Category Archives: Daily Devotion

Trampling on the Needy

Living in the Spirit

Bottles of Gatorade are pictured, left, a 32 fluid ounce and 28 fluid ounce, in Glenside, Pa., Monday, June 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

July 11, 2022

Scripture Reading: Amos 8:1-12

Hear this, you that trample on the needy,
   and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
saying, ‘When will the new moon be over
   so that we may sell grain;
and the sabbath,
   so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah small and the shekel great,
   and practice deceit with false balances,
buying the poor for silver
   and the needy for a pair of sandals,
   and selling the sweepings of the wheat.’ –Amos 8:4-6

I keep a supply of antacids at my house and buy them in large quantity bottles, thus I do not buy them often. I do not like to shop. I noticed the bottle was almost empty so I purchased a new one the next time I was in the pharmacy. When I picked up the bottle, I noticed that it was only about 75% full. I opened the lid to see if the seal had been broken and if the pills were missing. The seal was in place. I paid for the medicine and took it home. Since it is something, I routinely buy I did not read the labels. The old bottle indicated that it contained 160 tablets. The new label read 140 tablets. The price was the same for both. I guess the company had a backlog of bottles, so they used them and just changed the labels. The rules of supply and demand have been shattered by the COVID pandemic. We are struggling to find a new normal.

This, however, is a good time for us to consider how much our society is driven by greed. Price gouging because we can, is not acceptable. Reducing the number of pills in a bottle is not necessarily price gouging. It also was not a transparent increase in price. Pricing pharmaceuticals because they are desperately needed at higher and higher prices is greed. For example, insulin has been insulin for years. You may be able to obtain it in a fancier delivery system, but the medicine is still the same and should not cost more because lives depend on it. Oil companies control supply by whether they drill or not and whether they pump actual wells or not. Supply dictates the price they can charge for the oil they produce. They, indeed, may need to reinvest in drilling which will impact pricing, but they must not overdo it.

Prayer: Lord, help us to recognize greed for what it is and guide us to a better way of using our resources. 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 God’s Timing

Living in the Spirit

July 10, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 10:25-37

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’ –Luke 10:29-37

Who indeed is our neighbor? The USA has worked hard over the years to segment our society with red lines and highway construction separating people by race and income. The principalities and powers have taken it upon themselves to define who can live with whom over the years that we are just now trying to seriously correct. Oklahoma City was hit last night by a storm called a microburst, a localized column of sinking air, that can cause a lot of damage in a small area. We apparently had more than one. What I noticed this morning, as the news showed pictures of people cleaning up the mess, was that the neighborhood included a very diverse group of residents and they were all working together to return their neighborhood to wholeness.

God’s love is infinite. This story shares that concept well. Another scripture that applies is when Jesus is asked how many times must we forgive someone, seven times? Jesus’s response was seven times seventy. (Matthew 18:22) Jesus may have been recalling Genesis 4:24–If Cain is avenged sevenfold,    truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold.’ The number seven in the Israelite culture represented completeness.

God’s love exceeds any boundary we might want to set. We must be very sure when we make decisions about our interactions with others that we are well aligned with God’s will and ways.

Prayer: Lord, as we deal with people help us to clearly understand your desire for our interaction. Guide us in understanding our time to help and our time to refrain from helping apart from our setting our own boundaries 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.

Loving Like Jesus

Living in the Spirit

July 9, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 10:25-37

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’ –Luke 10:25-28

These words spill easily off the lips of most of us who were raised in a church. I wonder if we know what they mean. What does Jesus imply when he says, do this, and you will live. Some may read that as the promise of eternal life. We might think that if we love others, we will live in a society that protects one another. The Greek word, zaó, translated here as life means to experience God’s gift of life, emphatically, and in the Messianic sense, to enjoy real life, i. e. to have true life and worthy of the name — active, blessed, endless in the kingdom of God*. This life is not just something to look forward to in the future. It was gifted to us by God when he breathed the breath of life** into each of us.

What we do with the life we are given is the purpose of the above scripture. Life is not life if it does not answer the command to love God and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. For some reason, I fear, we have failed in understanding that each and all of God’s creations are loveable. As I compare the backgrounds of the young men who have been accused of recent mass shootings, I keep seeing people who do not love themselves. We can identify them at very young ages. We can teach people how to love themselves. We can teach children how to share their love rather than make fun of someone they do not understand. Before that can happen, we adults, need to learn the lesson too. Need to learn to love ourselves, want the very best for ourselves, and want the very best for all others. We must model love for all our children. The best role model I know for refining our ability to love is Jesus, the Christ. Now is a great time to read through the gospels and search out Jesus’s love in action.

