Family is important to God - Matthew 1:1-17

So this is a busy time for everyone so I really want to try to keep it brief. First, this is a great devotion too if you're looking for a great perspective... (plus I am biased, because my mom wrote it): click here. I am similar to my mom obviously, but I didn't know we had this in common, I always used to skim the genealogies listed in the beginning of books/chapters. I mean let's get to the important stuff right?! But my mom is right, there is valuable information found in this list of who comes from who.

As we approach the Christmas holiday there's a lot of talk and emphasis on family. That's a great thing, and I am still never really sure why we need a holiday to spend time with family, but that's beside the point. With my family gatherings a big part of the time together is obviously catching up, but also a considerable amount of time is spent on story telling about history, and about family members who passed away. i am reminded of that one weird line in "It's the most wonderful time of the year" which says there will be scary ghost stories and tales of the glory of Christmases long long ago. Well the explanation I like the most is in relation to Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol" which in all truth should be scary, especially with the GHOST of Christmas future. But we also love to tell tales of the glory of Christmases long long ago, which almost always involve family!

Here's the wrap up and the point. Remember we made in God's image. Our feelings, our minds, aren't original to us. We are mere imitations of the Creator. We have a love and fondness for family and family history because God has first created and loved families. This genealogy shows the family of Christ is much more than just his earthly mother and father. He comes from a long long line of people who had a relationship with God the father. Jesus is part of a BIG family. Matthew is taking the time to recap the tales of the glory of Christmases long long ago. And the cool thing is we are part of the family too. Christ is our brother! How awesome?! So when we sit around fires telling stories of past Christmases and family memories, let's not forget the best story of all...When God became our brother by being born in Bethlehem in a lowly stable to earthly parents.

And we pray
Dear God our father in heaven, thank you so much for the gift of families. By being part of a human family, you know the brokenness that can surround us, the strained and dysfunctional relationships, the hurt and pain that can come from family members both recent and far past, but God you also know the joy and love families can bring. Be part of my family God. Dwell with me and my family. Show each of us your way so that we might find the joy and forgive the hurt. In your son and our brother's name we pray; Amen!

God talks to me through Billy Joel -Awesomeness (Ezekiel 47:1-2)

I read this text several times, and honestly it still doesn't do much for me. I went to read all of Ezekiel 47, thinking this story wasn't complete...it was. I was hoping there was a continuation anything...to clear it up for me. I mean that's the honest truth. I am not inspired by it. I am not made aware of things I have done - right or wrong. I don't feel that it helps me to know God better.

My first thought upon reading the first paragraph was to go off on a tangent in regards to the four directions of the earth, north, south, east and west, but no, I can't even do that, because read carefully and you'll see lots of directions, but no west...apparently west is bad, like the left hand of God. (You know the sheep go to God's right hand ...the good hand apparently, and the goats, hell bound, go the left hand (See Matthew 25:33) and of course Jesus sits at the RIGHT hand of God, and as a lefty I find all this right handed focus this offensive.) So all of us in the western hemisphere should feel left out. Or not. So no tangent on the directions...

Well then the Spirit sent me another connection, this one in the form of an auditory connection. The song "River of Dreams" by Billy Joel came to mind. If you don't know the song, check it out here... (click me) I love this song and I love Billy Joel. Many of his songs make perfect sense, relationships, life, heartbreak, love, growing up, humanity; there are songs of his that speak to me about all these subjects. There is wisdom in many many of his songs, but this one, (and I love this song) doesn't mean much to me. I don't feel inspired really, or wiser, I just enjoy hearing it, and I think that's the way this passage is. It may not contain an inspirational message for us, and it may not be sage wisdom, but it's pretty to read. Lot's of detail, and very vivid. I can picture this river. It clearly (as Billy Joel says) starts as stream and ends in the ocean. So since the spirit sent me this song, let me share a few choice lines from this song.

+ From the mountains of faith
+ So I can finally find what I've been looking for
+ I go walking in my sleep through the valley of fear
+ I've been searching for something taken out of my soul, something I'd never lose, something somebody stole
+ But now I'm tired and I don't want to walk any more
+ Through the jungle of doubt
+ It can only be seen by the eyes of the blind
+ I'm not sure about a life after this, God knows I've never been a spiritual man
+ Baptized by the fire
+ I wade into the river that is runnin' through the promised land
+ Through the desert of truth

Do any of these stir up familiar bible passages for you? They sure do for me, I am reminded of faith that can move mountains, I am finding what i seek, yeah though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death, what's been taken out of my soul - complete love for God, it has been overshadowed by sin, I didn't want to lose it but I was bound to sin, Jesus' burden is easy and his yoke is light, can this gift of grace really be mine? the lame shall walk and the blind shall see, I don't have all the answers, I'm not perfect, God knows that! one more powerful was coming, one would baptize with with fire and the spirit, wandering for 40 years before entering the promised land, a desert is a lonely place, knowing God's truth can be a lonely place.

Sometimes this is how God speaks to us in the bible. The message at first isn't clear at all, but don't give up! Open your hearts, open your minds, and open your eyes and ears. God always speaks his word to YOU through scripture (since it is the word of God) it just may not be in the way you think...maybe God will call forth a song, a painting, a memory, a movie, and will speak to you through other mediums...God can do that you know! He is kind of creative...(just small things, like the earth, the universe, 7-10 billion different people, you me...need I go on?)

And so we pray...
Creative God, you love us in so many different ways. We thank you for loving us in every way and in your perfect way. God you're always willing to speak to us, but so often we're not willing to listen to you. I pray God that when you speak to me, don't give up, keep speaking until I hear you, until I see you, and until I feel you. Come into my heart each and every day and help me find you in the craziest places. Help me to love as you have first loved. Your son's holy name, Amen!

Faith is what it takes...(Hebrews 11:1 7)

First, this reading comes from a few days ago- it's from Friday November 26th. The day after Thanksgiving. If you were concerned, I was incredibly sick that day, and to be honest I just got around to reading that day's bible passage (I am feeling all better now!). You see I get the daily passage emailed to me, and that message was sitting innocently unopened until today. The guidance of the Holy Spirit told me I needed to write on this one, so please indulge me!

Recently I had a conversation with one of my best friends who will be going to seminary next year. She's awesome and in a lot of ways we consider each other to be like a brother and sister. We try to talk at least once a week (though I'm not always good at keeping to that) but we just talked a few nights ago, and we got to talking about God, and scripture and what not, and as we were nearing the end of the convo she said to me, "I love my religion." That all got me to thinking (very dangerous I know). I told her to consider the notion that she loves her faith, and likes her religion. What? There's a difference?! Most definitely!

