FACE to FACE

 SEPTEMBER 01, 2022

Exodus 33:11

11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

Psalm 17:6

6 I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;
turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

17 pray continually,

Luke 11:1-4

11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”



Yesterday we talked about the importance of listening to story. For a story to have an impact on us it needs to be told and listened to. We all are aware that in any relationship, conversation is how we get to know one another. Dialogue and exchange is how we grow closer over time. Likewise, this is how we grow in our relationship with God and the way we get to know our Creator.

Over and over throughout Scripture, we see the people of God talk to Him passionately and honestly. They question, they plead, they cry out, they praise, they confess, all through an action called prayer.

Prayer is simply having a conversation with God. Let’s not complicate this wonderful act of communicating with God. It is simple conversation. Prayer involves both speaking and listening. Exodus 33:11 says, “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” I love that, don’t you? The phrase, the Lord “spoke to Moses” occurs 54 times in the Bible. Hear that again, the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Isn’t that a beautiful description of prayer? And when friends speak face to face, they look at each other, they talk to each other and they listen to each other.

Jesus modeled a praying life for His disciples. They watched Him time and again go off to a quiet place, a sacred space, to talk and to listen to His Father. In Luke 11, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. I find it really intriguing that the only thing the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to do was pray. They didn’t ask Him to teach them to preach or perform miracles, they asked Him to teach them to pray. I wonder if they knew what we need to remind ourselves of today, there is authority in prayer. A Power to save, to heal, to rescue, to overcome, to deliver, to give help and hope when it is needed most. Power and authority in the name of Jesus, let’s pray . . .

PRAYER

Lord, teach us to pray. Today, I pray for . . . add your words

 

A STORY WORTH THE READ

 AUGUST 31, 2022

John 1:1-4

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

Jeremiah 15:16

16 When your words came, I ate them;
they were my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.

Isaiah 50:4

4 The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.

Psalm 119:105

105 Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path.

Psalm 119:165

165 Great peace have those who love your law,
and nothing can make them stumble.


Recently I have had the wonderful blessing of meeting some new people. One of things I notice about developing new relationships is that one of the best ways to get to know the person is by listening to their story. They share in their story, where they have lived, jobs that they worked at, share about their family, as the relationship develops, they share struggles they have been through. As a Pastor, once that is shared, I find I will often hear a story of the person's experience with Church, or with Christians or where they are spiritually. Stories are important.

That makes me think that if we are going to know God, then listening to His story is very important. God’s story is communicated to us through His Word, the Bible. Through the Bible, we come to know the loving heart of God the Father, God’s loving plans and purposes for the world, and God’s loving vision for the world through His rescue, redemption, and restoration of all things.

The Old Testament people of God internalized God’s story, his word. I just love the way the prophet Jeremiah describes it in Jeremiah 15:16, he says this, “When Your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear Your name, Lord God Almighty.” (NIV)

Jeremiah was given a very hard assignment! In fact, he has been called the weeping prophet because of his struggle with the message God gave to him to declare. Even early in chapter 15 he says that he wished he had never been born. Considering this, however, it is worth noting that his love for the Word of God was a delight and joy for him as he acknowledges the profound truth that he was an Image bearer of God. Just like each one of us is! God’s Word was meant to be consumed and digested as spiritual nutrition for us. We often talk about “feeding on God’s Word.”

In our readings above, we notice that the Word is eternal, it is a delight and joy, it sustains the weary, is a lamp at our feet, a light to our path keeps us from stumbling and gives great peace. Scripture is the essential guide, some call it a “roadmap”, that each of us needs; through the Bible God’s story is told, and that story contains an invitation through which God offers to us a knowledge of Himself.

Let’s ask the Spirit to make us hungry and thirsty for His Word that we might know the heart of the Father and be spiritually nourished and strengthened by it! In other words, that we might “eat the words of God” to our hearts joy and delight.

PRAYER

Father, may we be students of the Word so that we can encourage, support, and help the tired, discouraged, and overwhelmed with just a word. Give us a longing to know your story of love more and more through the pages of the Bible.

KNOWING and KNOWN

 AUGUST 30, 2022

Exodus 29:37-46

37 For seven days make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches it will be holy.

38 “This is what you are to offer on the altar regularly each day: two lambs a year old. 39 Offer one in the morning and the other at twilight. 40 With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives, and a quarter of a hin of wine as a drink offering. 41 Sacrifice the other lamb at twilight with the same grain offering and its drink offering as in the morning—a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord.

