Monday Morning Devotion (Scripture and Breathing)

Posted on October 15, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

14But remain faithful to what you have learned and of which you have become convinced, knowing the ones from whom you learned them. 15You have been taught the holy scriptures since you were a child. They are able to make you wise leading to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All scripture is breathed by God and is useful for teaching, for rebuke, for correcting faults, for training in righteousness, 17so that God’s person may be fully qualified, made capable of every good work. — 2 Timothy 3:14-17

Bear with me for a little tale—but a true one! Last Friday I had a visit from my landlord who is also a friend. He was here looking at some repairs. I mention this because I want you to understand that there was no intention of my own in what all has followed. He brought with him another gentleman, a pastor who carries out prophetic ministry (Byron Putnam, whose writings you can find at awordfromtheheart.injesus.com.) I had not seen Byron for some time, though we had met before. Byron felt led to invite another pastor to pray for me by phone and see if God would have a word for me. So in the front yard I put the cell phone to my ear to hear from a brother (or from God through a brother) whom I had never met and who knew nothing about me save that I’m involved in Christian publishing. And there was a word there. There was not only material that I know, but I know that brother did not. There were confirmations, and there were also new things.

I’m relating this story for two reasons, first because I want to affirm what I firmly believe—God still speaks. I am fairly skeptical about the specific instances, but there are times when I am certain that something comes from God and this was one of those times. Second, one of the things this brother spoke to me repeatedly was that I was to teach about growing in righteousness.

Then this morning I was reviewing some of the texts on which I’m meditating right now, and one of those is 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5. I may write a devotional on chapter 4:1-5 as well, but right now this was the focus. “Training in righteousness,” stuck out to me. I’d already been mediating on the word “useful.” I know that many people will laugh when I say that I can spend a considerable amount of time meditating on a word. But that word “useful” is so very interesting.

We spend a great deal of time debating the meaning of the word “God-breathed” in the earlier part of the verse, but it seems to me that Paul has filled that earlier word with meaning when he says that the Word of God is “useful.”

Let me ask this: Do you find the Bible useful? Make this a topic for meditation. Just what useful role in your life does the Bible (or God’s word however revealed) fill?

I’m going to go back to Genesis 2:7. There God breathes into the clay that he has shaped, and it becomes a person—the first man. Wow! That’s pretty useful! God’s breath takes us from lifeless and inert to living and active (compare Hebrews 4:12) in one easy step. God breathes out, we breathe in, LIFE! Without God’s word breathed into us, we have no spiritual life. And God’s word, when breathed, is not just text on the page. It is the breath of God’s Holy Spirit filling us. And it fills us with God’s Word. Death to life!

But I still have my question for you. Is God’s word that useful to you? Do you feel as though you would be dead without it? If not, I’d like to ask you if you are fully experiencing God’s life. If God’s word, carried by the glorious wind of his Spirit is filling you with life, I think you’ll find that it is unthinkable to go without it. You wouldn’t say, “I’m pretty busy today. I think I’ll save some time by going without breathing.” Yet I’m going to make a wild guess here that many of us will save time this Monday morning by neglecting to breathe God’s word.

Are you planning on breathing today?

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Friday Morning Devotion (Keeping on the Path)

Posted on October 12, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

9How can a young man keep his behavior pure?
By keeping your word.
101I keep my feet away from every evil path
So that I may keep your word.
104From your decisions I gain understanding
So I hate every deceitful way.
105Your word is a lamp for my feet
a light on my path.
128Your commands are all precisely right,
That’s why I hate every false way. — Psalm 119:9, 101, 104, 105, 128

Yesterday I talked about meditating on the scripture as a way to making yourself smarter and wiser. I maintained that meditating on and memorizing scripture, and God’s word revealed by other means, will build your brain power.

But there have been any number of smart people who have made decisions that may have seemed smart to them, but were not the right decisions in a moral sense. It’s very easy for us to get our feet on the wrong path. It’s not enough to be smart; we need to know right from wrong. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but it ends up in death!” — Proverbs 16:25

But the Psalmist gives us an answer to this one as well. How is it that one can be rescued? How can one keep pure? Again, it comes from God’s word. How can a young man be pure? God’s word. When are you safe from every evil path? When you’re keeping God’s word. How can you learn to hate deceitful ways? By gaining understanding from the things God says are right. How can you keep on the right path? Shine God’s word on it. Who can provide you with precisely right commands? God can, and he does it through his word.

