For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!
TO PONDER:
She was a sweet, faithful lady, in her nineties and nearing the end of her life. She had asked me to come over as she was troubled. As we sat in her lounge room, enjoying a "big tea' on her best Wedgwood china, she said, "Pastor, can we plan my funeral service. I'm afraid that my girls who haven't spoken to each other in years, will fight over what to do...so I would just rather work it out with you now." So we did just that...and we prayed together...and she prayed for her girls...as she did every day...that they could put their difference aside. All she wanted was to have a family gathering together, mum and her girls...that hadn't happened for over 20 years.
When this lady passed away six months later, it was even worse than what this gracious lady had predicted. But it wasn't a fight over the funeral service...when I met them the day after mum's death, they were fighting over the share left to them in her will. The fight continued before the funeral service and I had to pull them both into a side room for a chat about their disgraceful behaviour.
Moses is nearing the end of his life, a life where he has led God's people through some amazing times like crossing the Red Sea, and some difficult times, as they wandered in the desert for 40 years. He has seen the people of God proclaim, "God everything you have said, we will do" to seeing them form all their jewellery into a golden calf. And as he nears the end, he knows that despite all he has done, that for some, nothing will change. In fact that their rebellion will get worse So does he give up? No. He faithfully finishes what God calls him to do.
That's a tremendous encouragement to all of us. There will always be rebellion, this side of the Jesus' coming again. There will always be those who refuse to hear and believe and live the way of Jesus. Things may even get worse. But what God calls us to is faithful obedience to his ways, to living fully by grace in our relationship with him, to continue to speak the truth of his life, which alone brings fullness of joy and eternal blessing, to complete what he has called us to do. What happens next, we leave to God.
PRAYER:
God, keep me faithful to you all my days, for all I want, all I need, is to dwell in your house forever. Amen.
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
TO PONDER:
On the tool board in my garage, I have a range of tools. From ring spanners to wrenches, punches to pliers, screwdrivers to hammers. Each of the tools are designed to be used in a certain way for a certain purpose. The devil also has a tool board full of hand tools that he uses to do his destructive work in the world. James mentions two in our reading today that are the go to tools for destroying relationships that God has designed to bring blessing to our life.
Those tools that Satan uses to drive a wedge in our relationships in the Church especially...envy and selfish ambition (or strife as some translations use). The words for envy 'zelos', from which we get the word zealot denotes a fierce desire to promote one's own ideas and convictions to the exclusion of everyone else. Art times we can be so fixated or obsessed with trying to get our opinion across, that we cannot listen to others or even entertain a different view. The word for selfish ambition belongs in the political realm and it refers to those who share similar views and values and so align themselves together. They form sides or parties to fiercely fight for what is on their agenda, pushing their views, promoting their views until they are accepted as the norm. There is little tolerance for those who hold a different view. As a result those who once stood together as friends, colleagues, united, become enemies, opponents and divided; the relationships once shared are in tatters and hurt is high.
When Satan can drive that wedge in relationships in the Church, the power of the Gospel is diminished and the work of the Gospel is forgotten. James says that envy and selfish ambition will result in confusion (disorder) and leave a vile aroma in the community (result in every evil practice). Sadly, I can see these tools of Satan at work in our denomination as a whole at this time. I grieve the hurt that is being felt as people who should be united in Christ, for the cause of Christ in our homes, families and communities are separated, and at odds with one another. Paul said in Ephesians 4, Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bonds of peace. May God give each of us, his spirit of humility that places a higher priority on the relationships he has given to be a blessing in our life, over the personal agendas that we might fiercely fight for. If Satan has used envy or selfish ambition as a wedge in any of your relationships, will you take steps today to pull it out with the help of the Spirit and throw it in the bin? It's never a tool that is needed in any community.
PRAYER
Lord, forgive me when I have become so fixated on issues that are important to me, that I have allowed them to take priority over the relationships that you have given me. Fill me with a spirit of humility that I may always be open to others, even if they hold differing views, knowing that in you, we find unity and oneness. Amen.
They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them...
TO PONDER:
Who is that person you are ready to give up on? The person, that for whatever reason, refuses to listen or change, and continues to self-destruct with sabotaging choices and decisions? Who is that person who has repeatedly hurt, disappointed you and stubbornly refused to see the error of their ways? Who is that person that you given chance after chance to change but you have got to the point where enough is enough? For most of us, it probably doesn't take us too long to identify or name that person in our life.
If you have a chance, read the whole of Nehemiah 9, as Nehemiah goes through a catalogue of things that God's people have done, the stubborn refusal to live in a covenant relationship with the God of life, the sabotaging and self-destructive behaviours, the defiance....the list is comprehensive. When is enough enough. When is it time to walk away, the cast off, to give up on people who will not change? If I was God...