42 “For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the Lord. There I will meet you and speak to you; 43 there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory.

44 “So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. 45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. 46 They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

Philippians 3:7-11

7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.


The setting for this passage in Exodus is a description of the role of the priests in the Tabernacle. You may recall that the Tabernacle was constructed because God wanted to be with His people in the wilderness. Our Bible’s reveal to us a most beautiful and strengthening truth, that our God is a “with us” God. From Creation, to the tabernacle to the temple, from the manger to the gift of the Holy Spirit, God demonstrates that He wants to be with us in relationship, and for us to know Him.

The word translated as “know” in verse 46 in Hebrew is the word “ya’da”. It is the same word used in Genesis 4:1, “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain…”. It is used over 900 times in Scripture. Its meaning goes beyond a casual knowing to include a knowing that is intimate. Do not confuse this word’s meaning with the phrase “yada, yada” that we often hear today. “Yada, Yada” as used currently means empty words, something akin to “blah, blah, blah”. The use of this word in relational contexts, we find “ya’da” means close connection, an intimate covenant, in which promises are made that are not meant to be broken.

The Apostle Paul writes of a similar knowing in Philippians. He had been a follower of Jesus for many years when he writes, “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;” (Phil 3:10) The transliteration of the word “know” in Philippians 3:10 is “ginosko”, also a knowing that connotes intimacy. The longing of Paul’s heart was to know Jesus in ever-increasing intimacy.

That is our longing too, isn’t it? We sing in worship at times the words “Knowing you Jesus, Knowing you, there is no greater thing.” To Know him, well to know anyone intimately means time set aside for the other. This time set aside for the discover of a person. It is not any different in our relationship with God. Knowing God means time spent focusing of discovery and learning. So, we need sacred space to meet with God, (a garden, or chair in our homes, maybe even an empty Church sanctuary) part of this meeting place is prayer, bible reading, and fasting, music, these are intentional ways to know God more deeply. Lean in, listen, rest, and wait. God wants you to know Him and remember that our God is a “with us” God.



PRAYER

May the Lord open our eyes to see Him, our ears to hear Him, and our hearts to know Him and love Him more deeply. Amen

 

THE PLACE TO BEGIN

 AUGUST 29, 2022

Genesis 1:1-5; 26-27

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

The best place to start anything is at the beginning!

Genesis teaches us so much. It is not a workshop or special report on creation, it is a poem, a beautiful story of love and relationship. In the first few verses we can see that God is supreme in His person, we marvel at His power, in action and word; and we witness His purpose, as creator, designer, rebuilder, restorer . . . . He created our world and us with a very clear intention!

Look back over these first 5 verses and note the activity of God:

God created (vs 1),

the Spirit of God hovered (vs 2),

God spoke (vs 3),

God saw (vs 4)

and God named (vs 5).

Over the next few days let us engage with these five actions of God.

Today let me ask a series of questions and invite you to ponder your answers based on the Spirit’s working in your life.

What do you need God to create in you?

As the Spirit hovered over the dark and empty waters, waiting to create, what are the dark and empty places of your own life and where do you need the Spirit of God to hover and move?


What words do you need to hear Him speak over you or what truth do you need to speak into your own situation?


Do you need to know that God sees you?


What in your life do you need to name, acknowledge, or call out to God about?


Please know this today, God sees you, God loves you, God created you, on purpose and for a reason. Let us live out this awesome purpose!


PRAYER

God of all Creation, there is none like You. We worship You. Spirit of God, hover over us as You did in the beginning and create something new. Give us a fresh glimpse of Your glory and a new revelation of who You are in the days ahead. Amen.

 

BUT GOD

 AUGUST 26, 2022

Ephesians 2:4-6



But God, 

being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us…made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…



What we have been saying in our devotions this week is that Biblical Lament and speaking the words of lament in the context of what we believe from God’s Word, will help us to wrestle with challenging circumstances. Lament in the scriptures says to never deny the existence of a problem, or painful circumstance. What Biblical Lament does invite us to do, is to face those hard places with the truth about God’s character, what God has done, and what God promises to do. Deliberately putting the two words that our above reading starts with “But God” into our claims about what we know about God, will help us to stay focused on the truth and bring hope and triumph to the challenges we must face in life. In every struggle that we Lament, let God’s Word have the final say. I believe that’s the pathway of FAITH seeking UNDERSTANDING.

