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Category Archives: Psalms

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 9

22 Feb

Dear God, before I start going through my Lenten devotional, Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer, I want to say a quick anonymous prayer for a friend who contacted me yesterday about marital strife. Oh, Father, please speak to this man and his wife. I think there might be some mental illness involved. Please heal. I am sure there are decades of harm from both that need to be forgiven. Please administer your grace. Please give them a path forward. Please raise up people in their lives who can love them and be your physical presence for them. And Holy Spirit, please be their paraclete in every way. And show me what my role is in their lives.

Now, once again I forgot to look at yesterday’s PM psalms (49 and 53), so let me do that now.

Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever heard Psalm 49 used as prophecy for Jesus before, but I’m sure it has, but the verses that struck me were 7-9: No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him–the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough–that he should live on forever and not see decay. Well, the you go. Thank you, Jesus, for being the ransom we could never have imagined!

Okay, here are today’s passages:

  • AM Psalms: 50, 59, 60
  • PM Psalms: 19, 46
  • Deuteronomy 9:23-10:5
  • John 3:16-21
  • Hebrews 4:1-10

After reading all of these passages, I can’t say that much jumped out to me like it did from Psalm 49 earlier. The thing I thought most about while I read John 3:16-21 was that this was just a small part of Jesus’s private conversation/instruction with Nicodemus. In John 3:4, Nicodemus asked, “How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born.” Then Jesus starts his response in verse 5 and continues through verse 21, except with Nicodemus inserting, “How can this be?” But it’s interesting for me to picture Jesus in this one-on-one setting. Just the two of them. The Messiah and an earnest Pharisee, talking. The former teaching the latter. The latter really trying to understand. I love it. And it somehow changes the words. They become more intimate and personal.

Father, Jesus was bringing a new paradigm that absolutely no one could understand–not even his mother. No one understood how he would shift the narrative. I still don’t understand it. And the modern church seems to lose its way on it. I know I have. Help me to sink into you. Help me to embrace your way. Help me to be about showing love first and foremost to every person with whom I interact today. I don’t need to be smart. I don’t need to be effective. I just need to be faithful to you and loving to others. Help me to die to myself and my own ego so that I might truly take up my cross and follow you.

I offer this prayer to you in Jesus, my savior, and with the Holy Spirit, my paraclete,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 22, 2024 in John, 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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Lent Day 5:

18 Feb

Dear God, as I enter the first Sunday of Lent, I come to you with a full heart. I’ll confess that I’m already getting a little tired of spending this much focused time every morning, getting up early. Normally when I do these they take about 15 minutes, but the way I am doing this take a whole 30! (Sarcasm intended, but it’s also a little true.) And I’m doing it every day! (Sarcasm again intended, but it’s also a little true.)

Here are today’s readings from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer:

  • AM Psalms: 63, 98
  • PM Psalms: 103
  • Deuteronomy 8:1-10
  • Mark 2:18-22
  • 1 Corinthians 1:17-31

As I wrote those, I just remembered that I forgot to read the PM Psalms from yesterday. I’ll do that now. Two things really quickly from yesterday’s PM Psalms: 42 and 43. First, the phrase from 42:4: These things I remember as I pour out my soul: How I used to with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. Isn’t that what I was kind of saying about myself when I started this prayer? It’s only Day 5. I started with much enthusiasm and focus. Now, the newness of this has worn off and I’m disciplining myself to do this.

The next was the fact that both psalms used the phrase, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” I wonder if that was a phrase commonly known to the Israelites. A quick Google search didn’t show anything beyond these two psalms for this phrase, but it’s interesting that it was in both psalms.

As for today’s verses, let me see what we have here. After reading everything, including the commentary from the book, it is fasting mentioned in Mark 2:18-22 that comes up a few times. And I guess I started to understand what has always been kind of a weird parable to me: the old/new wineskins, and the patch on the old/new cloth. Jesus was saying that fasting is important to bring us closer to you, God, but while he (you) was literally and physically among them there was a new paradigm. No fasting required. This new situation did not fit any of the metaphorical old cloths or wineskins they knew. A new cloth and wineskin was required.

