Readings for Epiphany of the Lord

Matthew 2:1-12

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Imagine not knowing the Christmas story and having it unfold in front of you. A baby is born and is the Messiah—the Savior of the Jews. How would you react to the news?

King Herod is jealous of what he is hearing about this baby, Jesus. King Herod calls upon the chief priests and scribes to tell him where he can find this Messiah (Matthew 2:4). The chief priests and scribes tell King Herod the Messiah was prophesied to be born in Bethlehem of Judea (Matthew 2:5). But they do not stop there; they tell King Herod what he does not want to hear: “…for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel” (Matthew 2:6c NRSV).

King Herod is jealous because this baby is going to threaten his kingship. King Herod is thinking Jesus is going to grow up and overtake his kingdom through military might. Herod is right that Jesus is the King; Jesus will reclaim the people for God the Father. However, Herod is also wrong, because Jesus’s kingdom is not of this world. King Herod does not understand the importance of a spiritual kingdom and fears the worst.

Jealousy causes King Herod to ask the wise men to go see this baby Jesus and to report back to him. King Herod seeks to kill Jesus out of fear of his conquest over Herod. However, God outsmarts him by giving the wise men a dream and telling them not to report back to King Herod. And God sends an angel to Joseph to tell him to escape to Egypt (Matthew 2:12-17).

The wise men stand in stark contrast to King Herod. Instead of being threatened by Jesus, they bring him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh—gifts of a king (Matthew 2:11). The wise men honor Jesus as they would the king of a country; they find or renew a faith in the Lord. Though the mystery of the kingship of Jesus could not be fully understood by the wise men, they recognize his lordship to the best of their ability. Jesus will become a king in whole different sense—a king who saves us from our sinful natures. Even with their limited understanding, the wise men find themselves looking at life in a whole new way.

Take a moment to ask yourself where you fit into the story. Are you like King Herod afraid of the next person who may steal your glory? Are you one of the wise men who are looking for God’s love, peace, and grace? Would you take Jesus gifts suitable for a king? Are you like Mary, mesmerized by the events? Are you like Joseph, ready to take action? Everyone has a role in the story. What is your role?

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending Jesus Christ into the world. Help us to be amazed by your presence. Remind us to be mindful of our roles in your story. Quiet our minds, so we can hear and answer your call. Thank you for surprising us with your grace. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

1. When in your life have you been like King Herod, threatened by Jesus’s kingship?
2. When in your life have experienced the surrender and awe of the Wise Men, who bowed down before Jesus?
3. What will you do this week to honor Jesus as King?

Image found at http://www.examiner.com/article/dealing-with-the-five-causes-of-professional-jealousy

Readings for Christmas

Luke 2:22-40

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Everyone has a friend who has the ability to point out what you are good at—someone who recognizes and encourages you to sharpen and share your gifts. Sometimes, their encouragement to do more seems like nagging, while other times it gives you the reassurance you are heading in the right direction.

To the best of their ability, Mary and Joseph teach Jesus the Jewish ways by taking him to the Temple, leading by example, and participating in the Jewish festivals. According to Jewish law, Mary and Joseph take Jesus to be circumcised when he was eight days old. Also, Mary and Joseph go to the temple to be purified forty days after Jesus’s birth. Jewish law requires women to go to the temple for a purification rite forty days after giving birth. Mary and Joseph are faithful to the Jewish laws.

Circumcision is an important event, particularly for a firstborn son, since he is set aside as holy to the Lord (Luke 2:23). The symbolism here is important since Jesus is also God’s holy firstborn Son. Mary and Joseph may not have understood the true importance of Jesus being circumcised, but they faithfully follow the Jewish law by offering a sacrifice and having Jesus circumcised (Luke 2:21, 23-24).

When Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the Temple, an old man named Simeon is there. Simeon is looking forward to the redemption of Israel, which the Lord had promised to the Israelites. The Holy Spirit has told Simeon that rests that he would see the Messiah before he died (Luke 2:25-26). When Simeon sees Jesus in the Temple, he is overwhelmed with joy as he recognizes that this is the Messiah (Luke 2:34). Jesus will redeem those who turn their backs to the devil.

