Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
TO PONDER
Some days I don't feel very new. In fact since turning forty a couple of years ago, I have begun to feel my age a bit more acutely. I have again had faltering attempts to improve my fitness by going to the gym, I have found that I need to be a little more discerning when it comes to eating spicy food and there are certainly more grey hairs on my head than have any right to be there. All the things one might do to change or reverse the slow progression of time are a process, they take time themselves. I may be able to cover up the grey hairs with some kind of hair colouring treatment but it's just a cover up. I might slowly improve my fitness over time, but if I stop exercising, the unfit me reasserts itself.
I think we often think of our lives as disciples like this also. We know that there is a process, something that we often call 'sanctification', the process of being conformed into the likeness of Jesus, of becoming more like him. We know that we don't always get this right, we sense that somehow it is harder that it should be to live and love like Jesus did, that we somehow have not quite achieved the ultimate goal. An yet when we are in Christ, Paul tells us that the old is gone and the new has come. We are not both sinner and saint as Martin Luther often said, but in Christ we are no longer sinners and we are made whole and righteous in Christ.
The challenge it think is not in striving to be more holy or to sin less or to love more. It is simply this, to remain in Christ. For when we are in Christ, the old is gone - completely gone, 100% removed and the new is here - completely here installed, uploaded and ready to go. Find creative ways to remain in Christ every day and see what He can do with the new you!
PRAYER:Lord Jesus, so much of life seems to be designed specifically to distract me and to keep me from remaining in you. Help me to remember that in you, I am a new creation. Help me to learn what it means to be made new and restored. To be free from my sin and the fear of death and to know that I have eternal life in you. May the way I live each day show something of my confidence in the new life I have found in you to all those you bring my way. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
TO PONDER
I mentioned yesterday that creativity is one of God's characteristics. He created the heavens and the earth and everything in them, he took a day off at the end of all that creating and then began creating his plan of salvation and redemption for everything he had just made.
Being made in the image of God, we all have at least some spark of creativity in us. It might be more obvious in some people than in others, and it might not be the artistic kind of creativity we usually first think of; it might be the ability to find creative solutions to difficult problems. (It's okay mathematicians and scientists we know you can be creative too!)
But too often we take these creative gifts and turn them to our own selfish and dishonest ends. The example in today's reading is lying. Any parents out there will instantly recognise how quickly children learn to use their creativity to concoct the most imaginative and creative stories in the hopes that they might shift the blame of some unfortunate incident onto someone or something else and weasel their way out of trouble with mum or dad. And kids out there reading this, don't be fooled, your parents see right through your stories!
But today's reeding encourages us to surrender even our creativity to God and to allow him to sue it and us to partner with him in his work of creation and renewal. It basically tells us to stop using our creativity to find loopholes and to create interesting ways of getting ourselves out of trouble. We are now new creations in Christ, we have no need to get ourselves out of trouble, Jesus has already done that for us. Instead, let God inspire you with his Holy Spirit and use the creative gifts he has placed in you to work wit him to bring his plans to fruition both in your life and in the lives of those around you. You might be amazed at just how creative God gets when you let him call the shots!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, the wonders of your creation are without end, and you have given us the ability to recognise the beauty and wonder of your creation by placing creativity in us. Please help me to use my creativity only in ways that bring glory and honour to you and help me to always see your creative fingerprints at work in the world around me. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
“Forget the former things;do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
TO PONDER
Our God is a creative God. Not only did he create the heavens and the earth, but he is still at work re-creating and making all things new.
I think sometimes Christians can forget that. We have a tendency to look back all the time an remember how things were. We get all nostalgic for the things of the past and often fail to pay attention to what God is doing here and now. We quite literally fail to perceive the new things God is doing.
Of course we should be aware of the past and learn from it and take the best bits but we can't be trying to recreate it all the time. Even if today feels like you are walking through a wasteland keep moving forward. God took the Israelites through the wilderness for 40 years before they arrived at the promised land and nearly every step of the way they complained and wished to be back in Egypt. It's true that the wilderness can be tough, but if you just keep trying to get back to where you were before the wilderness, you never arrive at the promised land God might be trying to lead you to.
Don't fear the new things God might be doing in your life, or in your church, or in your community. Pray and ask him to help you perceive and understand what he is doing. You might even ask if there is a role for you to play in this new thing God is up to.
