Readings

2 Kings 5:1-14

Psalm 30

Galatians 6:1-16

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Devotion

Peace be with you!

One of my favorite songs is “Cloud of Witnesses” by Mark Schultz. The first two verses remind me of my church when I was going up. The song goes:

We watched them runnin’ down the aisles, /Children’s time, Sunday morning. /The preacher asked them who they loved, /They all smiled and started pointing to their mom, /Their dad, /The teacher from their kindergarten class; /And each and every one /Had just come from/

A cloud of witnesses /That would see them through the years /Cheer them with a smile /And pray them through the tears /A cloud of witnesses that would see them to the end, /And shower them with love that never ends /A cloud of witnesses (ChristianLyricsOnline.com 2010).

As I grew up, it was my church family who supported me through life’s challenges. I was not an object, “the girl in the electric wheelchair.” I was a special girl who just happened to need the help of a wheelchair . I swear the guys just enjoyed showing off for us girls as they lifted my electric wheelchair into the back of our youth group leader’s van. No matter where the weekly meeting was, my friends made sure I was there.

Paul’s letter the Galatians concludes with him reinforcing how important it is to live in community, to live in the new covenant, and to live by the Spirit. Life is about being in community with each other and God. Nothing else matters when you live according to the Spirit, because the community becomes your family, shelter, and protection. The community keeps you going when the world seems to be against you or when it is confusing you.

Living in community allows you to be in a relationship with the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We worship, pray to, lament and rejoice with God as a community. I just found a church home in Florida, a place where I enjoy going – not just because the pastor gives awesome sermons (although he does), but because the community has welcomed me into their fold. During announcements one Saturday night, I asked if someone could pick me up because my stepdad was going away for two months. Ron and Kathy volunteered to pick me up for church, help me get dinner, and take me home. Over the last four weeks, I have been adopted into their dinner group at Angelo’s. We share what we did the last week and what we have planned for the next week. It feels good to belong to a group again.

Community gives us a feeling of belonging. The members of a community take care of each other by providing support through a difficult time, lending a hand when someone needs help, and offering items someone may need. My favorite part of my church is its outreach programs – pet food for those who cannot afford to feed their furry friends, a soup kitchen, and a food pantry. These ministries are not hidden either. Whatever is donated on the weekend is rolled to the altar during the offering. The needs of others are constantly visible in my church.

Paul reminds the Galatians of the new covenant God the Father created with his children through Jesus Christ. Under the new covenant, God does not care if you are circumcised or uncircumcised, free or slave, male or female, or Jew or Gentile. All are welcomed to be in a relationship with God the Father under the new covenant. Living under the new covenant restores our relationship with God, because Jesus Christ makes it possible for everyone to know God and to enter heaven. Jesus restores us to eternal life.

Paul also emphasizes the importance of living according to the Spirit by loving one another. The Spirit leads us to live according to God’s will. Living according to the Spirit allows us to live the way God planned for us all along.

The members at my church are an incredible cloud of witnesses. During the prayers, we pray for everyone. We lament as a community when someone dies, is sick, or is going through a difficult time. I had a staph infection a few weeks ago and was not able to go to worship. Kathy checked in on me every few days to see how I was doing. We rejoice when someone has good news. We give weekly birthday and anniversary blessings to individuals and couples. It is a community that lives solely according to the Holy Spirit.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for giving us communities to be a part of and to support us. Help us to live under the new covenant according to the Spirit in our daily lives. Guide us to love one another by caring for others and respecting each other. Remind us to break down divisions by welcoming everyone into our community. Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to lead us in our daily lives. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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 comment covenant.)  You can answer as many questions as you would like. 

1. How do you live in community with others?

2. How do you live by the new covenant?

3. How do you live according to the Spirit?

Readings

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20

Galatians 5:1, 13-25

Luke 9:51-62

Devotion

Peace be with you!

When I lived in St Paul, I had a personal trainer named Ashley. She is awesome at her job. She could get me to do things I did not know I could do. Shortly after I moved away, Ashley made a difficult decision to move back to her small hometown and work at a local rehab center. She enjoyed her clients and co-workers at a big health club, but her job consistently required Ashley to sell herself as a personal trainer to new members. The health club required Ashley to have so many clients and personal training sessions that her clients were becoming numbers, not individuals with personal goals. Ashley grew weary of the corporate personal training world, and she decided to instead take a job where she could help people without having to sell herself. Her new job did not require Ashley to draw in new clients by working on commission; instead she can focus on the individual needs and goals of her clients. Ashley is able to put aside the numbers and focus on the individual.

