Devotional Day 6 - 3/22/20
1 John 4:7-12
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
When I first started attending the church that I currently serve 15 years ago, the pastor at the time had a message on the small church sign out front that I do not believe he ever changed: “Only Love.” Every week his sermons reminded us that God loves us, and that is the greatest thing we could every need or understand. I have tried to continue that message, to tell everyone (especially the children) that God loves them.
I love this scripture from 1 John. This whole book focuses on the love of God and that God is love itself, and here John really flushes it out. “Let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” John goes on to define love for us. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” God’s love for us has nothing to do with us being able to love him. He loved us first, and he loves us more than we can ever imagine. He loved us so much so that he came here as Jesus, putting on our skin, living our lives, facing the temptation that we face but did not sin, and died the death that was meant for us. He took our sin, he took our punishment so that we didn’t have to face it, and never will. That when this life is over, we are promised a life of heavenly bliss as we worship God with all that we are for all eternity. God did all of that for us. And all he asks is that we love him back, with just a fraction of the love that he has shown us.
I have so many things going through my brain right now about the love of God. It is such an amazing thing, such an amazing concept. As David writes in Psalm 8, “what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” Who am I that God loves me? Why am I so special that God loves me and blesses me so greatly? For someone like myself who has always struggled with the idea of being loved and wanted, it blows my mind to see that the creator of the universe loves ME. And he loves all of us.
God loves us enough to seek us out, regardless of where we go or what we do. Like the parable explains in Matthew 18 of how the owner would leave 99 of his sheep, just to find the one that has wandered away. We were all that one sheep at point or another, and God found us. His love for us is so great, that if the sky was a scroll and the oceans were ink, we would drain the oceans dry before we could describe a fraction of his love for us.
So how do we respond to the fact that God loves us this much? First, we need to love him back. We need to put him in the place in our lives where he deserves to be, FIRST. Everything else should fall into place around that love. All that we do, all that we think, all that we say, all that we feel, should come from a place surrounded by God’s love. Second, we need to love others. How can we say we come from God if his love is not influencing how we view our brothers and sisters? How can we love God if we hate the people that he loves? I don’t care if you agree with them. I don’t care if they have been mean to you. I don’t care if it is someone that the very sight of them seems to get under your skin. We are to love them. And third, we are to love ourselves. Sometimes that may seem hard, because there are so many things in our lives for which we are not proud. We have messed up, we have made mistakes, and we have fallen short of measuring up. But we are still called to love ourselves as well, because if nothing else, God loves us, so we should too.
My wish for you is that you know God’s love. And I mean really know it in your heart that God’s love for you is so great. My wish is that his love pours out into your life to the point where you are overflowing with love and it floods all those around you. If you get nothing out of any of these devotionals, I ask that you get one thing: God loves you!
Let us prayer together: God of us all, your love never ends. When all else fails, you still are God. We pray to you for one another in our need. Keep true in us the love with which we hold one another. God of love, we thank you for all with which you have blessed us even to this day: for the gift of joy in days of health and strength and for the gifts of your abiding presence and promise in days of pain and grief.* We praise you for who you are and what you have done for us and in us. May we love like you love. Amen.
(*Portions taken from the United Methodist Book of Worship)
[I couldn’t pick just one song for today, so here are two]
Devotional Day 7 - 3/23/20
2 Samuel 6:12-22
Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.
They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.
When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”
Today I wanted to talk about joy. The basic definition of joy is a feeling of great pleasure and happiness (thank you Google). But I do not think that that definition fully encapsulates what it means to feel joy. We use that word to describe pretty intense feelings of happiness, or the peaceful bliss that surrounds us at a specifically special moment in our lives, but it is more than that.
I think King David gives us a good example of joy in this scripture from 2 Samuel 6. The Ark of the Covenant had been finally returned to the Israelites after being captured by the Philistines. And now was the time to bring it back to Jerusalem. David, honored by the prospects of this great opportunity, didn’t do things right the first time, and the procession to the city was stalled. Three months later, David figured it out. The first time, he made the procession into something about him. It was a big production, seeing how many people he could bring to accompany the ark (30,000) while putting on a show as they sang and made music with all their might. To us, that may not seem like a problem, but the real issue was that they forgot to show honor to God in the process, which is evident when Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark as the oxen stumbled. But David’s second attempt was much better, offering sacrifices to honor God as they went. And God was pleased.