Simeon sings a song praising the Lord for allowing him to meet the Messiah before dying and for allowing him to see the Redeemer of Israel. He can die in peace knowing his friends and family will be redeemed in the name of the Lord. The redemption of Israel is being set into motion, and although Simeon will not be there to see it accomplished, he can die happy, knowing it will happen as the Lord has promised.

A little later in Jesus’ family’s Temple visit, the prophet Anna also worships God and identifies Jesus as the Redeemer of Israel (Luke 2:36-39). Simeon’s and Anna’s brief mention in the gospel plays an important role in confirming the baby Jesus as the Messiah. The Christmas season can be a difficult time for people who have lost loved ones in the past. The gift of closure through know Jesus Christ as the Messiah gives family members a chance to make peace with their departed loved ones, because they will see them again in God’s kingdom. Family members and friends can find reassurance that their loved one has been saved and redeemed and can join in singing Simeon’s song. Simeon’s joy reminds us to recognize what was to come and what is to come through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Simeon’s song furthers confirms Jesus is God’s son; Mary and Joseph just have the honor to raise him and to be a part of the story. Mary and Joseph are right to bring Jesus to the Temple, to have him circumcised, and to raise him with the Jewish traditions. We owe God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit ongoing praise as they continue to offer us redemption and grace all the days of our lives. We should not just think of redemption as something that has happened in the past but as an ongoing event: the world continues to be redeemed by the Lord. We are redeemed and given grace on a daily basis.

As we bury loved ones in the coming months—or as we mourn the loss of those we love who are long in the ground, let us lift their memories to the Lord and trust that he will redeem them as his children.

Although Simeon’s song about his coming death seems out of place during the Christmas season, it reminds us of the joy found in redemption and grace through the Messiah. This reassurance in God’s ongoing redemption and grace gives us peace of mind, knowing the Lord will always redeem us as his children.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for continuing to redeem us as your children. Help us to understand that redemption is an ongoing experience. Remind us as we bury loved ones that you redeem them as your children. Thank you for giving us grace through your Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

1. What parts of Simeon’s song most resonate with you?
2. How do you celebrate the joy in knowing we are redeemed?

Readings for Christmas

Isaiah 9:2-7

Luke 2:1-20

Devotion

Peace be with you!

The past few weeks have been hectic. I have been busy looking for the perfect gifts for friends and family. Then I had to have my personal caregiver wrap all of the gifts, which ended up being a three-day job. I also send way too many Christmas cards and packages to out-of-state people. Of course, there are a few holiday parties and lunches with friends squeezed in there as well. It is no wonder I am tired, stressed, and plagued by a nagging feeling that I am forgetting something. Can you relate?

We are not alone. The first Christmas was chaotic too. Mary and Joseph have a lot going on now that Mary is pregnant. Mary had travelled to see Elizabeth who was experiencing her own miraculous pregnancy, expecting a child in her old age (Luke 1:36). Just as Mary is ready to give birth to Jesus, she and Joseph have to rush to Bethlehem in Judea to be registered in the census (Luke 2:1). After travelling so much, I wonder if Mary had time to prepare the nursery or if the baby shower gifts were just thrown in a room with the hope she would have time to organize them upon her return. And what did her doctor think of all this traveling?

Then Joseph and Mary get to Bethlehem, and all of the hotels are filled up. The census is a great excuse for a giant family reunion. I bet Mary had a few choice words for Joseph: “I am due any day with God’s baby, and you drag me to Bethlehem so we can register for this stupid census. Oh, and you forgot to reserve a room. … Huhmmm Joseph, you better find a place to stay quick because my water just broke. … No, I am delivering God’s son in a tavern. … A stable will be warm with all the animals. Why don’t you ask the farmer??? And hurry Joseph!” I am sure Mary was in a full panic attack as she started giving birth to her first son without her mother or a midwife.

In the midst of this hectic time, Mary delivers a baby boy named Jesus. And an angel appears to shepherds announcing the arrival of “a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:11). The shepherds decide to go to Bethlehem and see the child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.

