Author Archives: WOJ@deborahsdescendants.com

The Spirit of God

Living in the Spirit

May 30, 2021

Scripture Reading:

John 3:1-17

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? –John 3:10-17

Having lived in Oklahoma most of my life, I have no problem understanding the phrase: The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. When the person reporting the weather here says the wind will be light today, they probably mean between 15 and 20 miles an hour. Known primarily for oil and gas, Oklahoma ranked third in the nation in electricity generation from wind in 2020. The Greek word, pneuma, translated wind in this scripture, can also mean spirit or breath*. Paul uses the adjective form pneumatikos more specifically to designate the spiritual. In so doing, he creates a metaphor for understanding the unpredictable nature of the Spirit. (I am glad I did not get the assignment to translate scripture but appreciate the work of those who did.)

Life is unpredictable. I have my rituals from day to day based on the “normal” flow of my life, and then suddenly, something happens, turning my plans upside-down. Such intrusions may be good or bad, nuisance or Major disasters, limited opportunities, or a significant job promotion. God is with us through it all. I am amazed at God’s desire to synchronize all the activities of God’s people to target them toward a Kingdom ruled by love. Even more stunning is God’s determination that I could be of help in making it happen. That is God’s vision and goal. When we think about that, we can understand the need for and importance of the one we call Spirit to weave us together in love.

Prayer: Lord, that you for the gift of the Spirit. Help us welcome the Spirits leading and give us the courage to follow them. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/4151.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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

God’s Journey of Love

Living in the Spirit

May 29, 2021

Scripture Reading: John 3:1-17

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? –John 3:1-9

Faith in Jesus Christ seems to boil down to a choice. I have wondered why God created us with free will. God highly values having a mutual relationship with humans, and God desires that relationship to be reciprocal. We call that relationship with God love; love does not exist on a one-way street.

The English language dumps a whole lot of meaning on the word love. We use it as a stronger word than like to describing the very essence of God. The Greek Language used in the New Testament has six different words for love. We are most familiar with agape—God’s love, éros—love between a couple, and philía—Sibling love. I work from the definition of human love as wanting the absolute best for another. Our love of God is a deep desire to live within the standards of God’s love shared with us.

Thus, we are born as humans made in the image of God. At some point, we must decide to love like God or not. That choice opens the window of our souls to the indwelling of the Spirit of God and sets us on the path to wholeness and oneness with God and living justly with all God’s other children.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the gift of the Spirit to lead and guide us on your incredible journey of 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.

Caught between Flesh and Spirit

Living in the Spirit

May 28, 2021

Scripture Reading:

Romans 8:12-17
So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

We live in an age of paradox. Many seem to have no control over “the flesh”—anything of the world. I do not want to read another story or hear another news report about people of power—politicians or the wealthy or celebrities or clergy who are caught in adultery or some sexual deviance, even sex trafficking of children. Some of those same people want to control every aspect of the lives of others on issues they may have created by locking people into poverty, limiting their educational opportunities, and ignoring their health care. Jesus called them hypocrites.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practise what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. . . . ‘But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. (Matthew 23:1-4, 13-15)

Those caught in the middle between self-righteousness and injustice are called to address such hypocrisy or become a part of the problem.

Prayer: Lord, make us doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves*. Amen.

*From James 1:22

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.

God’s Heirs

Living in the Spirit

May 27, 2021

Scripture Reading:

Romans 8:12-17

So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

I dubbed my mother the great egalitarian many years ago when I first became acquainted with the word. I do not ever remember calling her that to her face, but my brother and sister agreed it was an apt descriptor. Treating others equally was in her bones. I think it came directly from the Bible, which she studied ardently. She acknowledged and practiced the words of Paul that we are children of God and thus all heirs.

Besides the world and all that is in it, what have we inherited from God? First and foremost, we have received the gift of unconditional love. Having been made in the image of God, we, too, can love unconditionally. God with us in the person of Jesus modeled for us God’s love even going to the cross. In creating each of us in God’s image, we were given skills to make God’s world a place of shalom–completeness, soundness, welfare, peace. We, in turn, must want that type of existence and dedicate our lives to attaining it.

That sounds cut and dried, but it is not. To maximize our skills and contribution to making that vision a reality, we must not only do all we can to realize God’s Kingdom but also help everyone reach their highest potential as we work together. And that is the truth my mother gleaned from her Bible study.

Prayer: Lord, help us dedicate our lives to reaching our potential while enabling all to meet theirs. 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.