Now there are a number of mistakes that we could make in reading these verses. The first and foremost mistake is that we might think that we can or should earn God’s favor by doing all of these things. But God’s favor is a matter of grace. In addition, however, God graciously gives us his instructions as a guide. Second, we might think we’re going to get saved by grace, but then we’re going to do all this getting on the path and staying on the path on our own.

The prayer of the Psalmist occurs in the last verse: “I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Look for your servant, because I haven’t forgotten your commands” (v. 176).

Many people also think that they look in the Bible to find more and more things that they are not supposed to do. They create lists of commands that they must obey. The commands just seem to multiply as they look at every moment of their life and try to find precisely the right thing and make a rule of it.

This last part is the devil’s very finest “guilt” attack. As you meditate on God’s word you may find out that there are things you thought it said that it doesn’t actually say. People can be drawn to sin by giving them commands that are impossible to keep. We often don’t think when we add rules for our children, in school, or even in our church, that unnecessary rules can produce disobedience. Meditating on God’s word will help you know what the rules really are.

Tyrannical governments use this tactic. If you make enough rules, then everyone will be breaking one, and if you need to get somebody, you have a perfectly good excuse to arrest them and punish them.

Evil knows this tactic as well. Many people have noticed and pointed out that the serpent challenges God’s command in Genesis 3:1-3. He says the first couple will not die. But have you noticed Eve’s misquotation? She adds to the command. According to her, they are not only not to eat the tree, they are not to touch it. Eve didn’t meditate on God’s word enough and learn both what it said and what it did not say.

Finally, for Christians, the key element to meditating on the word is meditating on Jesus, the living Word. He is the one who can fix the guilt problem by his grace received by faith.

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Thursday Morning Devotion (Making Yourself Smarter)

Posted on October 11, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

97Oh how I love your instruction (Torah),
I meditate on it all day long!
98Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
Because they are always mine.
99I am smarter than all my teachers
Because your testimonies are in my thoughts.
100I understand things better than the elders do,
Because I work according to your decisions.
101I keep my feet away from every evil path
So that I may keep your word.
102I don’t turn aside from your judgments
Because you have taught me.
103How pleasant to my palate are your words
Better than honey to my mouth.
104From your decisions I gain understanding
So I hate every deceitful way. — Psalm 119:97-104

Every so often someone will tell me that I’m smart. It’s usually the result of amazement that I have learned to read Greek and Hebrew, or that by merely passing nearby I appear to have repaired their computer. The first is the result of a great deal of hard work, and the second is surely a coincidence. But the Lord has given me some gifts for learning certain things, and for that I am thankful.

But there is another part of being “smart” that is not something that just happened, the result of genetics and of God’s plan. Did you know that there is a Biblical way to make yourself smarter? There is, and if you read the text today, you’ve just been reading about it.

The formula is simple: Study God’s word and you are going to become more intelligent and wiser.

I was given certain gifts to start out with, but then in addition I was given the gift of parents who introduced me to God’s word in the Bible early, and not only encouraged and required me to learn, but also demonstrated doing this themselves. I have a pocket Bible that belonged to my father that is close to falling apart and has notes pretty much on every page. Many of them I can’t read, but they show that he was “meditating in God’s word.”

In elementary and high school I was again required both to study and to memorize the Bible. The result is a facility in both reading and in memorizing that has helped me in almost everything I have done. I take our passage seriously. I believe that I am better off intellectually because I spent so much time in my youth studying and memorizing scriptures.

I would extend this concept beyond just studying the scriptures. God’s word is displayed not only in his written word, the Bible, but also throughout all of creation. There is an attitude shift that should take place here. When we study nature, we should realize that we are examining God’s thinking. We’re seeing how God works. That attitude of study can, I believe, make us more careful and more thorough in our studies, and can also make us more intelligent. (It often does not, because some of us decide we have to make God say what we want him to, rather than listening to what he has said and looking at what he has done. The trouble, as C. S. Lewis once noted, is that when you try to be stupider than you are, you very often succeed!)