Paul continues his letter to the Galatians with a warning about the flesh. Operating out of the flesh prevents us from doing good works that honor God and instead makes us impure and causes us to sin. The work of the flesh causes us to “fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these” (Galatians 5:19b-21a NRSV). These actions place our lives in bondage to the Devil who continues to try to separate us from the Triune God.

Ashley felt like a slave to selling person training sessions at a big health club. As a result, she wasn’t really free to live out her God-given passion to help people achieve their personal wellness goals. After four years of moving up the corporate chain and learning all she could from a big health club, Ashley had enough of the corporate world and was really for a new challenge. At some point in our lives, we have all been there – the wrong career or place of employment, a bad relationship, or [whatever “it” is] that made you give up your core principles for an exterior motive. Life seems to lose its appeal when we give up our core principles to achieve someone else’s goals.

Fortunately, the fruit of the Spirit works against the flesh by giving us freedom from [whatever “it” is] that binds us to the evil things in world. The fruit of the Spirit creates “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22b-23a NRSV) in the world. The flesh does whatever it can to keep the fruit of the Spirit out of the world. However, God the Father sent Jesus Christ into the world to free us from the bondage of sin. Jesus frees us from the Devil’s grip on us by giving us eternal life.

Yet we are given a choice as to how we use our energy in the world: the work of the flesh or the fruit of the Spirit. Paul warns us that doing the work of the flesh will not allow us to inherit the Kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21b). The work of the flesh takes us away from the Triune God who loves us unconditionally. When we do the work of the flesh, we choose destruction and pain by living apart from the Triune God.

However, when we do the fruit of the Spirit, we live into eternal life with the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We choose to be set free from our sinful selves. By doing the fruit of the Spirit, we are free to serve others and God in love without any self interest. The goal of the Spirit is to ensure no one is homeless, hungry, or naked. The Spirit creates a community to take care of God’s children. By loving our neighbor, we are living according to God’s way of being. Our fruit of the Spirit gives glory to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

The corporate world of a big health club kept Ashley from what she loved and found most freeing: helping people meet their individual wellness goals. Ashley took a scary step of faith by leaving a big health club and moving to a small town to work at a small rehab clinic. By doing so, Ashley directed her skill set to help people who would not be able afford to work with someone otherwise. Ashley’s passion for others’ wellness is visible by how she dedicates herself to her work.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for giving us the opportunity to do the fruit of the Spirit. Help us to love our neighbor according to your way of living. Keep us from being captives to the flesh, and free us from its grip. Guide us as we go about our day to bring you glory through the fruit of the Spirit. Thank you for setting us free from the flesh. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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 comment covenant.)  You can answer as many questions as you would like. 

1. What does it mean to be free?

2. How do you do the fruit of the Spirit?

Readings

1 Kings 19:1-15a

Psalm 42 & 43

Galatians 3:23-29

Luke 8:26-39

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Somewhere hidden in my office is a postcard my mom sent me while she was on a business trip during my first semester of college ten years ago. She talks about the conference, which she is attending to pick out product for her Christian book and gift shop. My mom rambles on about her sister is enjoying people-watching and how hot it is. She ends with a note of how proud she is of me for going to college – something she never did. Of course, going to college was not to supposed to be possible for me according to the doctors who first diagnosed me with Cerebral Palsy. I enjoy randomly finding the beat up postcard when I am looking for something or reorganizing my office. The postcard reminds me of how far I have come and how proud my mom is of me.

Paul continues his letter to the Galatians by discussing how we should live faithfully according to the good news. Jesus reveals how we are supposed to relate to each other and work together to build a solid community of faith. We do not have to worry about making right our relationship with God the Father, because Jesus Christ did it for us when he was crucified, died, and was resurrected. Jesus provides a way for us to know and be loved by God.

The Jewish Christians guard themselves by their laws and by observing their festivals. The law was valuable before Jesus came for it provided discipline for God’s people to live by (Galatians 3:23-24). Now that Jesus has come into the world we are no longer subjects to the law (Galatians 3:25) for he releases us from our bondage to the law. The law ultimately revealed to us our need for a Savior, but we could never match up to its unrelenting demands.

We are justified by faith as God’s children (Galatians 3:24b, 26). Jesus embodies how we are to live our lives as God’s children. Paul writes, “No longer is there Jew or Greek, slave or free, or male or female.” (Galatians 3:28). The divisions of the past no longer have value in the world where Jesus has died for our sins. Jesus radically changes the way individuals enter into a relationship with God the Father. He destroys any roadblock that held people back from knowing the Triune God. Jesus frees us from the law by being crucified on the cross and dying for our sins.