I think my favorite part of this entire story was when David danced in front of God. He danced with all his might. Now I must admit that I like to dance around my office when my music is cranked (and no one is around to see me of course). But with David, he was dancing for joy in front of an entire nation. He did not care who saw him, he did not care who was watching. David danced because God loved him, and he loved God. David needed to express himself in whatever way that he could because he could no longer contain the joy in his heart and soul. Joy is that wonderful thing that bubbles up within you that words cannot describe. It is the happiness that seems to pour out of every part of your life and no matter how hard you try, or what is going on around you, it cannot be stifled.
Sadly, not everyone can understand someone else’s joy. As David’s wife saw him dancing, she looked on him with contempt, thinking that he was parading himself around half-dressed in front of all the slave girls to boost his own ego. But David knew the truth, even if his wife would not see it. He told her, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”
Joy is not very dignified. It is not proper etiquette. It is uncontainable and uncontrollable. It is the logical response to something as magnificent of God’s love for us. How else should we feel when God shows us that he loves us, he protects us, cares for us, he provides for us, and that he blesses us? God has created us unique in his image, and has literally given us all that we have and has made us into the people that we are. Allow your feelings towards God - those feelings of gratitude, gratefulness, love, and joy - to flow through you, and express them however you can, regardless of who is watching. Because God loves you. What could be better?
Let us pray together: Lord of all things, your love make us dance for joy. May your presence be evident in our lives and in all that we do. May we allow ourselves the time and the space to praise you for who you are and what you have done. We love you. Amen.
Devotional Day 8 - 3/24/20
Psalm 139:7-18
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
There are a lot of things going on right now that are causing great anxiety and fear. It is easy to let all this chaos get to us. It invades our space, and affects our outlook on a lot of things. Turmoil is around us constantly. So what are we supposed to do? This is where peace comes in. Peace is not the lack of war, it is the understanding of having an inner calm regardless of what is going on around us.
There is a story of “The Real Meaning Of Peace” (Author Unknown). There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. The contest stirred the imagination of artists everywhere. Many artists wanted a chance at winning the prize. Paintings from far and wide began to arrive. The king looked at all the pictures, uncovering one peaceful scene after another as the on-lookers clapped and cheered. The tensions grew as only two pictures remained veiled. As the king pulled the cover from one, a hush fell over the crowd. It was a picture of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a beautiful blue sky with fluffy white clouds. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace. Surely this was the winner. The king uncovered the last painting, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace? This picture had mountains like the previous painting but these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall; the crowd could almost feel its cold, penetrating spray. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the king looked closely, he saw a little bird had built a nest on a branch of a tree. A tree that reached out in the direction of the tumultuous waterfall. Yet there, in the midst of the rush of angry water, undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, sat the mother bird on her nest – in perfect peace. The king chose the last picture.
I think my all-time favorite song is “It Is Well With My Soul.” It is a song that was written by Horatio Spafford as he was traveling to England. Spafford had just lost his 4 year old son to scarlet fever, lost everything in the 1871 Chicago fire, and lost his 4 daughters as they traveled ahead of him to England when their ship sank. As he traveled to England to be reunited with his wife who had somehow survived the ship wreck, Spafford traveled over the spot where his children had died. Unable to sleep, he penned the words to this famous tune which begins, “When peace like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well, with my soul.” Spafford’s life had been turned upside down in a matter of weeks, yet he wrote an inspirational poem, later set to music, that has touched the hearts of many who suffer from loss and grief, myself included.
Have you ever been on a river? I once went fishing with a friend of mine, drifting down the river on kayaks. Sure, it was a little tough paddling against the current to get to a good starting point, but it sure was peaceful letting the water slowly take us down stream. To be caught in the current, it took us where ever it wanted us to go. Yes, we could guide ourselves along, but for the most part, we just allowed it to take us.
When things are falling apart, God tells us that he is always with us. As the Psalmist writes, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” Where ever we go, what ever we do, God is there and he is with us. How can that not bring us peace, knowing that God is always with us. Jesus tells us in John 14, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Life is ugly sometimes. It is messy, it is painful, it is not fair. But even through it all, God is with us. His peace will carry us gently in its current, even as the oceans rage around us, because we know that we are safe in his arms. I pray that you know God’s peace. That you have your hope in him, that you trust in him, and know that whatever happens, God is bigger and he is in your corner. As Paul puts it in 2 Thessalonians 3:16, “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.”
Let’s pray together: Lord, be with us in the turmoil. Show us your power and your strength. Show us what it means to truly trust in you. Give us the peace as only you can give. Help us through this time. Amen.
