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
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
TO PONDER
Interestingly, this psalm captures both something of our theme for this week and also last week.
This verse comes from arguably the most famous psalm in the Bible - the Shepherd Psalm. It uses the imagery of the Lord, being our shepherd. Who leads his sheep to good pasture and still waters. It evokes the image of the good shepherd who leaves the 99 in his flock to go and search for the one who has strayed (last weeks theme). But this verse also brings us to this week's question "where is Jesus at the party".
Jesus talked a lot about hunger and thirst in his teaching with his disciples and he often addressed people's physical hunger and thirst in miraculous ways. Think of the feeding of the 5,000 or even turning water to wine at the wedding at Cana.
'Preparing a table' for someone is an act of hospitality and generosity, and this verse from Psalm 23 certainly depicts something of the generous nature of God's provision. Overflowing cups, annointing with oil, these are acts and signs of blessing and abundance. This is the kind of life that Jesus came to make avaiable to us, even in the face of our enemies and critics we can have abundant and overflowing life with Jesus.
So I guess the challenge for us today, in light of this verse is how do we see the overflowing abundance of God's love and provision of all our needs even when we feel surrounded by 'enemies' or obstacles? Don't forget that your Good Shepherd is with you even then!
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I tank you for the way you have taken care of all that needed to be done so that I could live in relationship with you. Please help me to recognise the overwhelming abundance of your love and mercy towards me so that I may never fail to freely share it with others. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
The master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
TO PONDER
Where is Jesus at the party? Based on his reading you might be forgiven for thinking he's spiking the punch.
But all jokes aside, what this story of Jesus turning water into wine really shows us is that Jesus is about preserving and protecting the dignity of those whose hospitality he has been invited to enjoy. Hospitality was, and still is, a big deal in many Middle Eastern cultures and the Jews were no exception. In fact God's Laws given to Moses, required that they welcomed strangers and provided means by which the Jewish community could provide for the needs of strangers, foreigners and widows. Running out of wine at a wedding celebration would not have simply been embarrassing, it likely would have been considered an insult to the invited guests.
But notice what Jesus does? He doesn't simply turn the water into weak cheap wine. The master of the banquet labels Jesus' miraculous wine as the very best.
By providing what was necessary, Jesus helped his friends avoid the shame and ridicule of not being able to adequately host their guests. However, he didn't stop there. He went above and beyond so that those who were there would experience the best he had to offer. Likewise, Jesus didn't just do the bare minimum so that you could get what you need to have eternal life when you die. He has given you everything to be able to have fulness of life in him every day. While it is perhaps a bit much to describe Jesus as a 'party animal', he does say to those following him, "I have come so that you may have life, and life in abundance (or fullness).
This doesn't mean that we will always have fullness in our bank accounts, or in our relationships, or in our vocation. However, it does mean that in all circumstances we have everything we need to be able to rejoice in who God is and all that he has done for us. That's where true life is to be found, in celebrating Jesus.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, today I simply ask that you help me to make a celebration of today. Whatever may come, help me to see you at work and to faithfully proclaim your goodness to me in all circumstances. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
TO PONDER
Same gospel, same issue, different story. As we said earlier in the week, Luke often has Jesus eating and drinking with people. Jesus liked eating and drinking and enjoying the company of others. And yet again, it is the 'respectable folk', the Pharisees and teachers of the law who cannot seem to get their heads around the fact that Jesus would choose to associate and be in contact with people that were considered 'less'. So much of ancient society and culture was based on status and perception and Jesus stood in direct contrast to that. Rather than trying to establish himself as being above or better than others he walked along side them and lifted them up.
In many ways, our world today has not progressed much from ancient civilisation and culture. Yes our technology has advanced, yes our way of life is easier and for the most part, more comfortable But we still operate on basically the same structures. Those who have wealth, influence, and power - along with those who associate with them and cosy up to them - are the people we often respect and try to emulate. However, as followers and disciples of Jesus it is Him that we are supposed to emulate.
One of the greatest deceptions of the modern world is the story that we can have it all and do it all if only we work hard enough. Jesus' came to show us that the opposite is true - we are more free the more we surrender control and put our lives in his hands. The more control we seek to hold for ourselves, the busier, harder and more demanding life becomes. That's not to say we all should quit our jobs and take up an ascetic lifestyle in a monastery, but there is something to be said for living and working not for ourselves but for the sake of others. This is what Jesus did for you and it is what he invites you to do for others - this is taking up your cross and following Him.
PRAYER:Jesus, the world today is so busy selling the idea that I have to look after myself first at the expense of others. It is too easy to be sucked in by that message. I pray that you would help me to learn see you more clearly and to follow you more closely - even if following you means laying down my agenda or the agenda of the world around me, and picking up my cross to follow you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle