Look Up!
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge." (Psalm 19:1-2)Ever have to fill out a job application or hand over a résumé to someone? You work hard to list all of your best accomplishments, your education, your experience. You hope the person sees from a summary of credits that you've got what it takes to do that job. Your work and academic history -- and your references -- speak for you.
In Psalm 19, David makes the case that God doesn't need to carry any kind of résumé with Him. He should not have to convince anyone that He exists, that He is real, or that He is powerful. He can just say, "Look up." "The heavens" should be all the PR He needs. The sun and moon and stars shout down to the earth, "Look what God did. Look how powerful He is, how creative, how artistic, how precise."
What a silly thought that the God who created all that beauty and function and light would have to prove Himself to anyone.
Think: If the heavens speak of God day and night, what are some of the things they say about Him? What are some concrete things we can know about God from His creation?
Pray: Ask God to help you see His fingerprint in what He has made. Thank Him for giving you the ability to notice.
Do: Look up! (Works best if you're outside.)
Unframed Art
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10)My brain hurts a little from this huge idea. Not only can my good works NOT save me -- or even help save me a little -- I am God's "good work." We are His "works of art," made by His own hands. You can almost picture each of us hung on a gallery wall and signed, "God." Our existence is evidence of the artist's greatness.
But here's the kick in the pants: God doesn't hang us on a wall or stick us in a frame. Instead, we are works of art designed to create brand new "good works." Its like a pyramid of creativity that starts with God and extends out generation after generation after generation. He intentionally left blank spots in human history for each of us to fill in with our good works which He "prepared in advance for us to do."
What a concept! What gift to be asked to join the ultimate artist in His this masterwork of goodness He is creating through His adopted sons and daughters moment by moment until the work is completed.
Think: What good works do you think God prepared in advance for you to do? How will you use your God-given creativity to contribute to your little piece of the canvas?
Pray: Thank God for preparing some good work for you to do; ask Him to help you discover what that is.
Do: Make a list of some of your favorite works of art -- paintings, poems, movies, etc. How does the art reflect the artist? How does your existence reflect your Creator?
Zero Payments Forever
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)Too many of us think of God's free gift of salvation like a store credit offer for an expensive item: Zero down! Zero interest! Zero payments for six months! The problem with those offers is that after six months, the store is going to start calling and asking where my payments are. And I won't have the money then any more than I have it now. All those zeroes will turn into numbers, and I'll still have to pay.
Because God's gift is so unbelievable, we don't believe it. We know we couldn't save ourselves. We know we were dead in our sins. We know He made us alive and gave us a future with Him. But then we think we've got to start making payments. We think its time to start writing checks back to God with our good works so we can at least contribute to the huge bill of sin that Jesus paid off with His death.
Listen to this verse again very carefully. No payments. Ever. Period. We could not earn our salvation before, and we can't pay for even a little bit of it after. From the start, every sin is paid off. We're already seated in heaven with Jesus. It's a done deal. God does not offer creative financing on eternity. God gives it away to sinners who trust in Jesus.
Think: Why is it so hard for us to believe that we don't somehow earn even a tiny part of our salvation?
Pray: Thank God again for doing everything to include you in the free gift of salvation forever; ask Him to help to leave behind the idea that you are somehow earning your place with Him.
Do: Find a good motivation for doing good that isn't about guilt (for Jesus' dying for me) or fear (that I'll get punished if I do bad). (Hint: Read the next verse.)
No Catch
"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:6-7)One of the ways I know my three-year-old son likes me and cares what I think about him is that he's always saying, "Let me show you something." He grabs my hand and drags me off to get excited with him about his latest discovery.
God wants to show us something. We saw yesterday that He has set us spiritually with Jesus in the exact spot we've been destined to fill forever. It's where we are meant to be. Today he tells us why. Finally. Here comes the small print. Here's the catch to everything He has showered on us. "He wants to show us in the coming thousands and thousands of years how endless His grace is by treating us kindly in Jesus."
Oh. No catch. In fact, you could define grace as "a gift with no catch." Apparently, it's not just that God loves us and has mercy to spare. God also likes us. Wants to be with us. Wants us to enjoy being with Him forever.
Oh.
Think: Why do you think we're always looking for a catch? Why do we want so badly to think we can ear some part of God's gifts to us?
Pray: Take some time today to think about it and tell God exactly why you're so grateful for all He has done for you.
Do: Pay attention to how people treat each other today. Why do people do good things for each other? See any examples of "no catch" giving?
Assigned Seating
"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:6)The Father who loves us -- who is loaded with mercy -- didn't just bring us to spiritual life at the moment of our salvation and send us on our way. He had a plan for our new lives. He had a spot picked out for us in heaven right next to Jesus. It's the place we were destined to sit. It's the life we were built for.