Father, through the Lenten season, help me to sink into you. Help me to emerge from this after Easter in some sort of new paradigm that will stick and help me to grow in you. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.

I pray this in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 18, 2024 in Lent 2024, Mark, Psalms

 

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Lent Day 4:

17 Feb

Dear God, as I continue to make my way through Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer, I want to stop and just thank you for always being here to meet with me. Sometimes I am father from you, but you are never farther from me. Oh, my God, I love you.

Before I start with Day 4 of this Lenten series I’m doing with you, I want to go back and mention something I noticed last night as I was reading Psalm 35. David was bemoaning his situation and asking you to rip into people who were wronging him. I’ve always struggled with those psalms, but last night I got a vision that David was writing that psalm on behalf of Uriah. Uriah was the victim and David was the villain. David was coming to terms with his villainy towards Uriah. I’m not saying that’s actually what David was doing, but it gave me an appreciation and perspective on the sentiment I haven’t had before.

Here are the passages the book has for me today:

  • AM Psalms: 30, 32
  • PM Psalms: 42, 43
  • Deuteronomy 7:17-26
  • John 1:43-51
  • Titus 3:1-15

Just off the bat, I’m kind of surprised we are spending so much time in Deuteronomy and Titus. I’m not looking ahead because I’m trying to stay in the moment, but if you’d have asked me to guess which books in the Bible we will be spending time with, I would not have guessed Deuteronomy and Titus.

Okay, here is what stands out to me in today’s readings.

Psalm 30:5a – For his anger last only a moment, but is favor lasts a lifetime.

This takes me back to when my children were small and I started to get a glimpse of your love for me through my love for them. I would get so angry sometimes, but then it was so easy to forgive. Even now, there is nothing that will take away my love for them. Nothing they can do. Yes, I get angry, but it is fleeting. You love me the same way. Do you get angry? Yes. Do you forgive me? Yes. Do you ever stop loving me. No. Amazing! You are amazing!

Psalm 30:11-12 – You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

I have some wailing and sackcloth in my life. There are things that cause me sorrow. But I know that you will remove it. In fact, you often bring me joy and dancing even in the midst of the sorrow. One of the things I’ve learned through this sorrow is to not make the things that are bringing me sorrow idols. Am I sorrowful because I’m looking to those things to bring me the fruits of the Spirit only a life with your Holy Spirit can bring? Or am I sorrowful because I am truly worried about them? While I know that sometimes I fall into the idol category, I am getting closer and closer to it being only about my worry for them.

Psalm 32:5 – Then I acknowledged my sing to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD” and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Sometimes I forget to simply confess my sin to you and tell you I am sorry. As I type this, I am thinking about specific sins of which I am aware. I’m so sorry for those. I know they are harmful to me and to others. I am so sorry. And then I am sure there are things I’m doing that are sinful and I don’t know they are sin. I am sorry for that too. Reveal them to me.

John 1:43 – The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

Following Jesus. What an interesting thing to be called to do. I don’t understand this world or how you have laid out the system for those you call and those you apparently don’t. I think, overall, you call us all. Thank you for making me your child.

Titus 3:2, 10 – …to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men...Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.

This one struck me because I’ve got some of this in my life right now. I have someone in my life who did some slandering this week, and I am trying to figure out how to address it so that I can take a stand against divisiveness. Oh, Father, guide me in this one. I really need your help here. It’s heavy on my heart.

I bring all of this to you in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 17, 2024 in John, Lent 2024, Psalms, Titus

 

Lent Day 3: Excerpts from Psalm 31,

16 Feb

Dear God, as I intentionally experience Lent this year and go through Day 3 for Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer, I’ve decided to do something a little different today. I want to read the passages and then call out the verses that resonate with me. But before I do, here are the passages that have for us to read today.

