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Category Archives: Hebrews

Hebrews 10:32-36, Jonah 3, Acts 17:22-34

24 Sep

32 Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. 33 Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. 34 You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.

35 So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! 36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Hebrews 10:32-36

Dear God, I had a thought cross my mind this morning: How do we bring the world to repentance? How do we bring the world, and our country, back to worshipping you with all our hearts, soul, mind and strength, and then loving our neighbors as ourselves? I see two options:

Jonah and Nineveh: When Jonah finally goes to Nineveh in chapter Jonah 3, he walks through the city and preaches that you will destroy the city in 40 days. So, in a way, there is still a threat of destruction here. They are just able to heed the warnings. They are able to come quickly to the end of themselves. It’s quite admirable how quickly the king and the people get there.

Suffering: Right now, I think there are some in the church who are admirably trying to be Jonah to our current society. They are trying to warn of your disappointment, displeasure, and a coming destruction. Some of them are more effective at it than others. Jesus offers a new Gospel than Jonah had to offer Nineveh, so it is not apples to apples. It is important to note that.

That leads me to an interesting question: What would Jonah’s message to Nineveh have been in a time that is after Jesus’s life, death and resurrection? Maybe it’s kind of like Paul preaching to the Greeks in Acts about the Unknown God (Acts 17:22-34). Instead of preaching fear and destruction, Paul preached reconciliation and relationship with you. Fruit of your Spirit growing within us. A changed life.

Father, I really don’t know that there is any turning of our collective hearts towards you at this point without some sort of suffering. And if that is what you have for us, I am okay with that. I’m not afraid of what happens if either Harris or Trump are elected president in November. I am not worried about preserving American Christian power and influence in the world. I am just worried about how you would have me influence the people you have put in my lives today. I am worried about loving you with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. I am worried about loving my neighbor as myself. I am worried about teaching people reconciliation to you. I am worried about teaching them about the God they don’t know. I’ve known you for 35 years, and I still have only scratched the surface of who you are. In fact, I don’t even think I’ve scratched the surface. But in this moment, right now, I just want to make my life a living sacrifice to you. All that I am for all that you are. My utmost for your highest.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 24, 2024 in Acts, Hebrews, Jonah

 

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Hebrews 9:27-28

02 Jun

27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.

Hebrews 9:27-28

Dear God, it is interesting that this is the verse of the day for Bible Gateway while it is close to the New Testament reading for the Catholic church (Hebrews 9:11-15). For the Catholic church, today is the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ. All of their verses of the day tie in Exodus 24 when Moses is talking about the blood of the sacrifice covering the Israelites, the Hebrews passage, and then Mark 14 when Jesus talks about his body and blood in the bread and the wine. I don’t know how the Bible Gateway people pick their verse of the day, but I noticed this one actually lined up pretty closely.

I prayed about this yesterday, but it’s still been on my heart. I just don’t know so much. One of the reasons I decided not to be confirmed Catholic was because I did not believe in the act of transubstantiation. And maybe I’m right. And maybe I’m wrong. And maybe I just hope that this isn’t one of those dealbreakers over which I will find myself on the other side of the cutline from fellowship with you. I want to be in communion with you. I want to experience communion itself. But if I do not believe the same thing about the Eucharist that Catholics believe then I know that they do not want me to take the sacrament with them. And that makes sense to me. I respect that.

I guess I’m saying all of this because I’m about to go and visit that mainline denomination church this morning that is going through the conflict over LGBTQ+ ordination I mentioned yesterday. I feel compelled to be there. Mainly to show love. I guess, in some way, I am passively lending my opinion that it’s not important we agree on this one issue anymore than it is important we agree on pre-marital sex, the ordination of women or divorced people, etc. There are only really a few things in Christianity, as far as I can tell, are definitely non-negotiable. The rest is working our faith out with you with fear and trembling, asking you to examine our hearts and purify us, and bring us to both repentance where needed and then complete worship of you and love for others.