The trippy part is that it's where we live right now, spiritually speaking. In Colossians 3, Paul wrote that our lives today are "hidden" in heaven with Jesus. We don't always feel like it, but there's no doubt in God's mind that those of us who have trusted in Jesus as our only hope belong in heaven forever. What we feel -- deep down, in our core -- is a groaning, an achy longing that we'll never drown out. Paul said in Romans that it won't go away until our "adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."
On the ugly days -- when bad things happen or when we do bad things -- we need to remember we don't really live here. We don't belong here. It's a temporary address. Soon our hidden lives will be revealed, and every whiff of death will disappear.
Think: What does it mean to you to put your hope in heaven? Are you confident that's where you'll send forever?
Pray: If you've trusted in Jesus for your eternal salvation, thank God for making you spiritually alive and making a place for you in heaven with Jesus.
Do: If you haven't, yet, read Colossians 3:1-4 and Romans 8:18-25.
Don’t Jump!
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:4-5)So we were dead. All the way dead in our sins. Couldn't help ourselves any more than a dead guy can answer the phone. Worse: We were "objects of wrath" doomed for hell apart from God because of our sin. Hopeless and doomed.
Then these two verses called out to us like a would-be rescuer trying to talk a jumper off of a ledge -- like that voice stopping Abraham from dropping the knife into Isaac's chest. God would not leave us dead and doomed. He loved us too deeply. He's got mercy in banks all over the universe. He would not let us slide off into the eternity we have earned.
He did what we could not: He "made us alive with Christ." At the last minute, He provided another way. A ram caught in the bush. A sinless Jesus strapped into our seat on execution day. In response only to our faith in Jesus, He made us like Jesus on Easter morning -- living and breathing even though we'd been spiritually dead dead dead.
Think: What would be a reasonable response to a gift like this one? Why do most of us NOT respond that way most of the time?
Pray: Thank God for making you spiritually alive when you could not even breathe toward Him on your own.
Do: Look up the definition of grace in two or three online dictionaries. Write one down on a sticky note or something and put it somewhere you'll have to see it all day long.
Objects of Wrath
"All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath." (Ephesians 2:3)Did you read yesterday's devo? Summary: We were all spiritually dead. And dead guys don't do anything. They don't do self-improvement projects. They don't get better. They don't clean themselves up spiritually so they can get closer to God. They just sit there and stink.
More specifically, Paul wrote, we all just sat there and sinned, stinking up our lives (and everyone else's) by doing what came naturally to us -- sinning whenever it felt good. We didn't really have any other spiritual options, because we couldn't do anything spiritually "alive" if we wanted to. And we didn't want to.
The result? We were all born under God's perfect anger, headed for an eternity of perfect death apart from our perfect God. And we deserved it because of all our sinful choices. And that's where the story would have ended for us if God had not stepped in.
Think: Do you think its fair that we're all born "objects of wrath"?
Pray: Thank God for not letting the story end with verse 3.
Do: In a private place, write down a short list of the some of the sinful choices you might have made that were evidence of your sinful nature.
Dead Dead Dead
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient." (Ephesians 2:1-2)Did you hear about that team of dead guys who climbed Mount Everest? No? That's because dead guys don't climb mountains. Dead guys don't do anything. Dead guys who are all the way dead just sit there decomposing. You can poke them with a stick. Nothing.
What would it take to be good enough to be with God in heaven forever? It would take a lot more than being able to climb Mount Everest. Some people have done that, right? But none of them were dead.
Paul wrote that we all start out with a big problem. Spiritually speaking, we're dead -- born that way because we were born sinful. Poke-us-with-a-stick dead. All the way dead. And spiritually dead people can't take even one step toward God. So we lived spiritually dead lives, just like Satan wanted us to.
Powerless. Lifeless. Dead.
Think: If we start out as spiritual dead, how much of heaven can we ever hope to earn by doing spiritually good stuff?
Pray: Ask God to help you understand more clearly what He did to bring you salvation.
Do: Find something dead and poke it with a stick. No? Okay, find someone spiritually dead and poke him with a stick. Then read Ephesians 2:1-10 to him.
It’s All About Easter
"For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." (1 Corinthians 15:16-19)All over the world today, people crowded into churches to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That's what happens every year. What surprises me is that some of those people don't really believe the resurrection happened. They are pretty sure Jesus died and stayed dead. Still, they call themselves Christians for some reason.
As Paul says so bluntly -- so powerfully -- if Jesus didn't rise from the dead on the third day, none of us will ever rise from the dead, either. If His resurrection is just a metaphor, a way of looking at the world, a hope for something better, then the whole thing is completely worthless. We're all pathetic fools wasting our lives on some meaningless book, following a "Savior" who failed and died and should have been forgotten.
