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
the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
TO PONDER
If this Bible verse is sounding familiar to you it is probably for one of two reasons. Firstly, Psalm 121 is a favourite for a lot of people and many of those people ave memorised it. You probably recognise the opening verse of the Psalm more easily, "I lift my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth." But secondly, at least in the Lutheran church, it is regularly used in baptisms.
This psalm is what Bible scholars call a 'psalm of ascents' and was a psalm sung by pilgrims or travellers to Jerusalem who were on their way to the temple, in other words, approaching the place where God was.
As children of God who live in the world after Jesus death and resurrection, we know that God's dwelling place is no longer just in a temple made by human hands in Jerusalem, but as the apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, that the Holy Spirit of God now resides in us, his people making each of us a temple where God dwells. This is part of the promise we recieve in baptism, God's indwelling presence with us by the Holy Spirit.
That means that part of the answer to the question, "Where is God in our communities?" is that he is wherever his people are. Too often we only talk about how God comes to us to save and reedeem us - and this is certainly true. However, in redeeming us, he also gives us and our lives a new purpose, or more correctly, he restores us to his original purpose - that we might be his image bearers to the world he created and that his work of re-creating and redeeming the world might continue through us as we engage with him and become more like Jesus.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I thank you that you watch over me in all my coming and going. I ask that as I come and go today and tend to all the things you have in mind for me to do, that I would carry your presence with me and that others might see you at work in my community as you work in and through me. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them
TO PONDER
If you are not aware of the context of this particular verse, the people talking are people who had at least been followers of Jesus, probably not any of the twelve disciples but people who had been part of the crowds following him and who had been in Jerusalem and witnessed the scenes surrounding Jesus crucifixion and burial. They are walking along a road on a town called Emmaus, about a half days walk from Jerusalem. They were doing what just about anyone in their position would likely be doing - trying to process the events they had witnessed.
It is in this very normal kind of experience that Jesus appears to them.
I wonder how often you have had a similar experience. You can spend hours in prayer searching for God and asking for his input or intervention and sometimes feel like He's just not listening and then in the most unexpected and mundane way you suddenly see or recognise somehow, the presence of Jesus in a boring everyday moment, yet perfectly timed for you to recognise that he has had everything under control from the very beginning.
Don't get me wrong, this was a miraculous encounter with Jesus - he had to ride from the dead in order for this encounter to take place - but the encounter itself is fairly mundane. Jesus didn't announce himself with the trumpet fanfare that often accompanied victories Kings throughout history. He didn't go and immediately appear to Herod and Pilate and burn them up with holy fire, he walked along a road with people who were struggling to make sense of life. He stayed with them, ate with them and explained to them everything that had happened.
This is still what Jesus does in our communities today. He might show up miraculously in people's lives and make a big display of his power and authority - like he did for Saul, who became Paul - But much more frequently Jesus meets people where they are at, explains who he his and offers an invitation for people to follow him.We don't need to look any further than the very next person we encounter in our community to see where Jesus is - he is there walking with that person, patiently offering himself as an explanation and solution to the struggles they might be facing waiting for the moment that the scales fall from their eyes and they see who has been with them the whole time.
PRAYER: Jesus, You have promised to be with your people even to the very end of the age. Please help me to be more aware of your presence both in mynown life and in the lives of others, and help me to follow and work with you so that others might see you also. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;
and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
TO PONDER
Many people at LifeWay Newcastle know that my doctor has put me on what is called a 'very low calorie meal replacement diet'. All this to improve the health and function of my liver. Don't panic, there is nothing seriously wrong it's more an attempt to prevent any possible future issues. But while the desired results seem to be evident, one inevitable side effect is hunger. I have to confess that while I have been doing this routine, I have come to know hunger in a different kind of way.
The meal replacement shakes that form the main nutritional source of my diet provide all the nutients and trace elements that a healthy body needs, they even stave off hunger for a time but they simply do not satisfy the way a home cooked roast dinner does. To be honest, some days I'd be over the moon to simply indulge in a slice of artisan bread with a bit of cheese.
The reality is that all of us experience hunger, it might not always be for food, but all of us have desires for certain things - cravings that we seek to satisfy in different ways. The big issue with most of these 'things' is twofold. Firstly, they come with a cost. Not many of us can grow all of our own food in our tiny suburban backyards or apartment block patios and even if we could there would be the cost of time invested in watering, weeding and protecting said produce from insects and disease. The second problem is that those things also never really satisfy. They fade over time or they disappoint us - similar to the way a meal replacement shake might stop the hunger but doesn't really satisfy.
Jesus solves both those problems. Firstly what Jesus offers us is not without cost. It cost Jesus his life in order to be able to offer us new life through him. The good news for us is that the cost has been paid, in full, by Jesus himself. Now we all can come freely and receive life from him. Secondly, the living water and food that Jesus offers us is eternal and is not only without cost to us, but also without end. it does not disappoint or miss the mark, it fills and satisfies completely.
This week our theme has been "Where is Jesus at the party?" I hope that we have discovered that Jesus is busy inviting and hosting all of us with the kind of joy and life that only he can offer. Why not accept his invitation and join him at his banquet table.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you that your life, death, and resurrection have paid the entire cost of my invitation to join you at your banquet table. Please help me to faithfully spread and share that invitation with all those who still don't know that you have also prepared a place for them. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
TO PONDER
There are lots of ways to eat with others: you can book a table at a restaurant, you can meet at a park for a picnic or barbecue, you can attend a 'potluck' after church in the church hall, but nothing is quite as intimate as inviting someone to share a meal with you in your home.
When someone invites you into their home you are invited to receive a glimpse of another part of their lives that is not always visible from the outside. You see photographs and memories of the people and places that have formed them. You see them in their natural environment where they are most comfortable to just be themselves (although there is a good chance they have tidied up a bit more than usual before you arrived). You see the books on their bookshelves and understand more about they things they are interested in and what they might like to talk about. Being invited into someones home is a big deal, it's like being invited into a part of their life which not everyone gets to see.
That' what Jesus is talking about in this verse from Revelation. Jesus never forces himself on anyone but he will patiently stand at the door and knock. Many Christians hear him knocking and willingly open the door but keep Jesus waiting on the doorstep like a door to door salesperson or a door knocking evangelist. But notice what Jesus says right at the end of this verse - "I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me".
Jesus knocking at the door is not just him asking for access to our lives, although it is that; it is also Jesus inviting us into his life. When Jesus knocks, we can answer and simply have a doorstep relationship with him. We can accept his credentials, believe that he is in fact who he says he is, and that he has done everything that the Bible says he has done and simply leave it at that. However Jesus wants to offer us so much more than a set of stories or things to believe, he is inviting us to share life with him. In a world which is in the midsts of the largest epidemic of loneliness it has ever known, why would we not invite Jesus in?
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, you have already done so much for me and all I have to offer in response is to open the door of my life and my heart to you. Please help me to resist the temptation to shut you out of certain areas or parts of my life. Help me to remember that real, true and full life is only found in you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle