Message Devotional: Seeking God

Seeking God

April 28, 2013

Matthew 7:7-11

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.  “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?  Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not!  So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

What is God like?  These verses are a call to prayer.  Prayer is a relational act.  It’s a two way communication between us and God.  That means effective prayer will form and develop a relationship between us and God.  This relationship is the bedrock of the Christian.  It is from this relationship that we understand our purpose, find meaning in life, and discover salvation.  If we are too intimidated to approach God in prayer a healthy relationship will not form.

So how do we break the ice in prayer?  First, Jesus wants us to know something about how God sees us.  He compares God to a parent, calling him a heavenly father.  If God is the parent than we are his children.  As his children, we understand that God wants what is best for us.  So when we come to God we are coming to one who knows us, knows what is good for us, and loves us enough to listen no matter what we might have to say.

Second, God does not play tricks on his people.  Jesus compares a loaf of bread to a stone.  In this time, a loaf of bread and a stone would look similar.  The Lord does not lead us down false paths.  He will not replace bread with stone.  He will not confuse a fish for a snake.  He does not turn a gift into something harmful.  We can trust the Lord.  He gives good gifts.

Third, the Lord wants us to seek him.  He wants us to ask.  He wants us to knock.  He wants us to come after him.  He wants to hear our prayers and he will answer.  He will respond.  The seeker finds, the one who asks receives, and the one who knocks is let in.  Notice that we are not promised to get exactly what we want when we want.  We are simply promised access to God.  This access is sufficient.  The only way to fail here is to not ask, not seek, and not knock.  What keeps us from seeking God? 

Message Devotional: The Fool and the Foolish

The Fool and the Foolish

April 14, 2013

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.  As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish.  Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.  It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom.  So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.   But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.  This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.

Despite all the best efforts of philosophy and science, God cannot be found or objectively understood.  The very effort to prove God tends to bring about feelings of helplessness and frustration.  Human wisdom and human knowledge cannot reach God.  In fact, today the culture has largely given up the search and settled for “spirituality” or disbelief. 

Why is this?  The path to understanding and knowing God isn't found in wisdom or traditions.  The Jewish people had their traditions and institutional understandings of how the Messiah would come, what he would do, and how he would act.  When Jesus as Messiah did not do as expected they could not recognize him.  To be foolish is to be unaware and remain unaware despite clear instruction.  The Jews didn't recognize the Messiah they had been searching for even when his presence was announced.  To the Greeks who considered thought and argument to be wisdom, Jesus just didn't make sense.  Philosophy alone could not comprehend God.

So how do we know and understand God?  The answer is simply the Holy Spirit.  The message of the cross is a message of relationship.  Salvation cannot be confined to traditions or philosophy.  It must be experienced.  So those the world considered foolish actually spoke a greater wisdom than the world could comprehend.  Is there a traditional or intellectual stumbling block in your life?  Are you willing to open your eyes to the greater wisdom found in Christ?  True power if found there.

Message Devotional: Between Black and White

Between Black and White

April 7, 2013

Deuteronomy 30:11-18

“This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand, and it is not beyond your reach.  It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’  It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’  No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.  “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster.  For I command you this day to love the LORD your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.  “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.”

We don’t talk about morality enough.  In today’s world, we resist the idea that there even is a right or a wrong way to live.  We often simply take our voice and the words of the Lord out of the picture and follow along with society.  Our American culture apart from the church is obsessed with morality.  From politics to grade school discussions, our arguments and decisions have at their core a moral dimension.  The culture is looking to understand what is right and what is wrong in a new way.  Yet the church’s input into this conversation is either silent or antagonistic.  We need to talk about morality in the church and as Christian people.

So where do we begin?  First we must understand where morality comes from.  Determining right from wrong is central to the healthy development of every human being.  We all must do it.  This desire was built into us by God.  God is also the greatest authority and help in determining right from wrong.  He does this through commandments and through Christ.  The centerpiece of both is love.  Commandments are not just rules, they are reliable guides to life given in love.  We live in a grey world.  Right and wrong are often cloudy.  God can make it clear.  We need to have honest, non-judgmental discussions about right and wrong.  We need to live moral lives for Christ.  It doesn’t just happen.  It requires choice.  The moral life in Christ is a great life.  What are your morals?  How are you living them out?