Ready for this... Faith is God made, and influenced by humans, whereas religion is Human made and influenced by God. See the difference comes from the creator. And so what is faith? Well we have it written right here in Hebrews. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.To me, faith is more about belief and hope, while religion is more about structure, communal beliefs. Part of the Merriam Webster definition says religion is a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith. Christianity, Catholicism, Lutheranism, Judaism, Islam are all religions. God is not a religion (cause, principle, or system) and cannot be contained by any man made structure or system.

I don't want to be a pusher or religion, I want to be a pusher of faith! We read in this passage that faith pleases God. Faith for Noah, provided a means to salvation. I hear so many people say they don't go to church but they are spiritual...what does that even mean? Honestly I have no idea. I would much rather hear that they are faithful. That at least would please God. In this story let us recall that Faith provided salvation for Noah and his family. Faith can and does provide salvation for you too! Now I work at a church, a church that I love very much, and OF COURSE I would love for you to join me, but I'm going to be honest here ( and I can't believe I am going to say this) Just have faith! God doesn't order you to come to church, and neither do I, but God and I both urge you to activate and celebrate your faith. Now in the defense of attending a church, I do feel that your faith will be nourished, deepened, and strengthened at church. You will have a community of faithful brothers and sisters and that is very important for faith formation and development. But in the end it is faith alone, grace alone, word alone...sound familiar?

And so we pray,
Thank you so much for our faith God. We know it's enough. We pray that we might celebrate the gift of faith that you have given us in ways that might please you. Save us through our faith, your Grace, and your Word. We love you God, not as we should, but only as we are able. Surround us with those who seek to deepen our faith. In your Son's name we pray. Amen!

Can it be that easy?? John 1:35-42

The first component I like is how in such a short snippet of John we get three names for Jesus, besides Jesus. That's pretty cool, if you ask me and it reminds me of this poster I've seen. I'll include it for you, so here it is...


I hope that is legible for you. It's a really nice poster and reminds us of so many of the special aspects of Christ our Lord. Back to the reading though, we are reminded that Jesus is 1) The lamb of God, 2) Rabbi (Teacher) and 3) the Messiah.

1) Christ is the Lamb of God. I like this one alot because it says so much. First this informs us that Christ is OF God. The phrase isn't lamb from God, God's lamb, or the lamb that belongs to God. No, this lamb is in fact OF God. I am reminded of the Hebrew faith in which bar and bat were part of people's name, describing who they were of, ie son of David, daughter of Eve, etc. So this lamb is of God, and we know in fact to be the Son OF God. In addition to all this, we know that lambs were used as sacrifice, and we recall the famous story of the Israelites putting lamb's blood over their doors in Egypt to be spared from the final plague - the death of the first born. Of course Christ is God's first (and only) born and will not be spared death, but will save all by the shedding of his blood. Pretty cool how much this phrase means.

2)Christ is Rabbi or Teacher. I look back on all my education and I remember two kinds of teachers, really good ones, and really bad ones. I remember Miss Alba, Mr. Gerber, Mrs. Goodman, Mrs. Lapinski, Frau Moore, Mr. Dixon, and Mr. Anderson. All great teachers in my mind, and what made them all great was that each of them truly wanted each student to learn and to succeed. Succeeding did not mean good grades, but understanding the information, sometimes which meant in fact getting a tough grade. I think each of them loved their students with firm, consistent love. I know Jesus to be the very best teacher. Loving all his pupils, and desiring each of us to succeed, and offering us the correction we need, when we stray. So I'd invite you to think back on those teachers that had a positive influence on you, and that when you think of them still brings a smile to your face. Why do you smile? What did you like so much about that teacher? Jesus can, and wants to be, that kind of teacher for you.

3)Jesus is the Messiah or Anointed. Let me just give the definition first of anointed.

1: to smear or rub with oil or an oily substance

2:a : to apply oil to as a sacred rite especially for consecration b : to choose by or as if by divine election; also : to designate as if by a ritual anointment

I think we can focus on definition 2b: to choose by divine election. Clearly Jesus Christ is chosen by divine election because he is the Lamb of God. But then this definition has us asking another question... (or should) what was Christ chosen for? Christ was chosen to redeem humanity from sin. He was chosen to balance the equation in God's favor. We sin, there we separate ourselves from God, therefore we deserve eternal separation from God (Hell). God does not want to be eternally separated from us, so God sends Jesus to take our place and to pay the price for our sins, because he is truly sinless. Thus we can join with God for eternity. YAY!

Finally the reason for my title is this; Andrew knows he has found the Messiah, God's anointed. This is clearly the best news ever! He wants to share the good news, and so he goes and finds his brother and puts it simply; "We have found him! We have found the Messiah." Simon, the brother, simply comes to where Jesus is because of this simple invitation. It doesn't say that Andrew had to drag Simon to come see Jesus, it doesn't say he said "I have a surprise for you!" It's a simple, straightforward invitation.

You and I have found the Messiah too! We know him and what he has done in our lives. The great commission orders us to go out and share that good news. Simply inviting other people to Christ. Simon didn't know what was in store for him, but Christ knew Simon instantly and said "you are Simon, but from now on you will be Peter". Christ has made Simon bar (son of) John, into Peter. Let us invite our friends, our family, and our neighbors to know Christ, simply by telling them, we have found the Messiah! In these days people may well give you a funny look and ask "huh?" but simply respond by telling them you have met a great teacher, the very best, and he wants to know them, teach them, and love them. All they need to do is come with you, and Jesus will make them his own, and reveal his plans for them!

We pray,
Jesus, our teacher, our Messiah, and the Lamb of God. Thank you for your love, for your knowing us and making us your own. We pray for the courage to go into this world inviting others to you. Do not let us be afraid of looking foolish or being rejected but just give us the faith to believe your promise that you would be with us always, even to the end of the age! Open the hearts and the ears of those around us so that they may hear you, know you, and love you, through our words and deeds!
In you alone we pray,
Amen

Selah?! (Psalm 24)

Newsflash- I am not a biblical scholar. I am not an expert in Hebrew, in fact, the language scares me, and I know little to NOTHING about it, except that our old testament (also known as Hebrew Scriptures) are/were originally in Hebrew, the language of Israel. So with that said - Selah. What the heck is this?

Speaking of not being scholarly, I checked out Selah on wikipedia. I know I can't use this source for 100% certain factual information, but lets face it, it is useful. I found a quick summary and several possible explanations on this word. What I gathered is that essentially it most likely means pause. Now some think that added to that "pause" would be a concept like...wait, ponder these words, or let anyone with eyes see, and anyone with ears hear. So there's your Hebrew snippet of the day. Selah? Selah!

