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Author Archives: John D. Willome

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About John D. Willome

I post a blog of daily devotions that are my prayer journals based on scripture.

Ezekiel 16:1-19

17 Aug

16 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices 3 and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. 5 No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.

6 “‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!” 7 I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew and developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked.

8 “‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.

9 “‘I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. 10 I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. 11 I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, 12 and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. 14 And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign Lord.

15 “‘But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. 16 You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. You went to him, and he possessed your beauty. 17 You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them. 18 And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them. 19 Also the food I provided for you—the flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign Lord.

Ezekiel 16:1-19

Dear God, it is always interesting to see you in lament. I mean, I have plenty of times that I lament. But the fact that you lament over us is striking. I read this passage yesterday while attending mass with my wife, and the blatant expression of pain and anger by you, the sense of betrayal you show in this passage, is really quite something.

I was listening to a sermon today where the preacher was asking, “What does winning look like?” He started talking about how Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, would go into a depression the day after an Olympic Games was over. Then he compared it to Elijah the day after he called on you and experienced the great victory of Baal and the Israelites turned back to you, only to end up hiding from the Queen and King and asking you to kill him. He experienced that letdown of the post-victory. I’m bringing this around to this passage because the preacher then talked about a couple who asked themselves what success as parents looked like and they decided that success was children who would want to come home and visit them as adults. It surprised me that he used that as an example, because by that measure, you are a failure as our parent in so many ways. I am a failure as well.

So you experience pain when I’m not with you. When I take you for granted. When I go my own way. That’s amazing. And then you still want us back. You still want me back:

59 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will deal with you as you deserve, because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant. 60 Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both those who are older than you and those who are younger. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on the basis of my covenant with you. 62 So I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. 63 Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

Ezekiel 16:59-63

Father, I am ashamed when I walk away from you. I am grateful for the atonement you made for me. I am humbled by it. I know this specific word isn’t for me specifically. It was for Israel. I get that. And I don’t pretend to be Israel in your eyes. I don’t pretend that the United States, where I am a citizen, is Israel in your eyes. But I know that through your love for all of us that I have the capacity to hurt you just as the Israelites hurt you. And I do not want that. For you because I love you so much. But I’m also self-aware enough to know that I need you for my sake. What does “winning” in life look like for me? That was the question the preacher asked. For me, winning looks like having your peace as I live in you and you use me. If I’ve hit my peak. If my most influential actions are behind me or still to come, that doesn’t mean you don’t still have meaningful things for me to do. For Elijah, you still had a couple of kings and a prophet for him to anoint. His work wasn’t done. So I give you this day. Help me to be what you need my wife, my children, and my friends to have from me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 17, 2024 in Ezekiel

 

Romans 14:1-4 (Repeated)

16 Aug

14 Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. 2 For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. 3 Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval.

Dear God, I want to look at these verses from yesterday again because I am having an important meeting today that these thoughts from Paul could influence.

You know that my wife is Catholic, and although I am not Catholic, we attend Catholic church together, participate in church activities almost as if I was Catholic. I’ve been all of the way through the Rite of Catholic Initiation for Adults (RCIA) and found that I couldn’t get myself close enough theologically to actually become Catholic. But I’ve happily attended for 13 years now, and I’ve actually grown quite accustomed to it. Outside of the obvious thing that I do not go forward for Eucharist, I dare say that anyone there would otherwise think I am Catholic.

So why am I bringing this up today? Well, one of the leaders of the church asked my wife and me to consider working with couples who are doing the premarital program–specifically the couples where one is Catholic and one isn’t. I suppose we are seen as a good example of a “mixed” marriage. But I am concerned about it. Basically, I think it is important for couples to worship together and serve the church together. I would overlook my theological differences with the church and consider being confirmed Catholic except that there are a couple of them that the church places paramount importance on, and if I do not believe these one or two things then they do not want me taking part in the sacraments. And I get and respect that. No problem. But if I am working with a couple that has a Catholic and then one who is either unchurched, nominally churched, or churched in another tradition, I don’t want my decision to not be confirmed Catholic to influence them.

I’m glad I’m doing this because I think I might have just had a thought. Holy Spirit, is that you? Perhaps I should just not talk theology, but encourage them to walk the path I have walked, which I think has been a good one. When my wife came to be nearly 14 years ago and told me she had visited a Catholic church for the first time and loved it, I was resistant. Then, as I felt more and more disconnected from her spiritually, a friend encouraged me to start going to church with her. Eventually, we went through RCIA together, and I now know more Catholic theology than a lot of cradle Catholics. What I found in that first year of that church was people who are truly lovers of you. They want to worship you. They want to serve you. I’ve sat in the balcony during a Christmas Eve service, looked down on the crowd, and thought about how much you loved them and me. And how much we love you. So while I couldn’t be confirmed, I certainly found no reason why I couldn’t worship with them and keep my differences in opinion to myself. Then, a couple of years ago, I listened to the Bible in a Year Podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz. It was so good for me. Yes, he taught some Catholic doctrine throughout with which I disagreed, but nothing was beyond the types of disagreements Paul describes above. I’m not saying one of us has a less mature faith than the other. In fact, mine is probably less mature if we are measuring on a scale. But the act of worshipping with my wife, supporting her involvement in the music program and visitation ministry, and being involved in a couples group with six other couples has been very good for me. I think I have been a blessing to at least some of them as well. So maybe as I’m visiting with engaged couples of different Christian denominational faiths in the future I can just point them to my path without giving them a sense of my theological differences. Maybe I can point them to my support for my wife’s spiritual development under you as opposed to the places where I think I am smarter that 2,000 years of Catholic theology.

Father, guide me in this conversation today. Help me to submit to the authority of the church leader who runs this program. Help me to be humble. We all like to think that we are the mature one in our faith, but even the example Paul gives above with food is not clear cut. I can say that it is paramount and a dealbreaker if someone doesn’t believe in the deity of Jesus; his life, death, and resurrection as reconciliation with you; and the need to love you with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbor as ourself. If the Nicene Creed is a foundation for both, the rest is us working out our faith with fear and trembling before you. Help me to come one step closer to working out my faith before you today. And use my wife and me to be your blessing to others, including possibly couples at the beginning of their lives together.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 16, 2024 in Romans

 

Romans 14:1-4

15 Aug

14 Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. 2 For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. 3 Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval.

Romans 14:1-4

Dear God, wow! How have I never paid attention to these verses before. I know I’ve read them. I know I’ve journaled on them and prayed to you about them. But now, today, this is quite something.

I’ve mentioned the book The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs. One of the things I’ve learned from it is that we have all, without exception, as Christians or even Jewish people, chosen what we want to follow from the Bible and what we refuse to. What we think applies to our lives today and what is out of date and applies only to the cultures from 2,000 to 6,000 years ago. I do it. Even the most “Authority-of-Scripture” Fundamentalist does it. Certainly the most liberal of Christians do it. So what is Paul giving us here as guidance?

Verse 4 seems to say it. If we are worshipping you then it is up to you to convict us of behavior. We are your servants, and no one else’s. And you have certainly convicted me of bad behavior, thoughts, actions, and attitudes before. The act of praying to you each day. The act of letting you channel my thoughts through these prayers, through listening to Christians I trust and let them convict me. In fact, I was listening to a sermon yesterday via podcast and was convicted of something I did 36 years ago to someone else. The pastor was talking about us making amends with the person we wronged. If I were to see that person or talk to that person, I don’t think I would have trouble apologizing to them for it. I am certainly sorry before you for it. But if I sought them out today, would I do more harm than good. Step 9 of the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is “making amends,” but with the caveat that you shouldn’t do it if it would do harm. I don’t know if it would do harm or not. Guide me in that.

I think, for at least a little while, I want to check out what the Hawai’i Pidgin translation has to say for the passage I’m focusing on each day. In this case, here is its translation:

No Judge Yoa Brudda-Sista Guys

14 Wen get one guy dat trus God but he not strong inside yet, dass okay. But no go make argue bout wat he tinking. Jus let um hang out wit you guys. 2 Get some peopo, dey trus God, an dey shua dat dey can eat any kine, meat o watevas. Get odda peopo dat no stay strong fo trus God, an dey no eat meat, ony vegable kine stuff. 3 Eh! da guy dat eat any kine stuffs jalike meat an watevas, he betta not ack like he mo betta den da guy dat no eat meat. Same ting, dat guy dat no eat meat, he betta not go tell da guy dat eat meat, “Eh, az wrong fo you do dat, you know.” Cuz God wen let um come be his guy awready!

I love it. I think this just might be my new thing. What a breath of fresh air for seeing your Word through another, beautiful lens. I included the section heading as well because it was just too good.

Father, convict me where I need to be convicted. Direct me in repentance where I need to repent. Love others through me. I worship you. I praise you. I know I’ve drawn the lines of what I will and won’t do in the wrong places. Help me to, day by day, get closer to drawing the line that is the best for me to become the man you need me to be. For my sake and for your glory, oh, Lord.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 15, 2024 in Hawai'i Pidgin Translation, Romans

 

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Galatians 5:22-23 (Hawai’i Pidgin Version)

14 Aug

22 But if we stay tight wit Godʼs Spirit, he give us plenny love an aloha fo everybody. He make us guys stay good inside. He make our hearts rest inside. He help us wait fo da odda guy an stay cool. He help us tink good bout da odda peopo, an like do good kine stuff fo dem. He help us do wat we promise. 23 He help us make nice to peopo an do um wit good kine heart. He help us stay in charge a ourself. No mo rules dat say you no can do all dat kine stuff. 

Galatians 5:22-23

Dear God, I had never heard of this Bible translation before last night. How interesting. First, I never knew there was this English-based creole language spoken in Hawaii. Then, obviously, I never knew there was a Bible done for those who speak it. How marvelous! I would have thought that they would just read a traditional American English (as opposed to British, Australian, South African, etc.) version, but this is a little more like reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. I can read it, but it takes me a little longer to roll through the pronunciations and then interpret them as intended.

So one of the first things I did when I heard about it was go to some of my favorite Bible passages. Namely, Acts 20:24 and Galatians 5:22-23. The way it stated Galatians really touched me. I found that it’s incredibly inefficient when compared with the other translations. The traditional English translations use approximately 30 words to describe the fruits of the Spirit while the Hawaiian Pidgin uses 100. But the descriptiveness of “love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control” are lovely.

  • Love – Plenny love an aloha to everybody.
  • Joy – Stay good inside
  • Peace – Hearts rest inside
  • Patience – Wait fo da odda guy an stay cool
  • Kindness – Tink good bout da odda person
  • Goodness – Like do good kine stuff fo dem
  • Faithfulness – Do what we promise
  • Gentleness – Make nice to peopo an do um wit good kine heart
  • Self-Control – Stay in charge of ourself

I love it.

Father, there are so many ways to unlock the depths of what you want me to know. Thank you for the young man who introduced me to this translation last night. Thank you for the faith you have put in him and what you are doing for his father and family through him. He is remarkable. Be with him. Strengthen him. Protect him. I know he will struggle. I know he will suffer. We all do. Hold him close and show him your path for him. And show me your path for me as well.

I offer this to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 14, 2024 in Galatians, Hawai'i Pidgin Translation

 

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Ephesians 2:8-10

13 Aug

8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Ephesians 2:8-10

Dear God, what does it mean to be saved? We use that word a lot: “Saved.” Growing up, it mainly meant saved from hell. “If you were to die tonight, do you know where you’ll go?” That was the selling point. That was the benefit transaction. I am rescued from hell. But from even the age of 17 or 18, I started to realize there was a different story to tell. It’s not about getting saved from hell. It’s about getting saved from myself. Getting saved from separation from you in the here and now. It’s about loving you and humbling myself enough to experience your love and comfort in this moment. It’s about getting myself transformed into who Jesus taught me to be through his life and his teaching.