This pathway leads us from “My God, My God why have you forsaken me” of Psalm 22:1 to "I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you…. For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. From you comes the theme of my praise.” (Psalm 22:22 ff)

Lord, I Need YOU

 AUGUST 25, 2022

Psalm 42:1-6



As the deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.

When shall I come and behold
the face of God?

My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me continually,
“Where is your God?”

These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng,
and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
a multitude keeping festival.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.





Lament is one way we bring our honest expression to God – expecting that he is big enough, good enough, loving enough to hear our cry – and respond. We believe that Jesus can do something with and about our suffering, for He was “a man of suffering and familiar with pain” (Is. 53:3) What we have been discovering is instead of hiding our pain or suffering or pretending we’re OK, we identify our experience and bring our pain, sadness, hostility, disappointment, irritation, trouble, and despair to him and ask him to change us, and change our circumstances. It is fundamentally a practice of trust and worship. In the Scriptures we find questions and statements of lament directed to God, they are honest wonderings concerning God’s presence or absence and activity or perceived inactivity, and sometimes cries of total desperation. We read these words alongside reminders of trust about who God is and what God has done or has promised to do.

Questions and statements of lament from Scripture:

• How long, O Lord?
• Why have you rejected us?
• How long will the enemy triumph?
• Help, O Lord.
• Restore us, O Lord.
• Lord, have mercy.
• Rise up, O Lord.
• I am desperate.


Remembering God’s goodness - statement of promise or trust

• The Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
• I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
• The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.
• Your steadfast love endures forever.

The practice of lament reflects our human dependency on the Almighty God as we first recognize our need for help, and open ourselves to a conversation with the living God where we ask him to hear us, to help us, and to heal us.

TAKE AWAY

1. Reflect on one thing you are lamenting right now. Where do you most want to see God intervene, but are not seeing it?



2. Take a minute to write out your lament. This does not need to be long, just a sentence.

Example:

Why, Lord, must evil seem to get its way?

Why, Lord, did you abruptly take him home? Why must we feel the sting of death’s cruelty?

We/I lament the broken relationships that bring such pain to many people we know.

3. Consider some positive truths that you want to hang on to by faith. Write your expression of trust or statement about God that is important.

Examples:

“But for me, it is good to be near God; I have made the lord God my refuge…” Psalm 73:28

“Jesus is making all things new.”

“God’s Love is everlasting.”

4. Read your statement(s) of complaint again, and then read the affirmations of faith, by doing this you are creating the movement from complaint to confession that characterizes the lament psalms.

COVENANT HOPE

 AUGUST 24, 2022

Psalm 10

1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
5 His ways are always prosperous;
your laws are rejected by him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”

7 His mouth is full of lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under his tongue.
8 He lies in wait near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent.
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
9 like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;
he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
10 His victims are crushed, they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, “God will never notice;
he covers his face and never sees.”

12 Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
“He won’t call me to account”?
14 But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man;
call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.

16 The Lord is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that mere earthly mortals
will never again strike terror.

 

The women and men of the Old Testament were as real as we are today. They danced and sang, rejoiced and laughed, argued and confessed, lamented and mourned. They expressed emotions to God in prayer just as we do today. When we encounter difficult struggles and need God’s rescue, salvation, and help, the psalms of lament are a great resource and place to turn.

The Protestant Reformer Martin Luther treasured the psalms of lament. Of them, he said, “What is the greatest thing in the Psalter but this earnest speaking amid the storm winds of every kind? . . . Where do you find deeper, more sorrowful, more pitiful words of sadness than in the psalms of lamentation? And that they speak these words to God and with God, this I repeat, is the best thing of all. This gives the words double earnestness and life” (Word and Sacrament, Luther’s Works, vol. 1, ed. E. T. Bachmann. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1960, pp. 255 –56).



These words we have been reflecting on and about this week are spoken out of the life of Faith. These prayers and songs of Lament are evidence of a relationship with God. Israel brought their lament to God in the psalms on the basis of His covenant with them. These prayers and songs were not  attempts to convince a distant God to notice them. They were not like the priests of Baal dancing and cutting themselves to conjure a response. These were a people whom God, the creator and covenant making God, had called His “firstborn”. They were asking their Father to act according to the covenant promises they had know.

