Monthly Archives: November 2020

Evil Divides

Living in the Spirit

November 10, 2020

Scripture Reading: Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18
Be silent before the Lord God!
For the day of the Lord is at hand’
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice,
he has consecrated his guest.

-I will bring distress upon people.
That they shall walk like the blind;
Because they have sinned against the Lord,
their blood shall be poured out like dust
And their flesh like dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold
Will be able to save them
On the day of the Lord’s wrath;
In the fire of his passion
The whole earth shall be consumed;
For a full , a terrible end
He will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

My intellectual self does not deal well with scriptures like the one above that describes God quite differently than my God who is love. My spiritual self can identify with getting fed up with complacency in the face of issues that desperately need to be addressed whether in personal lives or in society. Several years ago, a loved one was heavily involved in activities that were clearly missing the mark in my judgment. I prayed that God would forgive that person’s sins. I was immediately struck by a strong message that it was not my place to ask for forgiveness for this other or any other. Ever since that event, I take very seriously Jesus’ statement that he is the judge not me or anyone else. The social worker in me, however, does not ever want to give up on anyone and I think we can speak truth to life situations when needed without passing judgment as we walk with others through challenging times.

Problems arise when the actions of some are detrimental to others in society. Here we face the call to do justice, which inevitably involves dealing with individuals or groups oppressing other individuals or groups. I note that all the references in the scripture above are descriptive of society, people together with caring or not caring for one another. Is that indicative of forces of evil working to divide and conquer the children of God?  How do we turn around from evil’s interference and reclaim the wholeness that comes from the love of God? I think it starts with each of us turning to God and seeking insight into whether or how much we have been caught in such a web of evil and turning away from it. We then must reclaim our roles as members of the Body of Christ charged with bringing the whole world into the fold of God’s loving care.

Prayer: God of Love and Mercy, forgive me from any form of behavior that is detrimental to the development of your vision of our world. Open my eyes to see where I am a part of problems we face whether by my complacency or my overt actions. Show me the better road to follow.  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.

Equal in the Eyes of God

Living in the Spirit

November 9, 2020

The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. So the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly for twenty years.

At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgement. She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, “Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.” ’

Scripture Reading: Judges 4:1-7

Deborah was a strong woman. I named my web address after her. She held the position of judge in a very violent time. I do not believe that violence is ever the best solution to anything. Once things get out of hand, it is often the only answer. But it was not the violence that attracted her leadership to me. I liked her perseverance and her common sense.

I strongly think our nation is at a crossroad where we must decide who and what we want to be. Many are totally disgusted with our national government. Honestly, our leadership is a mirror representation of we the people. If we dig through the writings of the Hebrew Bible prophets, we will see ourselves in the people’s reflection of that time. The Bible calls them idols, which represent the lesser gods of their generation the same ones we turn to today. Their worship services included the latest and greatest innovation but were targeted at a likeness of the Creator God molded in an image that addressed their desires. Self-righteousness replaced God’s righteousness.

The image of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem prior to his crucifixion comes to my mine when I consider the state of or world. I am particularly puzzled by the prevalent attitude that people think their worth depends on being better than someone else. For those of us who claim to serve the Creator God being better than anyone else is simply impossible. God created all humans in God’s image. Our founders etched that thought into the framing of our democracy, all people are created equal. Granted those were not the actual first words, which were all men are created equal. It took a couple of hundred years for women to get the right to vote. In the beginning of our nation only landowners could vote, and black people were allotted the right to be only three-fifths human and not allowed to vote. They only received that classification because slave owners wanted a higher count of their population so they could have more representation in Congress. The indigenous people did not rate a mention. We have carried the heresy that one’s worth is based on being better than others from our founding. We do not seem to love God enough to accept his original establishment of the worth of each person. Correcting that heresy is a first step in redemption as individuals, as the Body of Christ in the world today, and as participants in the great experiment of democracy based on the equality of all.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for our failure to accept our worth as established in our very creation. Heal our souls so that we may love you and love one another as you would have us to love. 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.

Prevention

Living in the Spirit

November 8, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 25:1-13
‘Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, “Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the wise replied, “No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.” And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.” But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. —Benjamin Franklin

If 95% of people wore a mask as recommended to prevent COVID-19, 130,000 lives could be saved by February. — (NPR)

The best way to better overall health is to eat right and exercise regularly.

The best way to stop abortions is to prevent unplanned, unwanted pregnancies.

We humans tend to enjoy gambling with our lives and in the case of wearing masks, the lives of others. I wonder if that is a modern reality or an eternal trait. I have noticed that the worst sins our culture identifies relate to limited populations of people of whom the self-appointed sin judges of our society are not members. Those change over time. History tells us that being left-handed was a sin otherwise known as the mark of the devil before the 20th century. Adultery was once a capital crime. I guess it has reached herd immunity of acceptance because it seems to have dropped out of the top ten sin ratings. Self-righteousness may have become this culture’s greatest sin.

The only absolute in God’s Kingdom is love. The only herd immunity in God’s Kingdom is love. All of our ways of being must be driven by love.

Prayer: Lord of Love, open our hearts and minds to setting our priorities within the bounds of your love. 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.

Driven to Distraction

Living in the Spirit

November 7, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 25:1-13
‘Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, “Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the wise replied, “No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.” And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.” But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

The Kingdom of God is active and engaged, amazing but at the same time practical.  The story above reminds me of the story of Joseph, sold into slavery by his brother’s, he ends up an official in Egypt and saves that nation from starvation by storing grain in good years in preparation for a drought. Saved his family, too as they migrated from their homeland to Egypt in search of food. Citizens of the Kingdom of God are called continually to live in covenant with God and all of God’s creation. God created an interdependent world including a wide diversity of people, all of which must work together to operate productively.

