Category Archives: Daily Devotion

God’s Joy

Living in the Spirit

October 31, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Mark 12:28-34

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; and “to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbor as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any question.

How far are we from the Kingdom of God? In my college freshman New Testament course 103, Professor Fred Craddock taught that salvation was a gift of grace. He drew two lines on a blackboard. The top line indicated obtaining salvation. The second line illustrated the level of good works we had done. The distance between the two revealed the presence of God’s grace, making up the shortfall. God’s grace opens the entrance for each of us into the Kingdom of God.  Indeed, one can obtain God’s grace even when there is much distance between the lines at the time. We recognize God’s love for us and accept Christ’s gift of grace. Our love of God fulfilled in this gift of grace propels us to follow Jesus’s ways of loving God and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. I imagine God knows joy when God’s followers love one another and all others. God experiences greater joy when we create a world where all are loved and valued, where all have enough of the necessities of life, and where justice prevails. When those qualities exist, we will not be far from the Kingdom of God. Indeed, we might find ourselves in it.

Prayer: God of grace and God of glory,
on thy people pour thy pow’r.
Crown thine ancient church’s story,
bring its bud to glorious flow’r.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the facing of this hour,
for the facing of this hour. 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 God

Living in the Spirit

Scripture Reading:
Mark 12:28-34

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; and “to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbor as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ After that no one dared to ask him any question.

We probably have a good idea of what it means to love with all our hearts. My spiritual director trainer shared with our class that he had not understood unconditional love until he switched roles and became his mother’s caretaker when she was helpless without voice near the end of her life. I took a test recently to determine how I communed with God and scored highest on being an intellectual, meaning I have to test everything in my mind before I can be comfortable with it. Loving God with all our minds means we can logically accept this mysterious holy one. Loving one with all my strength reminds me of the day I was working through college as a nurse’s aide. One of our patients was fully paralyzed and weighed over 300 pounds. We used a hydraulic lift to remove her from her bed and to lower her into a bathtub.  I was on one end of the lift with another aide on the other end when one of the wheels closest to me fell off. I was left balancing the lift with the patient until several people raised it enough to get the wheel back in place. God gave us adrenaline for such a time as that. I see loving God with all our strength as serving God in whatever way God calls us to act.

I saved loving God with all our souls for last; it puzzled me. The soul is who we are for eternity, but I think Jesus meant more than that. Then I thought loving one’s soul might tie into that second most important commandment of loving oneself. God created us, loves us just as we are and as we are becoming, and wants us to love ourselves as we grow and develop in relationship to God. Loving with our heart is parent love; loving with our soul is a child’s love under the protective wings of a loving parent.

Prayer: Dear Lord, in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy*. Amen.

*See Psalm 63

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.

Works as Worship

Living in the Spirit

October 29, 2021

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 9:11-14

But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!

The works we do are worship of the living God. God indeed loves our communing through prayer and meditation, praising with music, reading scriptures that remind us of the history of God from creation to eternity. However, God’s greatest joy may be witnessing our loving one another and all others.

What are those dead works that we need to cleanse from our conscience? What is sapping our energy away from the works that are worship? When and how are we guilty of directing our time, energy, and resources toward dead outcomes? Our lists will all differ, but I think it is essential that we examine our actions periodically to identify misplaced efforts and redirect our work from them. Jesus instructed the disciples when he sent them out into the world to spread the good news according to Matthew 10:14 saying: If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Discerning when the time has come to walk away is hard but perhaps not permanent. Martin Luther King Jr. instigated the Poor People’s Campaign shortly before he was assassinated in 1968. The idea went dormant for years but had a rebirth in 2017 and is active today.

Our worship works may take much longer than we would hope, but perseverance is another way to worship God. For example, advocates for health care in Oklahoma had to work for more than ten years to get Medicaid expansion approved, and it took a vote of the people to make it happen.

How much time do we spend in meetings that go nowhere and accomplish nothing? How many hours do we invest in doing things just because we have always done them? When I first joined my church, it had a robust Wednesday night dinner followed by great classes. Thirty years later, it no longer met the needs of families where both parents worked outside the home and valued their evening with their children. We eventually disbanded it.

Finally, in our fragmented world, how often do we want just to give up? We see hate and anger being encouraged in our land, divide and conquer tactics trying to separate us as a means of others obtaining power. Dead works can also describe giving up on God’s way of loving being the best way of living. We are all called to never give up on God’s love.

Prayer: Lord, guide us in examining our lives to clear out the dead works that are getting in the way of works that are worship. 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.

Serving God

Living in the Spirit

October 28, 2021

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 9:11-14

But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!

Once for all. . . obtaining eternal redemption, Jesus’s death on the cross freed us from repetitious penitence, allowing us to devote our time and talent to loving God and loving one another.  I grew up on a farm and knew the labor necessary just to head a heifer to the desired location. I remember Dad bringing home a cow that turned out to be headstrong and wild. The whole family got involved in trying to get her in the milking barn. She even swam the pond to escape the barrier we had created to capture her. Consequently, she was returned to the sale barn the following week.

