Devotions

As I have aged it takes me longer to get my body moving in the morning (2-3 hours). I sleep later (now it’s often 6:30AM), and because of that it requires a bit more effort on Sundays when I want to get to services that begin at 9AM (or earlier if I need to make the Team Meeting). When I walk into that church lobby, however, all the effort is worthwhile. I see the faces of people I love. I see great men and women of God.

Too often we equate great men and women of God with high drama – with flamboyance. I tend to disagree. For me, great men and women of God are the ones who quietly show up every week to make the church open and available to all.

I see them working security, welcoming at the front doors, providing coffee with smiles and greetings. They usher, they pray, they run the sound and video equipment. They sing or play instruments and lead us into the Very Presence of God each week. They clean up, straighten up, and follow up. They teach children and rock babies. Yes, we need our pastors and administrators, but without all the others, they would not be able to function as God intended.

One of the greatest blessings I had when pastoring was a family that week in and week out served to lead worship. They rarely missed a Sunday, and when they did, they always arranged for replacements. They took the burden off my shoulders – I never worried about Sunday Morning Worship Service. I am eternally thankful to them for that blessing.

This is the church. Are you part of it?

I have been thinking about the command found in 1 Chronicles 7:14, a command so often associated with praying for our politicians, their agendas, and upcoming elections.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” [NIV]

The more I think about this command, I realize it goes far deeper. It requires that we, as believers, stand in the gap for our people (our nation). It requires that we humble ourselves and repent of OUR sin. It requires that we “turn from [OUR] wicked ways.”

In addition, we are also to “seek the face” of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. To seek the face of God is to pursue a deep, personal relationship, to be in His Presence, know His Character, and enjoy His fellowship. The Hebrew word translated as “face,” means presence or holiness. It signifies the very person of God. His Presence in our life is our highest goal.

Psalm 105:4 reminds that this is a continual commitment: “…seek his face always.”

It is right to pray for our politicians, their agendas, and elections. We are commanded to do so in 1Timothy 2:1-2. But that doesn’t mean we can neglect our first responsibility to humble ourselves, turn from our wicked ways, and continually seek the face of our God. It is only then that God will hear and heal our nation. Amen&Amen

I am often exhorted that we need to “pray for our country,” usually accompanied by the verse in 1Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” [NIV]

Lately I have begun to ponder exactly what that means. Most often it seems our prayers are focused on the politicians, their agendas, and elections. Is that where our focus should be?

Last Sunday I read an article that sickened me. It was about a father who committed a horrible crime on his 3-month-old infant, explaining he was teaching her not to cry! (What does it say about our nation that these kinds of things happen. (This was not an isolated case; there are many more just as nauseating.)

As I read the verse in 1Chronicles, I see something far different from simply praying for politicians, their agendas, and elections as if that will solve our problems. I see that the people who are called by the name of Christ Jesus the LORD, are to be the first to humble themselves and pray.

Daniel’s prayer of repentance for his people began “We have sinned and done wrong,” and Nehemiah’s prayer also began with “We.”  “We have acted very wickedly toward you.” [Daniel 9:3-19, Nehemiah 1:4-11]

These two righteous men IDENTIFIED with their people. WE have sinned they cried out to God. As God’s people we cannot expect our politicians to humble themselves and pray – God called us to stand in the gap for our nation and for its cultural standards, for its healing. We need to repent, turn from our wicked ways, and pray for our people! Amen&Amen

Scripture repeatedly exhorts us to labor for the Lord, to do the work of the Lord. If we truly are going to “labor” in the full meaning of that word, we are going to need focus and power.

Paul speaks about his labor for the LORD in Colossians 1. He begins with a grand discourse on the supremacy of Christ. At the very end, in the last two verses, Paul first reveals the focus of His labor. “We proclaim him [Christ], admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.” [1:28]

The focus of our labor is to proclaim Christ, to admonish, to teach with wisdom, so that all the redeemed may be perfected in Him. It’s that simple, and that complicated.

To proclaim Christ, we must know Him. To admonish and to teach with wisdom, we must know His words, His ways. To know Him requires time spent with Him in prayer, in meditation, in conversation. To know His words and His ways mean we study, we listen, we cooperate with His Spirit, we share with each other the wisdom of the Gospel of God. Our aim is that all of us, each of us, become perfect in Christ. Perfect means we become complete in Christ.

But where does the power come from to do that?  “To this end I labor, struggling with all his [Christ’s] energy, which so powerfully works in me.”  [1:29]

God has ordained the focus of our labor and God has ordained the source of power for our labor. We cannot in our own strength do the work of the Lord. Since the Lord’s work is a God-ordained work, the power must also be a God-ordained power. The struggle is ours certainly, but the struggle is NOT because the power is insufficient (it cannot be insufficient it is His power!), the struggle comes because we must learn to flow in His power. 

One of the greatest privileges of my life is to work for the LORD. As I age, one of the greatest “worries” is that I will reach a point when I am no longer able to do so. Since surrendering my life to the LORD 53 years ago, I have strived to live the command found in I Corinthians 15:58b: ^“Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” [NIV]

There are three interesting words in that verse, fully, labor, and vain.

The Scripture exhorts us to give ourselves to the work of the Lord. Work here is simply talking about effort, about an occupation or daily deed. We work for the Lord. The exhortation though is not simply to work; it is to give ourselves “fully to the work of the Lord.”  The Greek word for fully means to excel, to exceed, to give enough and some to spare. The NLT translates it as “enthusiastically.”

When we combine work and giving ourselves fully to the work of the Lord, we end up with the word labor, “because you know that your labor in the Lord . . ..”  Labor means toil and includes in its meaning trouble and pain. Any woman who has ever experienced labor pains knows exactly what this word means! We are to approach the work of the Lord with the understanding that at times it is toil. It leaves us weary. It produces pain.

But we are to know one other thing—that our labor, no matter how hard, how painful, or how wearisome at times is not in vain. The word vain means empty. Our labor for God will never be unfruitful or empty. When we work for the glory of the Lord, we never work in vain.

Always and Never!Decades ago I took a course on how to fight “fair.” (Bob and I are strong, obstinate people!) The course was designed to eliminate the triggers we often resort to when angry and instead use protocols that encourage dialogue. I remember most of what I learned; I just can’t say that I’ve always gone about it the way I know I should.

One major trigger to eliminate was the use of the words “always” and “never.” Avoid saying things like, “You never …” or “you always….”  Always and never, the instructor said, should seldom be used.

Well, maybe in arguing we should eliminate always and never, but certainly not when talking about our LORD and Savior.  I love the always and never promises I read in the Word of God. They lift my heart and soul daily.

Matthew 28:20: “And surely I am with you ALWAYS, to the very end of the age.”

2 Corinthians 1:19-20: “…but in [Christ Jesus] it has ALWAYS been ‘Yes.’ For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ.”

Psalm 9:10: “…for you, LORD, have NEVER forsaken those who seek you.”

Hebrews 13:5: “God has said, ‘NEVER will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”

When we want to fight fair, we probably should eliminate “always” and “never” because they can trigger an angry defense. But, when we are talking about our wonderful, ever-present, all-powerful, all-knowing God, “always” and “never” trigger faith and peace. Amen&Amen

A couple of questions caught my attention recently. Jesus asked the first one, “Who do you say I am?” (Yesterday’s Devotion)

The second question occurred in a debate the Sadducees and Teachers were having with Jesus. They were trying to trap Him when they asked Him the question, “What is the most important commandment?

Jesus Answered: “The most important one is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”  [Mark 12:29-31]

There are many people who have latched onto the second part of the great commandment, the part about loving neighbors and then use this to chide anyone who doesn’t agree with their political philosophy. (Their arrows are often aimed at the church.) Where they often fail, however, is to embrace that first part of the commandment that commands all to love the Lord God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Sometimes those who shout the loudest about the second part of the great commandment are the most silent about the first part. You can’t, however, have one without the other.

What is the most important? Both parts are! Our lives are to be living examples of the devotion Jesus had to the Father. He said to do the will of the Father was His meat – meaning what governed and sustained His every word and action. If you want me to heed your words about loving my neighbor better, please show me that you are at least seeking and striving to love the LORD our God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Amen&Amen!

A couple of questions caught my attention recently. Jesus asked a question of His Disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”  It is perhaps the most important question ever asked. Peter’s response was a confession that Christ was the Messiah that the Jews had been longing and waiting for down through the centuries. Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

 Following that confession Jesus changed Peter’s name from Simon to Peter, “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” [Matt 16:15-18 NKJV]

I’ve heard a few sermons on this passage. There is a lot of argument about just what or who “this rock” is upon which Jesus will build His church. I am going to leave that argument to the scholars because that is not the part that draws my attention. I find my attention glued to those five little words uttered by Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. “I-will-build-my-church.”

That’s what ministers to my soul. That and the promise that follows, “the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”

Jesus will build His church. It’s a done deal. Nothing, including the gates of Hell, will stop Him from doing just that. Whenever I despair, thinking that the church isn’t what she should be, or the church is failing in her commission, or the church is or isn’t something … I remember. Jesus will build His church and nothing in this world or out of it can stop Him. Amen & Amen!

The Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20 has two parts. Christ Jesus our LORD has His part – He has ALL Authority to exercise on our behalf, and He promises that no matter what, He will be with us Always. We are never alone. (Yesterday’s Devotion)

But there is another part that belongs to us. “Jesus came and told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” [NLT]

We have received a commission as part of the Body of Christ. We are to (1) go, (2) make disciples of all the nations, (3) baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and (4) teach the new disciples to obey all the commands Christ Jeseus gave us.

No one can do all those things individually. They are a “Body of Christ” effort. We have all been given gifts, motivations, callings, and vision. Our part is to first recognize those, and then put them into action alongside others who are doing the same thing. Some of us go, and some enable others to go. All of us are to make disciples (some plant, some water, and others harvest). We are also called to baptize and teach. To bring new ones into the body of Christ and mentor them to discipleship.

If, as part of the Body of Christ, we fail to do our part, everyone struggles. The Body only works when the individual parts do what they are called and anointed to do.

Most every Christian is familiar with the Great Commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20. Following His Resurrection, he left His disciples (and all those who would believe in Him) two great truths and a great commission.

“Jesus came and told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” [NLT]

The two great truths are that Jesus has been given “all authority in heaven and on earth,” and that He is “with you always, even to the end of the age.”

All Authority. Not just a bit of it, or a portion of authority, or a limited authority, but ALL authority. The Greek word for authority is exousia, and it encompasses authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength. We need never worry that the One we love and serve is subject to any higher power.

And not only do we serve the one with ALL Authority, but He has promised to be with us “always.”  We will never experience a moment when the Lord Christ Jesus is not with us. We are never alone!

Tomorrow: Our Part of the Great Commission