Why would anyone squander a life following a God who cannot raise His own Son from the dead -- a God who cannot offer eternal life? Be convinced in the power of Jesus' blood to wash away all your sins -- and be convinced in the power of God to raise Him from the dead. Or don't -- and move on. Why would anyone follow a dead Savior?
Think: Why wouldn't it be worth anything to hope in Christ only for this life?
Pray: Thank God for His power to raise Jesus from the dead -- the same power at work in your life right this second.
Do: Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-58 for a glimpse of what your own resurrection will be like.
I agree with this completely. I think we often for…
I agree with this completely. I think we often forget those grueling hours between Jesus' crucifixtion and his resurrection. It must have been a terrible time for the apostles who had just lost the most important person they had in their lives. All goodness in the world was gone during that time. It would only be human for them to doubt the Lord's existence just as we sometimes doubt it. The apostles faith however that Jesus was the Son of God kept them going. I believe their attitude is a good example of what we, as christians in 2008, need to keep in mind. God sometimes seems distant, maybe even non-existant, but in the end if we keep our faith strong he will reward us with great gifts this human world could never offer;i.e. eternal life.
The Longest Day
"We are going up to Jerusalem," he said, "and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise." (Mark 10:33-34)Jesus said these words to His 12 disciples about one week before this endless Saturday between the crucifixion and the Resurrection. It wasn’t a passing comment or whispered under His breath. Mark tells us he took them aside, away from the others. He spelled out exactly what was about to happen. Did any of them remember?
Either way, it must have been the longest Saturday of their lives. For a week, the tension had been building until all of their worst fears came to shocking, fatal climax on Friday night. They ran. They hid. They regrouped. They locked themselves in. And then a whole day of nothing. Silence. The end of the dream. Confusion. Grieving. Fear.
Did any of them remember Jesus’ promise? Everything else He said about His death happened exactly that way. How could they forget that He also said He would rise? What do we forget in our darkest moments when we think God is silent, when we’re tempted to trust Him less with what’s most important, when we’re ready to give up? What are we expecting from Him?
Sunday is coming . . .
Think: Do you ever wonder if God has abandoned you? What evidence of His love do we ignore at those times? What promises do we dismiss when we want to blame Him for letting us down?
Pray: Ask God for rock-solid memories of how He has been there for you in the past and how He has promised to provide for you in the future.
Do: Look up the time of the sunrise in your town tomorrow and write it down somewhere. Next to it, write this: Jesus is alive!
Friday: Alone
“At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ ” (Mark 15:33-34)Of Jesus’ famous seven statements from the cross, this is the only one Mark tells us about. It may be the saddest question in all of the Bible.
For the first time we know of, Jesus does not call God “Abba,” (father or daddy). Instead, He addresses God more formally and says, “Why have you abandoned me?” Although human for 33 years, the sinless Jesus had never been separated from the Father in His spirit. They had been in constant communication. Now He was utterly alone.
To truly pay the penalty for all of our sins, Jesus experienced the ultimate human horror -- separation from God, cut off in His spirit from the source of all life, all love, all hope. It’s what makes hell so terrifying. The exquisite torture of Jesus’ physical suffering could not compare with the depths of God’s silent judgement on sin.
Think: From your understanding of the Bible, how would you briefly explain why God allowed Jesus to go through this terrible experience?
Pray: Thank the Father for sacrificing His only birth Son to make a way for you to be together with Him forever.
Do: Sometime on Friday night, spend a few minutes meditating on Mark 15, thinking about what Jesus endured on that dark Friday long ago.
Late Thursday Night: I Am
“Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?’ ‘I am,’ said Jesus. ‘And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ ” (Mark 14:61-62)We come to late Thursday night in this terrible beautiful week. The Jewish religious leaders have finally engineered the arrest and trial of Jesus. They’re squeezing it all in under the cover of darkness, because they’re afraid the people will revolt.
Under intense questioning by the high priest, Jesus had remained silent. Now He answers a direct question with a direct reply about who He is, something He had often chosen not to do. Quoting from Psalms and Daniel, He tells His judges that He is, indeed, the Messiah. More: He will one day judge them while sitting at the right hand of God (at the “resurrection” at the end of time).
If a lie or a delusion, Jesus’ words were blasphemy. The Jewish leaders would be right to silence Him. But if Jesus’ words are true, He is the most amazing person ever to live -- and die and live again -- in human history.
Think: Why do you think it’s hard for some people to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God? Why do you think it seems so much easier for others?