By destroying these divisions, Jesus provides a way for us to live in community with each other. We are no longer divided by our differences. Now we are bound together by our faith in Jesus Christ who allows us to be in a relationship with the God the Father. Our unique personalities and gifts belong to the community to help it grow and prosper. Jesus uses our unique traits to further God’s plan for our community. Divisions are a thing of the past; our unique traits give the community life in the world where it is easier to be divided. The world preys on our past divisions, but Jesus brings us with all of our differences to be the community to share the good news.

Paul’s letter to the Galatians has survived thousands of years. As Christians, it is a letter we go back to to remind ourselves we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ. For the Galatians, the letter tells how to live faithfully in the world, with our unique personalities and gifts. The letter provides a blueprint of life as a Christian.

Letters have a way of putting things in perspective, reminding us of how life is and what we are to do. They also give us something to go back to remind ourselves of a relationship close to our hearts. The letter to the Galatians reminds us to end the divisions among ourselves, to live in community with each other, and to use our unique personalities and gifts to further God’s plan. Paul understood the power of the written word and physically having a letter read and reread. Nothing is more powerful than a letter from a true friend who shares their heart with you.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for Paul’s powerful words to the Galatians encouraging us to work together as a community of believers. Help us to read Paul’s letter to the Galatians with an open heart as we work towards ending the divisions of this world and instead work to further God’s plan. Bring us together as your children and use us for your mission. Thank you for the letter to the Galatians to read and reread. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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 comment covenant.)  You can answer as many questions as you would like. 

1. Who has written you an important letter?

2. What divisions exist in today’s world? How does Jesus end these divisions?

3. What challenges do we face as Christians living in community? How can we overcome those challenges?

Readings

1 Kings 21:1-21a

Psalm 5:1-8

Galatians 2:15-21

Luke 7:36-8:3

Devotion

http://www.impawards.com/2012/les_miserables_ver11.html

Peace be with you!

In the musical Les Miserables, Jean Valjean is an ex-convict who stole a piece of bread for his niece. Upon coming out of prison, Valjean is determined to turn away from the harsh life of prison and help those in need no matter the consequences. However, Valjean has also broken parole and is hiding from the police. He has his own factory where he gives women jobs to support their families. Javert is the police inspector who releases Valjean after warning him what will happen if he breaks the law. Javert believes the law comes before anything else in life. When he finds Valjean after several years of thinking he was dead, Javert is determined to bring him back into custody.

Paul is writing Galatians because the Jewish Christians are telling them they have to earn their way into Heaven by doing good works. The Jewish Christians believe that they have to be justified by their works. They have to keep the laws handed down to them by Moses and their ancestors.

However, Paul writes that the Galatians are justified by their faith in Jesus Christ who died for their sins on the cross. There is no way anyone can earn their way into Heaven on their own merit (Galatians 2:16). If we live according to the law, we are dead (Galatians 2:19) because we cannot fulfill the law on our own. We have nothing without Jesus Christ dying on the cross. Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection give us life with the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

If we believe we can be justified by the law, then Jesus died for nothing (Galatians 2:21). This is not the case because we cannot uphold the law on our own. Our sinful nature has been crucified through Jesus and now we can have life and know God the Father.

Paul calls the Galatians to live by faith in Jesus Christ who gave up his life out of love for them (Galatians 2:20). God did not have to send Jesus to die for our sins, but he loves us so deeply he gives us eternal life in him. There is nothing we can do to undo his love for us. By living in faith, we receive the gift of life given to us through Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, death, and resurrection.

In Les Miserables, Valjean and Javert meet in different situations over the years. Somehow Valjean always escapes and goes into hiding until Javert finds him again. At one point Valjean has an opportunity to kill Javert, but he lets him go. Javert realizes Valjean lives by a different moral code than the strict law. Valjean strives to help those who cannot help themselves even if it means breaking a law. This is what Paul is telling the Galatians. It is better to love each other than to judge one another. When we love each other, we are living out our faith in Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for having Jesus Christ die for our sins so we can have life. Help us to live according your word. Remind us we are nothing without your love and grace. Thank you for life in your son Jesus Christ. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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 comment covenant.)  You can answer as many questions as you would like. 

1. How do people live by the law? Why?

2. How do people live out their faith?

Readings

1 Kings 17:8-24

Psalm 30

Galatians 1:11-24

Luke 7:11-17

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Everyone has his or her critics – people who will never understand what you are doing.  These individuals know the world around them and think it will never change. When you make the change, these individuals freak out and tell you are wrong. How dare you challenge their traditions and ways of life? Paul is answering his critics in his letter to the Galatians.

Paul’s critics have been in Galatia questioning his credentials among the people who are supporting his church and mission. His critics are reminding the Galatians that Paul has persecuted Christians in the past and questioning how they could follow such a person. They do not understand how a man who grew up as a faithful Jew can turn his back on the Jewish traditions and speak about salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Paul now calls Jesus, the very person he used to persecute people for following, his own Savior now. Not only that, but he is now calling others to follow the leader he formerly maligned.