Suddenly, the busyness of the world melts away as the young couple treasures the first moments of their son’s life, a baby given to them by God. Then out of nowhere shepherds (not viewed in the society of the day as honorable individuals) show up announcing Jesus is the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord. Everyone who heard the shepherds’ proclamation were amazed, including Mary who treasured these moments in her heart (Luke 2:19).[box type=”info” border=”full”]King David was favored by God as a shepherd boy, not by society. Being a shepherd was a mundane job. God allowed David to evaluate his social status.[/box]

The world already starts changing with Jesus’s arrival. An unwed, virgin teenage girl becomes a mother to God’s son. An honorable Jewish man becomes a step-father before he is married. Shepherds—not the venerable Jewish priestly class—announce the baby is the Messiah, not the Jewish priests. Things that would never be sanctioned are now celebrated and lifted up. The lame and the blind who were outcasts and not associated with in the Jewish community will be healed of their afflictions, and Jesus will call them to be disciples. The sinners who were looked down upon by the Jewish priestly class will be forgiven. Jesus will break bread with these outcasts and bring them into the light. And it all starts with a baby in manger.

As you go about your hectic Christmas festivities, take a few moments to hear the shepherds’ proclamation announcing the arrival of “a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” Let it catch you off guard. Ponder what the arrival of the Messiah means in today’s world. Feel the amazement of the arrival of the Messiah.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for amazing us with the arrival of the Messiah. Help us to treasure the shepherds’ proclamation. Make us slow down and ponder the true meaning of Christmas. Be with those who are alone or are mourning the loss of a love one. Thank you for the blessing of gathering with friends and family this Christmas. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

1. What does Christmas mean to you?
2. What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

Luke 1:26-38

Devotion

Peace be with you!

There are hundreds of reasons why God the Father should call no one to any special calling. We all have at least one area where we fall short of being able to serve God. Some are poor and have no real power or influence. Some are too young to even understand what is going on. Others have gone against God’s wishes by lying, stealing, or [whatever “it” is]. Other times it is just impossible. We are not worthy to be called by God.

Yet God calls David out of the shepherd’s field to become a decorated Israelite soldier and to eventually become the king of Jerusalem. God takes a shepherd boy and conquers all his enemies (2 Samuel 7:1, 11). God takes a shepherd boy and makes him the king of his people, the uniter of Israel and Judah (2 Samuel 7:8). God uses David to create a nation where all of his people are welcomed to live a community with one another. God uses David to build Jerusalem as the center of the Jewish faith where his people could gather (2 Samuel 7:10-11).

In return, God promises to make David’s kingdom last forever (2 Samuel 7:16). From a shepherd to a soldier to a king, God uses the under-qualified to advance God’s kingdom. . This promise seems impossible, the stuff of dreams.

Fast-forward a few hundred years, and you find a scared Galilean Jewish teenage girl from the line of David, . An angel visits her with news that the Lord is with her and that she, a virgin, is pregnant with God’s son (Luke 1:28, 31). Mary exclaims, “What impossible news! How can this be? I am a virgin” (Luke 1:34).

The angel explains, “You will become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and you will have the Son of God. Now go and visit your relative, Elizabeth, who was barren is also pregnant. Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:35-37).

Mary says, “I am here, Lord. I am ready to carry out your plan” (Luke 1:38).

Again, God takes the under-qualified to do something impossible. God takes Mary, a teenage virgin, and makes her the mother of the Son of God. God gives the world the greatest gift through a young girl who is barely old enough to understand what is going on in the world. Yet Mary agrees to be a vessel for God to come into the world. Mary steps out in faith and puts her trust in God.

This is where we find hope: a teenage virgin who gives birth to a baby boy who is God’s son. The baby boy will grow up to be our Savior and will die on the cross for our sins. To think it all started with a teenage virgin who was scared but took the call anyway, because God favored her.

From David to Mary to Jesus to us, God continues to show his favor to his creation through forgiveness, love, and grace. God finds amazing ways to express how he favors each one of us. Sometimes it is through kind words from a friend, an unexpected surprise, a random act of kindness, a gentle push toward something new, or a new opportunity. God has amazing ways to show us the light and to get us where he needs us to be. All we need to do is believe God can and will make the impossible possible.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for favoring Mary and David, unlikely, under-equipped human beings. Remind us you favor us, despite our flaws. Lead us to do your will and to trust you will be with us. Use your star to guide us through the night to the manger. Thank you for expressing your love for us. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

1. How have you answered God’s call?
2. How has God favored you?

Readings for the Third Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Devotion

Peace be with you!

