Sunday, May 31, 2015

My Job

Sunday 5/31/2015 5:20 AM
Today I read this quote from Norman Shawchuck, “God is near to us, loves us, and awakens our love for God. Today I give thanks for God’s call and assignment to duty. I have been led to great challenge and diversity, but always I have been sustained. God never fails or disappoints and is always faithful, even when I foolishly forget my call and my constant companion. God’s presence is indefinable but unmistakable. Today I give thanks for that holy and sustaining Presence within my life and within all creation.”
This is a great reminder to me that God is faithful even when I am not. God loves me and it is the working of his Spirit in my life that motivates whatever love I have for God. God has called me, equipped me, and assigned me to my duty within the world and he sustains me as I work. 2 Corinthians 13:11 reads, “Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.”
My job in the world is to align myself with the purposes of God. He is in the process of restoring the creation to himself and he desires that mankind live in peace and harmony with him, with each other, and with his creation. When I am working toward that end I will experience true joy, love, peace, and the presence of God.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

God-Honoring Behavior

Sunday 5/10/2015 6:04 AM
A few years ago there was a popular bracelet that many Christians wore containing the letters WWJD. It was meant to be a reminder to ask the question “What would Jesus do?” when faced with a choice.
I spend much of my time trying to determine what God would have me do in various situations. I usually don’t have a specific situation in mind; I simply want to know the most God-honoring way to interact with those with whom I have contact as I go about my daily routine.
My psalm for the week is Psalm 146. It describes the work of God in the world. “He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.” If I want to honor God in my life, what better way than by doing what God would do? If I align my behavior with that of God himself I will become the hands of God to those around me: alleviating pain, encouraging the hopeless, seeking justice and freedom for the oppressed, opposing those who would do harm while loving and supporting those who seek righteousness. That’s the kind of person I want to be.

Friday, May 8, 2015

Earthquakes and Riots

Friday 5/1/2015 4:36 AM
Last week there was a devastating earthquake in Nepal measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale. Collapsing buildings, landslides, and avalanches killed thousands of people. Yesterday there was a small 3.6 earthquake in Carson, a nearby city. It reminds me that I live in an earthquake prone area where devastation can come without warning.
In the course of the last week there has also been rioting in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, after the funeral of Freddie Gray, a young man who died while in police custody. Scores of people were injured, buildings and cars were burned, and businesses were looted. It reminds me of the rioting that occurred in the Los Angeles area in 1994 after the acquittal of the police officers who had beaten Rodney King. It reminds me that I live in an area of the country where social unrest and violence can come without warning.
Today I read Psalm 64 as part of my devotional reading. It begins with these words: “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.” Isaiah then goes on to acknowledge the sin of God’s people. “All of us become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins. The chapter ends with these words, “Your sacred cities have become a wasteland; even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins. After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?”
The events occurring in Isaiah’s day seem to have been repeated in the past week in our modern world. The people of Israel do not have a corner on the shaking mountains, unclean people, and ruined cities market. We have the same bent. This realization can bring with it a sense of hopelessness and despair. Will things never change? Will God withhold his blessing from this world forever?
The hope for our world is hidden in Isaiah 64:3, “For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.” The earthquakes described at the beginning of the chapter are actually caused by God coming down and doing the unexpected, making his name known to his enemies. One would expect for God to come and wipe humanity off the face of the earth so he could start over. But, after giving us over to our sin for a time, God returns, not with judgment but with mercy. That is earthshattering news worth sharing.

Squirrel!

Friday 5/8/2015 4:38 AM
I am amazed at how quickly things can turn around in my walk with God. It seems that a slightly busier schedule and a few distractions can easily dissuade me from my regular morning routine of Bible reading and prayer. This past week has been such a week. I am currently giving my last round of midterm exams in my classes and I am preparing for final exams. I’ve had a few extra meetings thrown in for good measure and suddenly it seems I am too busy for my morning quiet time.
The theme of my devotions this week is singleness of heart and if there was ever a week when I didn’t have singleness of heart, this was it. I feel a little bit like the talking dog, Dug, in the movie Up, always distracted by a squirrel across the street. In his book Dimensions of Prayer, Douglas V. Steere describes the need for a deep desire to be in God’s presence as a prerequisite for singleness of heart. “To live the life of prayer means to emerge from my drowse, to awaken to the communing, guiding, healing, clarifying, and transforming current of God’s Holy Spirit in which I am immersed. But to awaken is not necessarily to return. Awareness, no matter how vivid, must be accompanied by ‘a longing aye to dwell within the beauty of his countenance,’ and until prayer knows and is the expression of this longing, it is still callow and is likely to melt away at the first sharp thaw.” I think it is the lack of that “longing aye” to which Steere refers that causes me to melt away in my commitment. I need to say yes to cultivating my relationship with God instead of no.