Father, I honestly don’t know what Jesus would do if he were here this morning. I’d like to think he would be comfortable in any worship environment that elevated you and Lord of all. I’d like to think he would be comfortable at the Catholic church, the mainline church I mentioned, the new church that is starting today, or any other Christian church in town. He might even be comfortable in some of the churches that aren’t Christian, but they think their hearts are earnestly pursuing you. I don’t know. Help me to be Jesus this morning to the world around me. Help me to treat everyone with love.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 2, 2024 in Hebrews

 

Hebrews 6:1-3

18 May

6 So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. 2 You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.

Hebrews 6:1-3

Dear God, this passage this morning reminded me of when I was in middles school and high school. I never went deeper. I never went beyond repenting and placing my faith in you. I attended a Baptist church where I walked the aisle several times, including regular church services and revivals. I went to Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) regional and national conferences and walked the aisle there too. But there was no discipleship. No change. No maturation of my faith. I needed to “move forward to further understanding.”

For example, forgiveness. My wife and I are reading a book called Habits for a Healthy Marriage by Richard Fitzgibbons, MD. for our couples group at church. We were reading chapter 1 last night and it was on forgiveness. Frankly, it wasn’t resonating with us because it felt like it was treating forgiveness as something you can just decide to do, but it can take a lot of work to become a person who knows how to truly forgive. I highlighted this one part: “When anger develops from something of this sort, there are three basic options for dealing wit this complex and powerful emotion: (1) deny it, (2) express it actively and passively, or (3) forgive the perceived injury.” My wife stopped me when I was reading the aloud and said that she thinks oftentimes people will just deny they are angry about something and then think they are forgiving the offense. I reflected back to her that, yes, there can sometimes be a fine line between denial and forgiveness.

This morning, we were talking about it again, and she told me about a forgiveness meditation she uses that is done by a Catholic nun. In it, you go to the cross, but you take the person who offended you with you. It sounded like a good way to working through actual forgiveness, and not just pretending like something didn’t happen (denial).

I guess my point is that discipleship is so important. I have a friend who is pastor of a local church, and they have been having a lot of baptisms lately, which is great, but they are really helping the newly baptized learn discipleship skills. They are trying to actually change lives by helping people truly reconcile to you and grow in you and not just check them off as baptized and then move on. I greatly appreciate that.

Father, I am still on my journey. It truly started 37 years ago when I attended an FCA Leadership Conference and they talked to us more about discipleship training for a week than they did about getting us “saved.” I still consider that to be my baptism in the Holy Spirit moment. So help me to continue to learn about your character and nature. Continue to transform me into who you have for me to be. Love through me. Bring people closer to yourself through me. Help mem to be part of baptizing people in your Holy Spirit. And help me to truly forgive, and not just deny I am hurt.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 18, 2024 in Hebrews

 

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Hebrews 1:1-4

09 Apr

1 Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. 2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. 3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. 4 This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.

Hebrews 1:1-4

Dear God, I assume Bible Gateway chose Hebrews 1:3 as its verse today because of the total solar eclipse we experienced yesterday in this part of the world. The idea of you, Jesus, radiating the Father’s own glory. You expressed the very character of God. You sustain everything by the might power of the Triune God. You cleansed me of my sin. You are now seated with the Father. I presume the Holy Spirit is here with me. What an amazing, awesome thing.

Yesterday’s eclipse was interesting. I happen to live in an area where we experienced “totality” for over four minutes. It was “awesome.” My wife and I used that word several times. Friends texted me that word later. “Awesome.” And yet it was just a simple reality of the moon moving between us and the sun and blocking most of the light for a few minutes. How much more awesome are you, but I take you for granted? How much more is who you are and what you put into place (including moons that can, from time to time, move in front of the sun) than the simple physical functions of the things that move around me?

Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, I worship you this morning. I confess that I simply cannot get my head around who you are. You are too great for me to begin to appreciate and understand. You are too much for me to adequately come to and worship. You are too amazing. If I really understood who you were I probably wouldn’t even be able to sit up straight right now as I type this. I would probably be lying prostrate on the ground and barely looking up as I type this feeble prayer. But you take me and my inadequacies anyway. You love me. You comfort me. You heal me. You forgive me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 9, 2024 in Hebrews

 

Hebrews 12:1-2

03 Apr

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Dear God, how do I strip off every weight that slows me down, especially the sin that so easily trips me up? How do I run with endurance the race you have set before me? I do it by keeping my eyes on Jesus. He initiates my faith. He perfects my faith. His life teaches me. And sometimes I am actually able to do this, and when I do it is amazing.