Through lament, we affirm that God rules, even in the midst of circumstances that might suggest otherwise. By crying out in our pain to a powerful, merciful, and good God, by asking him to intervene, we affirm our trust in his ability to transform our experiences and indeed this world.

At its very heart, a lament is an expression of trust in the character, power, and previous action of God, an expression of trust that looks beyond our current circumstances to what will be because of who God by his own promises says he will do. Biblical lament, then, is an honest cry to a God who is powerful, good, and just, a cry that this situation we are in, is not in alignment with God’s person or purposes. It’s a cry that expects an answer from God, and therefore results in hope, trust, and joy rather than despair.

There is a tragic, heart breaking scene described by Russell Moore in his book, Adopted for Life. Moore describes going to an orphanage in Russia as they were in the process of pursuing adoption. The silence from the nursery was eerie. The babies in the cribs never cried. Not because they never needed anything, but because they had learned that no one cared enough to answer. Children who are confident of the love of a caregiver cry. For us as Jesus followers, our lament, when taken to our Father in heaven, is proof of our relationship with God, and our connection to a great Caregiver.

Amen? AMEN!!

 

SOLIDARITY with the SUFFERING

 AUGUST 23, 2022

How did writing your own prayer of lament go?



Psalm 12

For the director of music. 

According to sheminith.

A psalm of David.

1 Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore;
those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.
2 Everyone lies to their neighbor;
they flatter with their lips
but harbor deception in their hearts.

3 May the Lord silence all flattering lips
and every boastful tongue—
4 those who say,
“By our tongues we will prevail;
our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”

5 “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,
I will now arise,” says the Lord.
“I will protect them from those who malign them.”
6 And the words of the Lord are flawless,
like silver purified in a crucible,
like gold refined seven times.

7 You, Lord, will keep the needy safe
and will protect us forever from the wicked,
8 who freely strut about
when what is vile is honored by the human race.

To lament is to express deep sorrow,
grief, or regret.

There is a danger in the practice of biblical lament that we focus only on ourselves and our desperation to be free from a struggle that causes great sorrow. Now, these Individual personal Prayers of Lament are important for our relationship with God, and our spiritual growth.

Yet, we must not neglect the so-called Community Prayers of Lament. These are prayers that deal with societal issues, injustices, situations that reveal a national crisis for all people whether we are directly impacted or not. Psalm 12 is an example of a community lament, expressing sadness over widespread sin: “Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore; / those who are loyal have vanished from the human race. / Everyone lies to their neighbor; / they flatter with their lips / but harbor deception in their hearts” (Psalm 12:1–2). Ever feel like the Psalmist does in these lines? When God's people are faced with evil, injustice, oppression and turmoil, the Biblical response is often lament.


What I want us to think about today is that to Lament is to participate in the pain of others. Sometimes I read a Psalm for my devotions and often, maybe this happens to you as well, it seems like the Psalm’s theme has nothing to do with my life. Its words do not fit where I am. You see sometimes I am so self focused I look for God’s word to speak to my stuff. That is my confession for today.

I want to add though that the more I have read and studied and reflected on the Psalms, I have been reminded that these Songs were used in the worship settings of God’s people. These became the words, prayers, songs of the community. Why is that important? Well I believe its importance lies in that when I use the Psalms it places me among the historical community of God’s people and that makes my devotional focus larger than just my own space.

Here is what God has shown me. Maybe I was not being pursued by enemies or hemmed in on every side, or attacked, but what about the people in Syria waiting in refugee camps, or people in Ukraine and Russia suffering loss of life and possessions, or oppressive attitudes that are directed at people through racism or sexism, or the many other “isms” in our part of the world? What about the neighbor who is dealing with a cancer diagnosis, or struggling with loneliness or mental health issues, or living in a context of abuse? What about the people struggling with food insecurity in our city and county? The more I learned to pray outside the box of my own stuff, the more I began to realize that praying these Psalms of Lament helped me to develop a world view that placed in my space a global perspective for others.

Lament is not only for the suffering; it is for solidarity with the suffering. Lament allows the pain to connect us to our neighbors. We are called to weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn. Our tears are our prayers when we can’t speak, a sign of our vulnerability, and a response to violence. We love our neighbor when we allow their experience of pain to become the substance of our prayer. This, after all, is what Jesus did for us. The strange act of asking why God had forsaken Him has been analyzed by scholars and theologians for what it means. But what we often overlook is that Jesus was praying the words of Psalm 22 precisely because that was the prayer of many Jewish sufferers in the first century. Jesus, dying the horrible and shameful death on the cross prayed in solidarity with the suffering. Indeed, His death was the ultimate prayer of solidarity.