Pray: Thank God for the spiritual vision to believe that Jesus is the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Do: Think of someone you could ask about the high priest’s question this week: “Do you believe that Jesus was the Son of God?”
Only Everything
“Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.’ ” (Mark 12:43-44)After exhausting and frustrating his challengers with His teaching, Jesus sat down in the temple area in what was known as the court of the women. That’s where the 13 trumpet-shaped collection devices were found along one wall. He watched the people toss in their Passover offerings and gifts.
Jesus noticed that some wealthy folks had thrown in significant coinage. But the one that stood out to Him was the widow who gave everything she had -- two “lepta.” It amounted to 1/64 of a day’s pay. She had nothing left.
Jesus’ praise for her tells us something. God wants everything we’ve got because He wants us to trust Him completely. Yesterday, we saw He wants us to love Him with all of ourselves. Today, that He wants us to hold nothing back, to trust Him to take care of us even when we’re down to pocket lint.
Think: Do you have a pocket in your life where you keep the things you’re not yet willing to give up to God? What do you keep in there?
Pray: Thank God for the example of this lady who was financially poor but rich in trusting God. Ask Him to help you to be rich like that.
Do: Make a plan to give something to God this week that will force you to trust Him more.
Start Here
"The most important [command]," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 11:29-31)Jesus continued to put Himself directly in the crosshairs of the religious leaders in the days leading up to his death and resurrection. After causing all that turmoil at the temple on Monday, He went right back to the temple courts on Tuesday morning. This time, the chief priests and teachers were waiting for Him.
That’s why He was there. Jesus seems to have set aside Tuesday and maybe Wednesday to allow all comers to question Him while He addressed the wrong teachings and wrong attitudes that had worked into Jewish religious life.
And at least one teacher seemed to get it. After this famous statement from Jesus about the most important commands, that anonymous teacher agreed that loving God with all we have and loving others the way we’d want to be loved is more important even than all the offerings and sacrifices. He understood what Jesus wants us to understand -- God cares more about what and how we love than anything else.
Think: What do you feel most passionate about? What do you wake up in the morning thinking about? What are the last images in your head as you fall asleep? How could you love God with more of your life?
Pray: Ask God to help you see how to love Him with everything you’ve got -- and to give you the courage to love worthless things less.
Do: Make a little list of the main things that compete in your heart with affection for God.
Monday: Cleaning House
"Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts." (Mark 11:15-16)As we walk through the week leading up to Jesus' death and resurrection, everything gets more intense around Jesus. The disciples know that just being in Jerusalem is putting all their lives at risk. And Jesus refuses to lay low, get through the Passover, and get out of town.
Instead, He very publicly raises a very dead man back to life, rides right into Jerusalem on donkey in full daylight to the cheers of crowds, and then this: He marches into the outer courtyard of the temple -- the high priest's own turf -- and starts throwing over the money tables and physically stopping people from taking shortcuts through the place . . . again!
The disciples must have been scared. Nobody challenged the decisions of the priests like that. Nobody could -- unless He came with God's own authority. Even then, Jesus was on a dangerous path.
Think: Read verses 15-19. From that, why do you think Jesus was so harsh on the practice of making a profit selling sacrificial animals and Jewish currency in the temple area?
Pray: Thank God for Jesus' courage to stand for what is right knowing it was going to cost Him a very painful death.
Do: The money-changers and short-cutters made light of God's holiness for their own gain. Make a short list of right v. wrong motives someone might have for participating in religious activities.
The Answer
"Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him." (John 12:17-18)We call this day Palm Sunday. It comes a week before Easter Sunday, just as Jesus' "triumphal entry" into Jerusalem on a donkey came a week before His Resurrection. And what a terrible beautiful week it was!
The region was buzzing with news about Jesus. He already had a reputation as a healer and a rabbi that taught with confidence, as if He was telling God's own words. But the energy around Him was spiking. Lots of people had seen Him raise His friend Lazarus from the dead. That's serious power. Could He be the Messiah? Was He here to overthrow Israel's enemies and set them free?
We now know why He had come. He was (is!) the answer to last week's question: How can anyone be saved from the downward spiral of sin-drenched human existence? "Hosanna!" the people called out in the traditional greeting. It means "Save us!" And that's just what Jesus was about to do.
Think: Why do you think the people were so fickle about Jesus -- curious and worshipping Him one day, then allowing Him to be crucified a few days later? Are people still fickle about Him?
Pray: Ask God to give you a heart to appreciate what Jesus did for us during this week before Easter.
Do: Make a plan to read from John 12 through 20 this week to remind yourself of the things Jesus said and did during the "Passion Week."