I went to a beautiful funeral yesterday. Such a good man. But someone told a story about this Godly man when he was a young husband and father. He and his wife got in an argument right before he was to fly to New York on business. He was still angry when he landed in New York and got in a taxi. The driver noticed he was upset (I would imagine this driver had seen a lot of upset people in his cab over the years) and mentioned it to him. He told the young husband/father that he looked upset and he had the answer for it. “Just say three times, ‘Jesus, come into my heart!'” After some cajoling, the husband/father said quietly, “Jesus, come into my heart.”

“Good! Say it again, but louder,” the driver instructed.

“Jesus, come into my heart,” the man said with more confidence and a little stronger.

“Okay, one more time, but this time like you really mean it.”

“Jesus, come into my heart!” the husband/father said and started laughing. Jesus was filling his heart in that moment.

I don’t know this man’s evolution as a discipling Christian. I don’t know where this story fits into his narrative, but it is an example of what the author of Hebrews is saying here: keeping your eyes on Jesus, the initiator and perfector of our faith.

Before I go, let me say one thing. This taxi driver. What a legacy he left just by this one simple act of faith. Like the widow Jesus pointed out who “gave more than all these” by putting in her two little coins because she did it out of faith. She never knew the impact she would have through her act of faithfulness that day. She never knew I would be using her as an illustration 2,000 years later. And this taxi driver has no idea what kind of dominoes he knocked over by his witness that day.

Jesus, come into my heart today!

Jesus, come into my heart today!

Jesus, come into my heart today!

I pray this through Jesus, and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 3, 2024 in Hebrews

 

Lent Day 46

30 Mar

Dear God, before I get into today’s passages from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer, I want to look at something the priest read yesterday when I attended a “Stations of the Cross” service at our local Catholic church. This is an excerpt from the 12th Station: 

My people, what have I done to you? 
Or in what have I offended you? 
Answer me. 
What more should I have done and did not do? 
I led you out of the land of Egypt, and you prepared a cross for me.
I opened the Red Sea before you, and you opened my side with a lance.
I gave you a royal scepter, and you give given me a crown of thorns.
With great power I lifted you up, and you have hung me upon a cross.
My people, what have I done to you, or in what have I offended you? 
Answer me.
(from the Reproaches of Good Friday)

There are shades of your speech to Job in this, but it’s very convicting for me because I know that if your time on earth had come now and not 2,000 years ago, I would be as guilty as any. I wouldn’t have gone to see you, so my attitude would have been more apathy that hatred, but I certainly would not have worshipped you or even defended you.

But there is a question that is asked here that people today could stand to answer: “What more should I have done and did not do? There are some example of human suffering I hate such as sex trafficking and war, but even those are manmade. What do I expect you to do to stop them? How do I expect you to intervene in our lives to smite the bad people and build up the good? Who is to say which side of the cutline from good and bad I would be on? You, of course. But my point is whenever I have stopped to think about how things should be different–how the Bible could be better or more clear and concise, how you should approach evil in the world, etc.–I have no idea. We are who we are as humans. Maybe I could take issue with how you created us in the first place, free will and all, but I cannot take issue with who you are and how you love us. What more should you do that you have not done?

Here are today’s passages. It’s interesting that there is no Gospel reading. Jesus is apart from us for the time being. Part of our God has died, sacrificed for me. Amazing

  • AM Psalms: 88, 95
  • PM Psalm: 27
  • Job 19:21-27a
  • Romans 8:1-11
  • Hebrews 4:1-16

Psalms 88, 95 – Once again, they are pairing the worship of Psalm 95 with a lament psalm. In this case, it is Psalm 88. My wife mentioned yesterday a sermon she heard saying that Jesus might have had Psalm 88 in mind as he walked his path yesterday. I would love to be able to see into Jesus’s mind that morning as he walked a brutal and terrible road.

Psalm 27 – “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” That’s what we are doing now as we wait for Jesus’s resurrection. It’s also kind of the word I was getting from you way back at the beginning of Lent: Patience. Wait. I will wait patiently, Father. I will not force my own timing or agenda. I will wait.

Job 19:21-27a – I almost wish they had left our verses 21-24 because those are words of Job I think you would take issue with. But the faith beyond his ignorance in verses 25-27 is beautiful: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes – I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” Yes! Yes!

Romans 8:1-11 – “But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Sprit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” Oh, Father, bring my spirit your life through your Spirit. Live in me! Forgive me of my sin. Forgive the mess of my bodily temple. Thank you, Jesus, for making it possible for me to have the Holy Spirit in me.