Paul reinforces that perspective here. He isn’t talking about me getting saved from hell. He’s talking about becoming your masterpiece. It’s about us doing the good things you planned for us long ago in the now. Not later. Not after death. Now.

So my job is to continuously choose the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14). I didn’t choose the narrow gate once just so I can get my fire insurance. No, that’s not the gate Jesus called me to. Jesus called me to live up to the standards of the Sermon on the Mount through developing my relationship with you and being transformed into what Paul is talking about here to the Ephesians. It starts with loving you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and then loving my neighbor as myself. Low and behold, if I do those things then I will be a peacemaker and merciful. I will be comforted when I mourn. I will be salt and light. Hate and lust will become more and more distasteful to me. I will give. I will pray. I will fast with a humble heart, not for show. My treasures on earth will be the things that are of you and not the things of this world. I will be curious and not judgmental. I will ask for better and better things, and you will delight in giving me the things that are good for me. I will judge people by their fruit and be shrewd around those I do not trust. I will build my life on you and get rid of as much sandy soil as possible. That is my job, even today.

Father, it starts with loving you, and I do love you. Thank you. Thank you for loving me and being who you are in your nature. Thank you that knowing you better means knowing how to love better. Help me to share that love with others. And help me to love others around me. My wife. My children. My family. My coworkers. Our volunteers and donors for where I work. Our nonprofits clients. My friends. My community. Let your love flow through me to all of these, for their good and for mine.

I offer all of this to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 13, 2024 in Ephesians

 

1 Corinthians 6:18-20

12 Aug

18 Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20

Dear God, we tend to think that sexual immorality wasn’t a thing until the sexual revolution of the 1960s. Before then, everyone waited until marriage, was faithful in marriage, and never had wandering eyes or lustful problems. But I suppose there is a reason prostitution is called the world’s oldest profession. There is this weird thing about our sex drive that really does create both beauty in our lives and huge problems if we let it.

I have no frame of reference for what prostitution was like two thousand years ago. Five thousand years ago. I think of the story in Genesis when Judah sleeps with his daughter-in-law (widow of his son), thinking she is a prostitute. He is okay to join himself with a prostitute, but when he finds out the daughter-in-law is pregnant he is ready to have her killed until he realizes she is the woman he slept with (Genesis 38:12-29). How did Paul feel about that story?

Father, there are all kinds of addictions that are an issue in our lives. Food is certainly an issue for me. I have an unhealthy relationship with it. Portion control. The types of food I eat. Whatever it might be, I have a terrible time controlling myself with it. But the struggle gives me sympathy for others. It gives me empathy as well. None of us are as strong as we think we are. I certainly am not. So help me today. Help me to be at peace in your presence. Help me to hear your still small voice and follow it. Help me to be pure of heart, mind, soul, and body. Help me to love richly. Help me to be the man you need me to be for my sake, the sake of my family, and for the sake of your kingdom in this world.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 12, 2024 in 1 Corinthians

 

1 Kings 19:1-4

11 Aug

19 When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal. 2 So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”

3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. 4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”

1 Kings 19:1-4

Dear God, I come back to this story often because it is so relatable. This is Elijah we are talking about THE Elijah. He’s coming off of this amazing victory against the prophets of Baal and seeing your power on full display. He had this amazing experience with you. And yet here he is, praying for death. Literally, talking to you and asking you to take his life, “for [he] is no better than [his] ancestors who have already died.” Ironically, he’s one of only a couple of people who never died. Hmm. I don’t think I’ve put that together before.

This kind of reminds me of the passage I read from the Sermon on the Mount yesterday in Matthew 7 about you being a good father who gives us good gifts. If we ask for bread will you give us a stone? If we ask for death and you still have use of us will you give it to us?

In this case, you were not done with Elijah. In fact, you won’t be done with him until 2 Kings chapter 2. There is work to be done. No, Elijah.

