Thursday Morning Devotion (Waiting for Redemption)

Posted on December 13, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

1Let the desert and the dry place rejoice
Let the dry land blossom like a crocus.
2Let them spring up abundantly
With exultation and shouts of joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
The splendour of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the glory of YHWH,
The splendour of our God.
3Strengthen the weak hands,
And straighten the lame knees.
4Say to the worriers, be strong!
Don’t be afraid!
Behold, your God comes in vengeance
Our God is a God of retribution,
and he’s coming to save us.
5Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
And the ears of the deaf unblocked.
6Then will the lame leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy.
Water will indeed spring forth in the desert,
Streams in the dry land.
7The mirage will become a pond,
And the dry place springs of water.
The haunt of jackals will become a resting place,
Grassland will become reeds and rushes. — Isaiah 35:1-7

Have you ever wanted something very badly, and felt that you could actually see and feel it? Perhaps it was an article of clothing, and you could just see yourself appearing in church wearing it or at a party. Most of us guys have experienced this looking at a new car, I suspect. You take a test drive, and you picture yourself parking that car at work, showing it to your friends. You’ll feel great driving it down the road.

Yesterday I talked about being the same person here on earth and in the kingdom of heaven. New body, new address, but both persons are there to please God. Today, I’m using a scripture that talks about that anticipation. This scripture is written to people who are toiling through the desert. They are not currently living in that flowering land with the majestic forests of Lebanon. They are not traveling among springs of water, nor are they on a safe highway.

They’re anticipating. Anticipation can get so strong that we can see where we’re headed, we can feel what it would be like to have what we want, but it isn’t there. You won’t find many translations that use the word “mirage” in verse 7. (The Revised English Bible is one.) But it’s a legitimate translation, and I think it fits with the theme of the chapter.

As you travel through the desert, you see where you’re going and it looks like a mirage. There’s a pool of water just ahead. You may have seen many such in your Christian journey, only to reach that place and find that it’s not really there.

Many of us have experienced times of worship that felt much like this—almost, but not quite. I just about made it to the cool waters, but it didn’t quite happen. We get disappointed, but hopefully we keep on looking, waiting, and trusting in God.

Because our passage today talks about a time when that mirage becomes a pool of water, when our thirst will be quenched and our joy will be complete. We’re not good at anticipating. We’re very quick to assume that something we can’t have now will never be available. We give up hope.

Are you looking for that one, greatest spiritual experience? Are you waiting for God’s next move in your life? Are you hoping for full fellowship?

The mirage will become a pool of water! Hope for it! Expect it! Wait for it!

(Note: I got some ideas for this devotional at Rev. Geoffrey Lentz’s “Lectionary at Lunch” at First UMC, Pensacola. If you live in the area and can get away at lunch, consider attending. It’s a great experience.)

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Wednesday Morning Devotion (Same Here and There)

Posted on December 12, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

6So we are confident always, and we know that while we are in the body, we are away from the Lord. 7For we walk by faith and not by sight. 8But we are confident though we would prefer to be away from the body and to be with the Lord. 9Therfore our ambition is to please him, whether with the Lord or away from him. 10Because all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one might receive what is deserved for the acts done in the body, whether good or bad. — 2 Corinthians 5:6-10

Yesterday we talked about how, as Christians, we are torn between here and there. There’s the pull of two kingdoms, but this one is familiar, so there is a bit of a tendency to cling to it. But faith shows us what is truly important.

Paul sometimes takes a while circling around his point before he gets there, and this is one of those times. We remain confident in God, he says, even though we’re far from him. The reason for that is that we are seeing through the eyes of faith and not with just our physical eyes. The very thing that keeps us torn between the two kingdoms—our spiritual sight—also keeps us confident in God. We can see what is to come.

I really didn’t really get a good picture of what this meant until the time that James had surgery to remove his lungs. I had committed to go to Springfield UMC to teach on prophecy for four weeks. Perry, whom most readers of these devotionals know, told me he wasn’t going to withdraw the invitation and free me to stay home that way, but he would understand if I thought I couldn’t make it.

