Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
TO PONDER
Did you see the controversial 2024 Olympic opening ceremony? I didn’t actually watch it live myself, but I woke to photos of the “offensive” duplication of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous artwork of the last supper. I was not offended…
Today’s verse is from a letter, God’s prophet Jeremiah addressed to God’s people who were in “exile”; which is a nicer way of saying they were captives, stolen, trafficked, or kidnapped. They had been taken prisoner by the enemy King Nebuchadnezzar and were being held captive in Babylon.
Jeremiah told this stolen generation to seek the prosperity and blessing of the people and place they were being held captive. They were to pray and work for the prosperity of Babylon because in so doing, they also would benefit from the blessing and prosperity.
…I woke up the morning after the Olympics opening ceremony to a picture of “sinners” sitting at a representation off what has been called the table of Christ and thought “that’s right, sinners are invited to His table”. Everyone sitting with Jesus at the last supper was a sinner, invited to the table.
I do understand the offence and the outrage felt by people and don’t want to minimise those feelings, but as what the apostle Paul calls “citizens of heaven” (Philippians 3:20) living as an exiled foreigner in this fallen world, I want to seek God’s peace and prosperity for all the sinners who are invited to the table of Christ.
PRAYER: Almighty God, I realise I do not need to stick up for you, I do not need to be offended for you and shout my offence towards this fallen world but rather you have called me to show your love and grace to everyone around me, inviting other sinners to your table of prosperity. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
My comfort in my suffering is this:
Your promise preserves my life.
TO PONDER
I'm not sure there is much for me to add to the verse for today. So instead, before you end your devotional time in prayer today, I'd invite you to write down, or call to mind, some of the promises you know God has made to you, as one of his children, that have sustained you through suffering and struggles in the past.
Let those promises wash over you and remind you of the hope you have in Christ Jesus.
And if you are facing a struggle or suffering something difficult at the moment, perhaps remember the words of the Apostle Paul who said in Romans 5:3-5, "we rejoice in our sufferings because suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame.
Whatever this week has brought to your life, whether joy or struggle, good times or bad, remember the hope you have in Jesus and live a life of hope. This is our comfort in struggle and suffering - the life preserving, and hope giving, promises of God.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, may you always be my comfort in suffering and may your promises always preserve my life and my hope. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering."
TO PONDER
One of the biggest criticisms of God that you tend to hear out there in the world today is, "How can a God who is supposed to be loving allow such suffering?"
It's a good question, and not one that I'm sure I have a very good answer to. However, I think there is one assumption behind that statement which is inaccurate and which today's verse directly addresses is that God might not even be concerned about human suffering.
Here in Exodus, we encounter a God who discloses to us his own concern about the suffering of his people. A concern which stirred Him into action, through Moses, to rescue his people. In fact, many theologians talk about Moses as a messianic foreshadowing of Jesus and the deliverance and freedom that Jesus would deliver to God's people. And that's the point I want to draw to your attention today. God has done something about human suffering, his answer was, and is, Jesus.
Jesus, who suffered death in our place so that we could live, and live in relationship with God the Father. Maybe we still experience struggles and suffering in this life, but through Jesus death and resurrection, God has opened up a means for us to join him in eternity where He has promised there will be no more tears or suffering or pain.
Our suffering may not be over yet, but you had better believe God cares and has done something about it.
PRAYER: Lord God, you don't need me to defend you, but help me to be ready to explain what you have done about it, to those who have come to mistakenly believe, that you don't care about the suffering of people. Help me to share how knowing you and your promise of an end to all suffering, helps me to deal with the suffering I see around me. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
TO PONDER
I don't know about you, but I know that I am sometimes guilty of forgetting that Jesus encountered struggle. Even Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane asked God to change the plan. "Surely Father, there has to be some other way, can't you figure this out so I don't have to do this?... Yet not my will but yours be done." Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place, disobedience to the will of the Father on the one hand, death on the other. Sure looks like a struggle to me.
God gets your struggles, he understands them. In Jesus, he experienced the human desire to protect your own life, your reputation, your comfort, your wellbeing, and yet even in the midst of that human desire to control all those things, Jesus still trusted the plans and the will of God the Father to bring all things together for the good of those who loved him.
While we might experience struggles like the disciples did, struggling to exert some control over their bodies to stay awake, we can rest assured that our God knows what it is like to struggle with the big stuff because we see Jesus living it in this part of his story. Jesus invites each of us to join him in our struggle, to submit our prayers and requests to God, but then also to join him in submitting to God's will, regardless of whether it is what we want or not, trusting that with God, it will always work out in the end.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, it is amazing that in the midst of your struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane, you were able to submit completely to the Father's will knowing full well what that meant for you, but more importantly, what it meant for me. Help me to remember that I can also struggle with what the task you have for me to do, but please help me also, to ultimately trust you and surrender myself to your will and plans for me. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
TO PONDER
Have a look at the whole of Genesis 32 if you are not familiar with the rest of this story, it's one of my favourites. But if your short on time, here's the short version...
Jacob has been away since fleeing from his brother Esau's wrath after 'stealing' Esau's birthright and blessing from their father, Isaac. Esau, by the way, was a much more physically imposing and threatening figure that Jacob. But now that he has amassed some of his own wealth and a household of his own to hide behind, Jacob is on his way to make amends with his brother. However, the night before they reunite, Jacob encounters a man who engages him in a wrestle on the banks of a river.
They wrestle all night, and as day begins to break, the strange visitor recognises that he is not going to overpower Jacob and so somehow deliberately injure Jacob hip or groin. Jacob refuses to release the man until he receive a blessing, at which point the man pronounces a blessing over Jacob and gives him the name Israel, "because he has struggled with God and humans and has overcome."
I often wonder why Jacob wrestled with God, or rather, why God came as this mysterious man and wrestled with Jacob. Jacob had already received a blessing and the inheritance from his Father, the covenant promises of God had already been passed to him. I suspect though that Jacob's own deception and rogue like behaviour, may have caused him to doubt his standing in the eyes of God, and so he needed assurance.
Sometimes I know I am my own biggest hurdle or struggle when it comes to trusting God and struggling or wrestling with his promises. "How can God love someone like me?" is a question many Christians struggle with or stumble over at one time or another. However, just on look at the cross of Christ should be enough to snap us out of it. Why would Jesus allow himself to be hung and killed on a cross if not out of love for those who would be saved through faith in Him?
Jacob's wrestle with God left him changed, God loves you too much to leave you where you are and wants to change you too. Engage with him, wrestle with him, but all the time trust and be assured that he loves you and is for you, even if you end up feeling like you have been kicked in the groin.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, so often I fail to see how you are at work. One look at the nightly news and I see violence and destruction, natural disasters, famine and disease. I take a look at my own life and only manage to see the ways I have not lived up to your perfect standard and plan for my life. So I simply pry that you would sustain me as I continue to wrestle with you and what it means to be one of your children in this fallen world of sin. In Jesus Name, Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
TO PONDER
I heard a quote recently that went something like this, "victory is not about being better than your opponents, it's about being a better version of yourself than you were previously.
I think this is where we often go wrong in this world. When someone does something to hurt or upset us, we instantly want to get revenge, or even the score with that person. But Jesus told us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. Where does that kind of attitude come in if all we can think about is revenge.
The first key, I think, is in remembering that it is because of 'my' sin that Jesus died on the cross. As much as someone else might have done something wrong that has hurt me or my friends and family, 'my' sin sent Jesus to the cross. If Jesus can forgive that, then surely I can forgive those who hurt me also.
The second key, is to recognise that it is not even the person who has hurt or offended us that is even the real enemy in the situation. The brokenness of the world, the sins of others that are directed at us, even our own sinful and selfish desires, are tools which the devil uses to try and divert our attention from Jesus. Let's be sure to remember who the real enemy is. It is not other people, who just like us, have been made in the image of God. It is as Paul says in today's reading, it is against spiritual powers and forces that our real struggle lies and it is only a struggle if we tackle it on our own. Jesus Christ has won the victory over sin, death and the devil, and he makes his victory ours as as we keep our eyes fixed on him, the author and perfecter of our faith.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, you are the Victorious Lord over all things, including our enemies of sin, death, and the evil one. Help me to remember that you have called me to love those who hate me and pray for those who would persecute me, because I have no need to fight, for you have already won the victory. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
TO PONDER
You might sense a bit of an olympics theme in the devotions this week. I'm not usually a huge sports fan but I do get invested in the athletes (especially the Australians) at the olympics. These people know what it is to work day-in and day-out every day, and they do it for an opportunity that comes once every four years. Some experience success and find themselves on the number one spot on the podium, but for every one that does, there are dozens who fall short.