With so much pain, corruption, hate, and war in the world, it can be difficult to see joy and to be happy. My family and church family have experienced many deaths and serious health issues lately. Just when we think everyone is healthy, someone comes down with a serious health issue or dies unexpectedly. Not only are we facing personal struggles, but the world itself is so bleak these days. Homeless children on our Angel Christmas Tree are asking for blankets, toiletries, and shoes instead of toys. National news features stories about racism and police over-using their power, and international news is laden with headlines about ISIS and suicide bombers. We just cannot catch a break.

Then I turn to Isaiah and John the Baptist calling for us to rebuild and point to the light in the world, and I just want to throw up my hands. I would like one day of freedom from the darkness where I can laugh and run without waiting for the next batch of bad news—just one day without worrying about anything. Yet Isaiah calls us to comfort those to mourn by giving them hope in the Lord’s glory (Isaiah 61:2-3). We should help the children who are homeless with blankets, tents, toiletries, and shoes to give them hope in a better tomorrow.

We need to rebuild from the ground up to reclaim our identity as Christians—as the ones who point to the light. As Christians, we are to tend to the needs of the less fortunate—the poor, the naked, the homeless, and the forsaken, because we are all lost in the darkness. No one is better off than those next to them. We have all sinned—lied, cheated, thought wrongly, and gone against the Lord. We are nothing without our hope in the Messiah.

So we turn to John the Baptist in the wilderness, who points us towards the light. When he had the opportunity to claim to be the Messiah or Elijah, John the Baptist said, “I am not” (John 1:19-21). Then John the Baptist points us to the Messiah:

“I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal” (John 1:26-27 NRSV).

No one is worthy of the Messiah. No one is worthy of sharing a meal with him. No one is worthy of him making the ultimate sacrifice for our sins to reclaim us as God the Father’s children. No one is worthy.

Yet John the Baptist points us toward the Messiah, who is the light of the world. Our human condition creates our need for the light to come into the world. We need the light to draw us close to God again. Therefore, we need to make room for the light in our lives. We need stop living in the past and start living in the here and now. We need to stop pushing the issues of today aside and start making the light shine brighter. We need to stop dwelling in the darkness and direct ourselves, our friends, our family members, and everyone we meet to the light where there is hope in something better—something beyond our imagination. Because when we spread the hope, we take away Satan’s power, and we make the light brighter and brighter.

Go and tell the good news that the light is coming into the world.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for John the Baptist directing us to the light. Help us to see the light in the world. Lead us to share that hope with others. Thank you for giving us the duty to spread hope in the world. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

1. Who directed you to the light? Who needs to be directed to the light?
2. Where do you find hope in the world?

Photograph: William Fernando Martinez/AP

Readings for the Second Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 40:1-11

Mark 1:1-8

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Road construction is annoying, dangerous, and sometimes impossible. Last week I visited a friend in Tampa, and my personal caregiver and I drove back late at night. There was lot of road construction along I-75 northbound with crews working under bright lights, which blinded my personal caregiver and me. Each time we transitioned between the bright white lights and complete darkness, dangerously, our eyes had to readjust. Despite the risks it can sometimes pose, road construction serves a long-term purpose: to make the road safer and better at a future date. It takes time to plan and build roads that fit the traffic patterns of an area.

Prophet Isaiah cries out to the Lord to comfort the Israelites (Isaiah 40:1). No matter the route the Israelites took from Babylon back to Judea, the journey required physical and emotional endurance.

“A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken” (Isaiah 40:3-5 NRSV).

The Israelites have to prepare themselves before reentering the Promised Land. They have to change their ways by repenting of their sins through sacrifices and through following the Lord’s commandments. This requires the Israelites to examine themselves to see what is important in their lives.

