Daily Devotion, November 7, 2019

Devotion:

Read John 1:10-14.

There are sad words in today’s reading: “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” People locked their doors to shut him out. Little has changed since John wrote those words in his gospel. Today millions of people are without Christ in their hearts. They say they are doing just fine without Him.  In The Message, a paraphrase of the Bible, Eugene Peterson articulates John 1:14 this way: “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” Max Lucado, in one of his books, refers to Jesus as “a next door Savior.” Others have said that Jesus “tented” among us. That’s what happened when Jesus came: the eternal Son of God moved into our neighborhood and set up camp.

And when he did come, he became one of us. He came within our reach, he identified with us, and he came to trade places with us. He came close enough so that even shepherds who were looked down on were able to see and touch him. He grew up in an ordinary home, in a small, commonplace village. Later, throughout his teaching ministry he moved among ordinary people, touching lepers, healing the sick, and showing God’s love to all kinds of sinners. Jesus wants to be in our neighborhoods, touching and changing lives. And as you follow Him, remember that Jesus wants to move into your neighborhood. He desires to be part of your life. 

Personal Worship Option:

Thank you God, for taking on our flesh and blood. You know us. Remind us that you are still in our neighborhood, and help us to live our lives for you. Let this be our prayer.

Daily Devotion, November 6, 2019

Devotion:

Read Exodus 32:9-14.

“All that glitters is not gold” is an old saying worth remembering. Fools’ gold or pyrite looks like gold, but pyrite is brittle and will break whereas gold will bend.

Often in our lives, just like the Hebrews in the wilderness, when God doesn’t respond on our timeline, we will attempt to make our own “new and improved god”. We become impatient with God. But God remains patient with us.

The problem with gods we can make is that we have fooled ourselves into believing that we are god enough to make a god! We forget how finite we are. Any god we might try to make would be like fools’ gold.

Aaron and the people made a golden-calf god. The glittering golden calf could not hear the cries of the people or respond to the needs of people. The glittering golden calf could never give the gift of life. It was a god whom they could see, but could never see them. A fool’s god.

This scripture in Exodus tells of the time when God’s own heart was broken. The people in covenant with the true God had left their first love. They left to worship a glittering golden calf. God’s patience was tested. But out of God’s great love for the people, God restored the relationship with them. God gave Moses for a second time the laws of the covenant relationship for the people.

We see how foolish the people were, but how often do we also chase after fools’ gods which consume our lives and take us away from our first love. Instead, we need to return to the God who made us, who is able to breathe the very breath of life into our lives with each brand new day!

Personal Worship Option:

Let us ask ourselves, “Am I impatient with God today?” Know beyond measure that God is patient and compassionate with us. God is hearing our prayers. God is seeing our wilderness situation. God is giving the gift of new life to us this very day. God is keeping the covenant relationship. “Patient and loving God, forgive us for thinking we can make our own gods. Bring us back to You. Amen.”

Daily Devotion, November 5, 2019

Devotion:

Read Genesis 6:6-13, 17-18.

When God created Adam and Eve, his plan was to live in fellowship with them forever. They were to enjoy the Garden of Eden and take care of all of God’s creation. However, they sinned and broke that fellowship with God. God put into place his Divine Plan to continually pursue his children, to continue to draw them to him, so that all his children could live with him eternally. For ten generations (about 1100) years God pursued his children but when he “observed the extent of human wickedness on earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil,” he was sorry “he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.” (Genesis 6:5-6). God sent a flood to destroy the earth and everything in it in order to start over with people who would love and obey him. God’s new plan was to repopulate the earth using the only blameless person on earth, Noah. In God’s relationship with human beings and all of creation, this was a major transition. God took drastic measures to draw his children to him, but he promised never to destroy the earth again by a flood. God keeps his promises and covenants. All we have to do as humans is trust and obey in the same way Noah did.

Personal Worship Option:

Has your relationship with God gone through transitions? Thank God that even when you fell in and out of relationship with God, he was always faithful. Know that God will always call you his child and will pursue you with great love.

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! 1 John 3:1

Daily Devotion, November 4, 2019

Devotion:

Read Genesis 3:8-10; 21-24.

President John F. Kennedy totally stunned the engineers at NASA on May 25, 1961 when he announced his vision and the tremendous challenge that within the decade we should land a man on the moon and return him safely to the Earth. NASA did not yet have a rocket with the power to launch a manned spacecraft into the moon’s orbit, a maneuverable landing craft to touch down on the moon, nor even the protective spacesuit a person would need in order to survive on the surface of the moon. The challenges were daunting, but they were met in 1969!