Blasphemy!

The Jewish contemporaries of Paul resist any change to their faith traditions and do not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Paul’s message of the good news threatens their faith system and questions their way of life. His critics question Paul’s authority to start churches in the name of Jesus and to tell people that they are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. After all, Paul never personally knew Jesus when he was alive. How can someone have faith in an individual whom he has never met?

In his true fashion, Paul answers his critics with the snarky truth. Paul explains that his accreditations come from Jesus Christ through a revelation  he had on the road to Damascus (Galatians 1:11-12). His accreditations do not come from human origin; they come from the Lord God. As we noted last week, Paul is not looking for a  “thataboy” from his contemporaries. Paul has made a lifestyle change; he is living for Jesus Christ – no one else.

Paul does not give in to his critics. Paul confesses his past sins: he persecuted Christians before his revelation and advanced quickly within the Judaism structures (Galatians 1:13-14). He is upfront with the Galatians and hides nothing about his past.

However, Paul is not who he was before his revelation. Now he takes no orders from man; Paul’s orders come from God the Father through Jesus Christ. Through a revelation, Jesus calls Paul to share the good news wherever he goes and with whomever he meets. Paul’s life is transformed by his revelation from Jesus. Paul goes from being a persecutor of Christians to a preacher of the good news. He lives as a called Christian.

Just like Paul, we are made new when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior who over comes death and gives us eternal life – new life to be in a relationship with the Triune God (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are all called to share the good news wherever we go and with whomever we meet. You do not have to be called to preach in order to share the good news. You can be a doctor or a nurse who shares God’s compassion with your patients, a lawyer who shows mercy and grace to your clients, a chef who feeds the hungry, an accountant who protects the poor, an advocate who gives a voice to the silent, a parent who loves your children, a bus driver who cares for your passengers, or [whatever “it” is] you do to share the good news. No matter what you do, you are called to share the good news by living out the Christian faith. Paul uses the skills he learned in the Jewish faith system and as a Roman to spread the good news with the world.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for giving Paul a revelation through Jesus Christ, a revelation which changed his heart towards you. Help us to work past the criticism of others and continue to spread the good news no matter who tries to stand in our way. Remind us that we are all called to share the good news in our daily lives. Guide us to use our resources to feed the hungry, to protect the poor, to give the silent a voice, to heal the sick, and to clothe the naked. Thank you for calling us to be your voice and to act on your behalf in this world. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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 comment covenant.)  You can answer as many questions as you would like. 

1. How are you called to share the good news?

2. How do non-Christians or even other Christians criticize you? How do you handle the criticism? How does Paul’s example change how you will handle criticism?

Readings

1 Kings 18:20-39

Psalm 96

Galatians 1:1-12

Luke 7:1-10

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Have you ever watched a football coach of a losing team during a game? The coach is always exasperated with his players, frustrated that they are not doing anything he taught them during practice. The players are letting the opposing team break through their weaknesses.

Paul shared the good news with the Galatians, founded a church there, and had shared with them the freedom of forgiveness through Jesus Christ. He left the Galatians believing that Jesus welcomes them into a relationship with God the Father. The Galatians knew they could not earn their way into the Kingdom of God through their good works; they had to believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of their sins and that faith was their ticket into the Kingdom of God – nothing more and nothing less.

Reports of the activities of the Galatians have been shared with Paul and what he hears does not make him very happy. So Paul writes the Galatians a little letter. Paul is frustrated with the Galatians, because they falling preytrap to Jewish Christians false teachers who have announced they need to be circumcised and do good works in order to earn their way into the Kingdom of God. Paul is jumping up and down saying, “NO! You cannot earn your way into the Kingdom of God on your own accord. Jesus Christ came into the world, walked with us, died on the cross, and ascended into heaven, so we may come into a relationship with God the Father and enter the Kingdom of God.” Over the next six weeks, we will see Paul direct the Galatians (and us) away from earthly solutions and point them and us towards God’s grace, love, and forgiveness.

Paul is not looking for a pat on the back or a “good job, bro.” Paul is not looking for approval from his call committee or synod to begin ministries in the world. Jesus Christ commissioned Paul through a vision on the road to Damascus (Galatians 1:12). If he wanted approval from his earthly counterparts, Paul would have stayed doing his job for the Roman Empire (Galatians 1:10). But that would have been the easy way out. Paul chose the path to salvation, the road less travelled.

