Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
TO PONDER:
I can’t read today’s verse without thinking “Blessed are the cheesemakers…” from a Monty Python movie released way back in 1979, a movie I was banned from watching by the church I was part of. Now, in the church’s defence it was a controversial film, it was banned in Ireland for being “blasphemous”, which it kind-of is.
In the comedy, a group of people were listening to Jesus as he was delivering the Sermon on the Mount. Being too far back, the group of random people ended up exchanging insults and eventually blows because they misheard the teaching of Jesus.
The whole Sermon on the Mount was shocking in content, controversial in its challenging of the status quo, and was considered to be blasphemous to the religious and non-religious alike. Jesus’s own people were living under occupation of a conquering military force, waiting for the Messiah to arrive in power and might to overthrow the invaders, and then the Messiah arrived preaching things like “peacemakers”, extreme forgiveness, and loving your enemies.
The way of Jesus continues to offend today for the very same reasons as it did in the Monty Python movie and 2000 years ago because Jesus came as a peacemaker to restore relationship with God and humanity, to destroy religion and replace it with grace.
Religion focuses on 'doing' while grace focuses on what's already 'done'! Religion is man’s attempt to reach God, grace is Jesus coming to earth to reconcile the earth with the creator, and when he took his last breath on the cross he exhaled it with the words, “It is done!”
We are blessed when we continue in sharing the “done” with everyone we come into contact with, when we are carriers of God’s grace and his ambassadors of reconciliation.
PRAYER: Jesus, God of grace, Thank you for those last words on the cross when with your last breath you said “it is done” bringing an end to the doing of religion and ushering in the done, the enabling of my relationship with you. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay WestSide
Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. (NLT)
TO PONDER:
OK, no pithy story about planting a seed/sapling in the wrong place/soil but I think going directly to the question today’s verses raise; Where are you planted, what fruit is being produced?
I am asking questions not to judge, or bring condemnation towards anyone but rather because those were the questions I heard echoing from the psalmist as he struggles with anguish and joy at the juxtapositions between God’s kingdom and the kingdom of the wicked.
The questions of judgement and consequences, of why the promised overflowing life of John 10:10, often absent within the church, seems unfulfilled and frequents my thoughts and prayers.
In today's verse, the psalmist explores the same questions with the implication that where are we planted, whose advice are we following, where our thoughts and meditation linger - These questions have consequences attached.
Is our delight in the Lord reserved to Sunday worship? Is our meditation hijacked by doom scrolling and the advice we hear curated by algorithms and the bait-&-switch of social media (including old fashioned media)? There are consequences associated with where we are planted, where we “live.”
Jesus invites us, through the words of the psalmist to be planted and deeply rooted in him, the source of the water of life, and to allow him to be the source from which our life flows and the place where we find everything necessary for that 'full' life he promises in John 10:10.
PRAYER: Almighty God, my joy is found in you when my living is planted in your Word. There, I find your promised overflowing life, draw me closer to your love and grace. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside.
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. (NLT)
TO PONDER:
Today we had the first day of the relaunch of Westside Mainly Music, after we had the help of the fabulous Oliver to fix the technical issues we were experiencing, it was important I was there early to set up everything in case there were any new issues to be discovered so we had time to fix them.
After packing the computer, cables and required dongles the night before I was confident everything would run smoothly, right up until I had to clothe myself with the Manly Music shirt, which is the required “uniform” for Mainly Music and I couldn’t find it.
Today’s Verse is part of a section of Paul’s letter written to the church in Colossae, where he provides them with a “Cheat Sheet”, a template, a formula for a John 10:10 existence (an overflowing life) as God’s church.
Now, as a church planter/pastor for a lot of years now, I would probably say things like read your Bible daily and pray everyday, don’t miss worship on Sunday, and that’s just a few of the practices to start with but Paul doesn’t even give a nod to these spiritual practices.
He instead leads with a list of woke, touchy-feely, emotional, unquantifiable metrics; tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience and then he takes it too far when he commands us to forgive anyone who offends us!
And Paul, I’m in a hurry and I really don’t have time to even find where I left the agape love t-shirt you are asking me to outfit myself with, “above all”…
The formula to a John 10:10 overflowing life is summed up with forgiveness and love.
PRAYER: Forgiving God, I thank you for loving me first, for forgiving me when I didn’t deserve it or even asked for it, help me love others as you have loved me, to be quick to forgive and show your grace to others. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel.
TO PONDER:
Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, it’s going to be one of those days...
Have you ever said that, or maybe felt that way when you woke up and for whatever reason just knew it was going to be a difficult day? Maybe today was the day you had to do something, go somewhere, or visit someone you didn’t want to.