God’s plan for human beings included our being created and living in the image of God. So long as we lived in that image, human beings would not even be aware of good and evil, so perfect was our innocence. But God’s giving us free will, the ability to make choices for ourselves, presented God with challenge after challenge. In this passage, we see human beings begin to fear God because of their guilt and to become aware of their nakedness, losing their innocence. We also see human beings begin to suffer the consequences of their (our) poor choices. God met those challenges, providing clothing to cover them but allowing the consequences to happen...both acts of supreme love! 

Personal Worship Option:

Think today about the many ways we challenge God, push back, and fail to live into God’s image. If we think too long and too deeply about that, we can lose the beautiful perspective we learn from today’s passage. God loves us in spite of the ways we challenge God. Ask for forgiveness and accept God’s supreme love.

Daily Devotion, November 3, 2019

Devotion:

Read Ephesians 4:29-32.

  One year from today, our nation will elect many of our national leaders, including our next president. Election years have always been a time of heated debate and rhetoric, but that has “ramped up” to a whole new level in the past several elections. Our country is polarized, too often focused on how we disagree than how we are unified. We don’t know how to disagree without being disagreeable. People are ugly, mean and hateful to each other.

  The saddest part of all of that is too often, people acting this way are people who claim to be Christians, followers and representatives of Jesus Christ, the One who specifically taught “Love your enemies.”  These verses speak of “grieving the Holy Spirit.” We can be sure that we do just that when we treat other people in a way not related to Christ.

  The writer of the letter to the Ephesians obviously felt inspired and compelled to include these words of guidance for the Christians of his day. And they are so needed in our day: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths….” I am confident he would add today “...or be posted by you on social media.” “Get rid of all bitterness ... anger ... slander …. Be kind and compassionate to one another…”

  We are going to need a higher power than ourselves in order to live that way during the next year. So I invite you to read these verses at least once a week (if not every day) for the next year and pray that God will help you live by them. May we be a light of Christ’s grace, peace and love shining into a world of darkness.

Personal Worship Option:

An old children’s chorus says “This little light of mine; I’m gonna let it shine.” Offer a prayer of commitment to living this light of Christ in the next 365 days. It may seem little at times, but any light still shines in the darkness.

Daily Devotion, November 2, 2019

Devotion:

Read James 1:19-20.

  It is so easy to get caught up in, and live by, the ways of this world. After all, that’s where most of us spend a large portion of our time. We are regularly interacting with people who are not living by the ways of God. And if we are not being intentional and paying attention, we often find ourselves simply reacting to what goes on in the world with the ways of the world, rather than setting an example of a different way.

  One of the primary faults of so many in this day and time is that we are not willing to listen to others. We only want to tell them what we think. Even when we are allowing the other person to speak, we are often not really listening to what they are saying, but thinking about what we want to say next. Anger regularly develops in the midst of such interactions.

  This is not something new, although it has escalated in recent times. The writer of James knew of these kind of exchanges and is inspired by God to offer divine wisdom: “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” That is not easy to do in many situations. But through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit who is God, it is possible. It can be done. And in our day, in our culture, in our world, it is most needed. Will you be one who commits to living by that verse? 

Personal Worship Option:

Pray about three people with whom you most need to put that verse into practice.

Daily Devotion, November 1, 2019

Devotion:

Read Galatians 5:16-18.

Paul often uses the phrase “desires of the flesh” to refer to sinful sexual desires, and it would be easy to assume this is the subject of these verses. Paul contrasts living under these desires with living by the Spirit, reminding us that we are human and face choices between good and bad, Spirit and flesh. But, in this passage, “desires of the flesh” is being used in a more general sense to describe sinful behavior. Let’s read on!

In verses 19-22, Paul lists a number of “desires of the flesh,” some of which (sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, and orgies) indeed are the ones we would have expected. Mixed in with those, however, are a number of very common human habits of divisiveness, such as hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, dissensions, factions, and envy. In a time when our culture is shifting, instead of showing restraint and looking the other way in the face of adversity, we are prone to expressing anger and perhaps even hatred. Road rage has become a hazard on our streets. We recruit allies to our side in our disagreements. None of these behaviors is led by the Spirit, and we are reminded that these behaviors are equated with sexual practices we know are wrong. As people of Christ, we are to live by the Spirit!

Personal Worship Option:

Pray for the fruit of the Spirit like love, peace, joy, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control in your life. This fruit comes from allowing the Spirit to lead us instead of submitting to our basic human desires and tendencies. Pray for the Spirit to remind you in the moment of this choice we face so often.