Later, you will ask Elijah, “Why are you here?” He responds that he has been zealous for you, but the Israelites have rejected you and killed your prophets. Now they want him dead too. The real answer is, he’s scared. Verse 3 says it. After Jezebel sends a message to him that she will kill him, it says, “Elijah was afraid and fled for his life.”

You have done so much for me. You have done so much in my life. And yet there are times when I just want to curl up and hide in bed. There are times when my faith is so small and the mountain looks so big. Sometimes my faith just fails. I guess it is nice to know that even Elijah felt the same thing. Moses did. David did. Peter did. Paul did. We all do. Sometimes I just need to regroup, sit before you, and let your Holy Spirit minister to me. Sometimes I need to clear the sand away from my foundation and make sure all of the piers for the foundation are set into the rock.

Father, prepare my heart this morning. I’m supposed to be teaching a Sunday school class. I’ve done my preparation. I’ve spent time with you. I’m excited about the topic. But, frankly, I feel inadequate. I don’t feel up to it. And I’m afraid, just like Elijah. Not for my life, but that I won’t look good. That they won’t be impressed with me as a teacher. Yes, that is where my ego truly is this morning. So help me to die to that, turn loose of how this day will reflect on me, and care about representing the words you might have to say to this group of people. Oh, Lord, be glorified through me. Help me to decrease as you increase. “I’m just a nobody trying to tell everybody about somebody who saved my soul.” (Casting Crowns).

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 11, 2024 in 1 Kings

 

2 Corinthians 9:6-12

10 Aug

6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” 8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 9 As the Scriptures say,

“They share freely and give generously to the poor.
    Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”

10 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. 12 So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God.

2 Corinthians 9:6-12

Dear God, it is interesting that I came across this passage this morning. I was struggling to figure out which passage from the Bible to pray over this morning. I went to Bible Gateway first, but their Verse of the Day didn’t resonate. Then I decided to do the Catholic Daily Bible Reading and this was the New Testament reading for the day. It fits because I am about to spend this Saturday with the board of directors of our nonprofit doing some strategic planning. These are always difficult experiences because, if done right, we will struggle to discern where you want us to go from here.

There are usually a couple of ways to go on a day like this. We can either look at spreading our net as widely as we can to touch as many lives as we can (a mile wide and an inch deep) or we can focus on how we will go deeper and make a real change in the lives we already have coming to us (I suppose that would be an inch wide and a mile deep). Sometimes there can be both at the same time, but usually we need to focus on one over the other. Usually, for the sake of numbers, we will go for broader and broader. But as I think about it, it seems that Jesus wanted to go deeper and deeper. He didn’t travel everywhere while he was on earth. He stayed in a pretty controlled geographic area and invested in a few people deeply. Later, they were the ones who spread out and then invested deeply where you put them. I’ve never thought about this before, but it seems to be the pattern you follow. So as I think about planting seed and investing in others I am thinking about how do we really make lasting and deep change in patients’ lives? In the lives in our community and the surrounding communities that we touch?

Father, my head hasn’t really been in the game when it comes to this board retreat. I’ve been distracted by other things. But here I am now. We start in two and a half hours. Get my head in the game. Be with me. Be with us. Prepare all of our hearts as we come together to worship you, figure out how to serve you, and do something that will bring your kingdom and your will into the lives of our patients, volunteers, staff, and board. Something that will bring you into our community. In our hearts, minds, bodies, lives, and work, Lord, be glorified.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 10, 2024 in 2 Corinthians

 

Luke 12:4-5

09 Aug

4 “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. 5 But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.

Luke 12:4-5

Dear God, I am always puzzled when Christians complain about persecution–especially American Christians who truly have no idea what real persecution is. Jesus never once says we will be saved from persecution. In fact, all of his closest disciples except Judas (suicide) and John were martyred for their faith, and even John was persecuted and exiled. I think I’ve read that even Matthias, Peter’s replacement for Judas, was eventually martyred. So why do we think we should be any different?

