Tag Archives: Choices

Choices

Living in the Spirit

July 10, 2020

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:1-11

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. –Romans 8:1-8

Paul speaks of choice sustained and maintained by practice. Doing good grows more good. Evil acts beget more evil Paul simplifies choice by clusters. One is the cluster of the Spirit, the other the cluster of the flesh. We are more apt to think in terms of good and evil or right and wrong. Our example is Adam and Eve being removed from the Garden of Eden for disobeying God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Another example is Jesus’s sojourn in the wilderness with Satan, where he is tempted by wealth, which provides food to eat, power, and testing God, and he withstood each temptation.

If we chose the Spirit, we are gifted with the grace of God and the guidance of the Spirit to help us be faithful to our choice. Jesus nor Paul discount the constant power of the flesh working to dissuade us from being steadfast in maintaining our Spirit choice.

The continuous practice part of choice is the challenge. During this pandemic, it is interesting to see how athletes have worked to stay in shape for when they return to play. One of the things I noticed is that some basketball players who were in the last half of their season first took the time to heal the various injuries that plague their bodies just through the routine of playing game after game. We, too, need to seek spiritual sabbaths to let our souls heal from the everyday press of serving God. Once healed, those athletes found ways to exercise and rebuild their bodies to return to competitive playing. Similarly, we practice spiritual disciplines to restore and sustain our souls.

The discipline of self-evaluation is crucial. We often do not realize when we slip into bad habits that disconnect us from God. For example, while we may not think we are contributing to the racial divide in our country, what are we doing to heal it? We may regularly donate to a food bank, and that is good, but what are we doing to end poverty? I routinely recycle, but I know very little about the general issues of climate change and what I can do further to address them.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the gifts of the Spirit, help us to delve deeper in how we can practice our spiritual gifts toward your justice. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Making Choices

Epiphany

February 16, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Matthew 5:21-37

‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

‘It was also said, “Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.” But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. –Matthew 5:27-32

Police yourself not everyone else. Our sins against God are not lessened by comparing ourselves to someone else we deem more sinful. God loves all of God’s children and understands each of us completely. We have only a glimmer of understanding of why another person behaves the way they do.

I remember laughing when comedian Redd Foxx would cover his “misdeeds” by saying the devil made me do it implying that he had no control over his behavior. Truth is we control our choices. We allow what starts as a routine act to grow into an out-of-control temptation. I realized years ago when I got busy and stressed in my work, instead of eating a salad I brought from home for lunch, I would start driving through fast food restaurants and grab a healthy sandwich to eat on my way to my next meeting. As my busyness and stress continued my orders suddenly grew till, I was routinely ordering a double cheeseburger with fries and driving distracted without even tasting my food. Self-examination and self-understanding are key to curbing bad behavior and we do that best as a spiritual discipline asking God who knows us best to help us see ourselves and make good choices. Another TV comedian, Barney Fife, provided the antidote to out-of-control behavior, “Just nip it in the bud”.

Prayer: Forgive me Lord when I allow my choices to be ruled by things other than what is best for me, others, or for my work in serving you. Thank you for your guidance and love in teaching me how to make better choices. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Choices

Epiphany

February 10, 2020

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. –Deuteronomy 30:15-18

Choices—life is always about choices. Eat the apple of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and die. God chose not to follow through on that outcome and Adam and Eve did not die but the story tells us from the beginning of time our lives and the results of our lives depend on our choices—good and evil. The challenge of the world is that choosing the good can seem to have bad results; choosing evil for a time can seem to be the greatest thing in the world.

I do not know if parents still try to teach their children to make good choices. Some I fear encourage, not anything they perceive as evil, but things that are expedient or short cuts to success that really are wrapped in evil. Pursuing these other gods at any costs like greed, power, status in the world, all rank as the ways to get ahead; the ways to be successful in life whether they relate to who one really is or what actualizes their best talents and the deepest desires of their hearts.

God demonstrated God can make choices that are good for others. Good wants us to model those choices in our lives and support good choices in the lives of all God’s children.

Prayer: Lord, guide our choice making and help us support others find your guidance in their choices. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Cravings at War within Us

Living in the Spirit
September 21, 2018

Scripture Reading: James 3:13-4:3, 7-8

Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. –James 4:3, 7-8

How much of the discord in our world today is the direct result of greed? I really had never thought about that until I read the above scripture. Surely, the answer is most discord is caused by greed. Is greed so entrenched in our individual beings we think it is normal behavior?

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. (1 Timothy 6:10)

The knowledge of the fact that humans can easily be seduced by the love of money tells us that we make a choice when we love anything more than God and we control the choices we make. The hope in that statement is that once we accept the realness of the power of the love of money over our very being, we can choose to refocus our love on God. The result will be the end of all kinds of evil.

Some examples taken from recent headlines might be helpful:

  • I am rich; therefore, I should not get the same sentence as the non-rich for the same crime or even be charged at all.
  • I am rich; therefore, I have sexual license to do anything I want to anyone I want at any time without consequence.
  • I am rich; therefore, I am rescued from natural disasters first even when I am in less peril than others.
  • I am rich; therefore, I can buy legislation that will support my getting richer to the detriment of many.

There is an alternative. Much good comes from the contributions of the rich to bettering the world. Jesus even indicated that is what he intended for them to do.

From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded. (Luke 12:48b)

Prayer: Forgive us, Lord, when we are overcome by greed. Guide our choices in how we used the abundance in our lives. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Choices

Eastertide
April 4, 2018

Scripture Reading: Psalm 133
How very good and pleasant it is
   when kindred live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
   running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
   running down over the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon,
   which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing,
   life for evermore.

