Do we really know what tomorrow will bring us? We think that we can predict it based on the events of today, but in fact we cannot. Life is fluid and ever changing, and many things are understood only by God Himself. So how does not knowing what tomorrow will bring make us feel, do we feel less human or do we feel more so in our unknowing? Does not being able to fully understand the world or something in it turn us towards God, or cause us to feel more alone and insignificant?
Is there something in your life that keeps getting in the way of your faith in God? Is there something that distracts you during your day when you are trying to pray without ceasing, or which keeps you from studying God’s Word? Does your love for money stop you from donating to a food pantry, or perhaps occupies all of your time and prohibits you from burying the dead, or visiting the sick? Jesus asks us to identify these distractions that are coming before God, and remove them, just as he did when He advised the wealthy young ruler.
Have you given yourself to Jesus Christ so that he might intercede for you in all that you do? Have you become His, just as much as you have become God’s? To be a child of God through Jesus Christ is more than giving yourself over physically, or mentally, but to also do so spiritually as well... our spirit becomes His, and He then goes to the Father in prayer for us in our entirety... not just when we ask directly for His intercession but in everything that makes up our lives.
Have you ever donated blood? Have you gone down to the Red Cross and given because they said that they were running low and that people might die without it? Well, when you did this you probably did so because yes, you thought it would help someone, and no, it wouldn’t harm you in any way to give. Likely, you didn’t know the names of the people who received your donation and who lived because you shared your blood with them... but Jesus knew every name because they had been written in the book of life when he gave His blood for us.
What do we do when we recognize that we have been wrong in a biblical practice or belief? Perhaps we find that we have made a liturgical practice out of something we have considered to be the Word of God that was actually of man, and not of God after all. What should we do? How should we face this and admit our failure or address something we find to be a material heresy? Are we brave enough to face our mistake before God and man or are we doomed to a life of spiritual suffering in false worship? Friends, in such cases we must gather bravely in contrition as a church and pray for God’s forgiveness.
How humble do we allow ourselves to be before God? Do we maintain our freedom of self at all cost, do we sell ourselves as a servant who works for a price, or, are we totally owned as a slave and kept by our master? How far are we willing to go into our servitude? How far will we allow our humility to take us as we humble ourselves at the feet of the Lord? Now let’s ask ourselves this... how completely are we prepared to humble ourselves before one another? Are we totally free and independent, a servant, or are we truly a slave to those around us.
How does hardship affect us, and specifically, how do we react to illness or calamity that threatens to end our lives? Do we remain steadfast in our faith, or do we give up on God and believe only in our own demise? Suffering, and facing imminent death, can lay waste to the importance of all the things of a life that once seemed so valuable to us, and it can whittle us down to just those few things and beliefs that are central to our core selves... so what is that for us? Have we taken the time to define them for ourselves? Do we really want to know before we actually face them?
I am writing to you today in the English language, but what is your native tongue? From what country, race, or people do you hail? There are those of us from so many different nationalities who will read this devotional today, and long into the future; this is truly a missionary outreach to all the world. As Christians we know no borders, and there is no limiting language. The blood of Jesus Christ has made us one, and brought us together by that common calling of which Revelation speaks... we have been adopted into the people and priesthood of one Holy Kingdom!
Is studying the Bible and theology something that you do so that you can mine the truth from it? Do you read in order to gain an understanding of God’s embedded mysteries? Are you seeking the title of “Bible Scholar?” If this is you let me encourage you to continue your studies, but remember to approach them in childlike fashion. Bring the heart and wonder of a child into the effort. Because God reveals his hidden wisdom to the children of faith... the childlike.
Do you complain to God during the times of hardship in your life, or cry out in anguish to Him in the times of pain and suffering as if they were meant to punish you? Perhaps we need to take a lesson from the unattended fruit bearing trees and vines that grow gangly without pruning, and don’t produce fruit in either quality or quantity. We are very similar to those trees… The times when God prunes us, and that we find the hardest, are those that benefit us the most.
Have you been waiting patiently on the Lord? If you say yes, then let me ask this: have you done so without muttering and showing discontent? It is one thing to wait patiently and in great expectation on God, but it is quite a different thing to wait because that is your only recourse... and you do so with discontent, or complaints on your lips. Scripture tells us that waiting brings honor to the Father, and a new song to us.
The act of Jesus healing and casting out demons is scripturally a rather mysterious process for us, but there are clues put forth in Matthew and Isaiah that give us some insight into it. It is not mysterious as to whether it actually occurred or not, but rather, in how it was accomplished. When we have a child that is ill we often pray that if it were possible that God would allow us to become sick in place of our ailing child. Did you know that in praying this way you are praying with scriptural backing... that you are asking (perhaps unknowingly) to be granted the power to heal as Jesus did?
We consider ourselves Christian when we accept the fact that Jesus, who was born of the Virgin Mary and is the Son of God, lived, suffered, was crucified, died, was buried, descended into hell, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. These are the tenets of the Apostles Creed, and define the basics of what we believe, but are only the beginning of a very robust faith. The goal of our faith is to teach us to love as God and Jesus do. So, I ask today... do we love Jesus as much as He loves us? Have we given our life lovingly just as He gave His?
One of the great benefits of church is being together before God with those who seek salvation just as we do, but another powerful attribute is the strength that comes from joint prayer. I am not talking about the recitation of a common prayer, although that is powerful as well, but I am speaking of two or more believers praying in their own thoughts and words for the same thing. If you have ever recited the Lord’s Prayer then you have participated in common prayer, but what about joint prayer with another believer? Have you ever prayed separately, together, for the same cause?