If you have been following the olympics, you will have no doubt, encountered some of the stories of disappointment. But unlike an olympic athlete who can have a bad run on the day of competition and be disappointed for the next 4 years until they get another shot, the struggles we face should not disappoint us if we face them with God in our hearts because hope and faith in God does not disappoint.
Every struggle or challenge we face can be something that either drives us to God or away from God. If we adopt the attitude of Paul and boast in our struggles and sufferings, we will grow and be empowered to endure greater things, God will grow our character and we will develop a hope that endures in the midst of struggles.
As the old fitness adage goes, "no pain, no gain". Yes, life throws us pain and disappointments, but if we face them with the hope we have in Jesus, then God can use them to draw us closer to himself and form us into more of the people he always intended for us to be - his victorious sons and daughters.
PRAYER: Lord God, help me to remember that sometimes growth happens through struggle and trials. Help me to remember that whatever struggles I face, I have a coach who is there to see me safely through to the other side and develop in me a hope and faith that will last. Amen
.Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind;
let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
TO PONDER
I sometimes struggle with Old Testament passages of scripture like this one. It seems a bit too 'bent on revenge' for my liking. It just doesn't quite seem to gel with Jesus' teaching where he said love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
I guess we have all seen some of the rhetoric and the frustration over some of the scenes at the Olympic opening ceremony. I have heard people denouncing the French Olympic planning committee for allowing something like that to be part of the games, I have heard people calling for retribution to be heaped upon them, just like Jeremiah is praying here.
But the thing about Jeremiah, is that he is leaving judgement in the hands of God. He is able to continue forward in confidence because he knows he has been tested, God sees his heart and mind and he is committed his way to the Lord. Yes Jeremiah might be praying for the opportunity to see God carry out his Judgement (I'm sure all of us would have liked to see that happen to someone in our lifetimes) But Jeremiah is committed to God's cause, so he knows that even if he doesn't see it, God will sort things out in the end.
That doesn't mean that Christians should always just be pushovers, and let the world get away with whatever it wants, but it does remind us that God does not need us to defend him. He is quite capable of taking care of that himself.
PRAYER: Lord God, you are sovereign over all things, and your justice and mercy are always perfect. Forgive me when I am too quick to seek revenge and justice on my own terms against those who I feel have wronged me. Give me a heart that is like yours, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, so that others may see you in men. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.
TO PONDER:
I have to admit that I was unfamiliar with how Acts ended. It is abrupt but I feel it contains a lesson for us to always talk about God’s kingdom and the love and death and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ no matter what is going on in our lives.
Paul was escorted to Rome, to appear before Ceasar regarding charges brought by the Jews in Jerusalem, when the Romans didn’t find any basis for the charge the Roman Jews objected and Paul was placed under house arrest. Paul was renting his house and worked to get the money for rent and living, some commentaries suggest he resorted to his original trade as tent maker. He was a very hard worker, and with that same attitude, to do his very best and not waste any time, he taught the Gospel. Paul passionately preached and taught for two years before being acquitted, during that time he wrote letters to the Ephesians, Phillipians and Colossians. He taught for about another four years before he was again arrested and finally executed.
Why the history lesson? Paul’s zeal for spreading the Gospel resulted in his disciples also teaching the Gospel, enabling more and more people to come to know the Gospel and pass that knowledge on. We are believers in, and have faith in God/Jesus, because of Paul and those early disciples who taught and preached the Gospel. It wasn’t always easy, many suffered and some died for the Gospel. Paul set us an example that, no matter what is happening in our lives, it is no excuse to stop preaching and teaching the Gospel.
Acts really hasn’t ended, it is a continuing story, in which we too are called to be Gospel teachers, so that the whole world eventually will know about the King who loves everyone so much and has gone to extraordinary lengths that people might get to know him and his son Jesus.
PRAYER: Lord God you never give up on your people. I thank you for Jesus and his disciples who preached and taught the Gospel, for those who heard and heeded your call to continue to preach and teach right to this present time. Please protect those who have heeded your call to take the Gospel into dangerous places. Lord, you ask me to tell those around me the good news of the Gospel. I need your strength and words from the Holy Spirit to do this because often there is no strength within me. Please give courage and strength to go to whomever you have in store for me, in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen
Today's devotion written by Maureen Macpherson, LifeWay Epping.