God loved us enough to let us choose to love God. God loved us enough to create each of us with vast reservoirs of choice to fulfill our contribution to the success of God’s Kingdom. We need to plumb deeply into ourselves with the Spirit’s guidance and discover the things that brings us great joy. Living into those things will result in our best contributions to the building of God’s Kingdom. Jesus said in his final discourse with his disciples,  Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will do the work that I do and in fact, will do great works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:12-13. Please note, he did not say it would be easy. Developing God’s Kingdom requires a lot of hard work, love, and connectedness with God including a strong commitment to God’s righteousness.

Our greatest challenge is avoiding the distractions of the world. The principalities and powers* are working overtime to divide and conquer Kingdom builders. People of faith have an intense, heartfelt responsibility as we move forward out of division, pandemic, climate change, and natural disasters. With God’s help, we can do this.

Jesus said, In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!**

Prayer: Lord, guard us from the distractions of the world as we work to build God’s Kingdom. Amen.

*Ephesians 6:12
**John 16:33b

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.

Together in Love

Living in the Spirit

November 6, 2020

Scripture Reading: Amos 5:18-24
Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
   Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
   as if someone fled from a lion,
   and was met by a bear;
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
   and was bitten by a snake.
Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
   and gloom with no brightness in it?

I hate, I despise your festivals,
   and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings,
   I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
   I will not look upon.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
   I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
   and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

The day of the Lord to many Christians marks the coming of Christ and eventual return. In the Hebrew Bible the day of the Lord relates more to temporal events like the darkness of being overthrown by an enemy. Amos deals with people who are caught up in the image of a god of their own creation. A god they worship with great festivals and solemn assemblies in the very midst of great. Rome burned while Nero fiddled; Israel landed in Babylon while it ignored God’s prophets. Problems arise when our cultural lives serve as blinders for any injustice present in our world.

Our personal worth, all people’s personal worth’s began when we were created in the image of God. Our challenge is actualizing the skills and talents with which we are endowed while furthering the advancement of others made in God’s image. In creating the world, God manifested an interdependent system that works best when fueled by the force of God’s love in and among all of us. There is no place for injustice in such a schematic. Houses divided fail and fall.

We, as a nation, are very divided. Now is the time to assess our situations to seek common ground for the Common Good.

Prayer: Creator of all, forgive us for missing the mark in seeking justice for all. Guide us in finding your path toward 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.

Christ with Us

Living in the Spirit

November 5, 2020

Scripture Reading:
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Strangely this scripture is significant to me at this time, in this place. My electric company is good at keeping me posted on where they are regarding getting my electricity back on following an ice storm that downed thousands of lines. I got many emails saying they could not give me a specific time but were assessing outages in my area. I then got projections with dates and times, but they are all moving targets. I watched the website for reductions in outages. They would decrease and then pop back up higher than before as more trees fell and pulled down more lines.

I sense that Paul is addressing a similar concern regarding when Christ was going to return. “I do not know” response is not very comforting when loved ones have died before Christ’s expected return. Christ did promise to return. It is hard to understand. Life after death is a great mystery, as is Christ’s return. Two thousand years later, as a child, I heard preachers on the radio saying Christ is coming soon, often listing signs present in our society. I was a skeptic at an early age. Most of those shows ended with a request for money, so the ministry could continue warning people to get ready for Christ’s imminent arrival. In my young mind, that was a distraction from the work Christ’s expected us to do. Probably because of my skepticism, I do not put much emphasis on what is called the second coming. I do take Jesus’s gift of the Spirit seriously. In the Spirit’s presence, Christ never left. The Spirit guides us as we live out our life as part of the Body of Christ, loving our neighbors and doing justice.

Prayer: Lord, our understanding of you is driven in part by the world around us and its influences. Guide us in separating with is your way, your truth, and your life. 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.

Being the Body of Christ

Living in the Spirit

My back yard. It has already been cleaned up.

Let me give you an update on my life.  On October 26, 2020, Oklahoma was struck by an ice storm that caused major electrical outages and loss of internet connectivity particularly in the central part of the state. My house is still without either. After spending a week in a very cold house with no light I moved to a motel. I would have gone earlier but, alas, I could find no room at any inn until this week. My electric company estimates it may be back up by November 6.

I missed several days of writing my daily devotions. I will start again today. Please pray for all those who are still without electricity which often also means heat, those who do not have the resources to leave it all behind and check into a motel, and all those electricians and linemen who are working long, dangerous hours to get us back home. Thank you.

November 4, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 78:1-7

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
   incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
   I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
   that our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their children;
   we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
   and the wonders that he has done.

He established a decree in Jacob,
   and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
   to teach to their children;
that the next generation might know them,
   the children yet unborn,
and rise up and tell them to their children,
   so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
   but keep his commandments;

I am writing this the day after the 2020 election while awaiting the final counts on the presidential campaign. I love history. Thus, this scripture spoke to me of the need to pass on to coming generations our successes and failures so that that they can learn about God’s glorious deeds and learn from our successes and mistakes. My take on the challenges of 2020 is that as the Body of Christ active in the world today, we are missing the mark and need to repent and reform our way of serving Christ today. We must start by taking account of how well we are implementing Christ’s plan for our world. I wrote my book Houses Divided eight years ago, and we are even more divided today than we were in 2012.

No matter who wins the election, we followers of Christ must look deeply into God’s mirror and ascertain if the reflection we see looks and acts remotely like Jesus. We indeed need to first take the log out of [our] own eye, and then [we] will see clearly to take the speck out of [our] neighbor’s eye. (Matthew 7:5) We also not only need to listen to one another but also to hear each other.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for getting so caught up in the things of this world that we fail to love as you call us to love. 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.