No one enjoys dealing with strong and cumbersome emotions, which can derail even a strong person in moments of tragedy. As I have said in the past, I have had my share of tragedy this fall with the deaths of two grandparents and with other personal issues. I have had to change anxiety medication and find a new counselor to help me name the issues affecting my life. There have been days this past fall where if I completed two simple tasks, such as grocery shopping and making dinner, I called it a success. Cumbersome emotions take a lot of energy out of you and can bog you down.

As I deal with my cumbersome emotions, I hear John the Baptist echoing Isaiah’s words, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Mark 1:3b). How do you prepare for the Lord’s arrival into a world where there is pain, corruption, hate, and war? The only way is to continue to live out the good news of Jesus Christ—his forgiveness, love, and grace. God still has work to do in the world. He still needs to shine his light into the darkness. In a world where pain, corruption, hate, and war are threatening to overrun us, we are his light. We share the Lord’s light by living according to his ways and by sharing the good news with everyone we meet. In doing so, we spread hope that God has something else planned for us—that this world is just a part of his greater plan. This world with its pain, corruption, hatred, and war will fall away and give way to his new creation where we will not perish but have eternal life. This all starts with a baby boy lying in a manger. This is where we find hope.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending John the Baptist to show us the way to you. Help us to work through our cumbersome emotions, so we can walk in your light. Guide us as we shine your light into your world. Thank you for giving us hope in the darkness. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

1. What kinds of cumbersome emotions are you holding onto?
2. Where do you find hope?

Readings for the First Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 64:1-9

Mark 13:24-37

Devotion

Peace be with you!

There has been several times in recent years when I just begged God to send Jesus back to earth. How much more corruption can the world handle? How much can we as Christians take before we break? I saw the homeless sleeping on sidewalks under blankets in San Diego. Here in Florida, homeless families—children and all—live in the woods in tents. The Ferguson and the Eric Garner cases showed how the African Americans still feel oppressed by others. The Boston Marathon bombing and various school shootings have demonstrated the human brokenness in the world. When will God the Father save us from this broken world?

In Isaiah 64, the prophet reminds God the Father of the awesome power he possesses to save the Israelites from their oppressors. “Mountains quaked in your presence when you came down unexpectedly. We were stupid to break from your ways, and you have hidden yourself from us. However, a few of us remember your awesome power that saved us from our oppressors time and time again. We wish to do your work in the world again. Please take us back as your people” (Isaiah 64:1-9, my paraphrase). The Israelites beg to be in God’s good graces again. The Israelites are tired of living under their oppressors and come back to God. The Israelites repent for their sins and recommit themselves to the Lord as his people.

In America, society often forces us to act and speak a certain way. Anyone seen helping an individual with a disability is exclaimed to be a good public servant for being a caretake, instead of an equal and a friend. We are afraid to walk past individuals who are homeless on the street, especially at night, because somehow we feel above them and/or threatened by them. African Americans also are oppressed into lower income brackets and are not always given equal opportunities, which lead some individuals to gangs and violence. We are afraid of anyone on the edges of society, including those who are homeless, those with disabilities, and more. Society pits different groups against each other.

Yet Jesus says, “Keep awake! I am coming back” (Mark 13:33, 35, 37). Jesus reminds us hope is coming, though no one knows when; expect God the Father (Mark 13:32). We as Christians must stay awake and alert for Jesus’ second coming. We must keep our focus on the Lord’s ways and not let society drag us away. The Lord molds us to do his work in the world (Isaiah 64:8) until God the Father sends Jesus back. Our hope is in the fact something better is coming, something which will save us from the world’s oppressors. This world is just a stop along our way to the Kingdom of God.

Even when we are tired and feel defeated, we can hang onto the hope that Jesus is coming back for us. Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for reclaiming as your people. Help us to keep our focus on your ways. Remind us to stay alert to see your work in the world. Thank you for giving us hope in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

1. What gives you hope?

1. Image found at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/05/us/latest-news-eric-garner-protests-november-jobs-report-grammy-nominations.html?google_editors_picks=true&_r=0.

Reading

Judges 4:1-7

Devotion

Peace be with you!

As we enter the story in the book of Judges, the Israelites are well in the midst of a terrible cycle: abandoning God when life is good and then running and crying to God when life gets difficult. The book of Judges follows this theme and shows how God rescues the Israelites by raising up judges.