I felt that I was supposed to go. Now it wasn’t hard to teach. Teaching a group of people who are actively praying and reaching out for more of the Lord is a joy. The hard part was driving to Panama City. For me that was about 2 ½ hours of torture. I would live through it by playing songs of the kingdom on the CD player.

Now those who know me well know that music is not my primary form of worship. One time just as I had arrived in Panama City, Jody and James called me, and I missed the first couple of tries. When I explained that the music was too loud, they were stunned! I never listen to music that loud. But I was listening to the worship group we met in Hungary, and the song was “Singing with the Saints.”

“You may think it’s a dream, but it ain’t. I’ll be singing with the saints.” There were times listening to that song when I thought I could feel the grass of heaven’s fields under my feet. Everything’s going to be alright then!

But what type of people are we going to be? For some Christians everything is about what we’ll be when we get to heaven. It’s all about then. And there is certainly a wonderful hope waiting for us. We can indeed be confident and hopeful.

But Paul is telling us to get started now, that whether we are here or there it is our honor to please God. While we aren’t going to be perfect people here, we are to be God-pleasing people.

Whether we are here on earth, or there in heaven, we are to be the same type of people—kingdom people, seeking to please God, and conscious of the fact that everything we do must stand eventually in judgment before God.

There’s something else though, and it’s a precious promise. Look who’s judgment seat it is: the judgment seat of Christ. The one who paid the penalty will be our judge. How can you lose when the judge is your advocate and has already paid your penalty?

That’s the great news of the gospel. Here or there, you can’t lose. It’s no dream!

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Tuesday Morning Devotion (Torn Between Two Homes)

Posted on December 11, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

1For we know that if this earthly body that houses us is destroyed, we have a place to live that comes from God, an eternal place to live that is eternal and not made by hands. 2For while we are in this body we groan, wanting to put on that body that is from heaven. 3For if it happens that this body is taken off, we won’t be naked. 4We do indeed grown, weighed down by this earthly body, because we don’t want to take it off, but to put on the new one, so that the corruptible can be swallowed up in the immortal. 5God has been working in us to accomplish this very destiny. He is the one who has given us the Holy Spirit to prove to us what he is doing. — 2 Corinthians 5:1-5

It’s advent season, in one sense the season of waiting—waiting for Jesus. Christians are used to waiting, though we can’t really get happy with it. Christians have expected the return of Jesus for nearly 2,000 years.

We also like to get things clear. When will the Messiah come? “Soon” doesn’t work all that well for us. We’d like a date, just like the Israelites would have liked in their time. There’s the struggle of waiting and being faithful where we are, while at the same time we stretch ourselves forward for what can be. Waiting and uncertainty are not popular. We are like Tolkien’s hobbits. He says that they liked books filled with lots of things they already knew set down plainly without contradiction. But our walk with God is often filled with uncertainties and paradoxes, and we have to deal with them.

As we grow older, I suspect we think of this more. There’s going to come an end to this life. There will be a last breath here, and then the next one will be in the kingdom. There are those who think that if one really believes in the afterlife, a place that is much better than this one, one should be in a hurry to get there. Perhaps not suicide—no mortal sins please!–but a certain amount of risk taking would be in order. Let’s get it over with and get to the other side!

But Paul points out the struggle that we all have. We have this one. We don’t necessarily feel safe losing it to be replaced with the heavenly body that Christ will provide. It’s a constant struggle, and Paul doesn’t try to pretend it’s anything else. Don’t feel guilty if you don’t instantly yell out “Hallelujah” the instant someone talks about Jesus coming, perhaps even today. There are lots of other people out there who feel much the same way. It’s just not “holy” to admit it.