Hebrews 4:1-16 – Lord, teach me what I am supposed to carry with me past this Lenten season. What should my time in scripture look like? Prayer? Service? Loving my family? Impact on my sphere of influence? In the case of this passage, Sabbath? Show me what to do. Reveal your truth to me.

Oh, Father, I offer this prayer to you in the name of Jesus, your son, and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 30, 2024 in Hebrews, Job, Lent 2024, Psalms, Romans

 

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Lent Day 11

24 Feb

Dear God, I had an interesting thought when I read yesterday’s PM psalm, Psalm 51. Of course, it is the psalm David writes after Nathan confronts him about his sin with Bathsheba. There’s a line in it that I guess has always made me cock my head in not understanding, but I allowed myself to articulate it this morning: “Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…” (Psalm 51:4a) No, this isn’t true. I think the whole idea of sin is that you don’t want us to do it because they all have consequences against ourselves and usually at least one other person. In this case, David’s taking and impregnating of Bathsheba and killing Uriah had consequences for a lot of people. Of course, there are Bathsheba and Uriah. But there were other victims. Joab got brought into it when he was forced to be the one to have Uriah killed. The servants who retrieved Bathsheba for David and then had to transmit the message from Bathsheba to David. Ultimately, this was an open secret that undermined David’s moral authority with his family and in the kingdom. David’s oldest son Amnon rapes David’s daughter, Amnon’s half-sister, Tamar, and David doesn’t do anything about it. Did the Bathsheba incident compromise Amnon’s attitudes towards how you treat women and David’s response to Amnon’s sin. I think the answer is yes. Then Absalom kills Amnon because of David’s inaction, bringing sin upon both Absalom and Amnon. And then there is poor Tamar who is not protected by her father. Ultimately, Absalom’s sin and David’s response to it leads him to reject David and king and lead a coup that results in a lot of deaths, including Absalom’s. So no, David’s sin was not against you alone. You didn’t tell us to not commit adultery or murder because it just makes you angry. You told us to not do those things because it hurts your created beings that you love, including us.

And then Jesus took it all a step further in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 and tells us that lust equals adultery and hate equals murder. He didn’t say it, but this leads me to the idea that coveting equals theft, lies of omission are lies, etc. Why? Not because my lust or hate hurts you. It’s because it hurts me. So I respectfully disagree with David’s sentiment here. When I sin it is certainly against you, but it is also against me and anyone else my sin touches.

So with that out of the way, here are today’s readings from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer.

  • AM Psalm: 55
  • PM Psalms: 138, 139
  • Deuteronomy 11:18-28
  • John 4:1-26
  • Hebrews 5:1-10

Psalm 55 – David has a lot of psalms that express his anxiety. I wonder if he struggled with that more than most, or if most of us would express these feelings if we take the time to sit and write down our thoughts. I think it is the latter. I know that the experience of writing these journals unearths anxiety in my heart that I try to tamp down in the normal course of my life. I’m so grateful I have found this process to focus and channel my thoughts on you and how I relate

John 4:1-26 – The woman at the well. I recently heard someone describe her as the first apostle because she brings her friends to Jesus and they believe. She is the first recorded person to bring others to Jesus. Nor sure if I completely subscribe to that theory, but it’s kind of sweet to think about that way. Someone taken out of her sin and bringing others to Jesus out of her wonder and joy. But what I really like about this story is Jesus breaking down the barriers for Gentiles to worship you. I don’t have to go to Jerusalem to sacrifice animals and worship you. The sacrifice is made. Now, I can be over 10,000 miles away from Jerusalem, across an ocean, and I can worship you. I could be on the moon, Mars, or any other place in the universe and worship you. If this were a text, I would put a heart emoji here.

Hebrews 5:1-10 – I’m just going to say that this passage is weird. I’m honestly not sure what to do with it. Oh, how I would love to know who wrote Hebrews.

Father, you know the concerns on my heart this morning. I know others can read this so I want to respect the privacy of others by not being specific here, but you know what I’m thinking. Please be very present. Comfort those who mourn. Comfort and heal the anxious and damaged. Heal the sick. Comfort the sick. Help the caregivers. Heal marriages. Reveal secrets that bind people in their pain. Oh, Lord, show me your way today. Help me to be exactly who you need me to be for the people I am with. For your glory and not mine!