The above scripture could be a good metaphor for getting distracted by the dead works that entangle us from following the plan that Jesus set forth for us. I see that plan summarized in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and Jesus telling us we will be judged on how well we care for others described in Matthew 25:31-46. I am not critical of our faith ancestors who were offering items of worth in homage to God. However, Jesus’s death and resurrection tell us that the thing most valuable to God is our giving back, by choice, the life God gave us in service and in love to actualizing God’s original vision of our world.

Prayer: God of Grace, thank you for the teachings of Jesus showing us how to serve you and for Christ’s continuing support and love as we choose to love you more dearly and serve you more nearly. 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.

Happy or Blessed

Living in the Spirit

October 27, 2021

Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:1-8

Happy are those whose way is blameless,
   who walk in the law of the Lord.
Happy are those who keep his decrees,
   who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
   but walk in his ways.
You have commanded your precepts
   to be kept diligently.
O that my ways may be steadfast
   in keeping your statutes!
Then I shall not be put to shame,
   having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
I will praise you with an upright heart,
   when I learn your righteous ordinances.
I will observe your statutes;
   do not utterly forsake me.

I just discovered that I did not know what the word “happy” means. When I read the first line of the above scripture, Happy are those whose way is blameless, my mind immediately flashed to the plight of Julius Jones, a prisoner on death row awaiting execution. There are many questions about his guilt in the murder of a man. In my opinion, there exist too many unanswered issues to execute him, but a jury disagreed, as have the appeals courts. Much information has evolved since the trial that was not available for the jury to consider. A very compelling case could be made that he was innocent. However, if he is blameless, I doubt that he would use my definition of the word “happy” to describe his state of being.

Merriam-Webster defines happy as:

  1. favored by luck or fortune
  2. notably well adapted or fitting, markedly effective
  3. having the feeling arising from the consciousness of well-being*

Strong’s Concordance uses blessed as a near-synonym**. Other Biblical translations use blessed instead of happy, which perhaps suggests a relationship with God. He was 19 years old when the crime was committed and was sentenced to death in 2002. He could have quit feeling a long time ago.

I think definition number three fits Julius Jones’s situation. One attains a sense of well-being when one is right with God, no matter what others think. I know nothing about his faith, but I pray he has found that sense of well-being that comes from a relationship with God. I also pray that, as a government, we seek restorative justice for all in all situations.

Prayer: God, forgive us when we fail to do justice and practice mercy. Amen.

*https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/happy

**https://biblehub.com/hebrew/835.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.

Fragile Destiny

Living in the Spirit

October 26, 2021

Scripture Reading:

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, so that you and your children and your children’s children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

I have a deep sense that our world is on the cusp of imploding, collapsing inward from the external pressure of greed. We seem willing to die or kill our future and the future of our descendants in exchange for amassing wealth. We use our talents and skills clinging to fossil fuels rather than seeking ways to replace them while retaining the economic impact they create. Jobs are crucial amassing wealth is not.  I am reminded of these words from the song, Circle, on Barbra Streisand’s CD Higher Ground:

When it comes to thinking of tomorrow
We must protect our fragile destiny
In this precious life there is no time to borrow
The time has come to be a family

Of course, we may not need to save the earth if we kill off all its inhabitants via starvation, pandemics, and terrorism. Are we climbing the Tower of Babel or perhaps swimming to grab the last seat on Noah’s Ark? Are we really willing to fall as Israel and Judah did, followed by their captors Assyria and Babylon? Can we not see ourselves in our history? Oh, but I forget we are now outlawing the teaching of history—finding ways to learn from our mistakes.

The good thing about a cusp is it marks a point of transition. We do hold our fragile destiny in our hands. Do we follow the ways of greed and lust for power, or do we listen to the path set forth by Micah 6:8?

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
   and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
   and to walk humbly with your God?

Prayer: Lord, save us from self-destruction. Turn us around and help us learn the wonder of living a life 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.

Ethnocentrism

Living in the Spirit

October 25, 2021

Scripture Reading: Ruth 1:1-18

So [Naomi] said, ‘See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’ But Ruth said,
‘Do not press me to leave you
   or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
   where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
   and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die—
   there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus and so to me,
   and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!’
When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her. –Ruth 1:15-18

This scripture was once used in wedding ceremonies; however, they were being taken out of context. I have not heard it read at a wedding for many years. I recall a pastor suggesting that when a couple asked these words be included at their wedding, it would be more appropriate for the bride to say these words to her newly acquired mother-in-law. They were omitted.

There are all types of intrigue included in this story. Ruth was a foreigner choosing to leave her homeland and adopt that of her mother-in-law. She gathered leftover grain in the fields so she and

Naomi could eat. She did not practice the faith of the Israelites but was a convert. We measure people’s worth based on cultural values. God looks at their hearts*. Ethnocentricity seems to be inborn in people. I do not think God put it there at our creation. Ethnocentricity is the belief that a dominant ethnic group is superior to other ethnic groups, and that its perspectives should be adopted at the individual and societal levels**.