So what should we stop and ponder. What is the word that's worth pausing for? I think this holiday season we could all use a little "Selah" in our lives. It's always hurry hurry hurry. Go see this family, go see that family. Do a years worth of catching up in 3 or 4 hours. Get out there to the stores early. Get in line! Buy the groceries, get the toys, send the cards, wrap the presents, buy the tree, decorate the tree, hang the lights...selah!!!!Pause. Stop and listen.

I love the great outdoors. I love spending time in God's amazing creation. I love hikes and walks and camping. I love the beauty of the forests, and the peace I find in those woods. Sometimes as I am moving around, crashing through the underbrush and leaves and sticks, I can hear nothing but my own sounds, but then when I pause, when I stop and listen, I enjoy the beauty of the SOUNDS I hear. Woods are never truly silent. There are birds, insects, other animals, and perhaps the sound of a stream near by, and finally there is always the wind moving through the leaves. This pause to me is selah. Stop crashing through life long enough to truly hear God around me. The forest is not all about me, it's all about God, just as our lives and world should be too.

Finally this Psalm does remind me that not only the peace and beauty of the woods belong to God, but my very being, body, and soul belong to the Lord as well. This season coming upon is not all about us, it's all about God. This holiday doesn't belong to us it belongs to God! The first statement about the earth belonging to God is probably just fine with us. We know the world was created by God, and was entrusted to us as caretakers (which on a side note we have been doing a pretty rotten job), but this earth is ultimately still God's. We know this and we accept it. But then let's take it a little further.

ALL that live in this world also belong to God...wait how comfortable are we with this. I mean think about some of the greatest movements in this country; the revolutionary war, women's suffrage, civil rights, the civil war, these movements or events were all about freedom from some sort of ownership. Whites can't own blacks! Men can't own women! Some don't own better rights than others. England doesn't own us! We are a country founded on freedom, so this concept of ownership should be a little uncomfortable for us. That's okay! You see God still gives us freedom to love him, to honor and glorify him, and to even acknowledge him, but never the less, he still owns us. And really, I wouldn't want to be owned by anyone BUT God.

So as the madness of this season begins tomorrow. Selah. Take a pause. Take a deep breath. Remember that you are God's. This season is God's. These holidays are God's. Be still, know peace, and spread love. All that have eyes see God, and all that have ears hear God. I promise you if you truly look and truly listen, and you stop crashing around, you will both see AND hear God all around you.

We pray;
Heavenly Peacemaker,
Selah. We pause to listen to you, to know you, and to hear you. We pray God that we might have the patience and love this holiday season to find you all around us. Grant us peace God not just this season but all year long. Let us know your love so that we might offer to those around us. Be with our families, our loved ones, and help us to remember that we are all yours. We belong to you Lord now and always!
Amen.

Oh to be a kid again... (Luke 18:15-17)

First of all, the bible passage I am writing on comes from Saturday, but it's so short and sweet and to the point....oh and it offers me some validation (at a personal and professional level!). That said, I beg your indulgence for using an a passage from this past weekend, and since that hopefully is the case, I'll try to be like the passage keeping it short and sweet.

I don't think this passage requires much interpretation, so instead, I'd like to focus on just a few points, phrases and words.

I am going to really go out on a limb and say that I wish there was one more thing written in this passage (I'm not trying to say it's incomplete but...). It says, "But Jesus called for them, and said..." I wish it was written, "But Jesus smiled, and calling for them, said..." Because I can just about see Jesus looking at these innocent newborns and toddlers and his heart filling with joy, as most of our hearts would be. I know it doesn't that say it, but in my mind it does. We recall the shortest verse in the bible is "Jesus wept." I wish it had a counterpart that said "Jesus smiled" or "Jesus laughed". It's so easy to lose track of the fact that Jesus Christ was fully human and that means he was capable of the emotions we feel, and the facial expressions we make. We so often hear of Jesus more serious emotions, but rarely see written evidence of his more joyful ones. But alas...I wander.

The word infants pops out at me. So we read that in this translation in Luke, it was not just teenagers, toddlers and elementary school children coming to see Jesus, but parents bringing infants as well. For me this is affirmation of our youngest most vulnerable people. I don't have a problem with infant baptism, and I don't have a problem with small children taking communion. Christ certainly doesn't hesitate to bless them(or "touch" them as this reading says). No where does it say that Christ felt they were too young or couldn't understand what was going on, so why bother.

Then I see the disciples sternly order the parents to cease and desist. This speaks to me too. Remember the disciples would have been those closest to Jesus. They are literally walking WITH him all the time (and this isn't figurative, this is literal). They were his groupies so to speak. And so you think it would be reasonable that they could represent Christ, but we see time and time again, that they cannot, and Christ needs to correct them. In fact when we read a similar story in in Mark 10:13-16, it says that Jesus became indignant. Indignant is one of those words we can use it, and we know it, but it's hard to define it. Thankfully, Merriam Webster can: feeling or showing anger because of something unjust or unworthy. Jesus saw the disciples barring the way for the children as unjust. So clearly children have a value to Christ. We can expand this...ALL people have value to Christ, even those that society would cast down (babies and children, disabled, poor, the elderly etc.) We are those disciples, we know our Lord so well, and we really think we know what he would have us do, and so we act on our own, and Christ has to come and correct us and set us back on track.

This reminds me of a recent situation at the church I serve. There is a young family with a five year old. She wanted to take communion, and her parents were supportive of it. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that our pastor was supportive of it too. Let's just call this little girl Grace. Grace had to take special first communion classes just like the rest of the older kids had to before they could be communed. Her class was separate and just with her, the pastor, and her parents, but was just as informative to her. When it came time to take first communion, there was little Hope at the altar rail with her little hand extended. Later that week, I heard a disciple within the congregation speaking sternly about someone that young receiving communion. I responded to the people that when I asked Grace what communion was she told me it was bread and wine, and when I asked her if it was anything else, she said it was the body and blood of Jesus. that is the perfect Lutheran answer. Communion is both bread and wine and body and blood. Grace didn't need to have this proven to her, she just believed it.

And this brings us to part of the reason Jesus has such a soft spot in his heart for children. He tells us that the kingdom of God belongs to children, and in fact if we want to enter the kingdom, we need to be child like. Why? Why in the world should we be like children? They don't comprehend or understand the way we do, they certainly don't reason the way we do, they don't know all the things we know. And you see, these are the traits that make Children so awesome.
Consider these "childish" traits:

• NOTHING is impossible (a man can be killed and raised in three days...no problem)
• They trust instinctively (until we teach them they shouldn't blindly trust people)
• They love and want to be loved (until we teach them about hate)
• They follow the leader (until we teach them to question the leader's motives)
• They are innocent (until we teach them about lies, sin, and human brokenness)
• Magic can exist (until you tell them it's really an illusion or "make believe")
• They are easily influenced and transformed (until we harden them, and tell them to be who they want to be, rather than being who God wants them to be)
• They are excited to learn (if we introduce them to Jesus, they will want to know more about him... will we?)
• Everything is new, majestic and amazing to them. They are filled with wonder.
  

So can you begin to see why in fact children and young people are such valuable assets in the Kingdom of God? I know I can, and so I thank God that I have a job that supports in my supporting of youth, young people, and families. I am so thankful to have a congregation full of disciples that instead of speaking sternly to our children, invite them to come to Jesus, to be blessed and loved by Jesus just as they, as grown ups, are. The next time you see the wonder and excitement in a newborn's or toddler's eyes, be glad for it, and remember feeling that excitement, that wonder and awe for your God

And we pray,
Dear Father in heaven, help us to remember that we are YOUR children. Please do not be indignant with us. Show us the way. Help us to love you as a child loves, believe in you as a toddler believes, trust you and depend on you the way infants trust and depend, and to follow you as faithfully as a kid follows. Let us love always, and be stern as little as possible. All things are possible in you. And thank you God for the gift of children...reminders of you kingdom!
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

It's not as bad as you think!

First of all the Lord has decided to give us a lot to digest on this rainy Tuesday. That's okay because we're going to enjoy this meal together! First lets break it down in small bites. Part of being able to read the bible effectively is sometimes about trimming away the fat and getting to the meat of the message. Ok? So let's do this together!

First paragraph:
God's children, the Israelites, were as usual, being rather naughty and misbehaving against their father in heaven. This made God mad enough that he hid his face, or turned away from them. They were punished for their behavior and sent to their room (or in this case exile) and were turned over to their enemies, even to the point of death.

Second Paragraph:
Their time of punishment is now over declares the Lord. He is going to forgive them for their bad behavior. Their sentence has been served. God is going to be with them again. God is going to take such good care of his children, all people will see him as the best father there is. Like a good shepherd he will not forget or leave behind a single one of his children. And this paragraph ends with a wonderful promise from God and it is word for word: I will leave none of them behind; and I will never again hide my face from them, when I pour out my spirit upon the house of Israel.

Third Paragraph:
These are the details of Ezekiel's vision. These details would have offered validity to his prophesy. He gives the date, the location, the details, so that when he shares this vision with others (including you and me) the listeners or readers can be assured this vision/prophecy is indeed from the Lord and not the rantings of a lunatic! You and I can rest assured this is the will of the Lord.

Now lets start the actual digesting. In my summaries of the paragraphs I used a lot of parent/child language, or father and children. We know of course that God is indeed our father in heaven. I was recently talking to a close friend of mine who shared her story with me. The story she shared particularly regarded her father. The relationship between this woman and her father is very, very bad. From what she has told me, it would perhaps even appear this family would be better suited if the father wasn't in the picture at all. I have no reason to distrust what this young woman has told me, and so I empathize and pray for her, her family, and her father. It breaks my heart to know that there are people like her out there, that have such a lousy father figure in their lives. And so I could understand that a person like or her (or maybe you) might have trouble relating to God as your father. So please know that I am sensitive that not all of us are blessed to have dad's of the year.

This encounter did get me to thinking about my own parents and my father of course. I am very very blessed to have wonderful parents whom I have loved always and come to so greatly respect the older I have gotten. They have raised me very well and for that I am so thankful! I remember growing up that I would get punished for bad behavior, and often times the punishment would fit the crime. My parents did not just always ground me but no, were more creative. If I got caught telling lies, my mouth would get washed out with soap (because it was dirty), if I got caught stealing something I had to return it and apologize, I think you're getting the picture. There were occasions when I was spanked or even bitten (let me explain that one, I had formed the habbit of constantly biting my mother for whatever reason, and even though she told me time and again that it hurt and I should stop, I continued with the bitting, so one day she bit me back enough to hurt but not enough to even break skin, but it did get the point across that this hurt and it got me to stop!) Anyway, at the time I would have been the first to tell you these punishments clearly violated my constitutional rights as they were obviously cruel and unusual. But looking back on them I am in fact GRATEFUL for them. They taught me lessons about life, about values, and about the world. Our actions have consquenses!

My wife works for starbucks and so often I see (or hear about) customers that will bring in their small children and simply let the children kick the cooloer in the store, to leave their trash and garbage everywhere, to have no respect for the employees, to scream, and throw a fit if they don't get what they want, and the whole time the parent is just completely focused on getting their late. It bugs me, but I am quite sure it bugs my wife even more. Why are today's parents so reluctant to discipline their children. Now I am not advocating child abuse, or injuring your kids, but they have to learn no means no, and that actions have consequenses!

The point I am getting at is yes, God punished his children, and it seems cruel or unfair that he would turn his back on them. But essentially the Israelites wanted to run away from their father. He tried time and time again to reason with them, to change their hearts, to get them to listen but they were like stubborn teenages and refused. They felth they knew best and so they rebelled. God said, "if you choose to leave me, I cannot support you, I cannot protect you, and I will not be there. If you leave, I'm not coming after you." The children said "Good!" and "We don't need you anyway!" and ran away. Eventually his children realized they did need God their father, and God, being the best dad ever, wants to welcome them back, to love them, protect them, and care for them as any good dad would. Just as the Father welcomes back the prodigal son, (Luke 15:11-32) with open arms and a gift, so God welcomes back his lost children.

The relationship of the Israelites and God is much like children and their parents. Except in this case, the parent is perfect, and the children are the ones who make the mistakes. God loves us like a father and like a mother too. God's love is uncoditional, and sometimes God has used punishment for bad behavior, and the punishment always fit the crime. But now, in these days we still hurt our father, we rebel against our mother, and we do what we know to be best. We do indeed deserve punishment but God has given us a sibling that takes the punishment for us, a sibling named Jesus Christ. He has taken the ultimate punishment for us- death on a cross. And so God's spirit has indeed been poured upon us, and that is representative of Christ's blood being shed. God will never turn his back on us again, even when we deserve it. So you see, when you look at this passage through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it's not so bad after all!

Listen to this song and then pray...

Dear FATHER in heaven. You love us always. You have given us your promise to never turn your back on us again. And you have given us a brother who loves us as you do. Thank you for Christ our Brother. Be with those who don't have fathers in their lives. Be that father that they they thought they never had. Strengthen us to never turn from you.
In your son's name we pray,
Amen

Do I detect some law here?

Firstly, to briefly explain my title, Lutherans look at the all the scriptures with a lens of law or gospel. All texts will be one (and on rare occasions both) of these. When a passage is gospel it is where forgiveness, love and mercy are found. When you read or hear them you feel good, you feel comforted, and you feel freed and forgiven. Now on the other hand when you read law, you feel guilty, accused, sad, and deserving to be punished. Law kind of makes you say, "Oh crap, that's me." So with that said, clearly, this passage from the beginning of the book of Romans, is law focused. (Though later in the book we learn all about God's grace and was foundational for Luther's reformation!)

Now sometimes when you read law from the Bible, especially the old testament, there are a lot of "you statements". You have done this, you haven't done that, you've failed to be faithful, etc. Now when we read Paul's letter (Romans is a letter written by Paul to the Romans) it's all they and them. Well that's not us, so we must be okay. It's a lot more comfortable when we see someone else getting accused of something. Hey as long as the blames not on us. It's like when people witness a crime, and not wanting to get involved they look away or pass on the other side of the road (sound familiar, think of the Good Samaritan - See Luke 10:25). Anyway, we like it when we're not in spot light. But before we just discard this passage as being directed at someone else and not for us, let's remember that ALL of God's scripture speaks to each of us.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened.

I like this section because in a sense it's using simple logic to support the existence of God. First we know that God gets really angry (wrath) with ALL evil and ungodly behavior. Paul is not saying that God only gets mad at those who believe in Him who break the law, but it's ALL evil, all ungodly behavior. We might think, well it's not fair to be mad at someone if they don't know God. I mean how can they be expected to know the ways of God if they don't even know God? Ignorance is never an excuse! But you may say, but God's eternal power and divine nature (his very presence) are invisible so how could they know. Well this is where Paul uses logic to support his faith and to support God.

It's like most religions of primitive cultures, typically even if polytheistic (believing in multiple gods) they often believe in one ultimate creator, the maker of all things. There is almost always one god who is more powerful and dominant above the others. We see this amazing and divine creation all around us, and that's how we inherently know there must be a creator god. I heard recently that it's human nature to want to believe in things. We want to believe in each other, in ourselves, in love, in dreams coming true, all these things we want to believe in. So it's actually pretty natural to believe in a creator. Even if we don't know God, we deep down know he's there. Look at the miracle of the human body, the oceans, the rain forests, the cosmos, etc. All lead us to at least consider, there's something out there bigger than me. We know him to be God!

Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For me, all wisdom comes from the Lord God Almighty! And indeed it is very wise to worship and love our creator, as he has first loved us, (before we were even born - see Jeremiah 1:5). And do you know how much God loves us? He loves us enough to let us choose to love him or not! That's pretty awesome, of course God who is all powerful could force us to love him, but then it's not really genuine love. Instead he has created us in his image, thus allowing us to make choices, just as God can make choices. I believe that God can make a choice, based on the choices we make. In relation to the reading, people abandoned their love and worship for God and gave it over to earthly things (the creation, not the creator). This was their choice. God simply allowed them to do as they chose.

Truth is mentioned twice here, so it's obviously worth repeating. What is that truth? That God created us, this world, the galaxy and even the universe. The truth is that God is the ONLY god. He alone is worthy of praise, worship, honor and glory, now and always! Amen? Amen!

Prayer:

Dear Creator God, you have made me and shaped me. You alone have control and yet God you love me enough to let me make my own choices. I want to choose you, but I am so often guilty of following lies. You alone are my truth, my way, and my salvation. Give the guidance of your Holy Spirit to know you and to know the truth. Amen

So much widsom, so little time...

As usual this bible passage provides a huge volume of wisdom! So much so, I honestly can't write about each kernel of truth and knowledge here, and I'm pretty sure you're not here to read a novel. With that said, let's just focus on a few critical statements. They are:

• In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance
• having been destined according to the purpose [...] so that we, [...] might live for the praise of his glory. (typically I don't chop up verses, I'll explain in a bit)
• In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
  
• and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit
• our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people
• I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers
• God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
• the church, which is his body

Okay, so I know you're probably thinking, "Josh didn't really focus it down to just a few points, he pretty much just repeated the entire passage!" Ok, that is somewhat true, but each of these points is just soooooooo good. I guess it's like that favorite snack or candy we each have, we can never eat just one! So let's break these down!

God is the Father, Christ is the son. I am so blessed that both my parents are still living and still together. I know what is to be a son. I have also witnessed what my father experienced when he had to bear the duties of a son whose father passed away. An inheritance isn't always bundles of cash and lots of property. Sometimes, it's hard, back breaking, painful labor, some times it's wading through the muck and mess of a person's entire life. But what is the inheritance we get because of Christ through God our father? Well I think this inheritance is the best we can get. You see Christ has the promise to be with his father in heaven for eternity, and Christ decided to share that with us! Now as for the inheritance we got from father Adam and mother Eve, not so good; life on earth would be hard, going through lots of muck, and back breaking labor.

The more time I spend in this world, the more I am convinced that people are seeking true meaning for their lives. I think more and more people wonder, Why am I here? What is my purpose? Have you ever wondered about this? The reason I chopped up the bible passage in my second bullet point is because when you take out some of the words you get down to the clear, simple meaning. It is human destiny, it is our purpose, to praise and glorify the Lord. That's it. We should be living lives that fulfill a verse used at many baptisms, "Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works on earth, and glorify you Father in heaven". As the actor from the nationwide insurance might say, "Done!" There's your meaning friends, live lives that bring glory and praises to God our Father!

Besides seeking the meaning or purpose of life, we also seem to always want to know what truth is. What is really true? Well again, here it is, plain and simple, the concrete truth is the word of Christ, the gospel. As Luther might say, "This is most certainly True!"

Marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit? Remember your baptism...well maybe not because you may have been an infant, but if quick refresher, at your baptism you were marked with the sign of the cross and sealed with the Holy Spirit. It's always nice to be reminded of all the important things that happen at our Baptism!

Like Paul we should always remember to pray and thank God for the saints around us! It's easy to pray for those who really need help, healing, health, but how often do we neglect to pray and offer thanks for those who have been saints in our lives? These saints may be living or they may have come to life eternal, but Saints are always there with us! We are all surrounded by saints, people who have an intentional and unintentional positive impact on our faith; friends, neighbors, family, parents, coworkers, etc. By praying for them, it makes us aware of them, and then more aware of the Spirit's guidance, as the Spirit often works through the wisdom of those around us!

Real simple, God's the boss. The big boss, now and always. That's something that will never change! God's above all of us, and that's very good news. Christ is raised from the dead, as are each of us - even better news!

And a final reminder that the church is the body of Christ! Never hurts to hear that reminder! We are the body, because Christ is in each of us, therefore when we all come together as church, there is Christ's body! Pretty cool how that works!

Isn't it wonderful, overwhelming, amazing, and astounding how much wisdom God packs into one Bible passage. Like I said, there is just so much jam packed into here. Enjoy you day today and let's pray as Paul teaches us:

Dear God of my Lord Jesus Christ
I pray that you, the Father of glory, may give me a spirit of wisdom and revelation as I come to know you, so that, with the eyes of my heart enlightened, I may know what is the hope to which you have called me, what are the riches of your glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of your power for us who believe, according to the working of your great power. Amen!

Spoooooky

When I read through this bible passage, the very first thing that came to my mind was, "How appropriate for Halloween!" I mean you have to admit, it really is pretty "spooky". A hand (and just the hand, no body is mentioned) begins writing on the wall at a big party. I mean this almost sounds like a scooby doo special, can't you just picture the cheesy cartoon and creepy music. Then we read that the king calls in all kinds of "specialists" to solve the mystery, and surprise surprise, they can't! And as usual, it's the queen who has any good sense about her. She suggests calling in the real expert Daniel Doo (Note: doo was added for effect!).

Now this story just leaves you hanging! No conclusion is offered and honestly, I was too into the mystery to be content to stop there. So I got out the handy dandy bible and finished the story. I'll bet you'd like to know what happens wouldn't you? Well I could be mean and tell you to go out and read your own bible, but then, I don't want to assume everyone reading this has a bible, so I will be nice and sum up the ending for you.

Essentially the king, Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, has been a naughty man and is following in his father's footsteps. Daniel reminds Belshazzar that his old man forgot to humble himself before the Lord God. God didn't take kindly to this attitude and offered Nebuchadnezzar an attitude adjustment (basically he went insane, ate grass, and hung out with wild donkeys - go figure!) Now you'd think that would make an impression on a son, you know, seeing his father go mad, eat grass, and lay down with wild animals, but apparently not! For Belshazzar is desecrating holy equipment and again, not humbling himself before the Lord Almighty. (to consecrate is to dedicate something to God thus making it Holy, to desecrate is the exact opposite!). So the hand of God (perhaps the Holy Spirit?) writes this message on the wall:

"Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin"

Now that probably means about as much to you as it did for me, and apparently as much it meant to the king. Fortunately we have Daniel to explain.

Mene: God has numbered the days of the king's reign and brought it to an end.
Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
Peres: The kingdom is to be divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.

And to quote vs. 30-31 "That very night Belshazzar king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of 62."

So quite literally the writing was on the wall.

So what does all this mean for our lives? I think there are many pearls of wisdom in this story. I think however the most applicable element is that we always need to remember our place. When we as individuals, or as a community, achieve great and wonderful things, it's easy to over inflate our worth and value. I am certainly guilty of this! There have been retreats and events that I have coordinated that went even better than I had hoped for and it's easy for me to say, well I guess I really know what I am doing, instead of saying wow I am so much in awe of how God worked through me and used me to bring Him the glory! I think we can all fall into the trap that Belshazzar fell into. His life was good, very good in fact. He was living the life, wives, concubines, parties, wine, riches, etc. He was living the rock star lifestyle. He was all about his own glory and his own success and importance, to the point where he has no respect for things considered holy.

When we elevate ourselves above God it's a long fall back to earth! In Belshazzar's fall, it cost him his life. And before you go saying that God killed Belshazzar that night, wouldn't it also be fair to think that perhaps his own actions and decisions got him there. Consider this, he had a HUGE party with over 1000 guests. When someone throws a party that is that big the word is going to get out. And like many parties, a lot of alcohol is being served. So isn't it possible that Darius 1) heard about this huge party and 2) concluded that the king may get a little impaired which would make taking the castle by storm a little easier? So is God to blame or are Belshazzar's decisions to be blamed?

So in conclusion, always remember that blessings in our lives, the talents and abilities we possess, are in fact God's gifts to us! God has given us these gifts and blessings because he loves us and hopes that we might use them to give glory back to God. It's pretty simple, when you get an amazing gift that is very important and special to you, most likely you will enjoy the gift and thank the giver. God wants us to enjoy the gifts he gives, but I think he would appreciate a thank you as well. Give glory and honor where glory and honor are due!

And so we pray...
Dear Father in Heaven, you have given me blessings that I can't even count. Abilities I can't even understand, and love that I don't deserve. I thank you God from the bottom of my heart for the gifts you have showered on me. Give me the faith and wisdom of Daniel that I might read the writing on the wall, and always remember to give you the credit, and the glory! In your son's name I pray.
Amen.

I wish our politicians would read this!

I read this bible passage, and it really struck a chord in my heart and I felt it would be good to share my thoughts and feelings on this passage. First let me say that I think there is just a ton of awesome wisdom in this passage. We could all benefit from this kind of wisdom and I think it applies to all of us!

I read the passage and first what strikes me is the wisdom on communication. I took a communications course at Drexel University from a young woman whom, I think in her opinion, was an expert on good communication and how to use this tool well. In my opinion, the text book for the course offered more insight than she did, but that is neither here, nor there. The point is communication is so important to us, that we have classes, books, webinars, experts, and entire companies, based on teaching us how to communicate. Now there are two huge influences on American culture right now, and they are grounded on first and foremost, communication; these two influences are TV and the internet. Both tools breed for the pure purpose of mass communication.

The passage from Timithoy references some element of communication, at least by my count, 12 times. (I love looking at Biblical numbers, and 12 is often an important one, 12 disciples...12 months... and finally ultra nerdy, but if you look at the verses 14-26 and turn it into 26-14=12 oh well!) Now the words or phrases I see relating to communcation are:

1. avoid wrangling over words
2. those who are listening
3. rightly explaining
4. the word of Truth
5. avoid profane chatter
6. and their talk will spread
7. swerved from the truth
8. calls on the name
9. pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace
   
10. nothing to do with stupid and senseless controversies
11. must not be quarrelsome
12. correcting opponents with gentleness

Wow! What a truly great list of communication guidelines. I wish we would have covered some of these things in communication class at college! Now getting back to those two major communication revolutions; internet and TV.