Prayer: Lord, show us again how to love like you until we get it right. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/2198.htm

See Genesis 2:7

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.

Reaching for Higher Ground

Living in the Spirit

Scripture Reading: Colossians 1:1-14

July 8, 2022

For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. –Colossians 1:9-14

We are surrounded by some meaningless and some mean distractions in our lives and in our elections. Candidates will say what they think you want to hear to get you to vote for them whether they agree with what they are saying or not and whether the job they are running for has any input into the situations about which they harp. It no doubt started with racism. For years now gun and abortion stances have been added. As some lose their power new ones are identified. The lgbtqia2s+ community is a major target now. I voted in the primary for a man whose only ad I saw once. He stood with his hand on the back of a chair shared his name, and said he was running for the US Senate. He would work to provide jobs that pay a living wage, good public schools, affordable college, access to health care for everyone, and a safe community. He added no bells and whistles and showed no ugly pictures and half-truths about his opponents. He lost but I thank him for doing the right thing, for taking the higher ground. I wish his example would be followed by others.

I have always loved the hymn, Higher Ground, and believe that is what Paul is calling the people of Colossae to reach for and that calling includes us, too.

I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining ev’ry day;
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

Refrain:
Lord, lift me up, and let me stand
By faith, on heaven’s tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay;
Though some may dwell where these abound,
My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.

I want to live above the world,
Though Satan’s darts at me are hurled;
For faith has caught a joyful sound,
The song of saints on higher ground*.

Prayer:
Lord, lift me up, and let [us] stand
By faith, on heaven’s tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant [our] feet on higher ground. Amen.

Refrain and first three verses of the hymn I’m pressing on the upward way by Johnson Oatman, Jr. see at https://hymnary.org/text/im_pressing_on_the_upward_way

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.

Better Together

Living in the Spirit

July 7, 2022

Scripture Reading: Colossians 1:1-14

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit. –Colossians 1:1-8

Recently, I watched the Thunder basketball team’s first game in the summer league. All the players were there because they had achieved great respect as basketball players before they were drafted to the NBA. The players may have had a few practices before this game but mostly they came without much experience in playing with one another. At first, a small amount of chaos occurred within both teams. Team sports to succeed requires precision in working together. Players learn how a particular team member catches the ball leading to an advantageous shot at the goal, for example. Every team member has an important contribution to make the success of the game.

In Paul’s letters to the churches he helped create, he always recognize how well, or not, the members worked together. Not only in how much they excelled in sharing their talents but also in how well they enabled their fellow workers to realize their gifts and implement their use. We are all part of the crew developing the beloved community.

The world is trying hard to divide and conquer God’s people. God can and will empower us to rise above those distractions and hasten the coming of the Kingdom of God.

Prayer: Lord, enable us to serve together and find common ground for the Common Good. 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.

Relating to God

Living in the Spirit

July 6, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 25:1-10

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust;
   do not let me be put to shame;
   do not let my enemies exult over me.
Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
   let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
   teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
   for you are the God of my salvation;
   for you I wait all day long.

Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
   for they have been from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
   according to your steadfast love remember me,
   for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!

Good and upright is the Lord;
   therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right,
   and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
   for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

This scripture describes a very personal, close relationship with God, a relationship available to all of us. It is based on trust that the ways of the Lord are the best for us. Let us use this scripture to guide our meditation today as we work to embrace our relationship with God. Guide us to be the best people we can be.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we get so caught up with the distractions of our world and fail to let our relationship with you be our guide. 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.

More than Enough

Living in the Spirit

July 5, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Deuteronomy 30:9-14

and the Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, when you obey the Lord your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.

The Hebrew word, yathar, translated above as abundantly prosperous literally means to remain over*–having more than enough. I regret the translator’s choice of the word abundantly prosperous, while technically it is correct, these words in our culture are most often related to financial riches.  I do not think that is what is being described.  Reading further in the scripture, we see that such abundance comes when we obey the Lord our God by observing God’s commandment, turning to the Lord our God with all our hearts and with all our souls.

I saw on the news descriptions of Pride Week where a woman whose son shared with her that he was gay at first reacted very negatively based on her religious upbringing. It was not until she was able to love her son for who he was that she overcame her reaction to him. She went even further and started the group Free Mom Hugs – embracing. loving. empowering. She travels the country as do others giving out Mom hugs to persons in the LGBTQ community. That is an illustration of abundant love. Today, the news introduced a man who is now sharing Dad hugs since he lost his gay son in a car wreck in 2020.