Life would be easier if it came with a checklist. For the Galatians, the false teachers were giving them a checklist to complete in order to enter the Kingdom of God: circumcise all males, follow the Ten Commandments, and observe the Jewish festivals. However, Paul will argue this checklist only gains you earthly approval – not God’s approval. Maybe in Old Testament times this checklist was important, but Jesus Christ changed all of that. Both we and the Galatians are living in a new age where faith in Jesus Christ gives us passage into the Kingdom of God.

Remember taking algebra in high school and having the teacher make you do problems the long way before showing you the easy and shorter way? Why didn’t he just show you the shorter way to begin with?

Well, Paul has given the Galatians the easy way into the Kingdom of God: admit you are sinner who needs forgiveness and believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior. But it seems too easy for the Galatians and for us. We want to earn our own way into heaven. Paul jumps up and down and says, “No, listen up people, you cannot earn your own way into heaven; you need Jesus Christ who came into the world, walked with us, died on the cross, and ascended into heaven to offer us God’s love, grace, and forgiveness, so we may come into a relationship with God the Father and enter the Kingdom of God.” Paul is begging the Galatians not to get wrapped in some unnecessary checklist to meet the requirements to enter heaven. All you need is faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for giving Paul the vision to spread the good news across the Roman Empire. Help us to resist the temptation to complete checklists to try to earn our way into heaven. Direct us instead to have faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior. Remind us that you sent Jesus into the world to die for our sins and to give us eternal life. Thank you for Paul’s commitment to the good news. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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 comment covenant.)  You can answer as many questions as you would like. 

1. What vision has Jesus given you?

2. How do you attempt earn approval from the world? From the Triune God?

Readings

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Psalm 8

Romans 5:1-5

John 16:12-15

Devotion

Peace be with you!

The storm has passed. The initial shock has worn off. The damage has been evaluated, accessed, and documented. Now the rebuilding begins amongst the rubble and the dust. The government promises funding to rebuild homes, schools, and other public places, but what does it mean to rebuild? Where do you even start? In forty minutes, twelve to thirteen thousand homes were destroyed by the second biggest tornado in history. What do you do when you don’t understand what God is doing or where to go from here?

Jesus has been talking with his disciples about his death and ascension to heaven. There is not enough time for Jesus to explain everything he wishes he could to his disciples. Even if he could, they would not understand (John 16:12). Sometimes you truly have to live through an event to understand the outcome. Jesus’ disciples will experience extreme loss and grief when he is crucified and dies.

However, through Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection, God the Father gives us the peace (Romans 5:1b) that comes from being in a relationship with him and believing in the good news. Our faith in God the Son justifies us in the eyes of God the Father (Romans 5:1a).

God gives the kind of peace that you feel when you hold a newborn baby and see his innocence and beauty. God gives the kind of peace that you feel at dawn just as the sun wakes up the birds as you sip your coffee before the rush of the day. God gives the kind of peace that you feel when you sit quietly in a garden, chapel, or [wherever “it” is] reflecting on life. God gives the kind of peace that you feel when everything is going right in the world. God gives that kind of peace – the peace of understanding (Philippians 4). But he gives the same feeling of well-being and peace even when everything seems to be going wrong.

Yet with all good news comes responsibility. We are given peace, grace, and love to share with others (Romans 5:2). Peace, grace, and love are not things we can keep to ourselves; they have spirits of their own that show themselves through our actions. With the responsibility of believing in the Good News comes suffering (Romans 5:3). Not everyone will come to believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit and they will torment us for believing. Some of us will die sharing the good news, while others will be banished. And we will all face the human sufferings that come with living in this broken world.

But we continue to share the good news to give the Triune God glory, because without them we have no hope, peace, grace, or love. Our relationship with the Triune God outweighs the threats this world throws at us. Once we give God’s peace to others in the darkness, we are blessed with a community that will continue to grow and flourish.

Suffering never goes away since Satan rules the world. People will always judge us based on our belief in the unseen, unheard, and untouched. Nothing about our beliefs makes sense to those who are not in a relationship with the Triune God.

In those times of suffering, Jesus promises us the Holy Spirit will give us guidance in the truth (John 16:13a). Like God the Father sending God the Son, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to tell and show us the truth by glorifying Jesus Christ (John 16:13-14).

Jesus could not possibly tell the disciples everything; therefore he sends the Holy Spirit to claim us and to declare to us (John 16:14) God the Father’s hope, peace, grace, and love for us. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit work together to declare the glory of the Trinity. The Triune God works towards a common goal – to declare love for the whole world.

