Old Testament

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.

Born Again: Things (1 Kings 18)

Reflections

brick

source

Being “Born Again,” in the broad spectrum of Christian lingo, loses power in our catchphrase culture, with “Jesus is my Homeboy,” bumper sticker Christianity. (For the record: yes, Jesus is your “homeboy,” but of course to leave his identity at that does injustice to the man, his life and his Gospel.)

To most people, being born again means getting a fresh start at something. It means experiencing some moment of revelation and clarity that redirects life from old mistakes to new opportunities. Being reborn in a world of cheap grace is a nice way to sound deeply spiritual while stating that, essentially, something didn’t quite work out and now it’s about time to push the all too convenient “reset” button. However, although the idea of being born again does involve the restarting of a plan gone wrong, the process of spiritual rebirth, according to the scripture, is much more complex.

This reflection series will take us through the Bible to discover that being reborn requires five separate things from us in order to reveal the fruits of rebirth. Each Thursday, we’ll examine what, in order to be reborn, we cannot center our lives around:

  • Things (1 Kings 18)
  • Trouble (Psalm 102)
  • People (Isaiah 20)
  • Our Success (John 3)
  • Blind Faith (1 Corinthians 15)

Things (1 Kings 18)

In the story of 1 Kings 18 we find the showdown of showdowns, worthy of a schoolyard or reality TV show. The prophet Elijah courageously opposes Queen Jezebel, King Ahab and their systematic annihilation of God’s prophets. At this time Israel is completely consumed by Baal worship. 450 Baal prophets on one side and Elijah alone on the other, but with the power of the living God behind him. All throughout the generations of Israel’s walk with God, we see them easily distracted and destroyed by numerous false gods, in a tradition that we continue today.  Why?

Why, when for so many years and in so many different ways they clearly experienced the living God come in power to rescue and provide for them, would they ever seek anything aside from Yahweh?  For ourselves today, why do we need or depend upon anything more than the power of God in our lives?

In the worship of these lesser gods, we can retain ultimate control over our lives in a way that is impossible when serving the God of Israel. While God said to love him alone, without reservation, these other gods fit nicely into a system of “religion” where works and blessings could be quantified. The more you did for them, whether it be Baal or Molech, the more you could feel like you had freedom to do what you wanted. In Yahweh, it was a free will that chose to do his will without question, because of the understanding that he had already done enough to begin with. Following “Yahweh” was living a life that existed for and because of him.

1 Kings 18 culminates in a showdown where Elijah proposes a contest. Each side, Baal’s prophets and Elijah, would call upon their respective gods. The god who responded to the pleas of the believers would be the true and only God of Israel. After hours worshiping Baal, which involved slashing and cutting themselves to garner a response, the priests of Baal heard nothing but the silence of a god that was simply not there.

Elijah then prepared his petition to God. Two important things preceded his prayer, things that speak to us about being born again. First, he built a new altar, entirely separate from the Baal worshipers. Secondly, he used twelve stones to symbolize the twelve tribes of Israel’s forefathers on which to build the altar.

The Altar

The new altar is significant because rebirth in the Spirit can be founded on nothing except God the Father who, through grace and love, has provided for the rebirth in the first place. Being reborn means starting new, set apart from any old life or way of living, rooted in the God who never changes.  In being reborn, everything about our new life is different from the old; however, absolutely nothing is different about the God providing said rebirth. New life means new results and new outcomes, and for the reborn believer, the result of rebirth is demonstrated by the fruit of the Spirit Paul describes in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

This new, fruitful life, which fosters continued growth throughout a lifetime, must submit to the regeneration of the spirit of Jesus Christ reborn in us. Trying to produce these fruits while using the strengths and desires of the “old life” is like two people pulling on opposing sides of a wishbone on Thanksgiving Day. At some point, the bone breaks. Trying to offer sacrifice to God on an old altar is starting from a corrupt foundation.

The Stones

Elijah’s choice to use twelve stones for the altar is striking because Elijah acknowledges the original path from which so many of these prophets and people have strayed so far.

How can we relate this step to our process of being reborn? What we can connect to is the motivation behind Elijah’s decision to use these stones as symbols. He does this to bring the hearts of those around him back to the God who was, is and will always be. Elijah is pointing the assembled people of Israel to their God, who never left them and never forsook them. In our lives, we tend to say things like, “Where are you now God?” However, through the process of being reborn, we discover that God actually never left. God was always there.