We are commanded to love God and love one another. Are we sharing our abundance of love with others?

Prayer:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life*. Amen

*Prayer of St. Francis

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.

Inline with God

Living in the Spirit

July 4, 2022

Scripture Reading: Amos 7:7-17

This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘A plumb-line.’ Then the Lord said,
‘See, I am setting a plumb-line
   in the midst of my people Israel;
   I will never again pass them by;
the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
   and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
   and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.’ –Amos 7:7-9

This is one of the most influential scriptures in the Bible for me. The idea that God sets a marker to help us be as sturdy and steadfast in our faith and relationship with God as we can possibly be is life-changing. My home was damaged in 2011 by an earthquake that separated my cement porch from my crawl space house. I had to have two piers installed to address that issue. What I did not realize was that the window frames and the doors were all thrown out of place. In the beginning, the problem was not noticeable, but time has taken its toll. I am now having to repair the breach that was created. Life can be like that. We get caught in habits and situations that make us not realize when we are out of alignment with God.

Two other scriptures come to mind. In Isaiah 58:12 we are called to be repairers of the breach in our world.
Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
   you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
   the restorer of streets to live in.

And Matthew 11:28-30

‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

Staying in line with God’s plan and modeling our lives after Jesus takes all the burden off us of chasing after fulfillment in all the wrong places.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the guidance we need to thrive in the world you created for us. 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.

Beloved Community

Living in the Spirit

July 3, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’ –Luke 10:17-20

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. –Romans 8:38-39

Church lore passed on by word of mouth, reports that Luke was martyred–hung from a tree. We will probably never know if he died for his faith. He certainly lived for it. We, too, are called to live our faith. I think Luke is speaking with the understanding that by faith we live on a higher ground where God’s love supersedes any harm we may encounter. Paul’s statement, quoted above from Romans, describes that plain. I remember several years ago an elderly couple was kidnaped, probably for their car and money, at a shopping mall and found later by the side of the road dead. I remember vividly the couple’s son in a TV interview, saying his parents would have done anything for anyone, they probably tried to help their assailant. They died knowing that God was with them and that gave the son comfort. They lived on that higher plain.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, churches in the USA veered toward emphasizing individual salvation creating a reservation in heaven for eternity. That played well with the increasing emphasis on profit-making, where our actions are defined by determining what is in it for me? Indeed, there is nothing more important in our lives than our salvation through Jesus Christ, but it is a beginning, not an end. It is available to everyone as Jesus called us to be one and to strive for a world ruled by love. God’s greatest worship moment will be when all his children strive first for the Kingdom of God—God’s beloved community.  

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we stray from our duties of loving our neighbors as we love ourselves because we think we are better than our neighbors. Open our hearts and minds to building your beloved community. 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.

Sharing God’s Love

Living in the Spirit

Living in the Spirit

July 2, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

July 2, 2022

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.”

‘Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.’ –Luke 101-11, 16

How do we take the word of God to the ends of the earth? I worked as a waitress when I was in high school and remember vividly waiting on two young men whose tip was a piece of paper fashioned after the dollar bill but with wording that said something to the effect that seeking a relationship with God is the best tip you will ever get. Now I have never thought I was materialistic, but it might have left a better impression on me if they had tossed a quarter or something with it. I now think we should do away with tipping. The minimum wage for people who receive tips today is $2.13. They have to verify that they received enough tips to make up the $5.12 difference between the tip minimum wage and the regular minimum wage which for most people is below the poverty level. Tip workers never know what their income will be.

I do not think my mother would have allowed me to make a spectacle of myself shaking the dirt off my shoes in protest against someone not welcoming me. I do think we need to be judicial about how we approach people and choose wisely the timing of our sharing our faith with others. I do not know how many funerals I have sat through when, at some point, the preacher said your time is coming and it is time for you to get right with God. At such times, the preacher may be doing more harm than good. I also think we need to recognize that this reaction described in this scripture was probably cultural. Opening one’s home to travelers and giving them food and water was the courteous thing to do in the first century. They did not have a Motel 6 or McDonald’s just around the corner.

Jesus commanded us to welcome the stranger. Thus, I do think it was very important to him. He did chase the money changers out of the temple, so he had no problem seeking justice. And the people being reproached were most likely Jewish and understood their faith and cultural responsibilities.  How do we share the love of God in a society where people are leaving the church because they have lost faith in the institution?

Prayer: Lord, help us discern how to spread your love throughout the world and grant us the courage to love like Jesus. 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.