No Better
"You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things." (Romans 2:1)We've spent this last week reading about humanity's downward spiral away from God. We've seen how people start by refusing to know Him and end up with a society that suffers all the ugly consequences of sin. It would be easy for those of us who are believers to say, "I'm glad I believe God and have escaped that mess."
That's probably exactly what some of Paul's Jewish readers were saying to themselves. They were God's people, after all. They thought Paul's description did not apply to them. But he pulls the rug out from under them -- and from us. We are no better, no more righteous. We have no room to judge those marching away from God. We, too, are sinners who deserve His anger and punishment. (You remember Romans 3:23 and 6:23.)
Fairly or not, some Christians are known as people who sit in judgement of those outside the church. Instead, we should become the people who say, "Big news! God is giving away eternal life for free to all of us sinners! Come and see!"
Think: Does it ever make sense for us to judge or look down on those who are not in Christ on this side of heaven? Are we any better in ourselves?
Pray: Ask God to give you real compassion for those who have rejected the Creator, and ask that they will see His compassion in you.
Do: Make two short lists. On one, write words that describe a judgmental attitude toward unbelievers. On the other, write words that describe a compassionate, welcoming spirit.
Rock Bottom
"Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips . . ." (Romans 1:28-29)Paul finishes his description of the cultural downward spiral away from God by listing the ultimate result -- a society in absolute, sin-fueled chaos. Everyone does evil. Everyone hurts everyone else. And everyone is fine with that (until they get hurt).
Did you notice his summary of the first step: "they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God." It doesn't always start with a fist-shaking defiance. For many, it's more like, "Eh, what's the big deal? Maybe there's a God; maybe there's not. If there is, what does it really matter?"
We might recognize our culture in some of Paul's description, but we're far from rock bottom. Those of us who have committed to "knowing God" through Jesus still have an influence here. We can still proclaim with our lives and Christlike love that knowing God -- the true Creator God of the Bible -- matters most of all.
Think: What can Christians do to influence our culture to take God seriously and treat Him with respect?
Pray: Ask God to allow your friends and family to see Christ in you every day as evidence that He is real and active and worth knowing.
Do: Copy from verses 28-32 down Paul's list of the kinds of things a society embraces when it reaches rock bottom.
Degradation
"Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another." (Romans 1:24)Are you following the progression in Romans 1 this week? 1) God is knowable from creation. 2) People willfully ignore Him as Creator: no worship, no thanks. 3) Their thinking becomes foolish. 4) They worship images of creation instead of God. And now 5) God releases them to fully surrender to sexual degradation.
Remember, Paul isn't coming to this conclusion after watching TMZ or reading atheist blogs. It's how the world works since the very beginning. Reverse engineer this list. If you notice that the society seems to be wallowing in sexual degradation (including lots of homosexuality; see v. 26-27), you should conclude that it started with rejecting the Creator God followed by refusing to worship and thank Him followed by the worship of creation (include our own bodies).
God expresses His wrath on humanity, in part, by allowing people to fully indulge in sin and experience all the painfully logical consequences of those choices.
Think: Have you ever made the connection between rejecting the Creator God and sexual immorality? Why do you think it's so easy to miss?
Pray: Ask God to help you not to treat sexual sin too lightly. Thank Him for His incredible grace and mercy to those in Christ. (That's what the rest of Romans is about.)
Do: Make some time to stat reading the rest of Romans. Notice exactly how God made a way for us to escape this cultural pattern of Godlessness, foolishness, and warped sexuality.
Lost
"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." (Romans 1:21-23)Some fans of the show Lost are obsessed with figuring out what's going on on that island. After every episode, they get online and start taking apart the clues. What was that book Ben was reading? Is the name of that new character an anagram?
Of course, what they're really trying to figure out is what the show's creators are up to. They want to know what those guys have in mind. To figure out the mystery, you have to start with the assumption that someone is creating the show and that they have a purpose.
Paul's point in this passage is that you cannot hope to understand real life if you don't start with the idea that somebody created it and is running the "show." It would be like thinking that Lost is somehow happening all on it's own. You'd end up looking to the created things (Jack, Ben, the smoke monster) for answers instead of looking to the writers. You'd be a fool, Paul says.
Eliminate God as the starting place, and all our wisdom is worthless.
Think: If you didn't believe someone was writing the story of Lost, what ideas could you come up with for where the characters come from and why things happen on the show? Is there any logical way to think about a story without a storyteller?
Pray: Ask God to help you filter every attempt to understand the world through the truth that He created it.
Do: Write out Proverbs 9:10 on a piece of paper and work at memorizing it this week.
No Excuses
"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)"Yeah, but . . . they didn't know about evolution when Paul wrote this, right? They didn't know about the big bang and Darwin's theory. They didn't have the Discovery channel. If they had, maybe Paul would have written this differently?"