PRAYER:Heavenly Father, You are the Lord and creator of all things. Help me to remember that I am not the one who decides how things are going to go but that you have all things, including my life in your hands. Help me to perceive the new things you are doing and to work with you to see your will done both in me and through me. Amen
Today's devotion written y Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
**Before we begin today's devotion, a quick apology. We are aware that the LifeWay website has been down for most of Sunday and part of Monday. We have been working with the website developers to rectify the situation and everything now seems to be back on track. Unfortunately, it did mean that our daily verses for Sunday and Monday were not able to be published as usual. We apologise for the inconvenience and hope you are blessed by today's devotion which begins with Proverbs 22:29 below.
Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank.
TO PONDER
I used to live in Canberra. Canberra is a place where a lot of people work in various branches of public service. Having lived in Canberra for about 12 years, I couldn't help but make friends with at least a few people who worked for either the local or federal government. One thing they all say is true of the public service which seems contrary to today's verse was, 'incompetence gets promoted out'.
What they were suggesting is that the fastest and easiest way for 'middle management' in the public service to deal with people who were underperforming in their roles was not to giving them better training or coaching or even to begin the process of workplace discipline which might lead to termination of employment, but rather, the easiest thing to do was promote them out of your area and make them the next supervisors problem.
I think our Bible verse has two things to say about that approach. Given that Proverbs is a book of wise sayings, I suspect that the common practice of promoting problem workers out of your department would be classified as 'unwise'. It also is not a good example of leadership. A skilled leader would not just pass the problem on to someone else, they would work towards a solution that improved the situation for everybody.
But it also brings to mind Jesus' parable about the three servants, whose master gave to each, a different amount of gold and told them to take care of his wealth while he went away on a trip. Two servants used the wealth wisely and grew the wealth through wise investment and shrewd management. The other failed to do anything with what he had been given because he was afraid of losing it and displeasing the master.
A question to consider then today is this; What gifts, talents, wealth, or skills has God given you? How are you using those things with skill to grow and develop them into something that can be used in creative ways not only by yourself and for your benefit, but how are you bringing those things before the king for him to use in his kingdom?
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you for all the ways that you have blessed me and given me skills and abilities with which to serve you. Please help me to be a faithful steward of all the gifts you have given and help me to use them with wisdom to bring glory to you and to help others see you alive in me. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
TO PONDER
How do you 'live by faith'? I reckon that part of it is living today as if you are already living in eternity with Jesus. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of things we cannot see. Jesus says we have life in his name, a different and new kind of life. Maybe I can't see it yet, maybe it's still something that is getting fulfilled sometime in the future. However living by faith means living certain that it is true even though it may not look or feel like it every day.
It doesn't mean I get in a car and drive without a seatbelt because I live by faith, but it does mean that I will drive safely and to the conditions because I have faith that by my driving safely, God is at work keeping others safe on the road as well. It doesn't mean that I don't work hard and honestly to put food on my family's table and earn a wage, but it does mean that when it like I'll struggle to make ends meet I won't freak out because I trust that God will help me out one way or another or another.
Having faith in God does not remove from us any sense of responsibility for our actions. God expects us to use but also to treasure the gifts he gives us. The greatest of these being life itself. Don't let your life be wasted. Have faith that it's been given to you for living, so go and live it "in Christ".
PRAYER:Heavenly Father, Help the resurrection life of Jesus become more evident in me each da as I learn to live as one of your people. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
TO PONDER
Interestingly, this passage of scripture stands almost in complete contradiction of the quote, often mistakenly attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, "preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words." It's a nice idea but all throughout the New Testament the approach seems to be a case of 'do both'. Show your faith by the way you live but also be prepared to give a reason or a defence for the faith that has been placed within you. (1 Peter 3:15)
People might be drawn to ask about our faith by our actions, but our actions alone will not help them come to faith in Jesus. For that, we need to be prepared to talk about it; to tell the stories of what God has done for us and to explain how we come to the conclusions we have about God. None of that needs a theological degree, all that is needed is a personal walk with Jesus. He will make sure your story is right for the moment and even give you the right moment to share it with your friends or family.
PRAYER:Lord Jesus, thank you that you have placed faith within me. Help me to live in that faith more and more each day. Help me to know you more so that by faith, I may come to resemble you more closely. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
TO PONDER
Sometimes we joke among the LifeWay pastoral staff, that Lutheran's can forget that Ephesians chapter 2 even has a verse 10. Most of us, like Martin Luther himself, are quick to quote verses 8 and 9 as one of the verses on which we build our doctrine of Justification through faith, not by works, and we are certainly right to do that.
However, these two verses are immediately followed by verse 10 which reminds us that now we have been saved through faith in Christ alone, we are new creations, "created in Christ to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do."
Good works are a part of the life of a disciple of Jesus, so much so that God has these 'good works' planned in advance for you. He has made you specifically for those tasks with the requisite skills, talents, and experience to be precisely the right person at the right time for him to use to accomplish his will in the world. Some people find that thought kind of oppressive. They don't like the idea of being 'controlled' by God in that kind of way. I can respect that. However, I want to offer a different perspective.