I pray this in Jesus Christ, my savior, and with your Holy Spirit, my paraclete,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 24, 2024 in Hebrews, John, Psalms

 

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Lent Day 10

23 Feb

Dear God, good morning! I thought maybe this morning I would start my just talking to you without looking at the Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer. For these first moments, I just want to be with you. I know that, for some reason, you just want to be with me. Holy Spirit, you are always with me. You take me to the Father. You are the Father’s presence with me here. And so I just want to be with you. I want to feel you for a moment. I want to feel your comfort. Your love. Your encouragement. I want to hear your instruction, your encouragements, and even your rebukes.

I also want to thank you. There were some good things that happened yesterday. And not necessarily for me. We were hopefully able to get a very sick man to the hospital in a situation where if we hadn’t interacted with him he could have been permanently impaired or might have died. That really felt like providence. You guided us to a medical solution for another patient who was in desperate need and for whom we had both worked very hard and prayed. I had a nice lunch with a friend yesterday. I have another one scheduled for today. Yes, you are good, and I want to acknowledge just how good you are.

Okay, not to spend some time in today’s passages which are:

  • AM Psalms: 40, 54
  • PM Psalm: 51 (I know what this one is and I definitely don’t want to forget it tonight)
  • Deuteronomy 10:12-22
  • John 3:22-36
  • Hebrews 4:11-16

I am still fascinated to be spending so much time in Deuteronomy and Hebrews. I wouldn’t have guessed they would be such a large part of my Lenten journey.

Psalm 40 – Oh, I like this one. It almost feels how I started this prayer this morning: “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.” Oh, Triune God, Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, thank you. I’m just filled with so much love for you in this moment. So much gratitude. I know it’s an emotion and it can fade, but right now it is here and it is real.

Deuteronomy 10:12-22 – Verses 12 and 13 start out great too: “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” That is just so good.

Then he talks about not being stiff-necked in the next paragraph. What struck me is the empathy he calls them to. He talks in verse 19 about loving the aliens because they were once aliens. I don’t want to focus on the alien part of this (not that it’s not important), but the idea that they should have some empathy for others. They should see themselves in others. Relate to others. Oh, Father, help me to completely relate to others and see myself in them.

John 3:22-25 – This is the story of people around John the Baptist being afraid that Jesus is stealing John’s thunder and taking away from John’s greatness. John has the right response. Oh, how I want to decrease so that you might increase, Father. I want to deflect any glory I get to you. I want to simply be your vessel. I accept that it will not always be my time. There might be a time when I need to step aside from the work I do for the sake of what you want to do in that work. There will certainly come a time when I will pass from this earth. And there will be a time, unless my end is sudden and premature, that my capacities will diminish and I will need to step aside. As some who work for the President of the United States say, “I serve at the pleasure of the President,” my words to you are, “I serve at the pleasure of God almighty. Who was, and is, and is to come.”

Hebrews 4:13 – “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” I’ll keep this part confidential, but you know what my prayer is for this. Oh, Father, please heal hearts by revealing truth and shattering secrets.

Father, I close this time with you still in the same grateful, loving place as I started. Oh, how I love you. I have some work to do today. Help me to do it very well and for your glory.

I offer this prayer to you through Jesus my Christ and with the Holy Spirit my paraclete,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 23, 2024 in Deuteronomy, Hebrews, John, Lent 2024, Psalms

 

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Lent Day 8

21 Feb

Dear God, so I actually remembered to read my evening psalms yesterday, so I can start this prayer off without a recap.

As I start this second week of Lent and continue to go through Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer, I am enjoying the discipline of getting up that little bit earlier each day to make sure I get this done. In fact, this was the easiest day so far.

Here are today’s passages from the book:

  • AM Psalm: 119:49-72
  • PM Psalms: 49, 53
  • Deuteronomy 9:13-21
  • John 2:23-3:15
  • Hebrews 3:12-19

And here are my thoughts from some of the passages:

Psalm 119:64, 68 – The earth is filled with your love, O LORD; teach me your decrees…You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. –

John 2:23-25 – Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man. Oh, God, what is in our hearts, what is in my heart, is so awful. Can be so awful. I see now what we do in your name and I can see why Jesus had to walk so carefully through this world. Jesus knew what was in them. He knows, you know, what is in my now. You know I cannot be trusted. Right now, I am struggling with an issue, and I do not trust myself to be right about it. I have strong opinions, but am I right? Oh, reveal your truth to me. Give me ears to hear and eyes to see.