But for today I’d like to focus on the Bible. There are two aspects of the approach I teach to Bible study that are very generally ignored. First, I talk about multiple readings. Today I started on the next week’s lectionary texts, because I just left the discussion class I attend for the last set. I made myself a list of those texts in the notebook I carry so I can read them over. I will read them many, many times during the week. In this way I both get an opportunity to look at them from different angles, and also to fix the key points in my memory. That way I can meditate on those passages and listen for what God wants to teach me from them. Most of these devotionals come to me during times of meditation, and not times of formal study. Meditation can happen at a set time, but for me it often happens when I’m walking the dog or doing the dishes. If I didn’t read the passages and fix those high points in my mind, I wouldn’t be able to meditate, would I?

Second, however, is memorization. I do this less regularly, but it is also a help to meditation. If I can say a text while I’m driving in the car, that helps me to think about it and to hear what God may have to tell me about that text. Many people don’t want to memorize. It’s hard work. But there is a blessing there for those who use one or another of these means of meditating on the text.

I would urge you, especially those who are younger, to spend some time, serious time, meditating on God’s word. I’ve only given a couple of pointers here. There are many more. Find the way that works for you to really let God’s word work on your mind. It’s the Biblically guaranteed way of making you smarter. I believe it works.

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Wednesday Morning Devotion (Complaining to God)

Posted on October 10, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

1You come out justified, YHWH, when I make a case against you, yet I will present my causes to you.
Why do the wicked prosper,
and treacherous people live in peace?
2You planted them and they become well rooted.
They grow and bear fruit.
They are always talking about you,
But they are never thinking about you.
3But you, YHWH, know me. You see me!
You test my heart’s devotion to you.
Lure them away like sheep to the slaughter.
Set them apart for a day of killing!
4How long must the land mourn,
And the grass in every field be withered?
Because its people are so wicked,
The animals and birds have been finished off.
Because they said, “God doesn’t see where we’re going.”
5If you have run with the footmen,
And they have worn you out,
How can you compete with the horses?
If you’re in safe country, and you fall down,
What will you do in the rough country by the Jordan River? — Jeremiah 12:1-5

Those who actually want to be prophets ought to read a bit of Jeremiah. He has been called the weeping prophet, but I’d like to suggest “complaining prophet” as more like it. Not that he didn’t have plenty to complain about. I think if I had lived back then and received his call I might have asked God if he couldn’t just go ahead and let the Babylonians kill me. It would have been much easier.

But there are a number of interesting things about God’s friends and servants. They’re quite a varied bunch of people. You could hardly find two people more different than Jeremiah and Moses, for example. Moses can get angry, and when he does he says some things he’ll regret. But Jeremiah was always stewing. He doesn’t have those great bursts of anger. He just has a constant simmering of complaints.

When I set about to look at all the prayers of the Bible several years ago, I learned a number of interesting things. The main one was simply that just about everything I thought about prayer was off target in some way. If you think prayers should be long, you’ll find short ones in the Bible. Short? There are some long ones. Do you like signs? You’ll find some stuff that’s pretty negative about them. Negative about signs? You’ll find some of God’s servants asking for them and practically living on them. Do you think prayers should be polite? You’ll find plenty of challenging, angry prayers. Open, honest, and informal? You’ll find some that are quite formal and very polite, even flattering.

And then there’s Jeremiah, whining his way through a prophetic mission. Just look at the prayer in our scripture for today. Might I paraphrase? “Lord, you’re not actually going to listen to me, because you’re always right, but I’m going to complain anyhow. The wicked always prosper, and it’s your fault! You set them up and they prosper. Here’s what I want you to do: Have a massacre. Kill them all! Look, I know we’re in trouble because of the people’s sins, but how long is this going to last?”

Does that give you permission to complain? I would suggest it does. But many times the answer to your complaint is not going to be to make things better for you or to do things your way. Think about a coach for a runner. The athlete complains that he is tired out and doesn’t have this one more race in him. Does the coach say, “OK, I know you’re tired. Go get some rest?” Well, there are times he will, because that’s what’s necessary. But sometimes it’s going to be more like, “You’re going to let a little thing like being tired beat you? Get out there and do it, or you’re not the athlete I thought you were.”

God lets Jeremiah complain. But his answer is more like the second one. “Look, Jeremiah, you’re in the easy stuff right now. It’s like racing with guys on foot. Later, you’re going to run against horses, and what are you going to do then?”