The question is, how should I meet this persecution? I think it’s with love. Always with love. And that has been hard for me at times. Not that I’ve been persecuted for my faith. I haven’t. I live in an area that culturally rewards faith. But when I’ve been wronged or attacked for a controversial position I hold or from conflicts I’ve had with others based on my own principles versus their principles, I haven’t always responded with love. I’ve been judgmental, not curious. I’ve been disparaging of them. I’m sorry. Give me awareness when I’m doing this and fill me with compassion for them.

But back to Christian persecution, in my area I can’t help but wonder if it isn’t Christians who are doing their own share of persecuting others. Canceling people. Protesting. Shaming. I even go back to the opening ceremony of the Olympics and the representation of the Feast of Dionysus and/or The Last Supper they displayed. If it was, indeed, The Last Summer, what would the world have thought if the church had said, “While it possibly might have been intended to offend or mock, it is just another reminder to us of our Lord’s last meal with his disciples, how he prayed for all of us to be one as he and the Father are one, and then gave everything for us the next day. I hope that anyone involved with that knows how much God loves them and did everything for them.”

Father, I’m going to go back to Paul’s words in Acts 20:24: “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” That’s it and that’s all. My life is worth nothing to me. Help me to finish this race well regardless of the consequences for myself.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 9, 2024 in Colossians

 

Colossians 2:20-23

08 Aug

20 You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, 21 “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? 22 Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. 23 These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.

Colossians 2:20-23

Dear God, how have I missed this passage? I mean, I know I’ve read it. I know I’ve journaled on it. But I was at a worship service last night led by a group of young adults in their late teens and early twenties, and I read this while they were referencing a passage earlier in this chapter. It really struck me. Paul was quite provocative in what he taught!

Speaking of the worship service, what a delight! It was so refreshing to see a group of young people who are young and even somewhat immature in their faith (That’s not a criticism of their faith. In many ways, I’m still immature in my faith too. I’m sure you really shake your head at me sometimes.) just standing up there, loving you, and encouraging others to join them in loving you and getting to know you. I prayed for them while they were up there. I prayed for their lives. And I pray that again this morning. Protect their faith. Nurture it. It is burning hot right now, and I know that when things burn hot they can also burn out. I don’t want that for them. Protect them as you form them. Nurture them. Love them. Raise up people in their lives who will be your words, your comfort, and your peace. They reminded me so much of myself at that age except all of them were musically talented and I was not. I was there because I knew one of the young men from when he was a little boy. I know that his faith developed in a real and earnest way. It wasn’t a faith his parents forced on him, although his parents are Godly people. No, it is his faith that came about apart from them and it is wonderful to see. Oh, how I pictured you smiling down on them last night. What a delight! I think I said that already, but it’s still true. In fact, I’ll say it again. What a delight!

But back to this passage. The deception Paul reveals in verse 23 seems like something that is worth really simmering on: “These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.” Then he goes on at the beginning of chapter three to basically say that we need to identify the “evil desires” and determine to eliminate them from our lives, even though that process in itself might be imperfect. That what Jesus was for. But piety for piety’s sake will accomplish nothing.

Father, I want to continue to stew on this passage. Especially verse 23: “These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.” I want to major in the majors today, Father. I want to do things that are truly about conquering my evil desires. To paraphrase Paul in Colossians 3:5, I want to put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within me. I want to have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. I don’t want to be greedy or an idolater. I don’t want to worship things of this world including political power, money, influence, safety or adulation of others. I just want to be part of your plan. I want to worship you. I want to love you and know you. I want to be formed by you and brought to peace through being as close to you as possible. And I want to love everyone around me as best as I can including my wife, my children, my extended family, my coworkers, my friends, and then everyone else I encounter. Show me how to love. And one quick prayer for the special person we encountered yesterday at our clinic. Be with them in this moment right now. Free them, in Jesus, from their demons. Bring them to a safe place in you. Help them to be healed. Heal them. Supernaturally. Through the earthly tools we helped them get to. Keep them safe. Bring them peace. Bring their family peace.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 8, 2024 in Colossians

 
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