At some point in our lives, we absorb from our society the idea that our worth is established based on being better than another or some other person or people. If we believe that all people are created in the image of God, there are no people left with whom to compare ourselves to calculate our worth. Most of our societal problems could be addressed more quickly if we could get past our unnecessary need to be better than another person or group. Be who God created you to be. It does not get any better than that.

Prayer: Lord, help us remove the social elements we have taken on from our culture that are distracting us from serving you by loving as you love us. Amen.

*See 1 Samuel 16:7

**https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198796688.001.0001/acref-9780198796688-e-657

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.

Seeing

Living in the Spirit

October 24, 2021

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:46-52

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

We all have collected life filters we carry that shape how we intake information into our being. I inherited my love of listening to the news from my Dad morning, noon, evening, and night. A few years ago, Dad’s local station of preference played a tribute segment on the late-night news when their long-time noon news anchor died. Just hearing this voice from my childhood made me hungry. I listened to his voice every day just before lunch. That connection that filter was still resident somewhere deep in my mind. Filters are neither good nor bad. However, they can wear out their usefulness, and they may lose their truthfulness. In those instances, we need to identify those that stagnate our faith, clear them out, and refresh our hearts and minds with filters drawn from our faith.

Our scripture today talks about the life filter of being physically blind. Still, I also think it speaks to the reality that we do not see the attitudes and practices harming our ability to love God and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We are easily distracted by issues that divide us and fail to find ways to work toward the oneness Christ calls us to be. We must let the Spirit guide us out of cultural blindness and reclaim the loving ways set for us by God when he sent his Son, Jesus.

Prayer:

 Open my eyes that I may see
glimpses of truth thou hast for me.
Place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine*! Amen.

*First verse of the hymn Open My Eyes That I may See by Clara H. Scott. See at https://hymnary.org/text/open_my_eyes_that_i_may_see

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

October 23, 2021

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:46-52

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Among the crowd following Jesus, many sternly ordered [the blind man] to be quiet. Jesus’s response was to tell the followers to call him here. Wouldn’t it make more sense for Jesus to call Bartimaeus to him so that the blind man could follow the sound of Jesus’ voice? Was Jesus gently putting his followers in their place for not caring about the blind beggar’s plight? They most likely also had to clear a path and guide Bartimaeus to Jesus.

Do we place our personal experience being the church above our call to be the Body of Christ in our world today? Working together in communities of faith is essential to being the Body of Christ. Still, we must be careful not to get so caught up in being the gathering and sharing parts of the Body of Christ we forget about reaching out: feeding, healing, teaching people; providing safe water while otherwise protecting our environment; welcoming strangers; and restoring prisoners.

My local District Attorney, supported by our State Attorney General, requested that two of the Pardon and Parole Board members be removed because they believe in what I call restorative justice. The two prosecutors even pointed out that the faith of one of the two impacted his viewpoints.  The issue arose when this new Attorney General took steps to reactivate the death penalty in Oklahoma. Suddenly, five men on death row are being scheduled for execution and must have their final appearance before the Pardon and Parole Board. The question is not what Jesus would do, but how do we respond since we wear his shoes?

Prayer: Lord, let your Spirit give us the courage to love like you and serve like you. 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.

Wholeness in Christ

Living in the Spirit

October 22, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Hebrews 7:23-28

For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect for ever. –Hebrews 7:26-28

What is meant by the high priest being separated from sinners? The very human Jesus was criticized for interacting with sinners by the religious leaders of the day. Yet, this One who gave his life for those same sinners would, I think, desire their presence even in the exaltation of the heavens. So what does this phrase mean?

I was a sickly child routinely having strep or tonsilitis, along with spring and fall reaction to whatever pollen was riled by the changing of the seasons. Because of that, I missed a lot of school, causing me great distress. As I lay in my bed unhealthy and unhappy, I would envision a magic machine that started at the top of my head and scanned down my whole body erasing my symptoms and curing my illnesses. I even imagined it repairing my eyes so that I did not need to wear glasses. Such a machine has yet to be invented, but the daydream may have lulled me to sleep, which was a Godsend after coughing all night long.

My first reaction to the phrase separated from sinners, was negative because I could not believe that the Jesus I know and love would ever give up on me or anyone else since we are all sinners. However, remembering my longed-for magic machine, I realized that Jesus’ death on the cross resulted in his gift of grace that makes all sinners complete or whole. His subsequent resurrection as the Christ, the high priest Hebrews describes above, reminds us that we are made whole through his presence. I cannot tell you how it works, but I can tell you it does. Now some of you inventors God gifted with the skills to create solutions to problems need to be working on my magic machine.

Prayer: Dear Lord of all, thank you for your gift of grace and your patience with your children still striving toward wholeness. 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.