Tag Archives: Aligned with God

Taking the Blinders Off

Ordinary Time

January 9, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Isaiah 49:1-7

Listen to me, O coastlands,
   pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born,
   while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
   in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
   in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, ‘You are my servant,
   Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’
But I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
   I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord,
   and my reward with my God.’ –Isaiah 40:1-4

I have recently felt that I have labored in vain. It is not a good feeling. I questioned whether I had made wrong choices and had drifted from God’s guidance to accomplish some things I still believe need to be done. Had I chosen the wrong path? Do I need to realign with God? Or have I run straight into the wall of those principalities and powers that Paul described? If so, what is the best way to meet the needs I have identified?

I recall the story of Balaam*, who thought he was doing what was right until an angel of the Lord stood in his path. Balaam did not see the angel, but his donkey did, and his donkey went in a different direction. Balaam ended up beating the donkey for not obeying Balaam’s instructions. Then the donkey asked Balaam why he was beating him. Had the donkey ever behaved this way before? We must always look deeper into why we are pursuing the path we are taking when everything seems to be going wrong.

The true test of what we are doing is right is whether it passes the test of God’s love. If our actions are not grounded in love, then they are not of God. I cling closely to the scripture Create in me a clean heart and a right spirit. (Psalm 51:10)

Prayer: Lord, take the blinders from my eyes when I see what I want to see, but also help me see what you need me to see. Amen.

*See Numbers 22 beginning at verse 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.

Divine Approval

Christmastide

January 5, 2023

Scripture Reading: Acts 10:34-43
Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’

We who call ourselves Christian do not own God; we are called to follow God and do so through the guidance of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. The first sentence in the above scripture delivers that message well. Anyone who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to God. What is right is also not defined by us. Justice is not what feels good to us. The Greek word translated justice is dikaiosýnē  and means(“divine approval”) is the regular NT term used for righteousness (“God’s judicial approval”). 1343 /dikaiosýnē (“the approval of God”) refers to what is deemed right by the Lord (after His examination), i.e. what is approved in His eyes*.

The challenge is to discern what God’s divine approval is when we live in varying cultures that have established what is right in their judgment and passed it on to descendants who accept it as having divine approval. We must have the courage to hold our culturally driven values up to the test of God’s righteousness and reform our behaviors if we come to understand that our culture, at some point, missed the mark and still holds on to the systems that resulted. Slavery is an excellent example of that.  The first mention of slaves in the Bible is in Genesis 9:25. The fact that it existed in the culture of our ancestors in faith does not mean it had divine approval. Slavery was deemed a wise way to develop wealth. Thus, it was rendered acceptable by religious groups, and we still pay the price for being wrong in that discernment.

As we study the Bible in our quest to discover God’s divine approval, we must also become vigilant at identifying cultural realities of Biblical times that are reported in the scriptures but do not necessarily have divine approval.

Prayer: Lord, help us grow in understanding of your divine approval. Amen.

* https://biblehub.com/greek/1343.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.

Abiding with God

Living in the Spirit

July 12, 2021

Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 7:1-14a

Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.’

But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar? Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings.

The rest of the story includes Solomon getting the job of building the temple and David getting a great name regarding leadership. What I want to delve into is God’s desire to be with God’s people wherever they are.  The building of the temple eventually occurred yet it was also destroyed as was its replacement. Having a place to gather and worship is helpful but not necessary. Being in a relationship with God is fundamental.

God wants the very best for all of God’s children. We become fully the persons God created us to be when we are in full communion with God. We have been provided the freedom to develop the desires of our hearts as we align our love of others with God’s love.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your love. Help us to grow in spirit and in truth as you abide with us and we abide with 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.

Pleasing God

Advent
December 4, 2018

Scripture Reading: Malachi 3:1-4

For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. –Malachi 3:2b-4

When I traveled to Alaska several years ago, I visited a gold mine where tourists, for a price, were invited to pan for gold in water that contained the waste from the mine. We could keep any gold we shifted from the debris. I got just enough to put in a tiny crystal necklace, for a price, to take home as a keepsake.

Gold and silver must be removed from the bits of other elements that time forged into the rocks from which these precious metals are extracted. In the song, Jesus Loves the Little Children of the World, there is a line that states that Jesus sees God’s children as precious in his sight. Our souls too get cluttered with the elements of the world that tarnish our ability to serve God in our fullest. We too must be cleansed of that which distracts from our being fully the people God created us to be. We must work at bringing all our gifts of time, talent, and treasure to God assuring that they are given in righteousness.

Perhaps that is what Jesus meant when he said: No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. (Matthew 6:24)

As we await the arrival of God Incarnate in this time of Advent, Malachi reminds us that all our offerings to God must be in alignment with God’s righteousness/justice if it is to be pleasing to God.

Prayer: Lord, cleanse us of all that gets in the way of our being in right alignment with 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.

Honoring God with our Lives

Living in the Spirit
September 1, 2018

Scripture Reading: Mark 7:1—2, 5-8; 14-15, 21-23

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. . . .  So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’ He said to them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
“This people honors me with their lips,
 in vain do they worship me,
   teaching human precepts as doctrines.”
You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’ –Mark 7:1-2, 5-8

For health reasons, I think hand washing is a good habit. I’m just saying. I do not think hand washing substitutes for having a pure heart and a right spirit* and I think that is what Jesus is addressing in the above scripture. Ritual hand washing was a part of worship in first-century Jewish practices.

I grew up on a farm and attended a very small-town school and church. Appropriate attire for attending my church involved wearing your best, cleanest, and most decent clothing. If you were the local banker, you might have worn a suit. The preacher wore a suit. Farmers often wore their cleanest, newest bib overalls. My dad usually changed into Khakis, although he also wore them a lot on the tractor. It was probably the result of serving in the army during World War II when he discovered Khakis. The women always wore dresses usually cotton, starched and ironed to perfection. Women also wore hats. The men did too but their hats came off the minute they entered the church. Being the best, we can be as we honor, and worship God is a good thing. Making sure that our attitudes and actions are aligned with God’s will is our ultimate goal and I am sure is a source of great joy for God meaning more than either washing our hands or what we wear.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me when I am more concerned about outward appearances and impression I may make on others. Help me live in ways that are sources of great joy for you. Amen.

*See Psalm 51:10

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.