Even during and after the storm, the Trinity is in control and has a plan. You may feel lost in the rubble and dust; you may feel lost in the destruction; you may feel hopeless in midst of rebuilding. In these times, we need to trust in the Triune God and hang on to the hope, peace, grace, and love that Jesus’ resurrection brings us. Nothing else matters but his love for us. It is that love that will see us through.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for working with Jesus and the Holy Spirit to declare your love for us. Help us to share your good news with others by expressing the hope, peace, grace, and love only you can give us. Remind us that even though Jesus Christ ascended into heaven we are not alone – the Holy Spirit shares the truth with us. Thank you for your love that reaches into the darkness and pulls into the light. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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 comment covenant.)  You can answer as many questions as you would like. 

1. Where do you find God’s gifts of hope, peace, grace, and love? How do you share them?

2. How do you feel the presence of the Holy Spirit?

Readings

Acts 2:1-21

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

Romans 8:14-17

John 14:8-17, (25-27)

Devotion

Peace be with you!

The majority in the society and the world determines the definition of “normal.” Walking with two feet without assistance of a cane, walker, or another person is the norm. Articulating sounds in the right way so other people can understand you is the norm. Using your hands to eat, dress, shower, and write is the norm. Society determines the norm, which creates discrimination called ableism against those who do things differently.

People with disabilities are discriminated against simply because they do certain things differently than how the norm says it should be done. Most individuals with disabilities need simple adaptations to be able to function in the world. For example, I use an electric wheelchair and a walker for mobility, Intellikeys (an oversized keyboard) to type, an iPad to speak, and a car with a ramp to travel. With a few adaptations, any person with a disability strives in the world.

In his book The Bible, Disability, and the Church: a New Vision of the People of God, Amos Yong talks about his younger brother who has Down syndrome. Yong remembers staying home with his brother every Sunday morning when his parents, both pastors, went to church. Due to his many medical issues, his brother required intense care when he was young.. As a teenager, Yong could tend to his brother’s needs (changing diapers, feeding, bathing) when his parents worked.

The Spirit comes and rests on all of the disciples on the day of the Pentecost (Acts 2:1-3). The disciples begin to speak in other languages and are able to understand each other (Acts 2:4). How incredible that the Holy Spirit could cross the language barrier to allow men and women of different languages to communicate with each other. The language barriers create norms for society – as a general rule Americans speak English and individuals from Japan speak Japanese and are not able to understand each other. Yong’s brother, like myself, has his own language barrier with his speech impediment. Many times when I meet someone new – an unfamiliar listener – they do not take the time to understand me. Just the other day I had a consult with a new doctor who would not slow down to understand me and would look to my step-dad to interpret and to answer her questions. After we left, my step-dad voiced his annoyance, especially since, in his opinion, I was speaking pretty clearly for a change.

The Jews do not understand what is going on. The disciples appear to be drunk, and it is still morning (Acts 2:7, 13). The Jews, who did not accept Jesus’ teachings, are now questioning the disciples’ integrity. The Holy Spirit brings the disciples together, despite language barriers, to worship God the Father and to share the good news with others. The Holy Spirit operates under the power of God, and therefore he sends the disciples, including us, to new and unexpected places of ministry.  Our driving force becomes the Holy Spirit, which marks God’s presence in the world.

The prophet-hood makes up the community of disciples who are in the world to make the presence of God known to the lost and the poor. Prophets (including us) are messengers of Jesus’ good news who work to expand the community of believers. Our prophecy becomes proof that God is in the world here and now.

The Holy Spirit becomes a sign of God reaching for us and  reclaiming us as his children; he becomes a sign of our salvation from our sins. Without the Holy Spirit, we would not be crossing barriers to spread the good news. With the Holy Spirit, we make God known to the world by spreading the good news and sharing his love, forgiveness, and grace.

The Holy Spirit is in Yong’s brother who has Down syndrome. As an adult, his brother has transcribed the Bible several times and helps his parents lead worship from the pew. His brother is an inspiration to the members of the congregation as he greets everyone at the door and raises his hands while singing. The Holy Spirit rests in Yong’s brother and gathers others around him to see how God the Father and God the Son is forever present in the world.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to blow us to new and unexpected places of ministry. Help us to trust the Holy Spirit to drive us where you need us to be. Gather us into your community of disciples and send us out into the world to share the good news in new and unexpected places. Thank you for making your presence in the world known to us. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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 comment covenant.)  You can answer as many questions as you would like. 

1. How do you feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life?

2. Where does the Holy Spirit gather you and other people together?

Readings

Acts 16:16-34

Psalm 97

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

John 17:20-26

Devotion

Peace be with you!

For every decision you make, there is a consequence – good, bad, or indifferent. As a student, you make the decision whether to do your homework and whether to study for your tests. When you do your homework and study, you get good grades, into the college you want, and scholarships for college. But if you do not do homework and study, you get bad grades and colleges turn you down. Of course, there are exceptions to the rules. Schoolwork comes easily to some students and they can take half the time of other students to get the same grades.