In today’s verse, Paul is telling the Church in Philippi to not let circumstances to control them, to change who they were and how they behaved.
Now, to put the verse into context the Philippian church were experiencing persecution, Paul himself was writing the letter from prison, that’s why he was unsure whether he would see the church soon or ever again, so it wasn’t a matter of waking up on the wrong side of the bed.
Paul is telling them to strive to, to struggle to maintain a gospel attitude, or in other words to decide everyday to trust God, and to strive together to be better people.
How often do we let people rob us of our joy, how often do we let circumstances ruin our day? What do we let trigger a reaction in our life that works against a gospel life?
Paul is telling us today to decide who we are going to be, how we are going to respond, and to do better.
PRAYER: Loving Father, today I decide to follow you, to live a life worthy of your gospel, to not be controlled by circumstances but to respond in love and grace. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.
TO PONDER:
Let me begin with a bit of a disclaimer; I think marrying anyone is cross-cultural, women live in a different culture to men, a culture that men don’t understand but marrying someone from another international culture probably adds to the culture gap.
There was a time we were driving in Canada (our 2nd homeland) in a different province (state), in a city were weren’t familiar with, with all seven seats occupied by family in our van. My amazing wife was navigating from the back while she was comforting the baby as I called out asking her for directions and she replies with “You turn left ahead.”
I continue to drive further expecting a command from the back to turn at the next left but it didn’t come so I asked the commander in chief how much further and the frustrated cry from the back was “I told you, you turn left!”, so with frustration building I shouted “But where?” to her informing me that I had missed the turn a long way back and again telling me “You turn left!”
Today’s verse is one that can be lost in translation, lost in Christianese vocabulary, lost in familiarity with words we think we understand but have never maybe ever thought about.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for RIGHTEOUSNESS” can be lost in translation, in fact in the New Living Translation “righteousness” is translated to “justice”, which is a correct translation as well.
To try to cut through cultures and hopefully bring some understanding, most of us pray for this righteousness/justice every Sunday in worship as Lutherans when we pray “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” in the Lord’s Prayer.
When we hunger and thirst for God’s will to be achieved in and through our own lives we are answering his call to “U-turn left ahead!”.
PRAYER: Almighty God, I repent for my lack of understanding when you ask me to live a life of seeking your will in my everyday but I instead seek my own desires. Help me U-turn to go in your direction. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
TO PONDER:
Way back in a “former life” I was a gyprocker. I left school at the end of year 10 to go straight into an apprenticeship. Obviously knowing nothing, I was “poor in spirit”, a clean slate, open to guidance, instruction and correction but as the years went by and the more (I thought) I knew about the trade the more self-assured I became.
And the less open to guidance, instruction and correction I became.
Today’s verses are from the “Beatitudes”, the beginning of “the Sermon on the Mount” where Jesus turned religion on its proverbial head (or maybe gave it a new head?) in one sermon.
In a culture where the average Jewish person had memorised the Torah by the age of twelve, where the Greek culture prided itself on knowledge, and where the Roman society was founded on power and strict societal status the opening sentences of Jesus sermon recorded here, probably offended most listeners.
Jesus said blessing (God’s favour) is not found in your religion, your intellectual knowledge, your power and status but rather in admitting your hopelessness, your need for God.
These opening sentences from Jesus some two thousand years ago should remind us of our need to live as his apprentices, remembering our lack and our need for him regardless of how much we think we know and how much we think we have achieved.
PRAYER: Almighty God, today I cry out to you again as a feral, as someone who is lost, a sinner who needs a saviour, even in times of success and joy I am still broken and lacking. I thank you for all your undeserved blessings and grace you shower on me. Amen
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside.
The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him
TO PONDER
There are two ways to take firm, confident steps. The first is to have confidence that there is solid ground under your feet. In the life of a follower of Jesus, this is when we are confident that we are following Jesus closely. It's when we know with certainty that our actions and our attitudes are aligned with God's plans and designs for human flourishing, both ours, and the wellbeing and flourishing of others. Unfortunately, in the confusion and uncertainty of the world around us, these kind of steps can be hard to find sometimes but that doesn't mean that we cannot take firm solid steps as children of God.
This is because the second way to take firm confident steps is to trust that you have something in place to catch you if the ground on which you step falls out from under you. If you have ever been rock climbing you might know what I'm talking about.