TV is an easy one right now. It's the middle of October and that can mean only one thing on the old boob tube; political campaign commercials. In these devotions I try not to get too personal or too emotional, but I'm sorry those things are just a total waste of money, and make me depressed after the airing of each one. It seems that as each day passes, the ads get worse and worse. And then if you compare it on a yearly basis, each year you wonder, can they get worse next year?... yup. They can! I don't think I need to go into detail, but honestly, and I am not even kidding (sadly) I think political ads, violate all 12 of those ways of communicating. Really, think of the most recent ad you have seen, read the list, and how many of the list above is completely disregarded in your ad? Can you imagine what a nation we would have, if our politicians read Timothy's words and took them to heart?!?

Then the other, internet. I am of an age where I can remember pre google, twitter, facebook, youtube, myspace (wait what's that), blogs, linkedin and the list goes on. I think the internet is a good thing, I really do, BUT (and it's a big one) the internet has some real garbage on it as well. We won't even cover in this post about the pure profane, and totally obscene content on the net, but instead the every day and average person content. Consider the FML website which while provide a small amount of amusement, certainly contains it's share of posts that go against so much of what we believe. The commentary I see posted by people on facebook, youtube, blog responses, and the like, is so full of anger and hurt. Often silly squabbles, hurtful language, pointless controversiers, blatant rage, lies, half truths, and everything that is against our list. It's just bad sometimes. And then twitter...do I have an account? Yes, but I only post a bible verse here and there, I'm certainly not on there all the time, and some of the stuff I do see on there is just rubbish, plain and simple.

Now to the big picture. I think these two communication monsters really demonstrate the need this world has for the wisdom, love, and life given by our Lord, Jesus Christ. Ours is a broken desperate world that so needs Christ to put it all back together. And all Christ asks for in return is that we simply let him into our hearts and lives. So the next time you see a campaign ad, or read a post on the net that brings you down, consider the words of Timothy, and the words of Christ, which promise us he will be with us even until the end of the age.

And so we pray:

Dear Christ, you teach us your ways and your wisdom. You give it to us free of charge, seeking only our love as a response. Lord, we try to love you, but the world so often gets in the way. We see, hear, feel, and read the negativity and hostility out there everywhere we are. Let us remember though that you are right there with us, loving us and tending to us. Please be with those who need your love so much right now. Be with our leaders and guide them to your wisdom. We pray in your precious name, Amen.

Faith Snapshot

I like this story about Paul and how he interacts with the people of Athens. I actually chuckled a bit when I read the quote from Paul referring to an altar he had seen dedicated to a "unknown god". The bible contains snapshots of everyday life, not every passage, book, and chapter are flowing with glorious descriptions of our Lord, immense wisdom, or miraculous signs. Sometimes the passages are just simple and every day. We don't often see a lot humor per se in the bible, there aren't stories of Jesus telling a good joke, or one of the disciples sharing a good limerick. But reading the first part of this story, I have to wonder if perhaps Paul was able find some humor in the situation.

Of course it's not a good thing that the Athenians were worshiping everything and anything literally, but there is some humor here, at least to me. I mean some Athenian spent time, money, and energy, creating this altar to the unknown god. It's like they thought to themselves, well just in case I missed any god, it's better to be safe than sorry. It's like when I go to a grocery store and they are offering free samples and I take one no matter what it is just because I wouldn't want to miss out on something free! The Athenian better make an altar just because he doesn't want to miss one! It's at least a little amusing right?!

But this brings about a good point which Paul addresses to the crowd. We in fact do have a god that wants to be in relationship with us, and to be in relationship is to be known. So, God wants to be known to us. God has given us his word, his laws, his poetry, his wisdom, and then finally his Son, all in an attempt that we might know God. And so I would ask you, how well do you really know God? If someone who knew nothing about our Lord, could you give a succinct description? Paul can and does. Really look at how well he describes God.

Allow my humble attempt to simplify Paul's statements about God.

• God makes everything in this world
• He is not only the Lord of earth, but the Lord of the heavens
• God is not contained in a shrine or anything made by human hands
• God doesn't need anything from us to be God. God is God, with or without us.
  
• ALL life comes only from God. This includes our lives.
• Life began with God. Human life began with one common ancestor (Adam)
  
• God is in control, and while we won't be able to find God on Earth, God is always with us!
• In him is life as we know it
• We are made in the image of God
• A mortal mind at its best can't create the correct image of God
• God has made his laws known to us for milenia, and now we need to repent for breaking them
• God sent Christ to be the judge over creation.
• The authority of Christ is demonstrated through his own death and resurrection
• We have the hope of resurrection through Christ.

Paul establishes all these, in a brief conversation. As we look over the descriptions of God, we find them to be surely accurate, but as I read through them, I found there to be something missing. Where was the talk of the Trinity, or at the very least, identifying Christ as God's own son? As I got to thinking about it further, I thought, would it really be fair to attempt to describe the Trinity and that God and Christ are one, AND Christ is the Son of God to a group of people who have made a "just in case" altar?! I should think not. And remember too this is a casual conversation he's having with a mixed group of people, that evolved on the spot. But I find hope at the very end, where some of the Athenians became believers, or at the very least, interested in hearing more. I think that the conversations that followed with these would have gone into more depth about the identity of Christ and the Holy Spirit. Both Spirit and Christ were eluded to in his overview, but not given much depth.

So if you get into a conversation with a person or a group, and God comes up, are you prepared to talk about the god that you know, love and serve? The Lord of Lords, and the King of Kings?

We pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, Loving Son, and Holy Spirit,
You want to be known. You want to be in relationship with us, and for this we are so very grateful. God we do repent of our sins which you have identified for us in your word. We ask that you grant us forgiveness, and wisdom to know you well enough to tell strangers all about you. In your love we hope and pray,
Amen.

What's the deal with prosperity anyway...

This text from 2nd Kings is challenging for me. I mean when I first read it, I thought to myself, well good that greedy Gehazi got what he deserved, reaped what he had sown, etc. But then as I thought, wait the good news is that we don't get what we deserve, we get what we NEED! (Salvation aka eternal life through Christ!). Because in truth we deserve hell (separation from God) but we get Christ which as I said is exactly what we need! So I see some traits in Gehazi that are so representative of all of us!

First he thinks he knows best. Forget what God wants, forget what Elisha wants, he knows best. His feelings are made clear when he thinks "My master has let that Aramean Naaman off too lightly by not accepting from him what he offered. As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something out of him." See he is deciding what is best. He speaks of his master, but clearly, his only true master is himself. And so here is a trait I see in myself and others around me, we each decide that we are our own masters. The people we have relationships with, and the relationship we have with God may influence our decisions, but ultimately we are our own masters we make our own destiny. Certainly dangerous thinking at best!