As adults, we face decisions every day. We decide whether to pay our bills, to take a shower daily, to eat healthy, and more. We make decisions every day which affect our not only our lives, but also the lives of others around us, especially our dependent children and elderly parents.

Societies also make decisions regarding the moral codes and laws of the group. They decide who is an insider and who is an outsider. In the United States of America, many states are voting on whether or not gay marriage should be legalized and if gay couples should be granted the same benefits of straight couples. No matter what side you stand on in this debate, there is a part of you that feels threatened by the opposing side. Those who oppose the amendments feel their sense of family values is being challenged. Supporters of the amendments, especially gays and lesbians, fear being outcasts for loving someone of the same gender or supporting friends who are gay or lesbian.

Christians find themselves in two worlds at times. The Bible teaches us a moral code to live by; it teaches us the Ten Commandments and the value of loving our neighbor. Societies have many of the same moral codes: no killing or stealing. Yet there are places where societies and the Bible contradict each other. For instance, what is more important: success and money or God and living in a community with other Christians? As Americans, the society says success and money are important to one’s livelihood. How much money you have determines what you can do and where you can live. As Christians, the Bible teaches us having a relationship with God and living in community with other Christians are the most important. We value the love, grace, forgiveness, and promise of eternal life that the Triune God gives to us freely.

In today’s reading, Paul and Silas are caught in the cross fire between the world and the Lord. A woman who is possessed with a spirit of divination keeps bothering the two men while they are in the city for days – proclaiming Paul and Silas are slaves of the Most High (Acts 16:16-17). Finally, Paul has enough of the woman – or maybe of the spirit of divination – bothering them, so he orders it to come out of her (Acts 16:18).

The woman’s slave owner is greatly upset with Paul for releasing her from the spirit of divination. When the spirit of divination was in the woman, the slave owner made a lot of money from the woman’s fortune-telling (Acts 16:16, 19). Paul takes away the slave owner’s source of income by releasing the woman from the spirit of divination and imposes economic hardship on him. For Paul’s “wrong doing,” the slave owner takes Paul and Silas to the Roman officials and charges them with disturbing the peace and advocating for unlawful activities (Acts 16:20-21). The Roman officials order Paul and Silas to be beaten and thrown into jail (Acts 16:22-23).

We have all been where Paul and Silas are – at odds with others for doing a good deed. When we give loose change to the beggar on the corner, we are told that we are advocating laziness. When we take an extended leave from work to care for a parent who needs care, our sibling criticizes us for kissing up and tells us to just put them in a nursing home. No matter what we do, someone will criticize us.

Paul and Silas give us a great example to live by when facing criticism: sing praises to the Lord (Acts 16:25). Paul and Silas are in the most inner jail cell with shackles around their ankles, tied to the wall, singing praises to the Lord (Acts 16:24-25). Who does that? Paul and Silas show the Lord their thankfulness for all he has provided them.

The Lord hears Paul and Silas, and there is an earthquake causing the jail doors to open and the chains to be unlocked releasing the prisoners (Acts 16:26). Upon seeing the damage of the earthquake, the jailer threatens suicide until Paul says we are all here (Acts 16:27-28). The jailer is overwhelmed with gratitude for if Paul and Silas escaped, he would have lost his job.

The jailer asks how he can be saved (Acts 16:30). Obviously the jailer listened to Paul and Silas singing praises to the Lord and felt the earthquake was the answer to their prayers. Paul and Silas spoke to the jailer about the grace, love, and forgiveness of God the Father and told him to believe in the Lord and he would be saved (Acts 16:31-32). The jailer released Paul and Silas and took them to his house to clean their wounds (Acts 16:33a). Upon hearing the good news, the jailer and his household got baptized and celebrated with Paul and Silas (Acts 16:33b-34).

I am always amazed at how the Lord uses the most unlikely situations to share the good news through us, his children. I was running late to my flight a few months ago when I realized I did not have my cell phone. I quickly scanned my surroundings looking for someone to ask to call my cell phone and my step-dad. I decided to ask a family, and they were more than willing to help. Unfortunately, by the time we got a hold of my step-dad on my cell phone, he was already twenty minutes away. Luckily, I had my iPad, which I could use to send my friends texts. The Lord used my forgetfulness to show a random family how he had blessed me, despite my disability. The family was amazed at how I could use my iPad to communicate with them and my friends. I was also able to share my website and the good news with them.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for helping us to make decisions according to your will. Help us to share the good news in difficult places and situations. May we sing your praises, even when we are being criticized. Remind us the good news is for everyone, not just a lucky few. Thank you for using us to share the good news. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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 comment covenant.)  You can answer as many questions as you would like. 