The answer in Jeremiah’s life was that he stuck with God, and he did live through much greater difficulties. Will you voice your complaints but stick with the divine coach as well?

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Tuesday Morning Devotion (A Strong Relationship)

Posted on October 9, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

11Moses tried to appease YHWH his God. He said, “Why are you getting so angry with your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great strength and a mighty hand? 12Why would you let the Egyptians say, ‘He brought them out here into these mountains for an evil purpose, to kill them and to wipe them from the face of the ground. Repent from your furious anger and rethink the disaster you are bringing against your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore, “I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants and they will inherit it forever. — Exodus 32:11-13

There’s a constant tension in scripture between God’s great power and authority, which we call “sovereignty” and his closeness, mercy and willingness to answer prayer. Theologians use the terms transcendence and immanence. Transcendence means that God is tremendously “other” than what we are, unimaginably more powerful. Immanence means that God is very close to us. In Christianity, both are seen as true about God.

Individually we have a harder time seeing it. For some of us, God is so sovereign that he is unapproachable. How could I possibly dare argue with God. We don’t really pray for anything, and then we say “let your will be done.” On the other hand, many of us view the presence of God as something fun and friendly, sort of like having a puppy around, only more powerful. Those of us like this tend to demand things of God in prayer and give him instructions.

I think Moses struggled with all of this, but he managed to get an excellent balance. He was able to submit to God’s sovereignty. If you don’t believe me, simply read Exodus and see how many times God tells Moses to do something that doesn’t seem to make much sense, and yet when Moses knows God has given an order, he obeys. Look at all the detailed instructions for the tabernacle and for the laws of Israel. To accept all of those laws would require someone who was willing to submit to God’s sovereignty.

But Moses knows God very well, and he knows when something doesn’t make sense. It’s hard the get the sense of the first line of our text today. One of my Hebrew lexicons gives the following possibilities: to soften by caressing, to appease, to flatter. The Contemporary English Version reads “Moses tried to get the Lord God to change his mind.” Eugene Peterson, in The Message, paraphrases it as “Moses tried to calm his God down.”

Is all this respectful? Well, I would hardly want to argue that I have a better relationship with God than Moses did. Moses knew God. He had talked with him personally. He was well aware of the powerful presence of God and of his transcendence. He knew that God was powerful and knew everything. But he also knew that God was a covenant God, filled with mercy and compassion, and that God had a plan.

So Moses steps out on the basis of this strong relationship and says, “God, this isn’t like you! You promised. You put your power on display. You better think again about what you’re doing.” And God has mercy. Now I’m not going to spend my time worrying about whether God actually changed his mind or did what he would have done anyhow. That’s all good theology, but the Bible doesn’t present this as “good theology.” It just presents it as God intending to do one thing, and God’s servant Moses persuading God to do it some other way. Sometimes we’re so worried about good theology that we can’t just read and absorb the Bible story.

Here there is good experience, and a good relationship. Is your relationship with God up to a few arguments? Are you so certain of God’s character that you can get down on your knees and say, “God, this isn’t like you. I can’t believe you’re going to do it. You need to think again!”

I’m not saying you’ll be right. I’m not telling you that God will agree with you. Maybe he will and maybe he’ll say, “I know better.” But the Biblical example here gives us permission to challenge God on the basis of his word and his character.

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Monday Morning Devotion (Thanking the People)

Posted on October 8, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

11Now as he was traveling to Jerusalem, going through the border area between Samaria and Galilee, 12he came to a certain village and ten men who had leprosy met him. They were standing outside, 13and they shouted, “Jesus, Master! Have mercy on us!” 14And when he saw them he said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And while they were traveling, they were cleansed. 15But one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, returned, praising God with a loud voice. 16He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, thanking him. Now he was a Samaritan. 17But Jesus answered, “Were not ten men cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Was no one found coming back to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to the man, “Get up and go. Your faith has saved you.” — Luke 17:11-19

No, you’re not missing anything. That is the same text as I used last Thursday. I’m using it again.

When I teach about spiritual gifts I often have people do an exercise to help them understand their own gifts and most especially the gifts of the group of congregation. I start by having people talk about what they see as their own gifts. Many times, people are very hesitant to talk about their own gifts because it seems prideful. They’re afraid to make claims about themselves. Sometimes they’re afraid they will be laughed at if they claim an “important” gift, such as prophecy.