But as Nehemiah reminds us, the God who longs to be in relationship with us, is forgiving, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love...and because that is who he is we have the most beautiful comment...Therefore you did not desert them. God will not give up on you. God will not give up on the person that you named in your mind either. God is for you. He is for them. Always. That makes all the difference to how I live and how I love....when I am ready to give up on someone.
PRAYER:
Gracious God, thank you that you have never given up on me, even when my destructive behaviours and choices have hurt you and those around me. Forgive me when I am tempted to give up on others. Fill me with your grace, that I may continue to reflect your love to those I want to turn my back on. Amen.
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
TO PONDER:
Have you ever felt like you are talking to a wall when trying to explain your position? That the person in front of you doesn't seem to be listening. Maybe even after a time, you have blurted out in frustration, "You are just so stubborn." Or maybe you are the person that those words have been spoken to!
Stubborn people are unbending and unyielding. They insist on their own way and won't admit they have it wrong. They don't respond well to input, they resist change and can become impossible or infuriating to deal with. Their stubbornness isolates them from others...it can also isolate them from God. Proverbs 28:14 warns us that the "stubborn are headed for serious trouble."
Throughout the Bible, God refers to his people as a stiff-necked and rebellious people. If you have ever had a stiff neck, you will know that your whole body has to go in the direction of where the neck is facing. Stiff necked because they refuse to listen to God, they refuse to turn from their own ways and their own ideas to walking the way that God promises brings life. Stubbornness blocks the world of God from taking shape in our life. Where might your stubbornness be robbing you of life? In many respects, stubbornness is simply another form of idolatry...it is the worship of your own ideas or thoughts! Sadly, that stubbornness often leads to rebellion against God.
That's why Christian community is a gift! That's why God unites us with brothers and sisters in Christ in community. We need each other to lovingly correct, to wisely point out things in our lives that may be leading us down a path that isolates us from others and especially from God. We need others to show us, guide us, gently push us in the ways of God that lead to life, so we don't become hard hearted, stiff-necked, stubborn. Who is God putting around you that you have not been listening to? Who has God placed in your life that loves you enough to hold you accountable? Who has God been using to try and encourage you in the way that leads to life? And to whom might you be that person that God uses to soften a stubborn person's heart today?
PRAYER:
Jesus, thank you for the gift of Christian community. Help me to receive the counsel and encouragement of my Church family and to be an encouragement to them in their walk with you. Amen.
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
TO PONDER
I was a pretty keen student of Greek and Roman mythology as a teen. There is something compelling about the epic quests and adventures of stories like Jason and the Argonauts, or the ambition of Icarus who flew too close to the sun, or even simply the idea that the gods might walk disguised among the humanity. And although their stories and myths are vastly different from our own understanding, there is a connection point. Their gods walked among them.
Our God has come into his own creation to walk among his people. That was Jesus. Paul was an expert at finding these connecting points, opportunities to share the truth of Jesus and his life, death, and resurrection. The example from today's reading is perhaps among one of the best and most well recognised. But it is a wonderful example of how we might engage in evangelism today.
Too often, Christians want to start with what the world has wrong. But Paul looks first for what he can affirm, then seeks to shed light on the darkness. There is a connecting point even for people in our anti-religious culture today, sometimes the key is in listening and watching to see how you can helpfully engage the world around you with the message of Jesus, rather than just seeing who can shout the loudest or stomp their feet the hardest.
I once heard someone say, Jesus didn't argue or convince people into the kingdom, he loved them into the kingdom. Perhaps we can start our efforts at mission and evangelism with love, and maybe those difficult discussions and arguments might not even be necessary.
PRAYER: Jesus, your love led you to the cross for my sake. Please help me to love others enough to first stop and listen to their heart, to hear what concerns them and to meet their actual needs and concerns and to pray and seek the right way to introduce them to you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay, Newcastle.
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me."
TO PONDER
I have been listening to a podcast recently by called 'Undeceptions'. It's by a fairly well known Christian Australian Historian and Academic, John Dickson. I was listening to one episode recently called 'Everyday Sacred', where John was speaking with a couple of Anglican pastors and authors who were talking about recognising the sacred in everyday things and activities. It was an interesting discussion, well worth a listen, but it left me wondering what happens in a world that has largely decided that there is no thing as God?
How does an atheist interpret the beauty of God's creation, if they fail to recognise a creator? To whom does one turn to say thank you for the unexpected blessings that a day may bring? Where does a person go to deal with the guilt and shame of the wrongs and mistakes they have made in their lives? Whether you believe in God or not, these, and many other things besides, are all things that all of us need from time to time.
If we don't turn to God, then we are left with little option to turn to other created things. We might turn to friends and family, who might be a great support but can just as easily make things worse. Some people turn to drugs and alcohol to deal with pain and trauma, Others might find some short term relief in other religious practices, but God says in no uncertain terms and in various places across scripture that He is the only God we are to turn to.