1. How are you criticized as a Christian?

2. What unexpected place did you share the good news?

Readings

Acts 16:9-15

Psalm 67

Revelation 21:10, 21:22-22:5

John 14:23-29

Devotion

Peace be with you!

What does God want me to do? Where does God want me to go? How does God want me to spread the good news? No matter what life stage you are in, these questions run through your mind, especially on days when things do not make sense. We expect teenagers and even college students to feel a bit lost as they begin to look for their place in the world. They are just entering the world as adults with their own opinions and ideas; they are looking for ways to leave their mark on the world and to make a difference.

What happens when adults have a successful career, but they begin to feel lost in the shuffle? Their boss no longer values their input and ideas. Their industry begins to take a new direction in the world, leaving them behind in the process. The company downsizes and lays off the older generation in order to focus on the new ideas and ways of the younger generation. People are forced to find new callings at different times in their lives.

Throughout our entire lifetime, we are moving from one transition to another.  Relationships end; situations change; people move; supply and demand fluctuates; societies evolve; technology gets faster and more efficient. Life as we know it today will not be the same in a year.

In our reading today, Paul is at a crossroads. He has travelled throughout Galilee and Judea spreading the good news about the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Paul has wanted to go into Asia to share the good news, but the Holy Spirit always stopped him (Acts 16:7). Now Paul has a dream about a man calling him to Macedonia, a Roman province just north of Greece (Acts 16:9).

Paul and his companions, Silas and Timothy, go to Macedonia to share the good news with the people there (Acts 16:10). The three men are convinced the Lord is calling them to share the good news with a man in Macedonia. After travelling for a few days, Paul, Silas, and Timothy arrive in Macedonia and spend the next week getting to know the area (Acts 16:12). It takes a few days for the men to find the individual who the Lord sent them to share the good news with. Unfortunately, the Lord did not give Paul a name or even a physical description of the man.

At some point in our lives, we have all been a little lost as to where and what the Lord is calling us to do. You got your Masters of Divinity so you could be a pastor, but you can’t find a church position anywhere. You got a business degree, only to find out that the pressures of the corporate world are too much for you. When you started your degree, the economy was booming, but four years later, the economy no longer supports the unique job you dream about. The [whatever “it” is] prefect scenario is never there when you are ready for it – and if it is take it.

Then there are the relationships in our lives, which are also always undergoing change. The girl who has always been there for you through breakups and transitions is suddenly your whole world…and then your wife! Or perhaps the guy who you married and promised to spend the rest of your life with walks out the door after six years. Suddenly, the world crashes around you, and you wonder what happened

Transitions are life’s necessary changes to help us grow and make us wiser and stronger. They are exciting, because they mean new possibilities to experience, new people to meet, and new places to go. However, transitions are also scary because we are stepping out on a limb. We know the Lord is here [wherever “it” is], but how?

Paul is asking the Lord why he has called him to Macedonia. The man in his vision has not made himself known to Paul. Where do you start in a new region? Who do you approach first? Who will listen? How do you know people will be receptive to your message of the good news?

The three men come to a place of prayer on the Sabbath and spend time talking to the women who are gathered there (Acts 16:13). Lydia listens to the men talking, and the Lord opens her to hear and to accept the good news (Acts 16:14). Brian Peterson writes on Working Preacher, “At this crucial point, Paul practically disappears from the story. It is not the charismatic personality of the pastor or preacher that has the power to create faith; it must come from God’s own merciful activity. From beginning to end, this text stresses that it is God who is in charge of the mission, God who sets its direction, and God who determines its results” (Peterson 2013). Paul is not at the central of the mission – God is.

Lydia and her whole household are baptized, and the three men stay at her home (Acts 16:15). Paul expected to share the good news with a man, but he finds himself alongside a river with a group of woman who accept his message.

God’s plan is not always clear. Sometimes it is exhausting to figure out where God is calling you. At some points, it would be easier to walk away and do something easier and more fun. Yet along the way, you see God’s blessings, love, and grace. This is what makes transitions worthwhile.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending people into our lives to share the good news with us. Help us through the transitions in our lives. Guide us as we answer your calling. Catch us as we stumble around. Help us to figure out how our callings further your mission. Thank you for the many blessings in our lives. Amen.

Works Cited

Peterson, B. (2013 йил 5-April). Commentary on Acts 16:9-15. Retrieved 2013 йил 3-May from Working Preacher: http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1627

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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 comment covenant.)  You can answer as many questions as you would like. 

1. What kind of transitions are you going through?

2. How do you feel the Lord is calling you?

3. Where do you see God’s blessings in your life?