Whatever your take on the dance between the terminology of creation and evolution, Paul's words here stand as God's Word. God is knowable from what He has made. What He has made, in part, is conveniently listed in chapter 1 of His book. Creation reveals Him. Who could create the universe from nothing without endless power? How could any being create the universe good if He were not God?
I've heard all the debates (and I've mangled a few arguments), but the first step to dismissing God is denying the reality of His act of creation. Some people are fine with that. Others want a lesser god. Paul said none of us get a pass for missing the obvious -- that He made it all.
Think: What are some of the things God's creation tells us about Him?
Pray: Thank God for revealing His character by what He has made.
Do: Make another list: Start it with two items -- eternal power and divine nature. Follow those with other of God's qualities that are obvious from His creation.
God is Not
"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them." (Romans 1:18-19)In Romans 1:18-32, Paul describes why God gets so angry with human society. The idea of suffering "the wrath of God" should terrify us. Better to be ignored by God than to become the focal point of His perfectly reasonable anger. Paul shows how human culture falls, step by step, into chaos and destruction.
It all starts with the one powerful lie: There is no God. Or better: The God of the Bible is not really God. If there is a God, He is different -- less powerful, less good, less holy, less interested in us, not so serious about sin. We eliminate God by changing what we mean by the name "God."
To believe that lie is a choice -- and a stupid one. Why? Because God is not hiding, Paul writes. He made Himself plain to everyone. He's available for examination. To disbelieve Him requires a strategy to hide from Truth.
Think: Do you think God's anger against sinful humans is justified? How has He made Himself plain to us?
Pray: Ask God to give you wisdom and insight into Romans 1 as we study it this week.
Do: Make a list: Write down ways in which God makes Himself plain to people. Ask for help if you have trouble getting started.
Deliver Us
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." (Matthew 6:13)Jesus ends his famous "disciple's prayer" with a model request for deliverance from temptation and the enemy. Jesus had seen it first hand. During his 40 days in the wilderness, the evil one took his shots at Jesus, delivering up several temptations in attempt to derail Jesus' mission on earth. Jesus didn't give in, but He understood the power of Satan's strategy.
We know the devil can never force us to sin. That's our choice. (See James 1:13-15.) But the Satan's job description includes using temptation in an attempt to "devour" Jesus-followers, to bait us into sinful choices and worthless moments that derail our opportunities to be used in God's mission on earth.
One result of giving into temptation is that we tend to pray less -- the exact opposite of what we need most. Pray for help to avoid temptation, to resist it when it comes, and to receive God's forgiveness and grace when you fail. Whatever happens, don't stop praying.
Think: When are you most likely to talk to God -- asking for strength when faced with temptation or seeking renewal after you've given in?
Pray: Ask God to deliver you from the evil one -- and to steer you clear of temptation to sin.
Do: If you've given in to some temptation recently and/or repeatedly, find a way to pray this line of the "Lord's prayer" every time you eat this next week. Try memorizing 1 Corinthians 10:13 and making those thoughts part of your "temptation prayer," as well.
Forgive as Forgiven
"Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. . . . For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:12, 14-15)This line from Jesus' model prayer is such a head-spinning contradiction to what many of us know as the gospel. We're saved by faith, right? Not of ourselves? How can Jesus say the Father will not forgive us if we don't forgive others?
Theologians suggest it might have to do with the fact that Jesus said this before He had died for all of our sins (including unforgiveness) on the cross. Others say the statement has to do with a break in our fellowship with God here on earth is we refuse to forgive those who hurt us -- not an eternal separation. It's an important question.
A more important one: If we understand that because of Jesus, God has forgiven our unpayable debt of sin to the Father -- and amount so staggering we can't even imagine the horror of it -- how could any one of us have the arrogance not to forgive another human being for anything, at all? Forgiven people should be forgiving people. Period.
Think: Jesus told a parable about a much-forgiven, unforgiving servant. Which character are you in that story? What can you do about it?
Pray: Ask God to so overwhelm you with an understanding of His forgiving grace that any grudge you've got against someone else just feels ridiculous to you.
Do: Use Wikipedia or something to look up the current American national deficit. Then call your local library to ask what they charge for an overdue book for a week. Compare and think about the difference between what you owed God and what anyone on earth could possibly owe you.
Me Want Food!
"Give us today our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11)It's the only request for anything physical in Jesus' model prayer, and it lands with a thud in our well-fed ears. I doubt many of us have felt the need to ask God for today's food. In fact, it might be more common for us to ask, "Help me not to eat my daily bread so I can lose some weight."