I don't think he makes that demand out of jealousy. I think he makes that clear time and time again because he knows that every other option is going to fail us and we will only find what we need in him. If we eliminate God from our existence, all we do is create a vacuum for other things to take God's place. So will you worship and honour the one true God who has proven his faithfulness to his people, or let some other thing, person, or philosophy, take his place and be let down time and time again?
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, you said all authority in heaven and on earth was given to you. Please help me to recognise your authority and to keep you as lord of my life. Help me to keep at bay all those things that would seek to take your place and help me tollways turn to you for my peace and comfort when life gets rough. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water."
TO PONDER
In the late 1980's and early 1990's, Coca Cola had an advertising campaign in which it boasted, "you can't beat the real thing". Now without explicitly saying so, this was a claim made against their main competition in the cola market, Pepsi Cola. However, one has to wonder why so many people around the world today, (apparently almost 50% of soda drinkers) turn to the Coca Cola brand to quench their thirst. Surely water should be the go to beverage of choice.
Numerous studies and dietary analyses have been done over the years expressing the risks of not drinking enough water, and the negative health effects of sugary carbonated drinks like Coke. Tooth decay and obesity being among the first that come to mind. And yet, how many of us on a hot summer's day have reached for a can of Coke (or some other carbonated sugary drink, rather than a glass of water?
We all know which is better for us and yet we all go for the other option. This is our perpetual problem as followers of Jesus. We all know his way is best, we all know he is the real thing, and yet we are so easily fooled or seduced by the 'other' option. The 'other' could be anything, money, power, fame, family, relationships, sex, alcohol, drugs, you name it and humanity has probably tried it as a supplement to fill that God shaped hole inside of each of us. Only the real thing, Jesus Christ can meet that need. So don't turn from him, turn to him. Don't dig your own well or look for a drink elsewhere, only Jesus has the living water that will quench that thirst, so reach out and go for the 'real' real thing.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, there are so many things that claim to offer answers to life's questions, solutions to life's problems, and joy in life's sadness. Yet only you can truely meet the deepest needs and desires of our hearts. Help me turn to you for only you have the words and water of eternal life. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God
TO PONDER
The apostle Paul was a lot of things. He was a Jewish scholar, a Roman citizen, an ex-persecutor of Christians. He was often a prisoner, he was a missionary, he was a tent-maker (see Acts 18) but in all of these things he was called and set apart by God to [proclaim the gospel of Jesus. Whatever else he might have been we see here in his introduction in his letter to the Romans he considered himself a servant of Christ.
Most of us wear many hats too, we might be parents or children, students or teachers, employers or employees, friends or colleagues button all of these things we are also servants of Christ. As hs servants, it should always be Jesus who sets the agenda.
Sometimes we let the other roles we have set the agenda rather than Jesus. Even Paul made the occasional plans that ultimately did not seem to line up with what God wanted, Paul usually figured that out in time to realign his plans with God's. We can do that too if we are just willing to be prayerful and to be observant in watching and listening to what God is doing. God knows we have varying, and at times conflicting, commitments but he has a wonderful way of making everything that is necessary part of his plan for us.
So, if the pile of hat's you are wearing feels like it's so tall that it is about to topple off your head, then consider starting with the righteousness of Christ and his call on your life. If you put that hat on as the foundation, he'll find a way to make the others fit.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you that you have given me roles in my family, in my community and workplace and in my church community. Help me always to remember though the the most important call I have in life is to follow your son Jesus, in whose name I pray, Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
TO PONDER
I don't know who first said the line, 'you can call me whatever you want, just don't call me late for dinner', but I know that it has worked it's way into the colloquial rural lingo of many country towns around the country. Being called late for dinner, especially after putting in a hard days physical labor of working the land as many people do in these rural places, is not a prospect anyone would invite. And yet some of these characters who use this kind of colloquial slang, have also got some very interesting, and at times colourful, nicknames that many of us in the city would probably find offensive.
The problem for many Christians is that we don't want to be 'called late for dinner'. I know many Christians who have shared that they don't make a big deal about their faith, or that they try to keep it hidden at work because they fear if it came out it might cost them a promotion, or some kind of career opportunity. I hear many Christians concerned about sharing their faith with friends for fear of it ruining their friendship or perhaps even doing damage to a family relationship.
Peter reminds us in this letter that this is actually part of what Jesus calls us to. He calls us to take up our cross and follow him. We are called to suffer for doing good. However we often seem to expect to be rewarded for doing good. and so complain of the 'unfairness' when we have tried to do and bee good in a certain situation, only to be rewarded with the bad attitudes or criticism of others. The key here is to fix your mind on the right prize. Do you really want the short term sugar fix of the meal that others are offering, their good opinions and accolades, or do you want the nourishment that comes from being called by Jesus to eat and drink the bread and water of life that only he can give? Call me whatever you like, but don't call me late for that meal!!!
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you that you have called me to follow you. Please help me to remember that following you is not always easy, but it is always worth it. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle