Monday, February 4: Luke 2- Jesus grew …

The last story in this chapter, about Jesus being left behind in Jerusalem when he was twelve, launched my thinking. We know very little about Jesus' early life beyond His birth. Was He smart, precocious, athletic, coordinated? We know He could read, since He read the Synagogue scroll in Luke 4. Who taught Him? We do not know.

All indicators suggest He was an ordinary child. When He returns to His home town no one thinks He is anything special. Apparently, He was a normal kid, whatever normal meant in his era.

Thinking about Jesus' early years, I was drawn to verse 52. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

He grew... He was a normal boy.

This brief verse shows us that Jesus grew intellectually and physically. He went through growing pains just like every kid. He had to learn to walk. And is mind and thoughts needed to develop. He grew in wisdom.

The last clause says much. Jesus grew in favor with God and man. Jesus learned to please God. I love that His faith and trust in God grew. Even as a child He was learning to trust the Lord. This verse underscores for me the place of teaching our youngsters and youth the way of God. Young people today can learn to grow in favor with God, too!

Jesus was a real human being... He grew. And His life reminds me that part of our growth is to grow in favor with God.

That's true for young people and old as well.

Lord, as I sit today... may my time with You in Your Word increase my growth and favor with You. Following Jesus' example and in His name, I pray. Amen. 

Saturday, February 2: Luke 1- Wilderness training.

I am reading a book by African Cardinal Robert Sarah titled, The Power of Silence Against the Dictatorship of Noise. It is an interesting but tough read; many of the Catholic writers and traditions he mentions are new to me. Anyway, in my reading yesterday, Cardinal Sarah pointed out that John the Baptist was honed by decades in the wilderness to be able to hear God’s voice. I remember thinking that I never paid any attention to John’s pre-ministry life.

Then today in my Gospel reading there it was, the lone verse about John’s early life and upbringing. And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel (80).

Since John was about the same age as Jesus, and Jesus came to ministry about age 30, John was also 30-ish. He could easily have spent half his life in the wilderness. Did he live by himself or in some kind of community? Did he have access to scrolls of the Old Testament? Did he forage and spend his days in necessary toil and solitude? Probably but in reality we don’t know.

Jesus was sent by the Spirit into the wilderness for a time of testing prior to his coming out party and ministry years. Moses lived for decades in the wilderness shepherding his father-in-law’s flocks. Isaiah prophecies of the Lord, See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:19).

The wilderness or desert is often a place of testing. It is a tough place where God’s people have learned the hard lessons of life with God.

I suspect that this is part of what Luke is communicating when he informs us that John lived in the wilderness. John had been tested and tried. He learned to hear God’s voice and follow God’s leading.

When Herod threatened John he didn’t fold because he was hardened by his wilderness time.

When crowds flocked to him he wasn’t swayed to an easier message because he was hardened by his time in the desert.

In a time when God’s voice was silent John heard from God and spoke for God.

Wilderness is powerful training for the person of God...

Have I spent enough time in the wilderness??? Have you???

Lord, I am a little nervous to pray... to pray for wilderness times. If I need them, Lord, send them... I pray with some fear and trembling in my voice. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

Friday, February 1: Jonah 4- Our forgiving God.

Jonah’s response to God’s relenting is fascinating. But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD, “Isn’t this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity (1-2).

All I could think about is how Jonah was willing to accept God’s second chance for himself, but was angry when God gave the same gift to Nineveh! How fickle we can be. How self-centered we can be.

I thought of Jesus’ story of the wicked servant in Matthew 18. The servant is forgiven a huge debt but then turns and jails someone who owes him a small debt. The wicked servant couldn’t see that with his debt forgiven he should forgive others their debt. That’s Jonah... he was forgiven, yet he couldn’t stand it that Ninevites were forgiven too.

I was trying to imagine the prodigal son being mad at his father for welcoming his older brother into the party.

As hard as it is for me to understand Jonah, how often do I carry the same attitude. God, why are you forgiving ‘them’? God, way are you blessing ‘them’? God...

Lord, open my heart to receive Your grace and to rejoice when Your grace is given freely to others... I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

Thursday, January 31: Jonah 3- Second chances.

Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh... (1-3a).

Jonah is a story of second chances. The Lord gives Jonah a second chance to obey. And Jonah does. This second time he sets to the task God gave him right away. I guess 3 days in the belly of a fish changes a person’s heart.

I certainly do not want to presume on God’s grace, mercy and gift of a second chance, but over and over in the Bible God grants people an opportunity to change their wayward ways and return to Him.

Even as God gave Jonah a second chance, He did the same to Nineveh. Jonah records that people from the greatest (the king) to the least repented and represented their repentance by donning sackcloth and ashes. The king even issued an urgent decree to call on the Lord in the hopes God would relent.

God does relent. God spares the city just as He spared Jonah.

How often God has spared me... too many to count.

I am so thankful our God is a God of second (and 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th...) chances.

Thank You, Oh Lord, for the gift of forgiveness. Thank You, Lord, for the gift of another chance to bow before You, to worship and adore You. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen

 

Wednesday, January 30: Jonah 2- Never beyond God's rescue.

Jonah thought he could run and hide from God. No sir. The all-knowing, all-seeing God saw him and found him.

I tried to imagine what he was going through… tossed into the raging sea, sinking beneath the waves and then somehow swallowed by a large fish. Amazingly, Jonah found himself alive and safe inside the fish. I wonder if Jonah even understood his situation???

Three days he lived inside this fish. What those days must have been like. Honestly, I cannot even imagine.

From the belly of the fish Jonah prays. I suspect I might have prayed, too. However, I think I might’ve been praying, “God, get me out of here.”

Jonah understands the entire ordeal as God was saving him. He recognizes the gracious hand of the Lord. The portion of his prayer that caught my eye and heart was this: “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you.… ’ ” (7-9a).

Jonah never gave up on God. He had sinned and he knew it. Still as his breath ebbed away he remembered the Lord and called to Him. God answered.

I pondered that. Even when we have sinned and are still living with the effects of our sin, God loves and cares for us. God hears our prayers and answers us. I don’t think we can say that God will always send a fish to rescue us; still He loves us and cares for us.

In Jonah’s case God had work left for him to do, so the fish was both a rescuer and a transport to his place of service.

I am surprised that in the midst of the prayer Jonah contemplates people who turn to idols rather than the Lord. Maybe that is the Spirit of God praying through Jonah preparing him for his assignment in Nineveh. Still that presence of mind is astonishing to me.  The recognition of those who turn to idols causes Jonah to affirm his grateful praise to the Lord, thus affirming his faith in the Lord.

Jonah reminds me that as God’s child we are never out of the reach of the Lord. And even when we blow it unintentionally or, like Jonah, intentionally disobey God, God will receive us back when we turn and cry out to Him. Another reminder in the story is that God has a mission for us to do. We might not be sent to a foreign land, but whatever it might be God knows what He is doing in calling us.

There’s so much in Jonah’s story… I’m kind of excited about tomorrow’s reading.

Lord, thank You for the adventure of Jonah and all we can learn from Your Word. Continue leading me in the adventure of faith. Where You send me I will go. And, Lord, if a balk at Your nudges, remind me of this prayer and my brother Jonah. Remind me that I cannot run away from Your call and will. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

Tuesday, January 29: Jonah 1- Glory goes to God.

Decades ago I heard a friend preach a 3-point sermon from Jonah. God said, “Go.” Jonah said, “No.” Then God said, “Oh.” It is one of the few sermon outlines I remember and it is hard for me to see other messages in the Jonah text than these three. I have to make it a point to open my mind and heart when I read Jonah beyond my friend’s three points.

So today before I cracked the pages of the book, I asked God to open me to new insights and aspects of the story.

Reading, I noticed the response of the crew and passengers after they tossed Jonah into the sea. First I noticed their pray prior to throwing Jonah overboard. They didn’t want to be guilty of murder, which is admirable. I’m also reminded that Jonah was tossed overboard, not by an angry mob hoping to save their skin. He is tossed into the sea at his request.

Then when he hits the sea, God calms the storm. It is at this point that I was drawn to the text. At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him (16).

That is a strong reaction! These men of many faiths offer a sacrifice to the Lord!

Now Jonah’s action of self-sacrifice is not exactly a ‘good work.’ He did cause the situation by his faithless running from the Lord. Still I was reminded of Matthew 5:16, In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (16). Jonah’s honesty, if not his faith, helped these men see the Lord. I wonder, did any of them change allegiances to the Lord, or was this merely a blip on their spiritual radar. We will never know. Still glory went to God and people gained a better understanding of who He is.

Certainly I don’t have to correct something I did that was wrong for God to receive glory. It is, however, nice to know that even when I am selfish and sin, I can repair the situation and allow my actions, done in a Christ honoring manner, give glory and praise to God!

Lord, give me strength to live for You. When I sin, show me my error that I may make my confession to You. When I do what You would have me do, supply your Holy Spirit strength to accomplish all You desire. In the name of Jesus and for the advancement of Your kingdom, I pray. Amen.

 

Monday, January 28: Obadiah- Pride.

I wondered at first, “Why, God, are you so interested in Edom? She was never a major player on the world stage or in the future of Israel. Bit parts here and there, so why all your interest, God?”

I cannot answer for certain, but Edom was the descendants of Esau, son of Isaac, brother of Jacob (Israel), so Edom is Israel’s family. Where there should have been some familial connection, there was none. Maybe this accounts for God’s interest.

Setting aside my question… I tried to listen to God’s Word to them. Edom’s pride seems to be at the heart of God’s W,ord to them. And pride is certainly an issue I battle so my ears perked up. “See, I will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD (2-4).

The capitol of Edom, Petra, is apparently an amazing place to visit. I have not been there, but there is no shortage of Petra info on the Internet. One of the NEW Seven Wonders of the World, Petra is a city cut into the rock. It apparently seemed impregnable to its inhabitant, but today it is an ancient ruin located in a desolate part of the world. Their ‘haven and home’ is nothing today.

Pride gives us a false image of self. Pride gives us a false belief in our security. Pride, the author of Proverbs reminds us, comes before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.)  

I felt a prompting to read up on Obadiah. In one commentary I came across this explanation:

Pride was Edom’s undoing. Her deception, the concomitant of pride, was rooted in an inordinate self-estimation. Not taking God into account, they expressed their presumptuous pride in a defiant challenge, “Who will bring me down to the ground?” Even if the Edomites could “soar like the eagle” and “make your nest among the stars,” they would be powerless under the scrutiny of the wisdom and power of God.**

Warning Bill Gestal… to this day, pride comes before a fall. Not taking God into account is a destructive attitude. We are all powerless under the scrutiny of the wisdom and power of God.

I think about this personally. Whenever I am tempted to think I have everything under control I can manage my way out of this situation. I can… fill in the blank. And I do this without parallel thoughts of ‘God, would You help me?  God, would You lead me to the right way, solution, etc.?’ I am speeding down the highway to destruction. A devotion, I heard yesterday from a friend, reminded me that God’s ways are higher and wiser than our ways (read Isaiah 55). Yes, God has given me a mind to sort things through. Yes, God has given me friends with whom I can bounce ideas and options off of… but to stay only in the human plane and neglect God is to fall into Edom’s trap.

I wonder about this as I read the news from Washington, where our national leaders seem to have removed God from the equation. And add to this they seem to be looking inward, cutting ties with friends and allies relying only on self, us, the USA. I fear we are falling into Edom’s trap, thinking, Who can bring [us] down to the ground?

When I superimpose that thinking against this book of the Bible I do not see a good outcome.

Back to self… I need to be vigilant to keep pride under control.

Lord God, as I sit this morning, I pray to You and speak to myself, I will lean on You. I will use the gifts You have given me as I walk in relationship and connection with You to discern the way I am to go, regularly checking that I am in step with You.  I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

**Complete Biblical Library Commentary - The Complete Biblical Library – Daniel-Malachi.