If I didn't think I knew where next month's food was coming from, I'd be on my knees asking God for help. I clearly have different financial and security goals for my life than Jesus' prayer suggests. He assumes we're willing to trust God for our survival one day at a time. Are we?
In another passage, He tells His followers not to worry about food and clothes. God provides for the birds and flowers, He said; He will provide for you. I love these lyrics from Rich Mullins' song "Hard": "Well, His eye's on the sparrow / And the lilies of the field I've heard / And He will watch over you and He will watch over me / So we can dress like flowers and eat like birds."
Think: What percentage of your praying involves asking for material "wants" beyond what you need for today? I think it's cool to talk to God about whatever we want (if we're willing to hear Him say "no"), but can we get out of balance in our asking?
Pray: Ask God to help you to be thankful for all the good gifts He's blessed you with today. Ask Him to help you need Him more than any of them. And then ask Him to help you know how trust Him to meet your needs one day at a time.
Do: Calculate how many days worth of food you have in your house right now.
As In Heaven
". . . your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10)How should we pray? That's what the disciples asked Jesus in Luke 11. So He showed them. The phrase in this verse fits perfectly with Jesus' worldview. He often said that every word He spoke and every action He took came straight from the Father. Jesus' mission on earth was to do the Father's will.
Jesus knew better than anyone that planet Earth was out of whack. He'd lived in heaven. He'd seen the difference. Everyone there devoted themselves to obeying and pleasing God. On earth, not so much.
We can view this phrase as a plea for God to convert the earth to be like heaven -- and He will do that fully one day. But it also makes sense to take this line personally. Father, please help me to do your will while I'm on earth as willingly and effectively as I would if I were in heaven with you. Change my heart so your will is accomplished in my life with less resistance every day.
Think: Can you imagine our planet being a place where God is acknowledge as the king of all? Can you imagine what your life would look like if you never challenged His right to rule over you?
Pray: Thank God that He always accomplishes His will in His way and in His time. Thank Him for giving you the chance to be part of His plan, and ask Him to help you willingly obey Him today.
Do: Write this phrase on a piece of paper and put it on your bathroom mirror (or somewhere you'll see it every day this week): "What is God's will for me today?"
Our Father
"This, then, is how you should pray: " 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,' " (Matthew 6:9)It's no wonder so many people have memorized the "Lord's Prayer." What a huge opportunity! When the Son of God says, "This is how you should talk to my Father," we should write it down on our brains and never forget it. Still, Jesus did not mean that we should only ever pray these words in this order. He gave His disciples a plan for approaching the God of eternity in conversation.
First, He said, remember whom you're talking to. Address your prayer to your Father, the one who lives in your future home in heaven. I realize some people feel more comfortable talking to Jesus in prayer -- and it's great to pray to our Lord. But He told us to follow His example by talking to our "abba," or our daddy. His mission, in part, was to connect us with His Father.
But God is not just any daddy. His name -- his being, person, essence, identity -- is "hallowed" or holy. As casual-by-nature American evangelicals, its harder for us to understand what "sacred" really means, but our Father is sacred to the core. Strong, powerful, and untouchable with anything impure or sinful. Our prayer begins with remembering we're talking to our close and distant, approachable and unimaginable holy Father.
Think: How do you tend to picture God when you pray? Do you need to adjust your understanding of Him?
Pray: Ask God to help you to remember to approach Him as your loving "daddy" and as the absolutely holy God of all.
Do: Practice saying to God "your name is holy" when you pray this week.
Stop Babbling
"And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (Matthew 6:7-8)Some idol worshippers believed their gods were more likely to give them what they wanted if they prayed by the hour. That is, some would chant the same things over and over and over and over and over, hoping to impress their gods with their dedication or desperation.
Jesus said our God doesn't need that from you. He's not running a word count on your prayers to measure how serious you are. In other words, we can keep it simple. Tell God what's on our minds and believe that He heard us and will answer (one way or another). It's another act of faith, isn't it? Jesus said the Father already knows what we need. He doesn't require us to write it on the board 900 times before He responds.
Does that mean we should never ask the same request more than once? Or more than once a day? I don't think that was Jesus' point. In fact, one of His parables encourages the practice of repeatedly knocking on the door until you get an answer. He's talking here about senseless and/or superstitious repetition of prayer. But He doesn't want us to stop talking to Him, just to be in the moment, to be present with Him in the conversation.
Think: Do you ever catch yourself praying without really thinking about it? What does it say about our prayers if our minds don't have to be involved with the words we're saying?
Pray: Ask God to help you not to fall into mindless repetition when you pray, but to be real and present when you talk to Him.
Do: To avoid falling into the pattern of mindlessly saying the same thing to God over and over again, try making a "cheat sheet" of talking points before you pray. Make a list of things you want to say to Him, then pray through the list. Come back to it when you find yourself distracted by other thoughts.