What if we were to think of it like being a chisel in the hands of a master woodworker, or any other tool in a craftsman's toolbox. A chisel, or a saw, or even sandpaper, doesn't accomplish much on its own. Yet when the master craftsman picks up the perfect tool for the task they have in mind, beautiful things are created, things much more beautiful or useful that anything the chisel might be able to do on its own.
God invites us to do the things he has planned in advance for us to do, so that we, and the world around us might come to see the beautiful work God is up to in drawing all creation back to himself and making all things new. It's not a chore to be endured but an invitation to be a part of God's plan for all the world into eternity. Who doesn't want to be a part of that?!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, you are the master craftsman. You know the perfect tasks that you have specifically created me for. You know how you want to use me to bring others to faith in Jesus and to see your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Please help me to see and to know the places and opportunities you have prepared in advance for me to be the tool you use to bring your love and life into the world. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
TO PONDER
This has always been a compelling and confronting healing story for me. In many of the stories of Jesus miraculous healings, people come to him or call out to Jesus asking him to heal them. They do this themselves, they demonstrate their faith and trust in Jesus ability and willingness to heal them, but this story is different.
In this story, Jesus sees the faith of the paralysed man's friends and that seems to be, at least in part, what prompts Jesus to proclaim forgiveness of the paralysed man's sin and also restore his body.
It just makes me wonder sometimes whether my faith is something that has been obvious enough to bring others to an encounter with Jesus where they find the forgiveness of their sins and healing for their body, mind, and soul? Too often we think of faith as a private thing, as something just between ourselves and God. There is some element of truth to that, faith in Jesus does lead to a personal relationship with him. However, when Jesus left his disciples to ascend into heaven, he did not leave them with the command to keep all they had seen to themselves, they were to take what they had seen and believed and proclaim it to all the world so that others might also come to know Jesus as the son of God and their personal Lord and saviour.
Justification, or salvation through Christ's death and resurrection is a free gift for those whose faith and trust is in Jesus, a free gift to each of us from a loving Heavenly Father. However, the faith that recognises Jesus as Lord, is not just a gift to those who have that faith, it is also a gift to the rest of the world; one of the ways that others are drawn into an encounter with Jesus. Your faith is a gift to the world, one that is supposed to be shared and used to bring others to Jesus so that they too might have life and faith in him.
Don't let your faith only be a private thing. Live it, share it, and grow it, so that by it, others may find the forgiveness and healing of a life lived in Christ.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you that you forgive my sins and have restored me to a right relationship with you. Please help me to live my faith each day in such a way that you can use it to bring others to you and find life and forgiveness in your name, Amen.
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
TO PONDER
I remember one night spent in the boat fishing with my Dad. We were in a fairly isolated part of the South East Coast of South Australia. It was a very dark and still night and while my day had all the necessary night time boating equipment that was necessary, there was a point in time when the battery which powered the high powered spotlight that we used to both spot fish on the surface of the water, but also to keep sight of the land and the many reefs and shoals in the area malfunctioned.
For a moment we were in the middle of the ocean and I remember worrying about how easy it would be to get lost on such a dark night with no moon to light things, a dark and overcast night sky where not even the stars were visible, no real sense of direction from waves or swell because everything was so calm. You could take of in any direction and not really know if you were heading to shore or further out to sea.
We sat like this for a moment while my dad pulled out a much smaller and weaker torch to help him see as he tinkered with the connections on the battery to try and get things working again, to no avail. We grabbed to other smaller battery powered torches out from the front of the boat and began a very slow and careful trip back to shore because even the navigational safety lights to help other boats know which direction you were heading in the dark had gone out.
I trusted my dad to get us back, but I was greatly relieved when a car pulled up on the beach and we could see its headlights shining out in our direction. I knew we now had something to guide us to where we needed to be. The people in the car that night (who turned out to be fisheries officers who were a bit suspicious of the low powered lights flashing around out in the middle of the ocean) didn't know how glad I was to see them but their arrival was something I was certainly glad for.
Our lives can be like those headlights on the shore for people who have lost their bearings in life. When they see the light of Jesus in us, it can give them something to cling to, to follow, to guide them back to the safety and love of their Saviour who does not want them to feel lost or afraid, but wants to use us to draw them to himself.
So, let your light shine!
PRAYER: Saviour Jesus, thank you that you are the light of the world and that you have placed the light of faith in us that we might be used by you to call people out of the darkness and into you marvellous light. Please help me to let my light shine before others so they may glorify you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.