  • AM Psalms 31, 95
  • PM Psalms 35
  • Deuteronomy 7:12-16
  • John 1:35-42
  • Titus 2:1-15

Here we go:

Psalm 31: 6 – I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD

Idols have come to mean more to me over the last three and a half years. Ever since I heard Andy Stanley interview the couple where the pastor/husband barely survived COVID and he noted that we tend to make an idol out of “certainty,” and we find all kinds of tangible things to put our certainty in (spouse, children, economy, government, etc.) when you, God, are the only thing that is the same and never changes. It’s now easier to see the idols in my life that I must relinquish, and also see the idols others make. Right now, in election season, it feels like many people are worshipping their political party, counting on it to save them or else all will be lost. I hate those [including myself] who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD.

Psalm 31:11-13 – Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends–those who see me on the street flee from me. I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life.

This is a psalm of David, and I cannot help but wonder if he wrote it during Absalom’s revolt. The idea that David would be the contempt of his neighbors and that those who see him would flee from him is shocking, but then again aren’t we all, as humans, shockingly fickle? Are there areas of my life where I foolishly abandon those I should support because it is the safe thing for me to do?

Psalm 95:6-7 – Come, let us bow down and worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

This is just a nice piece of worshiping you right here. Oh, Father, you are my Maker. You are my God. I am a lamb in your pasture. A lamb under your care. Thank you. I submit myself to your care.

Deuteronomy 7:12 – If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers.

Deuteronomy is where you are laying down the law, literally, for the Israelites. This whole passage is, frankly, a little simplistic in my mind. It says you will make good for the good and bad for the bad. All I ask right now is not for good, but that you will help me to be near to you.

John 1:37-38 – When the two disciples heard [John the Baptist] say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

What an interesting question. I wonder if they knew. I wonder if they had an idea of what they wanted but didn’t have the courage to say so they just asked where he was staying. In their heart of hearts, I would imagine they were looking for the same Messiah everyone else was looking for. They wanted to be lifted out of the mire of subjugation to Rome and restored to power. Had they known at that moment how things would play out over the next three years they might have stayed behind. What do I want from you, even this morning? Is it the right thing or is it selfish?

Titus 2:9-10 – Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teacher about God our Savior attractive

For this passage, I want to quote part of today’s reading from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer: “But reading the letter to Titus can be overwhelming. Planting and nurturing the church in Crete is not an easy matter. The culture is crude and in constant agitation. As part of the Roman Empire, it is subject to, among other things, the norms of slavery, the subjugation of women, and the abuse of alcohol. Sexual immorality is rampant, and hopelessness is widespread.\\Knowing and following Jesus, according to Paul, is the only adequate antidote to such a broken world.“

Father, I am still leaning into the word “patience” for this Lenten season. Help me to continue to die to myself and simply embrace everything Jesus was–and everything Jesus was is completely contradictory to who I am. Thank you for this amazing gesture on your part to come to earth and give us your example of how to behave and live. How to love and serve. How to give of ourselves, worship you, and love others. Help me to be that man today.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 16, 2024 in Deuteronomy, John, Lent 2024, Psalms, Titus

 

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Lent Day 1: Psalm 32, Jonah 3-4

14 Feb

Psalm 32

A psalm of David.

1 Oh, what joy for those
    whose disobedience is forgiven,
    whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
    whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,[b]
    whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin,
    my body wasted away,
    and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
    My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude

5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
    and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
    And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Interlude

6 Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,
    that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
7 For you are my hiding place;
    you protect me from trouble.
    You surround me with songs of victory. Interlude

8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
    I will advise you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
    that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”

10 Many sorrows come to the wicked,
    but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
11 So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
    Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!

Jonah 3-4

3 Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”

3 This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. 4 On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” 5 The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.

6 When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. 7 Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city:

“No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. 8 People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. 9 Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”

10 When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

4 This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. 2 So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. 3 Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.”

4 The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”

5 Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.

7 But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. 8 And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed.

9 Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?”

“Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!”

10 Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. 11 But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

Dear God, I have decided that I am going to be very intentional about Lent this year. I found a book called Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer. No specific author is listed, but it’s from The Foundry Publishers. I’m going to let it be my guide through this season.