But others are simply unaware of their own gifts and how much impact they have on other people. I remember one Sunday School class where I was a guest teacher and I conducted this exercise. There was one couple that simply couldn’t identify any gifts. They were concerned, because they felt that they should, but they couldn’t actually identify any. Other members of the class identified both of them as having the gift of helping and of encouragement. At first the couple couldn’t believe this claim. They wondered when they had done such things. But the class had specific examples of times when they had exercised those gifts. They told them how important these events had been.

When that class was over, the couple was in tears, but they were tears of joy. They realized that they were exercising gifts of the Holy Spirit as well, and that others recognized their gifts. That was a great encouragement to them.

There are many people in the church and the community who carry out acts of service all the time. Without them the community would be impoverished. You may find these folks at work as well. They are the people who notice when you do something helpful and tell you about it. They are the ones who encourage others and build up the team.

In the story of the ten lepers, we aren’t told precisely why the nine lepers didn’t return to thank Jesus. But I can think of one excuse, because I’ve heard it before. These guys don’t have a theology that tells them that Jesus is God. They simply know that he’s a teacher and healer, and they’ve been healed. I can imagine one of them thinking something like this: He’s just a man. God is the one who healed me. I’ll just praise God on the way to the temple, and that will be enough. I don’t need to go back and thank him, because God can hear me anywhere!

So nine of them go right ahead, and only one goes back. There’s so much that’s right about that excuse that we may miss what’s wrong. While we know that Jesus was more than a man, other people who exercise the gifts of the Spirit are just people. The blessing is divine. But the person who exercises the gift is very human too, is probably struggling with the enemy’s attack, and you can perform a small task in building the kingdom.

Just say “Thank you!”

It’s pretty simple, but it encourages people. They may be wondering whether their little cards and notes are even being received. They may wonder if their prayers are being answered. If they can hear from you, they may be encouraged, and you can have a part in all the joy and encouragement that will follow.

How about looking for someone you can thank today?

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Friday Morning Devotion (Grow, not Diminish)

Posted on October 5, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

1Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the Prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remnant of the elders of the exile, to the priests, the prophets, and all the people who had been taken by Nebuchadnezzar from Jerusalem to Babylon. . . . 4This is what YHWH of armies, God of Israel says to all the exiles who have been taken from Jerusalem to Babylon. 5Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat the produce. 6Take wives and give birth to sons and daughters. And take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands and let them bring forth sons and daughters. Multiply there, and don’t become smaller. 7And seek the peace of the city to which you were taken as exiles, and pray to YHWH for it, because your peace is tied up with its peace. — Jeremiah 29:1,4-7

There is, of course, a historical meaning for this passage that is very specific. The people of Judah had been taken into exile and many were hoping it would end soon. But God had a plan for a longer period of time than they planned for. The call to return from exile would be delayed for a couple of generations.

As a side note for those interested in the way the Bible expresses things, notice that the people there are to marry, have children, see those children married, and then they have children. People try to get the “70 year” prophecy of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10) calculated to make the simple point that the generation going into exile would die completely before they would return. It would be during the third generation.

But my point here is not to look at the specifics of the exile but rather to look at God’s principles as they might apply to our own lives. While Judah is to be punished through a period of exile, they are not to diminish. They are not to stop living. They are to look forward. They are to grow.

One of our temptations as Christians is to live as very temporary exiles here on this earth. In fact, we tend to divide ourselves between those who have accommodated themselves so thoroughly to this world that you can’t tell their exiles, and those who are so exiled that they are no longer connected to their temporary home either. The expression “so heavenly, they’re of no earthly good” was invented for such people.

Whether we’re dealing with a temporary exile of our own—a separation from our calling, a separation from family, or a mission in a country that feels like “exile from exile” we need to remember the principles behind Jeremiah’s letter.

First, wherever God has placed you, he plans for you to grow and not diminish. He’s not throwing you out or trying to destroy you. He’s trying to make you better.

Second, wherever you are, there’s someone you can pray for. No matter how little you like the country, the people, the job, or whatever it is, you can pray. Praying for the peace of Babylon may sound pretty silly, but that was what God told his people to do—for a period of time.