I conclude with some words of Barbara Holmes, “When we are confronted with the horror of our violence-laden society, our mindless killing of innocents, we shift from individual sob and solitary whine to collective moans. . . . In similar fashion, the Holy Spirit groans prayers on our behalf. In the Epistle to the Romans (8:26, NIV) Paul states, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit . . . intercedes for us through wordless groans. . . . Throughout Romans chapter 8, Paul writes of sacred utterances of creation and humankind in crisis. We don’t know what will emerge from this time of tarrying, but we do know that something is being born. Like a woman in labor, there is expectation in the darkness, anticipation amid the suffering, hope permeating the pain. Something new is being born and something old is being transformed.

Let us pray the words of promise from today's Psalm

“You, Lord, will keep the needy safe
and will protect us forever from the wicked”

GOOD FOR OUR SOULS

 AUGUST 22, 2022

 

Above is a video of Psalm 22 from our Good Friday service in 2021 if you would like to listen to a reading of this Psalm.

                                                    

Psalm 22

For the director of music.

To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.”

A psalm of David.

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
4 In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
“let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”

9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
10 From birth I was cast on you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.

16 Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.

19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver me from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.

25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.

29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!





We need laments because there's so much pain in life, physical pain, emotional pain, spiritual pain. There is my pain, your pain, the pain of fellow worshippers, and the pain of a world. This pain is often complicated by the fact that the pain can linger for weeks or months, or, as in Paul's experience of the thorn in the flesh pain can last a lifetime. We pray, but the prayers seem to go nowhere, feels like no one's listening, in these moments we feel abandoned, alone, and doubts begin to seep in or rise.

The characters in the Bible lived in a painful world just like we do. The scriptures are filled with expressions of anger, doubt, exasperation, fear, frustration, and pain. The reality is that we all have these seasons of hard times, and we journey from Suffering toward Praise in a journey that I like call Faith Seeking Understanding. Prayers of Lament can help us on that road. Prayers of Lament lead us into honest and open prayers through which we find help, healing and hope.

In our talk on Sunday we said that Lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust. It is not only how Christians grieve; it’s the way Christians praise God through their sorrows. Lament is a pathway to praise when life gets hard.



I thought perhaps a place to begin our week is to recall the Lament that Jesus prayed from the Cross. Those words from Psalm 22. Words that were part of the worship of God’s people, words that were not only prayed but sung. Notice the inscription For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.”

My view is that if Jesus Lamented, and God’s people in the Old Testament lamented, then it must be a good practice to implement in my spiritual practices, and yours too.

This example uses Psalm 22 to illustrate each of the elements of a Psalm of lament: 1) turning to God in prayer, 2) bringing our complaints, 3) asking boldly, and 4) choosing to trust (or praise).



Let’s look at the structure of the Psalm 22 Lament.

Turn to God

“My God, my God” (v. 1).

Complaint

“Why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. . . . My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death” (vv. 1-2, 15).

Ask Boldly

“Lord, do not be far from me. . . . Come quickly to help me. Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen” (vv. 19-21).

Expression of trust

“Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. . . . Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me feel secure on my mother’s breast. . . . I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. . . . For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help” (vv. 3-4, 9, 22, 24).



Take Away

What is the place of Lament in your life? The situation that grieves you deeply, or angers you, or overwhelms you with frustration, disappointment and pain.

Now I invite you to write your own prayer of Lament using the headings we have noted.

1) turning to God in prayer

2) bringing our complaints

3) asking boldly

4) choosing to trust (or praise)

 

 

A GIFT WE ALL CAN GIVE

 AUGUST 18, 2022

1 Thessalonians 2:8 

We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.



Authentic relationships are built on love. When you love someone, you give.

God loves us, and in His love, He gives.

Acts 17 says that God “ he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. (Acts 17:25). Everything we have is a gift from Him. The breath you just took, the life you now have, the food you have eaten today (and will eat later), the roof over your head, the device you are using to read this devotional. It’s all a gift from above.