Day 1 listed several passages:

  • AM Psalms 32, 95, 143
  • PM Psalms 102, 130
  • Jonah 3-4
  • Luke 18:9-14
  • Hebrews 12:1-14

I’ve decided to commit to getting up about 45 minutes earlier than I normally do to spend this time dedicated time with you. I’ve read everything at this point except the PM Psalms. The two passages that struck me were Psalm 32 and Jonah 3-4.

I like Psalm 32 because it reminds me of why I came to you in the first place. Well, that might not be exactly true. I cannot remember how much of my motivation was “fire insurance,” but what ended up happening was this amazing release when I first experienced the cleansing of your grace. What an amazing thing.

I like Jonah 3-4 because it reminds me of what I was praying about yesterday with the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds. While what Satan had done in Nineveh was evil, Satan was the enemy. The Ninevites were not the enemy. Jonah saw them as the enemy, but you didn’t. You were angry with them, but you wanted their repentance, not their destruction. Jonah wanted only their destruction.

Father, help me to see each and every person I encounter today with your eyes. No one–absolutely no one–is my enemy. They are an opportunity to bring your life into someone who needs you. They are an opportunity to bring the freedom and joy David speaks of in Psalm 32 into their life and into the world. Help me to remember that. Help me to also remember that amazing freedom I first felt and have felt a few times since I received the amazing grace that you give to me.

I offer this prayer and this Lenten season to you in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 14, 2024 in Jonah, Lent 2024, Psalms

 

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Galatians 5:16-26 – “Still Life with Fruit”

10 Feb
The above image is from Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups, written and compiled by Ned Bustard. The image is called “Still Life with Fruit” and was created by Kreg Yingst.

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

Galatians 5:16-26

Dear God, as much as I love Galatians 5:22-23 about the “Fruits of the Spirit” I cannot believe I haven’t seen this image in Bustard’s book yet. But I have to tell you, before even reading anything about the image or studying the image too closely, the title that the artist, Kreg Yingst, gave it has my mind spinning: “Still Life with Fruit.”

Normally, a painting or photograph of a bowl of fruit is called a “still life.” So it would be called a “still life of fruit.” But Yingst subtly changed the of to with and it makes a big difference for me. Instead of the word “fruit” relating to the apple on the table or the painting on the wall behind the man in the picture, the fruit are the nine items Paul lists in Galtians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. The “still life” portrayed in the image is the man. Him being an example of a “still life” is due to the Holy Spirit, as referenced by the dove outside the window descending, him studying your Word (presumably a Bible) laid out before him, and the “fruits” of the Spirit exuding from his hands. The man is making himself still and at the same time the Spirit is meeting him and making him even more still.

So that’s my take on the image. Let’s see what Bustard has to say. Bustard’s words:

Followers of God do not pick one fruit over another to exhibit in their lives. For example, a person may want to say they have faithfulness and joy but simply can’t muster forbearance and self-control. For the Christian, such selectiveness is unacceptable. The fruit of the Spirit is a unified process. Over time, a life truly lived in the Spirit will produce the fruit. Speaking of fruit, a title such as the one for this print generally refers to a picture like the one hanging over the man’s left shoulder. But this still life incorporates a man, a Bible, an apple, a cup of coffee, and a descending dove. These symbols (along wit the words protruding from the man’s fingers) suggest that a life of prayer, study, and waiting on the Spirit–that is, a still life–leads to a person becoming transformed into the Fruit that God desires.

So I think I got that one pretty close to the way Bustard saw it. That’s kind of affirming and refreshing. But the truth of the concept is the important thing.

Psalm 46:10 has this important pull quote from you:

“Be still, and know that I am God!
    I will be honored by every nation.
    I will be honored throughout the world.”

In the rest of the psalm, the psalmist(s) point out everything you are, but then he/they give us these words from you and they start with “be still.”

Father, it is hard sometimes for me to simply be still. And when I am still, I’m not really still. It’s a lazy still that uses distraction to check out the way some people use alcohol or drugs. So as I go into this day, give me the vision for the right kind of stillness, and the strength and self-discipline to embrace it. Let my life be a portrait of a “Still Life with Fruit.”

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 10, 2024 in Galatians, Psalms, Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups

 

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