Devotional Day 9 - 3/25/20
Lamentations 3:22-26
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
I cringe when I hear the word patience. I once heard a saying that you should never pray for patience, because God doesn’t magically give us patience, but gives us opportunities to practice our patience. Seeing as I feel that this is an area in which I struggle, that seems like a terrible idea to me. There are times when we need to tell our boys to patiently wait for whatever event or activity that they are anticipating, but just doesn’t seem to arrive quick enough. And so they sit and struggle as they can’t contain themselves. But patience is much more than just “sitting by while time ticks on.”
In the scripture from Lamentations the author says, “The Lord is my portion I will wait for him.” But what does that mean? When the Bible tells us to have patience or to wait (words also used are long-suffering, or forbearance), it is telling us more than just to sit in our chair as life moves on around us. When we wait, we are not to be idle. Like the teaching of Jesus in Luke 12:35-36 tells us, “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.” It is a very active waiting, where you still work, you prepare, and you get ready for the time when things will change.
Right now we are cooped up in our homes, practicing a time of social distancing, only leaving when it is absolutely necessary. So how do we wait for it to be over? Do we sit by, binge watching all of our favorite shows, or do we do something a little more active? (Now don’t get me wrong, I like a good tv binge.) For me, my ministry at this time has been different, focusing on my sermons and on these devotionals, and making “visits” through the phone. But I have also used this time to prepare for things to come. It has been a time of packing, knowing that my 10 years of service in my current church is coming to a close and a new chapter of my life is going to be beginning. I have been packing, I have been planning, I have been preparing my ordination responses, and I have been trying to figure out what my next steps will be. I have been waiting, but I have not been idle.
The Psalmist writes that regardless of what is going on in our lives, God’s love and compassion for us never fails. That his blessings are new every morning, even in the midst of turmoil. Our hope should be in him. And as we seek him, and wait on him, peace comes into our lives and we are able to endure anything that comes our way.
Right now, as we wait for things to change, think about what you can do to prepare for when we are let loose on the world once again. Are we ready? Are we ready to get out there and clean up the mess that is left behind after everything has been shut down for so long? Are we ready to chip in and help businesses get back on their feet? Are we ready to clean the streets? Are we ready to fix what has fallen apart? We cannot let the end of this situation catch us off guard. We need to be ready to jump out there and get back to work, to pick up where we left off, recharged and ready to go.
Let us pray together: Lord of love and lord of light, we wait for you to move. May your movements be big and bold, may they be small and simple. However you move, move in us and through us, that we may carry your love into this world. Help us to wait on you, preparing for your kingdom to come. Amen.
Devotional Day 10 - 3/26/20
Ephesians 4:31-32
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
If you are anything like me, there has been times throughout your life where people have shown you unexpected kindness. When someone shows you kindness it can go a long way. It can change the whole trajectory of your day, turning something bad or problematic into a something more manageable.
Kindness doesn’t have to be some elaborate gift. It can be as simple as a few moments of your time. One day I was driving down the road and I happened to see a truck pulled over on the side of the road. The tailgate was down and a couch was sitting behind the truck with the driver looking puzzled as he assessed the situation. I pulled over to see if he was ok. Apparently as he was driving, the couch fell out of the back of his truck, and being alone, he was unable to pick it up and put it back in. So I grabbed one side, he grabbed the other, and I helped him put it into the truck. He was very grateful and he thanked me repeatedly as I got back into my car. It literally took me 5 minutes to help him, and it saved him a lot of aggravation.
Kindness is one of those things that a little bit goes a long way. It can be spontaneous, or it can be planned out and thoughtful. I have found that the kindest acts are often ones that address a specific need at a specific time. I have something you need, so I will share it with you. People do not always expect those things, and so when they receive them, especially when they need them most, they are taken by surprise and feel blessed in the midst of a stressful moment.
It is also nice when you receive kindness that is planned out. I am not sure who has been doing this, but walking through the church, I (and many others) have found little note cards of encouragement placed in key locations. I have found one on my desk, pulpit, lectern, window sills, tables, and piano (just to name a few). It is a pleasant surprise to find these kind words that someone purposefully took the time to create. When that happens, I feel special knowing that someone cares enough to do something like that for me.
I love this song from Matthew West (Do Something). It talks about how he sees all these things going wrong in the world, and he cries out to God, “why don’t you do something?!” And God’s response is, “I created you.” We have been created for a reason. God created us to change this world for the better. He created us to be love in this world, one kind act at a time. So what will you do?