Removing Rust

Living in the Spirit

Living in the Spirit

May 26, 2021

Scripture Reading: Psalm 29

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
   the God of glory thunders,
   the Lord, over mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
   the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
   the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
   and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
   the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. –Psalm 29:3-8

How do we visualize God in our minds? Do we personify God, seeing the image of a human perhaps sitting on a throne? Do we perceive God’s presence with no visual identity? Is God’s image in your mind’s eye that of a loving father or an angry ruler or both or something else? Read through the quote from Psalm 29 above and consider how the Psalmist identified the voice of God. Most of us live in areas that are threatened at some time each year with floods, tornados, hurricanes, fires, or volcanos. These forces are fully capable of destroying everything around them. Yesterday, I saw pictures of the damage hurricanes did during the last year in Honduras. The homes were splintered wood on the ground peppered here and there with a bedframe or broken table. Worse yet, their crops were ruined—their source of livelihood gone in a split second. The story was about a young man trekking to North American in search of work to feed his family. He was turned back at the Mexican border.

I do not think the Psalmist writes to scare us. The poem highlights that God is more powerful than all the frightening experiences of life. We most often forget that truth when our lives are going well, and we begin to focus our attention on what Paul would call the flesh or the enticements of the world. That results in our getting rusty in our relationship with God–that is no place to be.

During 2020, we were thrown into multiple experiences of turmoil. We are now trying to deal with the challenges of pandemics and societal realities like racism and poverty we do not want to admit exists. Before we can refocus our priorities on the ways of God, we have a lot of rust we need to remove. The wonderful thing about an all-powerful God is God is stronger than any rust we may have developed that separates us from God. Getting rid of it may be painful as we have grown rather attached to it. God promises that God’s love can make all things new, if we follow God’s wisdom.

Prayer: Lord, remove the rust from our faith and bring us to wholeness in 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.

Living in the Spirit

Greed vs Love

May 25, 2021

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.’
The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’ –Isaiah 6:1-5

Where is love?
Does it fall from skies above?
Is it underneath the willow tree
That I’ve been dreaming of?*

The orphan Oliver is cast out of the orphanage into a frightening world where he feels no one cares what happens to him. I sense that many of us may be feeling that way about our relationship with God. The last year has not been easy. Loved ones were gravely ill; others died. Work and earning a living were turned upside down. Some switched from an office to a computer at home and never lost any income. Others lost their jobs. Children fell behind in their learning, and many parents found themselves staying home from work not only to care for their children but to be their teachers, too. As an active retiree, I felt relatively worthless during those first few months of the pandemic when the best help I could give was to stay home, wear a mask, and socially distance. If God indeed is love, then where is love in times like these?

When I read the above scripture, I thought of Oliver in the first stages of shock from feeling he was without anyone who cared about whether he lived or died. And, yes, I too think that was a rather odd reaction to this scripture. After pondering, I do no longer think it is strange. Isaiah saw the need for change in his people’s ways of being because of the situation in which they found themselves. They were a tribe of people who Keep listening, but do not comprehend** Jesus quoted this scripture in Matthew 13:13, and it describes us today.

We live in a world where the rich are getting richer, as the number of people grows who do not have enough resources to meet basic needs. That does not reflect a world ruled by God’s love. It does mirror a people putting greed over God.  Exile was where the Israelites landed. Where are we headed?

Denial of the need to correct our courses is a typical reaction. Being bound in that attitude only makes matters worse. Seeking God’s guidance, listening, hearing, and restoring our commitment to God’s plan is the path to fulfilling God’s vision of a Kingdom ruled by love.

Prayer: Lord, open our ears to hear your wisdom and give us the courage to follow it. Amen.

*Lines from musical Oliver from the song Where is Love?  See at https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/3270758/Mark+Lester/Where+Is+Love%3F+%5BFrom+Oliver%21%5D
**From Isaiah 6:9

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.

Send Me

Living in the Spirit

May 24, 2021

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.’

The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen King, the Lord of hosts!’

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’

Have we seen the King, the Lord of hosts? Where? Where do we see God at work in our lives or the lives of others? Or are we like Saul, a devout Pharisee of Pharisees? He never broke the law or missed a worship service or a class and paid his tithe on time in the proper amount.  He was diligently trying to rid the world of those pesky Christ-followers claiming Jesus was the Messiah, claiming he died to save all of God’s children. Saul even stood at the side, and approvingly watched Stephen, a Christ-follower, being stoned to death. Saul soon left Jerusalem to continue his work protecting his tradition among the people of Damascus when he had a direct encounter with Jesus Christ and was forever changed.

Few have such a direct encounter with the Lord, but we all have a call from God to serve. The above scripture describes Isaiah’s experience with the understanding that God was calling him to speak God’s truth to the people of Israel. Isaiah, at first, could not see in himself the skills it would take to answer that call as he was a man of unclean lips being sent to a people of unclean lips. God cleansed him of his fear and self-doubt, enabling Isaiah to answer Hear am I; send me!