James 1 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17). John the Baptist said, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven” (John 3:27). Everything we have is a gift from God. The most well-known verse in all of the Bible speaks of God’s loving generosity: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

God loved us, and in His love, He gave us the  gift of His only Son to show us what life lived in God’s presence looks like and to die on the cross in our place, so that we could be forgiven with the outcome being the gift of eternal life. There is no greater love than this! “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Would you agree with me that sacrificial love is the highest form of love? That’s the kind of love God has shown to us.

I believe that’s the kind of love Jesus wants us to show in our relationships. We give of our time, our attention, even our possessions when needed, even our very selves to love others.

Think of it this way, any sacrificial love we show for one another on this earth is simply an echo of the kind of love God has for us in giving us His Son, and Jesus has for us in laying down His life for us. Today, Pray that God would fill your heart with that kind of love and then look for creative opportunities to give to meet the needs of people in your life and to bless them with God’s great love.

“So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” (1 Thessalonians 2:8)

 

WHAT MATTERS MOST

 AUGUST 18, 2022

Luke 5:30-32

30But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?”

31Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. 32I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

14Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.


Jesus first disciples were a diverse “motley” crew. They were not from the polite corners of society, and they were not Bible scholars. The crew included several fishermen, a tax collector, and an outspoken pessimist. They were ordinary, common people. They disagreed with each other often, but they were united by the desire to follow and be trained and be taught by Jesus.

You have probably read or heard that Jesus loved people so much that He was often accused of keeping questionable company (Luke 5:30). What is important to note is that these accusations did not change His actions as He kept welcoming sinners to dinner with Him. Don’t you love Jesus’ response to those allegations we read above? It’s a classic: “Those who are well have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (vv. 31–32).

Jesus understood that a physician must get close enough to the sick to bring any healing. Jesus is the Great Physician. So, he isn’t concerned about external rules and regulations as much as He’s concerned with healing the sick and caring for the wounded and crushed.

Author Bob Goff wrote in an Instagram post,

“Most of us spend our entire lives avoiding the people Jesus spent His whole life engaging.” 

I believe that it is correct to acknowledge that Jesus wants us to engage with others in need of a Savior, not to avoid them.

When Jesus followers open wide their lives, it’s amazing how people can sense the love of God through them. True, we may not even understand fully what God is doing in those moments, but there is a sense of God’s presence in the living rooms, at dining tables, in coffee shops, and in family and work life of every believer in Christ. If Christ is in every believer, it stands to reason that people will encounter the life of Christ in every experience. The location is not what matters; whether in park, coffee shop, or church sanctuary, what matters is that we extend Jesus’ love and Peace and rest to anyone, everywhere we are in this increasingly restless culture.


"Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them."

2 Corinthians 5:14–15

 

BUT THAT'S ORDINARY

 AUGUST 16, 2022

Acts 17:25-27

25 He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.

John 4:35

35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.


Where we live is no accident: Not according to God’s Word. Acts 17 says the God “25 He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. (Acts 17:25–27). You may have moved to your present location to follow a job offer or an opportunity to be near family or friends, but behind all of those desires God has placed you there, right where you are, and He desires to use you to befriend others in your city with His love.

Consider all the unremarkable stuff of your everyday life. I know it can all feel so ordinary, but is there ever really anything ordinary when it’s in the hands of an Almighty God?

Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and all those who dwell in it.” Everything on earth is God’s, including the mundane stuff of your normal life.

I believe God wants us to open our eyes while we are in the grocery store, the local coffee shop, at sporting events we attend, the restaurants we enjoy, and the streets we walk in our neighborhood. There are people all around you. People God loves. God wants to use us to share His love. Open the doors of your heart and watch God over-time open the doors of the hearts of others, as well.

We said it yesterday, lets take note again today, God can use anything to accomplish His purposes, and He desires to use you and me and to do extraordinary things for His glory with what we think rather ordinary. Thanks be to God!


“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. (John 4:35)

 

BEING USED

 AUGUST 15, 2022

Exodus 4:1-5

4 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”

2 Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.

3 “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him

. . So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.

4 Then the Lord told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand.

5 “Perform this sign,” the Lord told him. “Then they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—really has appeared to you.”

Exodus 14:16

16 Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground.

1 Samuel 17:40

40 He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.



It is remarkable how God can use anything to accomplish His purposes.

We witness this throughout the Biblical story. With Moses, God used a simple staff to perform miraculous signs and show His power, and ultimately freeing the Israelites from Egyptian bondage (Ex. 4:1–5; 7:19; 8:5, 16; 14:16).