We kind of like our lives here. We enjoy them and we don’t want to lose them. And that’s not a bad thing. God is preparing us for that new body, that great future, and as the first payment he has provided is with the Spirit. We truly are people divided between two kingdoms. The Spirit is working in us to prepare us for eternity, and at the same time we are enjoying this present life.

Advent is a good time to be torn. It’s not unnatural. That conflict is appropriate. Notice that Paul uses the word “we,” and he’s talking about his mission and ministry. Advent is, in many ways, the essence of the Christian life. We are in one world, longing for, waiting for, the next.

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Monday Morning Devotion (Temporary and Insignificant)

Posted on December 10, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

16So we don’t get discouraged. Though what’s on the outside [the one that can be seen-HN] is decaying, what’s on the inside is being renewed day by day. 17For this insignificant short moment of trouble is preparing us for an eternal fullness of glory that is ever so much more abundant. 18We don’t pay attention to the things that can be seen, but to the things that can’t be seen. For the things that can be seen are temporary, but the things that can’t be seen are eternal. — 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Last night I was think that something that was annoying to me had gone on long enough. “Forget about mission, ministry, and call,” I said to myself. “I’m going to have to do something about this.” Then this morning I come out, without any idea what to right for a devotion, and my eyes fall on this text. Now I’m working on some material on 2 Corinthians 5, and in connection with that I’ve read the passages around it several times. So I had “seen” these verses several times, but apparently I hadn’t quite truly “seen” them!

Paul is talking about the difficulties of his ministry. We interpret many texts in 2 Corinthians as applying to our daily Christian lives, and they can apply to that. But many of them were spoken first in the context of carrying out one’s call—for Paul, the call of an apostle. Why would he go to all the trouble he went to, just so he could carry the gospel to others? If we really think about it, most of us would reject the type of life Paul led. It would simply be too hard.

In answer, Paul tells us a few things about “now” vs “eternity.” Whatever is happening now, he tells us, is really, really tiny, an “insignificant, short moment” in which we have trouble. What this prepares us for is an overwhelmingly huge burden of glory. The exact word Paul uses there suggests a heaviness, a huge quantity. It is so great a glory that it goes on and on past our best imagining.

We have a statement about seen and unseen in all three verses. In verse 16, it’s your outer person, the part the world looks at that is seen. Often we’re not too happy with our outer persons. Then there’s your inner person, the one you and God see. That’s what is being renewed day by day.

In verse 17, what we see is this short moment of trouble. It just seems long to us because we don’t have perspective. What is not seen—yet!–is that eternal glory. If we look only at what we can see, then we will fail to see the glory that is to come.

Verse 18 finishes it off. The true minister of Christ, as Paul was, looks at the unseen, the glorious, the eternal, and not at what is seen, which is only temporary. It’s because of that greater perspective that God’s servants don’t get discouraged.

I’d like us to try looking at this a little differently than normal. There are many reasons why we might not be able to see something. It might be too far away. It might be small, like a bacterium or a single molecule. It might be around the corner, blocked by some other object. We might think of the eternal glory that we don’t see as blocked by our temporary troubles, as long as we keep looking at the troubles. Look past the troubles with spiritual eyes and we’ll see the glory.

But another thing that can prevent us from seeing something is perspective. For many centuries, most uneducated people thought that the earth was flat. (Note that educated folks knew the earth was a sphere for many centuries before Columbus. His problem was that he underestimated the size of the earth.) Unless someone had performed very difficult experiments and measurements, the earth certainly appeared to be flat. Careful measurements would allow one to realize that the earth was spherical.

You see, something can be too big to see as well as too small. We have such a small perspective that we can’t really see all of the glory that God has for us. We need to let our faith pull us back so that we can fix our eyes on the bigger picture, the glory that so massively outweighs all of our troubles.

How about applying this to the coming week? It’s Monday. But this short, momentary, insignificant week will fade with the perspective of the glory to which God is leading you. Be encouraged!

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Friday Morning Devotion (Let it Happen)

Posted on December 7, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

26In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth 27to a virgin who was betrothed to a man named Joseph. He was a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

28And the angel went in to her and said, “Greetings, recipient of grace*! The Lord is with you!” 29But she was disturbed by this greeting, and was wondering what it could mean.

30And the angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace from God. 31Look, you will be conceive, bear a son, and call his name Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his ancestor. 33And he will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end.

34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I’ve never had sex with a man?”

35And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the holy child who will be born will be called the Son of God. 36Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son even though she’s too old for it. She who was called barren is now six months pregnant, 37because there is no matter that is too hard for God.”

38Mary said, “Look! I’m the Lord’s slave. Let what you have said happen to me.” And the angel left her. — Luke 1:26-38

[*This is the word translated “full of grace” and can literally be read “graced one.” I am trying to convey that picture, even using a phrase that is a bit clumsy.]

It’s easy to claim to follow God’s will. “I’ll go wherever God wants me to go!” I say. But secretly I’m really glad he hasn’t called me to be an evangelist in Africa. I don’t particularly want to do that. More frequently we’re willing to do things as long as the Lord provides the money enough in advance.

For many of us, however, the idea of doing whatever God’s will is never tested outside of the box we have built around our ordinary lives. There are places we won’t go, things we won’t do, and words we won’t speak. They are simply outside of our conception of “what we do.” It’s not that we’d intentionally disobey God; it’s simply that such activities would never occur to us, or if they did, we’d dismiss them as idle fantasies.

For me, this would be the idea of walking up to a complete stranger and asking, “Are you a Christian?” or “Do you know Jesus?” I like to practice long-term relational faith sharing, meaning that I get to know people before I ask them personal questions. In general, I like that plan and I think it’s right. That’s one reason I do it. But another reason I do it is because that fits with my personality. I take some time to get really close to someone, and I’m not extremely bold before I get there.

So what happens if God says to me—don’t worry about how, but suppose I’m sure it’s God—“Henry, go up to that person at the table across the reference and ask them, “Do you know Jesus?” Would I do it? If I was truly sure it was God, I would hope I would, but I’m absolutely certain I’d immediately ask for confirmation—several times.

So here we have Mary. These days we don’t have the same sort of shame issue involved with being pregnant outside of marriage. People don’t naturally understand the kind of courage involved in Joseph’s choice to marry his fiance even after she got pregnant. The shame and the potential penalties were high. There’s also faith there. What would you think if your girlfriend or wife suddenly announced she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit?

But that’s the guy’s point of view. For Mary there was the possibility she would be thrown out of her home, even killed. Here fiance would refuse to marry her—that was almost certain. What I’m saying is that this was way outside Mary’s box, outside of the boundaries she doubtless had set for her life.

Yet she gives a simple answer: “Let what you have said happen to me.” Ouch! This 1st century teenager facing death has put the vast majority of us to shame.

Lord, let what you want happen to me!

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Thursday Morning Devotion (Something Old and Something New)

Posted on December 6, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

45And when they didn’t find him, they returned to Jerusalem, continuing to look for him. 46And after three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers. He was hearing them and asking them questions. 47All those who heard were amazed at his understanding and at the answers he gave. — Luke 2:45-47

As often as I can I attend the Lectionary at Lunch sessions with Rev. Geoffrey Lentz. (I love calling him Rev, since I’ve watched him since he was just starting high school, and now I get to see the wonderful work he’s doing as associate minister at First UMC here in Pensacola.)

For the last few weeks, despite the title, we have not been following the lectionary but working through Luke, leaving the birth and infancy narratives of Luke 1 & 2 for last, so they would fall during advent. Geoffrey pointed something out that I had noticed before, but not really noticed, if you know what I mean. The infancy and childhood material in Luke begins and ends in the temple.

Now we have a tendency to dismiss the temple of Jesus’ day because he criticized so much of what went on there. But Jesus himself not only loved the Hebrew scriptures, which we now call the Old Testament, he loved Jerusalem and the temple, the center of Jewish worship at the time. He faithfully went up to the feasts.