At those indoor 'rock climbing' places with the man-made climbing walls the first thing you usually do is sit through a safety briefing and get properly fitted to a safety harness. Now I am certainly no rock climbing expert and my ability in this arena is 'limited' at best, but knowing that an expert has correctly fitted me to sufficient safety equipment gives me the confidence to reach out and try for a handhold which is a bit beyond my comfortable reach, because I know I have someone on the other end of my safety line ready to ensure I don't crash to the ground if my attempt falls short.
This is how God makes firm our steps when we delight in him. Every metaphor about Jesus only ever manages to capture part of who Jesus is and what he does for us, but it could be said that Jesus is like our safety rope. If we reach out or step out in a direction trying to follow him but somehow in the midst of that take a mis-step or find ourselves somehow 'falling short' we don't need to fear the crash that we might expect because we are connected to (or united with) Jesus, who saves us. Sure, the walls Jesus asks us to climb or the places he calls us to follow him might be intimidating or scary, but attached to him, each step can be confident because he is there with us.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you that you have saved and redeemed me. Help me to remember that as I follow you I am never alone, you are always there to correct my steps and give me a firm foundation from which to take my next step of faith. Please help me to not be afraid when it comes to speaking to others about you, trusting that even when I miss the mark or say something wrong, you can work with my mistakes because you are there in every moment. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
TO PONDER
This is an interesting verse from Isaiah. It comes after a warning to those who have turned from God and sought shelter and protection from other nations and their gods (namely Egypt and Pharaoh). This verse is then what God promises to those who have continued to place their hope and trust in him and have continued to follow his ways.
I sometimes wonder if Christians sometimes spend too much time trying to discern what the 'right' thing to do might be. I think this is a lot of the problem that the Pharisees had with Jesus. The Pharisees and teachers of the law had developed countless additional laws which, at least initially, were intended to provide more detailed instruction to God's people of how they were to keep the laws God gave to Moses. Jesus made it simpler for everyone when he summed up all the Law of Moses in this way - Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbour as yourself.
Sometimes I think we can believe that there is only one locked in plan that God has for our lives and if we stray from it that's it, we're done. I think we can sometimes create a burden God did not intend for us to carry, particularly when it comes to decision such as - what profession should I pursue after school. There are clearly some professions - usually unlawful ones, that are clearly not God's intent for our lives, but what if there are times when God gives us options? You might consider a future as a tradesperson but the question is what trade? Perhaps God can youse you and the gifts he has placed within you just as easily regardless of the choice you make - electrician, plumber, carpenter perhaps that doesn't matter - what matters is that whatever station or vocation you find yourself in, that you listen to the voice behind you saying "this is the way, walk in it". This is the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd saying, "Come, follow me". Wherever you are at, even if you have strayed off the track, if you can take a moment to stop and listen, you will hear the voice of Jesus calling you back to himself and showing you the way forward.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, Thank you that you have come to us and made a way for us to walk with you every day. Please help me to listen to your voice today so that I may walk the path that you have prepared for me and help me to help others hear your voice and follow you also. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
TO PONDER
As I consider this verse together with the reading from Acts chapter 8 which we heard in church on Sunday of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, I can't help but notice parallels.
Philip's story begins with Philip responding to a prompt of the Holy Spirit to "head out on the south road" - that's it, no more information than that. Now maybe the south road was fairly straight and direct, maybe not, but in submitting to that leading of the Holy Spirit, Philip is led directly to the place where God was at work and was inviting Philip to join in that work. (If you're not familiar wit the story check out Acts chapter 8).
I think that we are sometimes guilty of reading passages like this one from Proverbs and interpreting them like this, "If I submit all my ways to Jesus my life will be easy and free of obstacles." I don't think that's what's intended here. After all a straight and even road can still have trees fall across and block it and it can also have bandits and thieves hiding along the roadside waiting in ambush.
I think the more correct way to understand proverbs like this one is like what we see in the story of Philip and the Ethiopian - When we submit all our ways to God then he leads us directly to where we need to be, which is also where he is. Now this can mean different things at different times in our lives. Maybe God wants us in a certain place so that e can use us, like he did Philip, to help someone else encounter Jesus. However, he sometimes need to take us to places where he can do work "on" us before he works "through" us. Those kinds of places don't always feel like easy going. In fact, they more often feel challenging and uncomfortable, but the proverb remains true - if we submit ourselves to him in those times he sees us through and leads us to where we need to be, closer to him.
PRAYER: Gracious and Merciful Father, thank you that you have opened up the way, through your son Jesus, for us to draw near to you. I ask your forgiveness for the times and ways that I do not submit all of my life to you and ask that you would help me to do that more completely. Lead me today to wherever you want me to be and help me to see what it is that you want to achieve in and through me today. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle