Everyday Devotions

“Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath. ” – Micah 7:9

If, like myself, you grew up in an American church, you have undoubtedly heard how “things have never been as bad as they are now.” For some sectors of the church, we are convinced that America is falling headlong down the steep hill of inequity and rolling to a stop on Satan’s back porch. We are sure that the world is collapsing, and we just have to hang on tightly before Jesus rescues us from the calamity.

Of course, I have heard this since I was five years old. Technically speaking, I suppose it could be true that every year is worse than the previous one, in a never-ending fondue fountain of dungitude. Seems somewhat unlikely though. Seems a little more likely that we just aren’t aware that things have been bad (arguably, much worse) at other points in history.

But for the sake of argument, let’s accept that it’s true. That this time, right here, right now is the worst in our country. The church is under attack, the people are more immoral than ever, believers are oppressed, and so forth. Why is that? What led to this situation?

IS IT I?

It’s pretty easy to point to unbelievers around us, and point the gnarled finger of blame in their direction. Surely it’s because of our righteousness, and they hate us for it, right? Surely, it’s because they hate Jesus in us. I mean, Jesus did say people would hate his followers, right? So if we are being attacked, that must mean we are following Jesus?

Or, and go with me on this, perhaps the struggles here are not from OUTSIDE the church at all. When Israel was struggling with its enemies, did God say “you know the problem, all those heathens out there are out of control”? Afraid not, my friends.

“Because I (Micah standing in for Israel) have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath.”

Note the reason for Israel’s troubles – not the outsider, not the secular culture, not forcing Israel’s morality on someone else. Nope. It’s US. We are the ones falling away from God. We are the ones disregarding his commands. Judgement starts with the House of God.

Maybe the reason you feel that things are going so badly is because the church has been more concerned with preserving its comfort and safety than in actually following Jesus commands.

MAN IN THE MIRROR

If you truly believe that your country is falling from God, rather than blaming nonbelievers or the immoral culture, you might need to look in the mirror. We all do. Where have we (the church) and I (personally) fallen away from God’s direction? Am I showing love to the poor and the foreigner? Am I helping the orphan and widow in my city? Am I bringing peace by overlooking an offense? Would I rather be wronged than prove I’m right? If not, perhaps fighting the evil forces of the world isn’t the real war I should be focused on.

We need to focus on dying daily to ourselves. That is our calling. Not to fight for our rights. Not save our country. Not even to make sure God blesses us with wealth and comfort. We are called to serve others – our neighbors and our enemies. It’s pretty hard to serve someone if you are focused on defeating them.

If you really want to see God move, winning the culture war might be more about correcting the culture in your own heart than passing Christian laws.

The Real Culture War – Micah 7 – EverydayDevotions.com The Real Culture War – Micah 7 Posted by admin Posted on December 2, 2024 0 Comments on The Real Culture War – Micah 7 Posted in Uncategorized Click here to read Micah 7 on BibleGateway.com “Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath. ” – Micah 7:9 If, like myself...

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Click here to read 2 Corinthians 11 on BibleGateway.com

“I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” – 2 Cor 11:23-28

images (2)If you’ve been a teenager or been around one in the last few years, you may have been a part of a torturous little pastime called “Would You Rather?” The basic idea is to present two opposing ideas to your friend (i.e. “victim,” or “enemy”), and make one so bad that they are so disgusted or embarrassed or be forced to admit they’re a selfish jerk, they give up the game. For purposes of decency and decorum, we can’t discuss all of them here, but here’s a quick sampling:

*Would you rather save the life a starving orphan you’ll never meet, or have a working lightsaber?
*Would you rather live in a world with no crime or disease, or a world that you rule?
*Would you rather be a thief, or a beggar?

WOULD YOU RATHER BE AN APOSTLE OR DONATE BOTH KIDNEYS

The apostle Paul plays a little game of his own in 2 Corinthians 11. Apparently, after his time with the church in Corinth, some other wandering teachers had shown up and basically said Paul was a big do**us and everyone should listen to them instead. So Paul sends off a letter to the church there, and he spends part of the letter defending himself (which we’re lucky enough to get to read without all the felony-ness of tampering with modern mail.)