We turn our backs. We refuse to acknowledge him. We seek and serve other gods who will give us our own way. In being reborn we might learn new things about God and his presence in our lives, however, it is important to acknowledge that the God we are learning new things about is far from “new.” He has always been.

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: Amos 3

Devotional

bibleRead Amos 3

“Ignorance is bliss.”  Why?  Pleading ignorance allows us to be free of responsibility and consequence.  Being free of these things allows us to escape two things that daily burden us, allowing for happiness in the “now,” not regret in the “then” or fear of the “later.”

Perhaps ignorance can provide freedom of a kind. However, the faith of a believer in ignorance is futile.  The truth is, none of us can be truly ignorant of the responsibilities or consequences that rest at our feet every morning.  We were created to think and we were created to know.  By using the mind God has given each of us, we can find wisdom, and wisdom promises to never mislead.  Pleading ignorance essentially negates what makes each of us so wonderfully made.  It is a resignation to think, a forfeiture of the grace and understanding of others when a mistake or transgression is made.

But the grace and love of God for the people he made has not yet run out.  While his patience has been tested and stretched to limits unfathomable to our minds, and his rebukes have stunned and stung, his grace still remains and his promise to wait still persists.  It is not the easiest task, to listen to others.  It is not the easiest task to change behavior at the insistence of others.  It is not the easiest task to think before acting.  But to be human is to think, and to think is the first step in truly functioning as we were made to. From this sacred and holy ground, bliss is knowing that ignorance is never an option.

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.

 

Tuesday Devotional: Hosea 1

Devotional

bibleRead Hosea 1 here. 

There are very few things that we value more than our relationships.  Relationships require us to trust beyond comfort and to make ourselves emotionally vulnerable beyond security.  When a relationship is given a firm foundation of trust, and security to flourish, we will treasure the result more than most things.  These relationships become the closest to home that we will ever find, anchoring us when all other things show signs of weakness.  However, nothing quite compares to the pain when these relationships strain, weaken and eventually break.  The pain of broken trust and safety is something that many people never recover from.  The two things that most often fracture these relationships are indifference and unfaithfulness.  The experience of one’s trust and love not being reciprocated has the power to completely break a once unstoppable heart.  The experience of trust and love being set aside for the pursuit of another love can empty a heart once so abundantly full of endless love ready to be given.  Yet the love of the creator God has extended far beyond our love for one another.  The love of the Creator has broken the bonds of time that so constrict our human relationships.  The creator God has experienced an ongoing cycle of broken “ideal relationships,” yet has continued to pursue the ones he loves.  His love, for all intents and purposes, is “crazy” and “illogical,” beyond our ability to comprehend or duplicate.  But this is the gift: love we all seek, but only God can provide.

Tuesday Devotional: Daniel 2

Devotional

bibleDaniel 2:24-49

24 Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.”

25 Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.”

26 The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”

27 Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these:

29 “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen.

Understanding the true nature of God requires power.  One cannot comprehend the nature of God through the acquisition of knowledge.  One will never truly accept the existence of God through habitual attendance at a church or at a Bible study.  The one and only means to being transformed by the word of God is through the power of experience, and the only way to that experience is to allow the possibility of the power to be present.

One of the primary reasons why so few people ever experience this power is because, although they attend church, read their Bible or pray, they resist the truth of the message.  Regardless of how small that opening for truth is, God will always respond to it, and when he does it becomes pointless in resisting the presence of his power.  People believe they have uncontested control of their lives, the power to dictate our own direction as we see fit.  This faith will persist until it is met by a power that overpowers it.  When we experience God’s power, the only reaction in a heart hungry for truth is to fall prostrate at the feet of the God who makes himself known not through a message, a concept or a rule, but through an undeniable encounter.

Anything short of an experience with God cannot initiate the change of character required to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.   And without a powerfully personal experience with the living God, we live without the joy and peace that come from the transformed character in this new life with God.  Any faith requires trust in things we don’t necessarily see, but is established in things that have truly been experienced.  Without the testimony of experience we would never live by that faith.  God’s message will never be real unless God’s presence has been truly experienced as real.