Third, take action to move forward. Sitting back and merely enduring the hard times isn’t God’s call. Sitting back and enduring this world, while we hope for heaven is not God’s plan either. He wants us to build houses, plant vineyards, have children—in other words, to live.

We don’t know when our time of exile here on earth will end. We do know that God wants us to grow, and not get smaller.

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Thursday Morning Devotion (Remembering, Praising, Thanking)

Posted on October 4, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

11Now as he was traveling to Jerusalem, going through the border area between Samaria and Galilee, 12he came to a certain village and ten men who had leprosy met him. They were stading outside, 13and they shouted, “Jesus, Master! Have mercy on us!” 14And when he saw them he said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And while they were traveling, they were cleansed. 15But one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, returned, praising God with a loud voice. 16He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, thanking him. Now he was a Samaritan. 17But Jesus answered, “Were not ten men cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Was no one found coming back to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to the man, “Get up and go. Your faith has saved you.” — Luke 17:11-19

You know, I can think of lots of reasons why those nine men didn’t go back, praise God, and give thanks to Jesus. Let’s try a top 10:

10 – Why did God let me suffer so long anyhow?

9 – I’m still dressed in these ugly, dirty clothes.

8 – I haven’t seen my family for years, so I’m in a hurry.

7 – The people back in that town don’t like me.

6 – I’m not really clean until the priest confirms it.

5 – The guy who healed me told me to go to the priest. Who am I to disobey? (Adjusts halo.)

4 – Maybe it was just a coincidence.

3 – I don’t want to think about what I was before; the faster I can get out of here, the better.

2 – I’ve been yelling “Unclean! Unclean!” for years, my throat is sore, and I don’t have energy to keep on making a scene.

And the top reason for not giving thanks is?

1 – God did the healing after all. I can just thank him in my heart. Thanking the human agent will just make him proud.

What’s your excuse?

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Wednesday Morning Devotion (Going Back to the Old Times)

Posted on October 3, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

Note: This is again adapted from a Running Toward the Goal podcast. When I chose the podcast for today it was just too “now” so I had to use it.

1After these things Jesus revealed himself again to the discples on the sea of Tiberias. Now he revealed himself in this way: 2Simon Peter and Thomas called Didymus and Nathaniel from Cana of Galilea and the (sons) of Zebedee and two other disciples. 3Simon Peter says to them, “I am going fishing.” They say to him, “We’re coming with you!” They went and got in the boat, and they caught nothing that night. 4But when it was already becoming early morning, Jesus stood on the shore, yet the disciples didn’t know that it was Jesus. 5Then Jsus says to them, “Children, do you not have anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” 6And he said them, “Cast the net on the right hand side of the boat, and your will find some.” So they cast it, and they were no longer able to draw in the net because of the quantity of fish. 7Then the disciple that Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Then Simon Peter, hearing that it was the Lord, put on his coat, for he was naked, and he threw himself into the sea, 8but the other disciples went with the boat, for they were not far from the land, but about 200 cubits. 9Then as they disembarked onto the land, they saw a fire laid, and a little fish lying on it, and bread. 10Jesus says to them, “Bring some of the fish that you just caught.” 11Then Simon Peter came up and drew the net onto the ground, filled with big fish, 153. And even though there were so may, the net didn’t tear. 12Jesus says to them, “Come, and have breakfast.” But none of the disciples dared to inquire of him, “Who are you?” Because they knew that it was the Lord. — John 21:1-12

It has been a rough couple of weeks. We’ve been through the crucifixion, the empty tomb, the appearances of Jesus. The promise of meeting. But is he really back? Does it mean anything?

So Peter, the fisherman, decides it’s time to go fishing again. Remember, this is the same Peter that Jesus said would be fishing for men. But what exactly do you do with everything that has happened? What does it all mean? So he’s alive. We’re glad.

But he doesn’t stick around and talk to us. He doesn’t behave the way we want him to. It doesn’t seem like we’re going back to old times traveling around Galilee with the master.

What shall we do?

Like many of us, Peter decides it’s time to return to the familiar. This fishing men stuff doesn’t seem to be all that exciting. In fact, I’m not quite sure what it all means. So I’ll tell you what. I’m going fishing. Fishing for the scaly kind of fish, good for breakfast, lunch dinner, sale, whatever. Good, familiar, predictable, manageable, undemanding fish!