And what does Paul argue? That he has the most converts? That his television ministry is reaching the most people? That he has converted Presidents or media personalities? Nope. Instead, he talks about what he’s suffered. Beatings, accidents, poverty, prison, working without rest; all in the name of the gospel. Is this how we would judge success in our modern churches? By which pastor has the poorest members? By who works the most side jobs and doesn’t take a salary?

THE WORSTEST

More than that, look at what Paul says his greatest burden is. You might think floggings sound bad, or nearly drowning, or being so poor that you have to sleep outside in the wilderness naked. Nope. It’s the spiritual burden of pastoring. Imagine that: the worst physical problems that most of us can fathom, and the worst thing is ministering to the churches.

Anyone who has pastored or spent any close time with one will tell you that they have a spiritual/emotional/psychological burden that weighs on them almost constantly. And the worst thing is, most of their congregants will never understand, and will instead compare them to the latest sermon they found online or the most recent Preacher-of-the-Month at their last convention. Our local pastors have to carry that weight alone, and many spend long hours in depression and pain. Maybe we should give a little less thought to how our pastors make us feel on Sunday morning, and a little more time this week praying about the spiritual burdens they carry.

It may be the most important thing you can do for them.

The Worst – EverydayDevotions.com The Worst Posted by admin Posted on September 22, 2015 0 Comments on The Worst Posted in Uncategorized Click here to read 2 Corinthians 11 on BibleGateway.com “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five ...

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Acronymity: The Hidden Meaning of Scripture

“…there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can’t understand. – Corinthians 1:13

Computer programmers are notorious for their love of acronyms. Every time some new idea shows up, we* have to put it in acrynomical terms (no, I don’t care if it’s not a word). Is this because they are too lazy to say the whole phrase? Nay, nay I say. It’s to make the work seem more mysterious and exotic. “I’m an SEO strategist and engineer” sounds way cooler than “I try to get my links to the top of Google.” Gotta make that resume sparkle.

To be fair, programmers are a hilarious lot, at least in their own minds. So, instead of reminding the team to “Create, read, update, and delete,” they’ll say “Don’t forget the CRUD today,” and then laugh and snort, because all programmers are required to be nerds from 80s movies. I don’t make the rules.

As acronyms become more ubiquitous (yes, that one actually is a word), and it becomes harder and harder to keep track of them all, programmers start to find the humor in the acronym itself. My personal favorite example of this is the “recursive acronym.” For example, PHP stands for “PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor,” and GNU is “GNU’s Not Unix.” The acronym doesn’t stand for anything, except for the acronym itself. The ”secret” meaning is right there on the surface. Stop looking deeper.

THE BIBLE CODE

This is why I get amused every time someone comes up with a “secret” new message in the Bible. “Do you know what Ezra REALLY means? Do you see the pattern in every 37th letter?” My friends, it is true there are some deeper truths in Scripture that take some time to pull out, but try to keep in mind the things we already know:

Love God.
Love Neighbor (and Enemy)
Give to the poor
Follow Jesus’ commands

The hidden message of the Bible is this: God loves you and He wants to spend eternity with you. Yes, it’s true He may use different ways of communicating it. If I love someone, I might send them love notes with metaphors, I might buy them presents that refence something personal between us, I might write poems or tell stories or even tell others how much I love them.

But changing the method doesn’t change the message: I love you.

THE NOT-SO-SECRET

We don’t have to look for the hidden meaning all the time. Sometimes, it’s staring us right in our bespectacled faces, straightening our pocket protectors, and reminding us that even our little cubicle empires, God loves us.

It’s the GLU that binds us to Him.
(I just can’t help myself.)

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*Yes, “we.” I am one of the chosen.

Acronymity: The Hidden Meaning of Scripture Click here to read 2 Corinthians 1 on BibleGateway.com "...there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can’t understand. – Corinthians 1:13Computer programmers are notorious for their love of acronyms. Every time some new idea shows up, we* have to put it in acrynomical terms (no,...

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