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?

Focus 40 Devotional Easter Sunday

Focus 40 – Extreme Love

March 31, 2013

Deuteronomy 30:19-20

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!  You can make this choice by loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the LORD, you will live long in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Love is a choice.  The Lord puts before us opportunity.  We have the opportunity to live in His grace.  We can accept the reality of the sacrifice of God’s own son Jesus Christ.  We can accept that God has created us to live purposeful and meaningful lives.  We can accept the Lord’s invitation to live connected to Him as children of God.  Or we can choose the opposite.  We can walk away.  We can make our own path or follow the paths others have made apart from God.  The Lord will not remove the freedom to choose that He created us with.  He does not force Himself on anyone.  We have a choice.  You have a choice.  What will it be?

Our choices are not expressed exclusively in words.  This isn’t a vote.  It isn’t a stand up and say yes or no.  It is a choice that we make with our lives.  Saying yes to God means loving, obeying, and committing your life to Him.  Loving the Lord brings out love for others and the world around us.  Love for the Lord is seen as we desire more and more of God in our lives.  Obedience to God brings certain characteristics into our lives.  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control just to name a few.  Committing to God makes us part of a larger work that God is doing in the lives of all Christians.  We are part of a community of faith where God enables us to do His own work.  Our commitment is seen when we live and work inside of this community with passion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

This choice is the key to our lives.  It will determine our path into the future.  The way of the Lord is the path we were created to walk.  Walking it gives direction, purpose, and meaning to all aspects of life.  The Lord longs for us to choose this path as a father desires the best for his child.  What path are you walking?  What will you choose today?

Focus 40 Day 40

I Love You More

I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice… He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. —Psalm 18:1–6, 16–18

Prior to our son’s placement with us, we brought the house up to higher standards of safety. We installed cabinet latches, wall outlet covers, and other features for our boy’s protection. Because he wanted the security of a nightlight, we provided that for him as well. Our goal was to do whatever we could to make him feel secure and well-protected.

It must be working. At bedtime, we tell him, “We love you to infinity and beyond.” But then he smiles and says, “I love you twice more than infinity and beyond.”

The adoption of our son has parallels with our adoption into God’s family. God’s love is more concerned about our future than our past. It is focused on our long-term well-being and protection. 

The psalmist described God as an immovable rock, a shield, a fortress, a stronghold. As our place of safety and our source of light, God always has our best interests at heart.

Thank you, O God, for delivering us out of death itself. Thank you for showing such extreme love to all of your children.

Kevin A. Clouse is the senior pastor of First Church of God in Cushing, Oklahoma.

Focus 40 Day 39

Love Doesn't Let Go

Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. In his anger against Israel the Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress. Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the Lord's commands. Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. —Judges 2:11–18

There was silence in our small group meeting when we learned that Louise was back in prison. We had welcomed her into our group when she was released the first time. She had contributed to the discussions and participated when we prayed. Our group leader had spent much time mentoring her, and a church family had given her a home and hired her to care for an aging relative.

We were full of questions: Why did this happen? What more could we have done? We felt that we had failed, and our group leader expressed reluctance to take on such responsibility again.

In the end, however, we came to the conclusion that Louise wasn’t the first to go back to her “evil practices and stubborn ways.” God had set an example of love and forgiveness for us to follow. So we reached out in love to Louise again and left the results in God’s hands.

Lord, I’m so glad that you have never forsaken me, even when I have forsaken you. Give me the kind of love that doesn’t let go of others when they need your love the most.

Bonnie Grau is a writer who lives in Pennsylvania.

Focus 40 Day 38

Love Embodied

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

—Isaiah 53:4–9

We are bombarded by voices that claim to tell us what love is all about. Yet, whether those voices come from television, radio, magazines, or even the classroom, love is often misrepresented. So it is helpful for us to regain a biblical perspective, including a definition and an example of love’s true meaning.

The Bible tells us that God is love (1 John 4:16). Everything God does is motivated by love. This becomes clear as we understand that God sent Jesus Christ, showing that godly love is more than words and feelings: It is the action of giving one’s self for others.

As we meditate on this everlasting love God has for us (Jer 31:3), let us surrender ourselves to become channels of God’s love to others. May we be living sacrifices of service and praise to the Author and Embodiment of love itself.

Lord, as we observe the day of your Son’s suffering on the cross, remind me that your love can overcome life’s most difficult problems. And make me a messenger of your love.

Joe Gregory is the minister of worship arts at First Church of God in Vincennes, Indiana.