But to focus in a bit more here, Luke starts the story of Jesus in the temple, the place where the symbols of God’s presence, and often its manifestation, already were. That’s an important connection. Now hold that thought as you read on. I really do have a devotional thought here, but there are some nuts and bolts needed to help hold it together. This opening story is in Luke 1:3-25. There, the angel Gabriel shows himself to Zechariah to promise him the birth of a son in his old age. God’s presence comes in the form of an angel.

Then we go to the end of chapter 2, in the passage I’m using today, and there’s Jesus, in the temple (though this would not be the sanctuary, but rather one of the outer parts) standing in the middle of a group of people. God’s presence is now shown through this young boy whose teaching astounds all those who hear, and it’s still happening in the temple.

Now think about the way you and those you know approach worship. There are some of us who are always hunting for something new and different, something that will bring the presence of God for us. We’re not too concerned with what has happened before. Our favorite texts are those that talk about forgetting about the past. Another group likes to cling to the things that have happened before, and seeks God’s presence in familiar ritual and tradition. They’re likely to love all the verses that talk about remembering the things that God has done.

In the way Luke laid out his two chapters, he’s suggested something for all of us, I think. God is always doing new things. We see the new thing as Jesus, son of God, teaches in the temple. This isn’t an angel, and it isn’t just a prophet. This is something more. God is present in a new way.

But it’s anchored in the temple, the old way. And we’ve just seen the angel Gabriel appear to someone in the sanctuary, right by the altar of incense—very traditional, if you please!

What I see hear for not only our spiritual lives, but for any aspect of living is this: In this advent season look for new things coming from old wells, something new connected to something old.

(Note: One of our devotionals was listed with this week’s Christian Carnival at Thinking Christian. We thank the host for his work.)

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Wednesday Morning Devotion (Add Virtue to Knowledge)

Posted on December 5, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

Note:  Because of a rushed morning, I’m cross-posting today’s devotional with today’s Running Toward the Goal podcast.

3By his divine power, God has given us everything that leads to life and virtue, through knowing the one who has called us by his own glory and goodness. 4It is by this means that he has given us the wonderfully precious promises, so that through them you might have a share in the divine nature, and flee the corruption that is in the world through lust.

5Because of this make every effort to add excellence to your faith, knowledge to your excellence, 6self-control to your knowledge, patience to your self-control, virtue to your patience, 7brotherly affection to your virtue, and love to your brotherly affection.

8For if you have these things you will grow, and it will not be unproductive or fruitless. You will gain the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9Whoever does not have these is blind and refuses to understand. He forgets that his past sins have been washed away. 10So all the more, brothers and sisters, work zealously to establish your calling and election, for if you do these things, you won’t stumble. 11In this way your entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be provided for richly. — 2 Peter 1:3-11

Hello, I’m Henry Neufeld, president of Pacesetters Bible School with today’s Running Toward the Goal.

We aren’t always certain how to respond to a “controlled” person. In general, I think, we wonder what they would be doing if they lost control. The assumption, of course, is that they cannot possibly remain controlled for their entire life. Something somewhere is going to make them lose it. We may also think such a person is not genuine or real. We’d prefer that they show their emotions and let us know just what is inside.

But that’s not precisely the idea of Biblical “self-control.” The type of control I’ve been describing is a personality trait, and not necessarily an indication of character. The type of self-control here doesn’t refer to your personality, but rather to your ability to control your desires. The Greeks saw it as one of the highest virtues, because it was not a matter of being good because you felt like it, or when your circumstances made it easy. Rather, it was a matter of continuing to live right even when circumstances made it difficult, or when you desired to do something else.

This is a virtue that is much needed in our society today. In literature or on TV, we see the constant assumption that someone must go after his or her desires—they can’t help it. A man sees a beautiful woman, and writers or producers don’t even show a question or a struggle. They desire sex; they will have sex. We’re conditioned to believe that certain behavior is OK, because people just can’t help it. We’re subject to our desires.

And lest someone decide that it’s only sexual desires that need to be controlled, this involves all of one’s appetites, such as food, and also the use of the tongue. Do you frequently find that you simply can’t resist some dainty? I know I do. I need more self-control. What about words? Do you find that things frequently get out of your mouth before being processed by your brain? I must confess that happens to me. It’s a case for self-control.

As Christians, we can apply the elements Peter has already mentioned: faith, excellence, and knowledge. All our efforts toward better self-control come as part of our faith, our trust in God. Trusting in ourselves we are likely to keep right on doing the same thing and become more and more discouraged. Trusting in God, we have hope. Excellence gives us that divine pattern to strive for, while our knowledge, especially of God’s word, gives us a means to discern whether we are being self-controlled or over-controlled.

We need to control our desires, but let God give wisdom and discernment, as well as the strength!

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Tuesday Morning Devotion (All About You!)

Posted on December 4, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

17This is what YHWH, your redeemer says, the Holy One of Israel.
I am YHWH your God.
I teach you for your benefit,
and lead you in the way you should go. — Isaiah 48:17

I have heard over and over that it’s all about God. Whether it is worship, ministry, our daily lives, our vocations, our education, or even our recreation, it’s all about God. Now the nice and pious thing to say is yes, indeed, it is all about God. And there is indeed considerable truth to that statement. If we could focus more on God, we would certainly find ourselves in less conflict with our brothers and sisters.

But the interesting thing that I find in scripture is that for God, it’s all about people. In fact, God very much reflects the principle that we should not look out for our own well being, but rather the well being of others (Philippians 2:4). While we are supposed to put our focus on God, God is interested in us.

Why should we do the right thing? One standard answer is because it pleases God. But if you keep on reading scripture, you’ll find that the reason it pleases God is that, in the long term, it’s good for us.

In Isaiah 48, from which I took our text, God is giving instruction, rebuke, and encouragement to the Israelites who are in exile in Babylon. What went wrong that they had to go into exile? What do they need to do about it. I suggest reading the whole chapter and especially the verses after the one I quoted.

The key thing that God is telling them, however, is simply this: You rebelled against my commands, but what you were really doing was hurting yourself.

On the one hand God’s law looks very difficult, and the standard so high, that it is a schoolmaster, as Paul said, drawing us to Christ so we can receive grace. On the other hand, it’s holy, just, and good, and most specifically it’s good for us! God, the maker of the universe, knows how best one should live in it.

How should this change our actions? I would suggest that it is a wonderful demonstration of God’s grace that he cares about us. Those who worshiped idols and false gods give offerings and worship hoping to persuade their gods to do something for them. An excellent picture of the futility of this worship is the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18). They prayed and yelled and screamed all day, and they even cut themselves. But nothing happened.

God, on the other hand, wanted to respond and do good things for his children. It didn’t take that much to get his attention and bring about the desired result. Yes, your worship, from your side, is all about God, but you are worshiping a God who wants you to feel and to know his presence. When you give all to God you receive back from God as much as you can receive.

He’s teaching you for your benefit. What a wonderful thought! God isn’t a controlling parent or teacher who has a personal agenda that is not in your best interest. He’s on your side. What’s more, he knows you so well that he’s more on your side than you are.

For God, it’s all about you.

 

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Monday Morning Devotion (Instant Gratification Religion)

Posted on December 3, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

18He said, “What is God’s kingdom like? To what can I compare it?” 19It is like a mustard seed which someone plants in his garden. It grew and became a tree and the birds in the sky came and perched on its branches. — Luke 13:18-19

We like to get things fast. We like to see the connections and to know just how we got whatever we got. This desire for “instant gratification” is often an accusation of the older generation of the younger, or of our various preachers or moral leaders of this generation as opposed to all generations. But really, it’s just a human thing. We all like it. I preach patience, but all too often I practice impatience. If I manage to appear patient, be assured that it’s only by the grace of God! If I don’t appear patient, well, I’m human.