Secret Prayers
"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Matthew 6:6)We're all about prayer this week. More specifically, we're all about Jesus' Matthew 6 teaching on how we should do this thing called "prayer."
First step: Pray for God's ears, not other people's. Praying in public makes some people nervous. I don't really blame them for saying silly things to God in those moments, but you can sometimes tell they're worried about "sounding right" to the people around them. They work in a few churchy phrases because they've heard everyone else do it. Jesus told his listeners to do their praying behind closed doors -- in secret.
Why? For one thing, it weeds out all the wrong motives. The Jewish religious leaders gave each other spiritual browning points for style and form in their public prayers, but they were missing the point of talking to God. When you're alone, you know you're not impressing anyone with your prayer-talk. You're more likely to talk to Him straight out of your own life, not out of someone else's prayer fashion handbook.
Of course, you're not going to pray in secret unless you're convinced God is listening. Prayer in secret is an act of greater faith in the God who cares so deeply about you. Jesus promised that our invisible Father listens and rewards those prayers. You don't need to step up to the microphone for Him to hear and answer you.
Think: If you ever pray in front of people, do you pray any differently than you do when you're alone? Are you ever tempted to try to impress people with your prayers? How likely are you to pray when nobody is looking?
Pray: Ask God to help you talk to Him more often when nobody else is around.
Do: God a closet handy? Try praying in it today. No, you don't really need to pray in a closet for God to hear you, but trying it once or twice might make you more aware of how you're talking to God.
Stronger. Smarter. Faster.
"Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 'Make level paths for your feet,' so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed." (Hebrews 12:12-13)Hopefully, one big idea has jumped out to you from Hebrews 12 this last week: Following Jesus is hard work. We're in a tough race following the path of Jesus, the same path that lead Him to the cross and to the resurrection after it. To run, to take each next step of belief and obedience and praise, involves trusting God. Our Father is so convinced that this is the best possible path for our lives -- and He loves us so much -- that He'll use the pain of discipline to get us back on track when we slow down and wander off in a worthless direction.
Instead of fighting it, verse 12 says, "Hit the gym. Get stronger. Build up those arms; work out those legs. The path gets steeper from here; you need more power." Verse 13 says, "And don't just be stronger, play smarter. Pick your steps on the path wisely; keep your head in the game."
Are you in this thing to win? Or are you like I was with JV basketball -- happy to be on the team and sit on the bench, but not all that interested in getting good enough to start or really contribute? Your Father won't let you stay on the sidelines for long. Suit up. Focus. And let's start running after Jesus together.
Think: On a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate your commitment to the race of following Jesus by trusting God with your whole life every day?
Pray: Ask God to help you not be satisfied with sitting on the sidelines and just getting by in your relationship with Him. Ask Him to make you hungry to compete in this race at the highest level.
Do: Pick an area of your life that you can make stronger for the race -- relationships, study of the Word, prayer -- then figure out a way to do sometime about it.
Seems Unpleasant
"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:11)The idea of God's discipline as evidence of God's love for me made a lot more sense after I had a son of my own. Before that, the concept that God would include on His job description keeping tabs of how closely I was following Jesus -- and going to the trouble to discipline when I'm not -- seemed a little beneath Him. He's the God of the universe. He's got a lot going on. Why waste time on my little sins when people are starving and dying? Is God just a control freak?
I get better now that He's not. When my three-year-old disobeys me in a "little" thing, I'd much rather just ignore it. I've got lots to do. I'd rather spend our time together laughing and having fun. Why make an ugly scene? It's harder for me to discipline him than to let it go. But I know that if he does not learn to obey my authority, he'll be even less likely to obey God. I know that his life will be harder -- less peaceful -- if he doesn't learn to discipline himself. So even though it doesn't "seem pleasant at the time" to either of us, I usually do what I'd rather not and discipline him. It's an act of love, even when I hate it.
It should be a huge and humbling idea that the God of the universe -- with 7 billion people on the planet who need Him -- loves me enough to take the time to discipline me when I begin to sabotage my life by wandering away again. He must really care that I find that "harvest of righteousness and peace." What a good Father.
Think: Think of three of your friends and their parents -- one whose mom and/or dad don't seem to discipline enough, one whose parents discipline with wisdom, and one whose parents seem way too harsh in their discipline. What has been the result in the lives of your friends? Why do you think their parents make those choices?
Pray: Ask God to help you to be grateful for His attention and discipline.
Do: If your parents have made an effort to discipline you well in your life -- even if you don't always agree with their decisions -- take the time to thank them this week for trying to love you in this way.