God delivered David from the hand of Goliath with a little sling and a stone (1 Sam. 17:40).

The simple offering of five barley loaves and two fish generously handed over by a boy was used by Jesus to feed a multitude of five thousand with leftovers to spare (John 6:1–14).

And there’s even a story in the Old Testament where God spoke through the mouth of a donkey (Num. 22:21–39)!

If God can use a staff to perform miraculous signs and wonders, use a sling and a stone to save David, turn five barley loaves and two fish into enough food to feed thousands, and speak through the mouth of a donkey, I believe that tells us, assures us, that God can use you and me and anything in our lives to accomplish His purposes.

So, be open, attentive, and discerning for what God may desire to use in your life.

 

NOW THAT'S A FRIEND

 AUGUST 15, 2022

Matthew 11:19

The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.”

Luke 7:34

The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’

John 3:17

God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

Matthew 11:28

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.



Jesus is the ultimate friend that this world has ever known.  Jesus was called “a friend of sinners” (Matthew 11:19). The gospel of John tells us that “God did not send His Son in to the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17).

When people came to Jesus with all their burdens and sins, He didn’t shake a judgmental finger at them; rather He put them at ease.

Jesus was so tender with His disciples that his very presence offered rest to weary souls (Matt. 11:28). Because of this, broken, neglected, and wounded people flocked to Jesus while He walked here on this earth, and as we saw last week in our devotions, Jesus still offers rest to weary souls today.

Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28–29).

If Jesus is our example, the one we look to for guidance about living, then we have to pay attention to what it means to be a friend like Jesus.

Here are some things we notice, the first is to be a friend like Jesus means to embrace people in their brokenness, it means someone who doesn’t condemn or judge individuals, but instead looks upon others with the eyes of love and even sets sinners at ease with the grace of God.

It is said, that true friendships are marked by honesty, transparency, vulnerability, acceptance, empathy, and desire for the good of others. These types of friendships offer space where we can be truly known and yet deeply loved, simultaneously. I read recently that “The beauty of the Church and the beauty of God-glorifying relationships shines brightest against the backdrop of our own brokenness.” That’s where the grace of God meets us most profoundly, in our need.

I believe the most beautiful aspect of the Gospel message is that Jesus doesn’t condemn us in our chaos, disorder, and confusion; He welcomes us in our mess. Jesus embraces sinners, sufferers, and anyone whose lives are in complete disarray, anyone who will come to Him with their failures, weaknesses, sins, and needs. So, “the garden of friendships” begins to prosper as people can safely open up about their own brokenness in the light of the One who is able to shoulder and carry all our problems and worries, Jesus Himself.

Let us pray now that the Lord, the friend of sinners, would draw near to us in our own brokenness, and that He would enable us to be a comfort for our friends in their brokenness, so that they feel His love when they are with us. I would add let us pray that this also would be the OUTSTANDING reality experienced in our faith communities too.

 

THE INVITATION of PEACE

 AUGUST 12, 2022

Matthew 5:9

God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.

 

John 8:1-11

Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

 

 

Well, this week we have been thinking about the Gift of God’s Peace. We have talked about in terms of the benefits for us who put our trust in God. Yet, when we talk about God’s peace as described in scripture we also encounter the notion that the outcome of an experience of God’s peace is that we share it. Our calling is to be Peacemakers, and that’s important.

You don’t have to think for long before identifying individuals who have stood tall as peacemakers throughout the pages of history. Who are the leading Peacemakers that you think of? People like Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, and Desmond Tutu? These are People of great courage and determination. People who knew that the pain of change was not as bad as the pain of staying the same. People like the above mentioned who confronted injustice, and systems of oppression, to enable a better life and world to be shaped. I like how one writer put it “they waged peace and made a difference.” These people have led the way and constructed trails which we ought to follow.

Here is something interesting I have noticed. In the past the news media followed and gave the microphone to these select few, (Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, and Desmond Tutu) but today, thanks to social media a megaphone has been given to the multitudes. We may slam the influence of social media from time to time. Let us not miss this same mode of communication and messaging allows us as Christians to stand for what we believe in and to use our voices to make a shared difference. Of course, I believe the key question is, what are we saying and what will that difference be? The messaging will be important, will it be messages communicated in love?

If you think about it, peace, like love, has collected various meanings over time. But we have an opportunity now to declare the meaning of peace through our words and actions and introduce people to Jesus, the original Peacemaker.