We each were created with skills that are necessary to establish God’s Kingdom in this world. We need to pray for guidance in finding our niche and work with all our energy and courage to fulfill the task set before us. Yes, we do need to worship and study and support the church’s ministry, but that is just the foundation. Our calling is to tell and show the whole world about God’s love as we love our neighbors across the lands until God’s Kingdom is realized.

Prayer: Lord, open our minds and hearts to seek our calling and grant us the courage to fulfill it. 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.

Called By the Spirit

Pentecost

May 23, 2021

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’ –Acts 2:1-13

The coming of the Holy Spirit was one of those events where one had to be there to describe what happened. Even with in-person witnesses, it was hard to explain. The event got the message across to Peter that the time had come to take the message of Jesus Christ to the whole world. What better means to do that than to have a large crowd of people who spoke various languages understand what Peter was saying. These people were sent home with curiosity to pave the way for the Disciples’ ministry. It also gave the Disciples courage to step out into strange lands, knowing that God would find a way for them to communicate God’s love.

We are called to share the love of God with the whole world still today. The world as a whole certainly needs to understand the power of God’s love. We are caught in a difficult time filled with people who have more than they need and people who do not have enough to meet their basic needs. The percent of people in the USA today who identify as Christians has dropped steadily for several years. Some Christians are caught in as much greed and lust for power as the non-faith-based populations in the USA. Other parts of the world are in a far worse condition where greater numbers of God’s children are dying from starvation or being killed by the ravages of terrorists.

How are we answering the call to love God and love like Jesus? Are we feeding the hungry, providing safe water for the thirsty, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, restoring the prisoner, and welcoming the stranger?

Prayer: Lord, visit us once again with the strength of your Spirit to help us know we can love as you love and address the needs of all your children everywhere. 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.

Cluttered Souls

Eastertide

May 22, 2021

Scripture Reading: John 3:1-17

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is Spirit. –John:1-6

According to the Christian Calendar based on Acts 2, tomorrow is the anniversary of the day we now call Pentecost, where God shared the gift of the Holy Spirit with all Christ-followers. John 20:22 records Jesus giving his disciples the gift of the Spirit after the Resurrection. I think both instances are valid. The Spirit has always been with us throughout the story of God. Sometimes we need to be reminded of that.

God created us as sentient beings able to discern right from wrong. That characteristic is necessary if we are to understand and practice God’s righteousness. I think God wanted partners, not puppets. Partners must internalize God’s mission and intentionally choose to make it their own. God came to dwell among us in the person of Jesus and remains with us in the presence of the Holy Spirit. We are never left alone without help as we strive to follow the example of Jesus Christ.

Whoever wrote the book of John surely had access to Paul’s writing as that person, too, differentiated between the flesh and the Spirit. There is a purity about the Spirit that we can sometimes miss if our humanness, our flesh, gets in the way. I call them filters. From birth forward, humans create filters to simplify our lives. Children touch a hot object that burns them, and instantly their minds start building a filter that says do not touch hot things. Filters are necessary, but when our filters build up some messages, they can be dangerous to our lives and our connections to the Spirit. I think it was in David Wilkerson’s story recorded in The Cross and the Switchblade where he described learning not to call God father when working with children in the intercity. Fathers to many of them were undependable flashes in their lives.

We are called to love like Jesus, and that requires us to look for the dirty filters in ourselves that limit our ability to love others. We must retain our relationship with the Spirit to keep our filters clean. We are called to love one another, enabling others to form a relationship with the Spirit.

Prayer: Lord, search me and cleanse me of any wicked ways. Help my love to enable others to free their souls of clutter, too.  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.

Adopted

Eastertide

May 21, 2021

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:12-17
So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our Spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

I enjoy the Finding Your Roots program on PBS. That should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me and my fascination with genealogy. Tracing the ancestry of slaves in the USA gets dicey before the Civil War because they were most often treated as animals in formal documents with no names listed. Their age, sex, and financial worth are usually all that is recorded. Occasionally, searchers are surprised to find where a slave owner had legally freed a slave. Even rarer, following the Civil War, some slave owners deeded land to former slaves to start them on their way to self-sufficiency like they would their child. I thought of that when I read this sentence in the above scripture: For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption.

There is something incredibly special about adoption. Perhaps the circumstances of needing to be adopted are painful, but having parents seal their acceptance and love for one by their choice through adoption is life-changing. As Paul describes it here, God’s gift of the Holy Spirit is that seal of acceptance. Some come to accept the love of God from a loving family with God as its center. Others stumble into discovering God in a drug treatment center or prison or a sudden realization that living the good life is not living much at all. God accepts us as we are, adopts us, and blesses us with the presence of that Spirit. We may not know what the next moment may bring, but we will always know God will be with us no matter what.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for accepting us just as we are and providing the guidance we need to become all that we can be. 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.