In the grand scheme of life, not much has changed since the time of the Israelites. Our behaviors have not changed. When life is going smoothly, we stand on our own two feet and push God aside. We forget we need God for everything; we think we are in charge and have things under control. Somewhere along the way, we push aside our core values and start allowing outside influences to direct how we act and talk. God allows us to go our own way and lets us live with the consequences.

When the Israelites would start doing evil things, God would allow foreign leaders to conquer and oppress the Israelites. In our reading, the Israelites do evil things and God gives them to King Jabin of Canaan (Judges 4:1-2). God gives us the power to make our own decisions, but it means we have to deal with the consequences. The Israelites choose to abandon God and go against his commandments. God lets King Jabin to conquer and oppress them.

But as soon as life gets rocky, we run crying to God for help. The Israelites cry out to God (Judges 4:3) when they realize they were wrong to abandon God. The Israelites realize they need God’s protection from their enemies. Then God answers the Israelites’ cries by raising up a judge, Deborah, who leads them as a military leader (Judges 4:6-7). Deborah delivers the Israelites from King Jabin (Judges 4:24).

Then Deborah sings praises to God for allowing her to conquer King Jabin and deliver the Israelites from the oppression. The Israelites return to the ways of the Lord.

When we repent and return to the ways of God the Father, he forgives us for our trespasses. We give him glory for saving us from the way of the world. In the Old Testament, the Israelites had to make sacrifices to be right with God, but when he sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins forgiveness became free. God has always been a forgiving God, though through Jesus Christ we receive forgiveness freely when we repent.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for repeatedly extending forgiveness to us when we repent. Help us to live according to your ways. Lead us to do your will in the world. Thank you for always being there when we cry out. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

1. When have you cried out to the Lord?
2. How have you shared God’s forgiveness with others?

Reading

Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Joshua and the Israelites have conquered the Canaanites, Hittities, Hivities, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites and are now in possession of the Promised Land. They are settling in as a nation in the land God promised them.

Now the Israelites are given a choice: to serve God or to serve other gods (Joshua 24:14-15, 19-20, 23-24). God set the Israelites free from the Egyptian Pharaoh who forced them to do backbreaking labor. The Israelites are given the choice to serve God. It is a decision left entirely to the Israelites. God asks the Israelites to freely serve him, whereas the Pharaoh forced them to serve him.

The Israelites confirm their decision to serve God over gods (Joshua 24:16-18, 21, 24). They praise God for leading their ancestors out of Egypt and out of slavery, doing great signs, and protecting them in the wilderness (Joshua 24:17). The Israelites also praise God up for driving out the other nations out of the Promised Land (Joshua 24:18).

Each time Joshua asks the Israelites who they will serve, he reminds them of God’s wrath and the consequences of not keeping their promise (Joshua 24:15, 19-20). Joshua wants the Israelites to understand the commitment they are making to God. If the Israelites turn away from God in the future, he will not forgive them and he will consume and harm them. To the New Testament reader, this seems extreme, because we know God forgives through Jesus Christ. However, when we turn against God, we allow other things to consume and harm us. It is not ultimately God who consumes and harms the Israelites but themselves, because God chooses when, how, and if at all to stop us from harming ourselves.

God gives us the choice: to serve him or to serve idols and/or ourselves. When we serve anyone or anything other than God, we become vulnerable to the dangers of our decision. God chooses when and how to save us when we turn away from him, but he is always there to catch us when we turn back to him, like the Prodigal Son whose father welcomes him back home (Luke 15:11-32. God shows his unconditional commitment to the Israelites by sending numerous prophets to bring them back into a relationship with him. God never gives up on his chosen people, even when he sends his only begotten son to die for their sins. I feel so blessed to know God will lift me back up and plant me in his love when I am done trying to figure it out on my own.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for giving us the choice to serve you. Help us to recognize our need to serve you and to allow you to guide us. Be with us as we go out into the world and protect us from all idols. Lift us up when we fall and plant us in your love and grace again. Thank you for catching us when we fall. Amen.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.) You can answer as many questions as you would like.

1. When have you turned away from God? How did you find your way back?
2. When has God planted you back in his love and grace again?