Everything Jesus did pointed to peace. In fact, His reason in coming to earth was to bring peace we are told in the birth narratives.

In John 8:1-11 we see that when the religious leaders gathered to stone a woman who had broken the law, Jesus offered her peace, forgiveness and a new way to live.

This same peace is available and within reach today and we are called to extend it to the world. Because the truth is, we cannot truly encounter Jesus and not become a peacemaker. Being a peacemaker is part of being surrendered to God because only God brings a peace that lasts.

Please note, We are called to be peaceMAKERS, not peaceKEEPERS.

Peacekeepers keep peace from a place of fear through avoidance, while peacemakers restore peace from a place of strength through the work of reconciliation.

As ambassadors of Jesus and instruments of peace, we are invited by our Creator to bring about peace in our communities and cities. It won't be easy. It will require conviction, diligence, perseverance, and a willingness to step out of our comfort zones and model Jesus so others can step into their future with Him. But it will be worth it!

Matthew 5:9 says, “How blessed you are when you make peace! For then you will be recognized as a true child of God.” 

So, are you ready and willing to be a peacemaker?

LET US PRAY

 

Help me, Lord, to embrace this calling. Give me eyes to see, not only obvious conflict, but also that which lies beneath the surface. Moreover, may I be attentive to injustice, whether it be in my sphere of influence or across the globe. May I use every opportunity you put before me to work for peace, genuine peace. Help me not simply to whitewash over problems that need to be solved. Rather, may I be a channel of your full peace in this world.

In the words of St Francis of Assisi,

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

FINDING PEACE

AUGUST 11, 2022

Micah 5:4-5

And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.
5 And he shall be their peace.

“How was your vacation?”, I asked, wonderful but it ended to soon, they replied. They go to the same area each year to a cottage on a beautiful lake. It’s quiet, except for the occasional welcome call of a loon, and other wildlife, they talked about the scenery, the hikes, the trees, and the breeze, and the campfire. Sounds alright doesn’t it? They said this is our “two weeks” of Peace each year in an otherwise hectic life.

I have been there, haven’t you? Vacation ends and you wish it was longer, its your break from a hectic life, your few days of peace is now over.

I am so thankful for a beautiful creation that God has gifted us with. We can find these special places that restore our spirits, slow us down, and disconnect from our busy normal life and experience peace.

I have been wondering about this experience of peace, thinking about it and asking the question “Why can I only seem to have such experiences at summer retreat?” I mean wouldn’t it be awesome to experience this more frequently, everyday perhaps?

But How?

You know one of things I notice about myself on such retreats is that I really live in the present moment. I hear the birds, the loon, I see the beauty of a lake and children having a blast on the beach. I take this in because I have slowed down, and the agenda is structured by whatever we want to do.

I don’t have all the answers to my questions. But I wonder, if there isn’t something in this notion of slowing down that could make an impact on the peace I experience away from a vacation retreat.

Slow down. Sometimes, the greatest step we can take toward discovering personal peace is to simply practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is slowing down enough that you are able to pay attention to the present moment, your thoughts, your surroundings, how you feel both physically and mentally. As you practice mindfulness, with God’s help, as one writer put it, “you are able to exercise the “muscle” of your attention on the present moment and receive the moment as a gift from God.”

Right now, in this moment, stop, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and simply pay attention to the present moment. As you do, remind yourself that God is with you, no matter what else may be going on in your heart, mind, and life. Notice when you begin to feel more at peace. Know that if you don’t feel it right away, there's no need to worry: this is called ‘practice’ for a reason. The more you practice being grounded in the present moment, the more beneficial this activity will become.

You may want to use those words of the prayer we have been talking about to be present.

Surely God is in this place. Help me notice.

Inhale: God ( whatever name you use for God) Creator, Heavenly Father etc

Exhale: I am Here

What if being more aware in the present moment brings us some of that peace that we are drawn to and long for. Our Scriptures from Monday made the bold promise that God’s peace does not come to his people for just two weeks on a lake, or beach, but that it is a peace that we can know even in our hectic normal schedules each day.

We are still going need that time away in God's wonderful creation, our retreats. But Just maybe our day to day could be more peaceful with such practices as slowing down and enjoying the present space where we are.


2 Thessalonians 3:16

Now may the Lord of peace himself
give you his peace at all times and in every situation.
The Lord be with you all. Amen.