 God likes it when we get along. The world was designed with just that in mind. The earth is a very complex ecosystem that supports a beautiful diversity of plants and animals, earth and water, men and women. All are important and necessary for our world to thrive. This is the oneness Christ desired for us.

Our response is lukewarm at best and downright evil at worst. Humans are capable of being selfish. We will work toward oneness when there is something in it for us, which is not true oneness at all. This is best illustrated by Heaven and Hell: The Parable of the Long Spoons* by Sofo Archon. Hell is a place full of starving people who would not be starving if they feed each other. Heaven is the opposite, a place where people readily feed each other and flourish as a result.

God created humans with the power of choice. Along with that responsibility, we are also required to face the consequences of our choices. God did not leave us without guidance. Many of the stories of God and God’s peoples are recorded for our use, prophets brought messages from God in ancient times and still speak today. God sent Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to help us make wise choices. Perhaps the most important choice we make is accessing and applying these readily available resources.

Prayer: Thank you God for the world in which we live, the freedom to think and make choices, and the ever-present help you provide in our journey of faith. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Finding Faith

faith-and-justiceLiving in the Spirit
October 16, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 18:1-8

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.”’ And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’

When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’ Strong’s concordance indicates that faith is always a gift from God*. It is a gift given to all. I doubt if many perceive of faith as a gift from God to accept or not. I wonder if faith in God appears on most of our wish lists. If it were possible to post the gift of faith on a resale site, would we see if we can sell it for something better? Is that rather like what we do as we search for gods of our own making?

Faith includes the attribute of confidence necessary for our successful journeying through life. I am a basketball fan. It is not unusual to hear a commentator talking about a rookie player having to gain the confidence of his playing before he fully develops as a seasoned professional. How much of our flailing through life results from our failure to engage God’s gift of confidence included in the package of faith?

Faith is the source of God’s divine persuasion* that channels us through rough waters as well as seemingly harmless stagnant pools. God brings together our desires with God’s insights to strengthen our growth and development as we strive to attain God’s purpose and our own which somehow become the same.

On Jesus’ return if justice is not the rule of the land, he surely might wonder what happened to all the faith he gave us.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your gift of faith that enables us to be sources of justice in our world now. Amen.

*http://biblehub.com/greek/4102.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Daily Salvation

Mary Anointing Jesus' feetLent Holy Week April 1, 2015

Scripture Reading: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 I thank you that you have answered me    and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected    has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing;    it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made;    let us rejoice and be glad in it. — Psalm 118:21-24 

Salvation is a big word packed with meaning and meaningfulness but it may be the moment by moment points of salvation in each of our lives when we are truly saved. I don’t know about you but my world generally moves from busy to busy. I keep thinking once I get “that” done, whatever “that” is, I can rest and then something else pops up and I retarget my time for rest until I get the next “that” done. It is the moments of God’s grace sprinkled through my days that sustain and nourish me.

Wednesday of Holy Week has no real designation for emphasis. It is a day to prepare, a day for Jesus to be nourished. Tradition indicates that it is the day a Mary, we do not know which Mary, anointed Jesus’ feet with oil. (John 12:2) Some identify this as an act of preparation for his burial. I think it was the act of someone who saw his anguish and wished in some small way to relieve it.

Wednesday of Holy Week is also by tradition the day Judas betrayed Jesus. We will probably always question how one of Jesus’ disciples could sell him out. How many times have we each reneged on our commitment to God for a lesser god like money or power? It just takes a second, a spur of the moment to take that step. Indeed, each day is a day that God has given us to love or not. Our scripture today invites us to take the higher road and rejoice in the opportunity to serve God through our love.

 Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.*

 Prayer: O Lord, guard my moments and my days let them flow in ceaseless praise. Amen.

*First verse of Take My Life and Let It Be by Frances R. Havergal see hymn at http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/t/a/k/takemyli.htm All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cleansing Demons

Cleansing DemonsEpiphany
Celebration of God
Manifested in the World
February 7, 2015

 Scripture Reading: Mark 1:29-39

That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.  — 1:23-34

Being demon possessed means one has come under the control of a fallen angel.* When one is demon possessed he or she is settling for something less than God. I fear we are all guilty of fooling ourselves at times by worshiping something less than God. Making such a choice fractures our relationship with God. Like Fred Sandford who oft said, “The Devil made me do it”, we don’t take responsibility for our own choices of following the easy, perhaps more mesmerizing, path instead of the road less travelled that provides far greater substance and sustenance for our souls.

In our times of digital communications when we can say instantly what we feel and think, we sometimes do not consider how our comments might be received. I do not know how many times I have written something that truly reflected what I was feeling at that moment. On rereading it, I noticed how petty it sounded. My tiredness, my frustration with my computer or whatever else is distracting me, or perhaps with the issue shines through with all its lack of glory. I have communicated the demon within me rather than the message God wishes my correspondent(s) to receive. I now try to proofread everything with this in mind. In my busyness, however, I sometimes miss something. I have found the process to be rather cathartic. It is my way of inviting God to cleanse me of the demons I am allowing into my everyday life. My hope is that someday I will be freed from those demons so I will not have to do so much rewriting being God focused will just come naturally to me.

Prayer: Lord, cleanse our hearts and our minds of the demons that rob us of energy that could be used more productively in your service. Amen.

*http://biblehub.com/greek/1139.htm
**See Robert Frost poem, The Road Not Taken at http://www.bartleby.com/119/1.html

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.