And all the disciples around him said, “We’re going too!”

Have you ever noticed that when the call comes to move forward into some new place God has for you or your church, it takes much prayer, persuasion, and argument? Where will the money come from? Who will be in charge? Is this really going to work? Why should we do that? We’ve never done anything like that before!

But when you say, “Let’s go back and do the same thing we used to do,” there’s a pack of volunteers.

Peter says, “Let’s go back to fishing,” and the band of disciples, called to be apostles, starts heading back to the boats. “Fish!” they say. “We can handle them. Why didn’t we think of that!”

But when God isn’t in the plan, there are often problems. And so it is with the disciples. The old way, the fishing, just doesn’t work. So they labor all night trying to get away from God’s call. And they don’t catch a thing.

But Jesus is waiting on the shore. The amazing thing about Jesus is that even when you try to run away he doesn’t say, “That one’s too flighty. Unstable. Let’s find someone else.” When you get back in from the fishing boat (or nowadays it might be the office, or the computer keyboard) there he is, waiting on the shore. “You didn’t catch any fish?” he says. “That’s no problem for me. Here, I have some fish. And I still have a job for you.”

When God calls you away from something he doesn’t plan for you to go backwards. He’s always calling you forwards. You just need to remember the call. He’ll take care of the rest.

Posted in Bible Books, Devotional, John | Comments Off on Wednesday Morning Devotion (Going Back to the Old Times)

Tuesday Morning Devotion (Questioning and Searching)

Posted on October 2, 2007 by Henry Neufeld

10That night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived, they went to the synagogue. 11The people of Berea were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, because they welcomed the word with great eagerness, and searched the scriptures daily to see whether these things were correct. — Acts 17:10-11

Yesterday I watched an episode of The West Wing, in which there was a scene of the president and his aids questioning a man who is a probable nominee for associate justice of the supreme court. The story is fictional, but there was a moment that expressed a very common truth. After he has been asked a number of pointed questions, the candidate says, “I’m not used to being questioned in this manner, and frankly, I find it offensive.”

The various versions have some disagreement on translating the term I have translated “noble-minded.” It is common to treat it as “open-minded.” Paul has just left Thessalonica, where he was persecuted. On leaving such a scene and coming to a place where the word was received eagerly, one might think these new people were open-minded. And indeed they were. But there was something more. They didn’t just drink in whatever Paul and Silas had to say; they went and checked it out.

As the saying goes, don’t be so open minded that your brains fall out. The Bereans got the combination right. Take in new information eagerly. Test it all very careful to see whether it holds up.

One of my dreams is to see a congregation, a denomination, and then the whole Christian church become Berean. What does a Berean church look like?

I. Individual Bible study and prayer. Everyone spends time in the word of God on a regular basis. Everyone listens for new ideas, tests them, and presents the good ones to others. If a false teacher shows up, he or she will have to face questions. When true teachers teach, the members will learn more than they have even presented, because they take it home, look it up, and listen to the Lord.
II. Small groups are everywhere, because church time doesn’t provide enough opportunities to share what everyone is learning.
III. The church stays ahead of the world around it, because they serve one another, learn from one another, and their pastor and professional staff is not left to bear the entire load.
IV. “We ain’t never done it that way before,” is rarely heard, and is ignored when it is.
V. New ideas that are bad get rejected, not because they are new, but because they are bad.
VI. The members live this way in their work and home life as well as at church, so the church impacts the community as its members change.
It starts with the ability to question positively. Most of the time when I speak I receive a number of compliments. Sometimes they are even extravagant. But I don’t let those have a large amount of impact. Why? People say those things to be polite. They may not even have heard the sermon or lesson I presented. I have received the compliments of angry people before.

But when someone comes up to me and says, “What you said about ____ really connected with my life,” I’m joyful because I know someone took what the Lord gave me and made it a larger impact than I could have planned in that person’s life. But I’m truly thrilled when someone says, “You know what you said about ____? That doesn’t sound right to me because _____.” That means that they started to question, think, and look at scriptures because of what I said. They are on the Berean pathway.

How about aiming for a Berean lifestyle? Can you think of a way you can apply that to your work today?

Posted in Acts, Bible Books, Devotional | Comments Off on Tuesday Morning Devotion (Questioning and Searching)