Let us pray together: Heavenly Father, you have given us so much, that the least we can do is give to others in need. Help us to be kind to all people in all ways. Give us the opportunity and a willing heart to share and spread your love and kindness to this world. Amen.
Devotional Day 11 - 3/27/20
Romans 12:9-21
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 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. 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.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
What does it mean to be “good?” It is a common practice for us (especially when going out) to tell our children, “you need to be good.” And by that we usually mean to settle down, don’t cause a fuss, to behave and listen. A tall order for any kid. I think we miss the point when it comes to being good. Being good is something that requires action. It is not merely NOT doing things wrong. It is doing something that is good, doing what is right, regardless of (and sometimes because of) what is happening around you.
A lot of times we see things happening in our lives and we just sit and let things go by. If it is not bothering us, it is not our problem. We turn the other way, we look straight ahead, we ignore what is going on around us. Ignoring bad things only allows them to happen. As the famous quote goes, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” (Accredited to Edmund Burke). As Paul writes, the only way to overcome evil is with good. Goodness is actively doing good. It is seeking out opportunities to do the right thing.
We serve a good God. He is goodness itself. He does not sit by while evil happens, even though sometimes it may seem that way. He has actively worked in our lives, giving us blessing upon blessing. God has been with us every step of the way and he has been faithfully guiding us and protecting us. As the bridge of the song that I chose for today (Goodness of God) tells us, that God’s “goodness is running after us.” It is chasing us every where we go, and he will not stop.
So what about you? Where is the goodness in your life? Are you actively seeking to do good? Are you looking for opportunities to the right thing? Are you trying to find where evil exists and overcoming it with goodness?
Let’s pray: Good God, you love us more than we can ever know. Help us to see your goodness all around us. Help us to be people that add to that goodness, actively looking for ways to overcome the evil that exists. May we be blessed in doing good, so that others may be blessed as well. Amen.
Devotional Day 12 - 3/28/20
Deuteronomy 7:6-15a
For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him. Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today. If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors. He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young. The Lord will keep you free from every disease.
I know all of us have had people in our lives that have let us down. Maybe we counted on someone to come through for us in a time where we just needed another set of hands and they weren’t there for us. Maybe we were left stranded at the airport because our ride forgot us or had car problems. Maybe it was more severe, where a trusted friend told the entire world about a secret that we thought was safe with them. We have all been let down by acquaintances, friends, and even family members. But sadly, that’s a two-way street. I know I have let some people down, and it’s not because I wanted to. I have hurt people because of my failures.
For us, it is hard to be perfectly faithful, because it is not something that is always stressed in our society where we are encouraged to do whatever we want, whenever we want. Sure, trust is valued and appreciated, and we are expected to be able to trust in what businesses and individuals can do for us. But faithfulness is more than just merely trusting someone to do something. It is being steadfast, unmovable, a constant that you can always count on. But time after time, regardless of how steadfast we think we are, we often fail.
I like this scripture from Deuteronomy 7. It is a beautiful picture of God’s promise to his people. Beginning in verse 6, it shows that God chose his people for a specific reason. Those reasons were not earthly reasons. God chose his people not based on who was winning or had more power at the time. He chose his people because of the faithfulness and righteousness of Abraham. And through that one man, God blessed the entire world.
I love verse 9 where it says, “know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.” God has made us so many promises throughout our lives. Promises to love us, to protect us, to provide for us, to care for us, and so much more. And we can trust that that is true because he is faithful. His promises are a constant and will not change. The only thing that would change with his promises, is us. He lays it out for us. “If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors.” If we do as we are expected to do, God will give us all the blessings that he has in store for us. Now you may be thinking, that’s a lot of laws for us to follow. We cannot possibly follow all the laws that he gave to the Israelites, and you’re correct. The beauty of it all is that we are not an Old Testament Church, we are a New Testament Church. We have been given Jesus to fulfill the law, to satisfy it, and in doing so, he gives us a new set of laws. Jesus tells us in John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
God is faithful to us. Every morning his faithfulness is evident because he has given us another day full of blessing. He is a constant rock that we can lean on, a shelter in which we can hide, and a fortress in which we are protected. We need to look to him, and faithfully seek after him and his will for our lives. And when we are faithful in following him, he is faithful in blessing us. May we follow his example. May we be as faithful to him as he is to us. And may his love play out in our lives in all that we do.
Let us pray: Faithful God, you have promised that you will never leave us or forsake us. May we faithfully follow you in all that we do, so that when we stand in front of your throne you will say, “well done good and faithful servant.” Amen.
