stronger one ultimately emerges. In this moment, God is revealed not as a force bent on destruction but one built on construction.

The purpose of these collisions is not for God to establish himself as simply superior to us. The purpose of these collisions is for us to realize that our ways are futile against the ways of a creator God. The will of God is immovable and unshakable, and when confronted with this power we can finally come into a place where we begin to believe. Without the collisions, we find no need or no place for a power stronger than our own. Without the collisions we still have faith in our ways, and hope that our desires will lead us to the satisfaction we so deeply desire. Following these collisions, we are not left with the impression that we merely crashed and were subsequently injured, at a loss. Following these Godly collisions, we can see clearly that it was our feet on the gas and our refusal to deviate from the course we committed to which caused the collision, and that God and only God is willing to assist in our recovery. From these moments we can finally understand the concept of “Fearing God.” It is not simply his ability to prevent or circumvent us that instills an the fear of God. Rather, the fear of God inspires awe for a God who can and does forgive the destructive pride of the human heart to defy him.  It inspires the most heartfelt change, to be loved by him and to truly love the one that saves us from our own collisions. The fear of God is defined by awe, and the awe is built on the power of His love.

Tuesday Devotional: Joel 2

Devotional

Read Joel 2:12-17. bible

So much of religion can be accomplished by the head and the hands.  Religion is a matter of do’s and don’ts; we learn to follow these simply by mental and physical focus.  However, while religion may be achievable through the will power and of man, will power does very little to further the kingdom of God.  In order to receive the blessings and promises of spiritual renewal and transformation found in Scripture, the heart must supersede our mind or our strength.  When we operate out of our own will, we realize not only our strengths but also our limits. The strength of God,on the other hand, becomes unavoidably apparent when our hearts are opened, and we are willing to follow and not lead.  We are hesitant to share our hearts, and this is no different with God.  We view our hearts as our own private space where only we are allowed entry.  But the only way to truly know God is to be one with him, and the only way to be one with him is to give him access to that which is most dear to us: the heart.  By allowing him to restructure and reveal our heart to us, God not only shows us the dangers of our darkest desires but the beauty of his unlimited love.  Once this bond has been shared, the obstacles that once existed in our lives are taken down, and we are free to run with a God that intends to take us places where only he exists and only love of a renewed heart reigns.