John 3:1-2 – Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Speaking of not knowing what is going on, Nicodemus was earnestly trying to figure out what was going on. He wasn’t doing anything showy. He wasn’t grandstanding and trying to make a point to Jesus or be smarter than him. He went quietly at night. Probably partly to not be ridiculed by the other Pharisees and partly so that he could have an honest, seeming humble conversation with Jesus. It was probably 15 or 20 years ago that Nicodemus became one of my top five favorite Bible characters (along with Joseph, Jesus’s earthly father, Jonathan, Naomi, and Hagar). It seems that he and John ultimately became friends as part of The Way after Jesus’s resurrection because John is the only one to give us some stories about Nicodemus that only Nicodemus could tell him. But my point is, pretty early on, Nicodemus earnestly sought out Jesus and asked his earnest questions.

Hebrews 3:16 – Who were [the Israelites with Moses after 40 years in the wilderness] who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? I have seen you move. I have seen you do amazing things. I have seen you do amazing things in my own life and the lives of others. And yet I still doubt you. I still sometimes live as if you are not part of me. I still make idols out of other things and look to them for my peace.

Father, you know what I’m thinking about right now. It’s something that has potential to lead me into conflict with a good friend. Give me a humble heart. Help me to fully live what I believe in my head. Help me to fully love with your love. Help me to repent when I need to repent and be strong and offer myself as a sacrifice when you need me to sacrifice. Even if it costs me everything I look to for my security. But help me to do every single thing in love. With your love.

I offer this prayer in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 21, 2024 in Hebrews, John, Lent 2024, Psalms

 

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Lent Day 7

20 Feb

Dear God, I did it again. This is becoming a pattern. I forgot to read the PM psalm yesterday.

Okay, I just read Psalm 44 (yesterday’s PM psalm). I am so glad I didn’t miss it. The lament is real. for the first third of it as they talk about you abandoning them in battle, I assumed it was because of Israel’s collective disobedience, but verse 17 says, “All this happened to us, though we had not forgotten you or been false to your covenant.” It says a lot more along these lines, but the sentiment is the same. As I said, the lament here is real. It reminds me a bit of Job and his friends telling him he must have done something wrong and earned your displeasure, but that wasn’t the truth at all. You were just silent.

Okay, here are today’s passages from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer.

  • AM Psalm: 45
  • PM Psalms: 47, 48
  • Deuteronomy 9:4-12
  • John 2:13-22
  • Hebrews 3:1-11

Here are my thoughts as I read each of these passages:

  • Psalm 45 – I don’t like it. Is that bad to say? It’s a wedding song for the king marrying a young woman, but it feels like it has no place in our current society. And I don’t think it embraces what Jesus taught. I might be wrong, Father, but my heart is disturbed by this psalm.
  • Deuteronomy 9:4-12 – Now, this one I like. Basically, it is showing the Israelites their sins and explaining how you love them anyway. Will I be “stiff-necked” before you, Father? Oh, I hope not. My hope and desire is to be completely submitted to you and the path you have for me, no matter what it costs me.
  • John 2:13-22 – Ah, the story where Jesus clears the temple. Interesting that John records this as happening earlier than the other gospel writers do. But this passage enforces something that I heard several months ago that I believe. Jesus, Paul, and the other writers of the New Testament appear to be more concerned about making the church more Christlike than making the world more Christlike. If the church is Christlike then the world will want to be part of that church because the world is starving for the fruit of your Spirit.
  • Hebrews 3:1-11 – It’s interesting who the author of Hebrews quoted Psalm 95:7-11 as a quote from the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 3:7) and then talks about the lessons the Israelites learned over those 40 years in the desert.

Father, it feels like we, as your church, are poised for some desert time. It feels like we need to be humbled and broken down. It feels like we, your church, are stiff-necked. That’s just how it feels to me. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the concerns I have are not of you, but from the enemy. Maybe I’m absolutely wrong. If I am, please show me. Make it clear to me. But if I am right, affirm that as well. There is an issue that is heavy on my heart this morning. It has nothing to do with the things that normally trouble me, but it is heavy none the less. So please speak to me. Show me how to respond. Comfort me. Inspire me. Live through me. Let your kingdom come and your will be done on this earth, through my life, as it is in heaven.

I pray this in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 20, 2024 in Deuteronomy, Hebrews, John, Lent 2024, Psalms

 

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