I have even thought that Adam and Eve may have failed precisely on the point of timing. Many times we ask why God would make a perfect garden and yet place in it a tree that was poisonous not just to those who might eat it, but to all their descendants, to an entire species. But perhaps the tree represents something necessary, and that knowledge of good and evil was something that would have to come sometime, but in God’s timing. That would explain the tree being there, but being forbidden. Adam and Eve couldn’t wait. I could be wrong on this, but it’s intriguing.

But whether it started with Adam and Eve or not, it certainly is pervasive. Waiting, trusting, receiving without knowing—all these things really get on our last nerve! But God tends to work with greater subtlety.

We encounter this problem in evangelism. Someone shares their faith with a friend or neighbor, and gets no response. What happens? They get impatient, even desperate. Who can I get to persuade them? Why are they so slow? Surely they understand the importance.

But God says that the kingdom works like a tiny seed. You plant it. It grows. It becomes something much more than you thought when you did the planting. But for many of us this isn’t good enough. God should get in there and fix things now, while I’m watching. And somewhere in there we might even be thinking, “. . . and I should get the credit.”

Seed sowing is a principle of God’s kingdom. It means that God uses things that don’t look like much to accomplish things that are really quite incredible. That means that we will often not be able to get the connections, see the work go on, or account for the credit due to the various workers involved.

The same is true in your own life. The gospel is trying to grow inside you and transform you. You may wish that you had patience right now, so that you could accept this sowing principle in your heart, but God is likely to grow you up slowly. God is not a God of instant gratification.

What seeds is God nurturing in your heart? “Though it tarries, wait for it!” — Habakkuk 2:1

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Thursday Morning Devotion (Testing of Stewardship)

Posted on November 29, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

13This service you have done will provide proof, and people will glorify God for your obedience to the confession of the good news of Christ and the generosity of your sharing with them and with everyone. 14Their hearts will go out to you in their prayers because of God’s overflowing grace that is on you. 15Thank God for his indescribable gift! — 2 Corinthians 9:13

This passage comes as Paul describes what the church in Corinth and other churches in what we now know as Greece had done and were planning to do for the church in Jerusalem. There is a great deal that we can learn from the way that Paul deals with this offering. Paul calls for voluntary and cheerful gifts. The money is being carefully handled so that everyone knows it goes to those who are in need. The people plan for what they are going to do and then go about following their plan.

But what led me to this passage today was something different. The more I watch the work of ministry, and the way our churches function, the more I’m convinced that the very last thing we want to dedicate to God is our pocketbooks and bank accounts.

Now this isn’t a devotional calling for you to send me money. I’m not calling for you to send your money to your favorite televangelist in the hopes that God will give you 10, 100, or 1,000 times as much back. I’m thinking in simpler terms than that. I’m thinking of everything from your local church to your own community and how you live with them, and how we share both our joys and our hardships.

The proof of the obedience of the Corinthians to the gospel was provided by their generosity in providing for believers who were in need. Think about it! We often regard the provision of our resources, especially financial resources, as a sort of an add-on. But Paul calls it the proof, and it’s because of this proof that people will glorify God.

The ministry of your local church, and of dozens of local service agencies depends on the generosity of God’s people. The things we take for granted, like music in church, a preacher or teacher to present the word of God, Sunday School rooms for our children, and fellowship halls or community life centers all cost money, as well as time and prayers.

I run the risk in writing to a devotional list that those who are already giving feel put upon, and those who aren’t so involved don’t get convicted. But all I’m asking each person to do is to talk to God about your involvement in giving, especially to the ministries of your local church. Do what God directs. Don’t accept guilt from me or anyone else. Just talk to God.

Which is, when all is said and done, a good piece of advice on every issue!

Posted in 2 Corinthians, Bible Books, Devotional | Comments Off on Thursday Morning Devotion (Testing of Stewardship)