And then the other trait so clearly expressed by our friend Gehazi...GREED. When I first read this passage, I kind of booed G-man in my head. But then I got to thinking about it...wait a second, would I be so very different in the situation?! I'd like to think so, and I'm sure you would too. I mean think about it for a second, Naaman has already offered gifts to Elisha for the healing of his leprosy, but Elisha refused them. So it's not like Naaman is being robbed here. Gehazi is just cashing in on something that was already offered. If a gift was offered in our midst, would we be quick to say no thanks, glorifying God and healing someone was gift enough? It's a gift being offered completely freely! So while I'd like to seperate myself from Gehazi, I'm not so sure I could...sadly. Perhpas you'll come up better than I.

So we have these two shall we say vices, thinking of ourselves as master, and greed. These seem like on the scale of things not that bad of sins...but wait there we go again ranking sins when we know that really sin is sin. It's like saying I only drowned a little.

This brings me around to greed. Greed is a dangerous thing because there's so much invovled. It's trying to get what we want (not what we need) and it usually brings about coveting. We want what we don't have. And it brings to my mind a few chain letter emails I have recently recieved. Now both emails were from people who are very faithful and great people and the chain letters were religious in nature and actually pretty tolerable as far as chain letters go. But then they both included the same prayer and it went like this:

Father, God bless all my friends in whatever it is that You know they may need this day! And may their life be full of your peace, prosperity, and power as he/she seeks to have a closer relationship with you.
Amen.

Now that prayer is a pretty good one I think except one part, the "be full of your ... prosperity". Now that sounds good but I wanted the official definition for prosperity so I looked it up. And according to merriamwebster.com prosperity is the condition of being successful or thriving; especially : economic well-being. I thought it usually had an economic implication attached to it. And really if I am praying for someone to have God's prosperity wouldn't that be realisitcally unlimited wealth. Now here's the thing. I know God has given us unlimited wealth, the wealth of himself, Jesus Christ his son, but that has nothing to do with money or ecnomic wealth. I certainly don't want my friends to be poor, or anyone for that matter, we have the word of Christ which tells us we will have the poor always. We as humans won't ever be able to eliminate all of poverty, not when Christ tells us in black and white we will have the poor always. I mean I look at my salary sometimes and think, man that has to be close to poverty and I could sure use some of that prosperity, but then it's a relative thing. When I compare my salary to those who make a dollar a day (over a billion people) I have prosperity to share!

I digress. Back to the Bible ( a great place to return). Our poor friend Gehazi. He is a reminder to us of the message that Jesus bears in every gospel. You see Gehazi was the embodyment of Christ's message that blessed are the poor because their reward is heaven, but the rich already have thier reward on earth. Gehazi had gotten his instant reward and was rich in earthly terms but was instantly stricken with leprosy which would prevent him from ever fully enjoying his new found wealth as he would be surely outcast from his community and not allowed to enter the gates or be around his friends and family. So he was very poor internally. In a sense he had his reward but couldn't take it with him since he couldn't spend it wherever he went. If we use our brains to calculate how we can store up earthly treasure, but ignore our hearts and don't love Jesus we can't take that earthly treasure after we leave this earth.

So let Gehazi be a lesson to all of us. It is easy to think of ourselves as own master, (and even in this story it seems that Gehazi is not his own master, but that greed is the one he serves) and it is easy to let greed into our lives and take over, but if we allow these things, we forget our one true Master, Jesus Christ, who by his example gave his everything for everyone.

And so we pray,

Dear Jesus, come into our hearts so that there might be love of only you and our neighbors. Keep us in our humility and know that we serve you. You bless us with not with all that we want, but all that we need, which is your precious blood. Stay with us this day and always, walk with us on our path and keep us steady. In your Holy name we pray,
Amen.

PS-for another great devotion of this reading be sure to check out this site:

http://sites.google.com/site/familyofgodpa/PastorKelly/daily-devotion

God knows us, loves us, and saves us!

This passage reminds me of a few important things that I think we can all be reminded of from time to time.

God speaks to Daniel through an angel. The angel knows Daniel's name, and then goes a step further to call him "Beloved." Think about that for a moment, the Lord of Lords, and king of kings, and creator of the entire universe, knows us well enough to know our names, and to think of us as his beloved. Wow! This passage was written well before Christ came, but still we see God's dedication to having an intimate relationship with us. You might be skeptical and say well if God loved Daniel so much, he would have come in person and not sent an angel in his stead.

First, it was extremely rare for God to be physically with humans, I recall the story of Adam and Eve when we simply read that they heard God walking in the Garden of Eden and hid from Him. After that interaction and the fall of man, God uses angels disguised as humans, burning bushes, and dreams to speak to his beloved. We have separated ourselves from God by choice. Getting back to the point, the angels are God's servants and representatives, and we believe that Michael is an arch angel (highest of the angels). So what an honor that God sends his "next in command" without disguise and in physical form to speak directly and plainly with Daniel. Another time an angel speaks directly to a human is when Mary is informed of her upcoming pregnancy. And that's a pretty important message too!

Next the angel says I have been sent to you. This affirms how important it is the Daniel gets the message. Only God himself can send angels. When I am sent somewhere, perhaps to run an errand, it's by someone else's request or demand (like my parents or fiance!). So we know that this message is directly from God.

And of course there are those wonderful words, "Do not be afraid", the angels say this to us as humans time and time again. I think this is partially said because Angels must have looked pretty radical to the say the least. From the few biblical accounts we have of an angel's description we know they aren't adorable little cherubim and seraphim as depicted by Michelangelo, but instead creatures not of the earth, but of heaven. So seeing something like that would probably be like being visited by an alien, so it's natural they would tell us not to be afraid.

The angel says that the words of Daniel have been heard. This reminds all of us that our prayers are not only always heard, but they are acted on. God has sent the angel in response to Daniel's prayer. Again, wow! Then comes the hammer...

At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

I don't know about you, but I don't like to think about "anguish, such as has never occurred since the nations first came into existence". Yikes! I see the hurt and anguish of the world around me and sometimes wonder how much worse can things get? But the angel promises the hope that we will be delivered, and that death (sleep) is not the end; as some who sleep in the dust (ground) shall awake, some to everlasting life (heaven) and some to shame and everlasting contempt (hell). We know that Christ has already provided this deliverance for us. Christ died on the cross for us so that we might believe and be delivered to eternal life.

And then the final promise, that if spread the good news of our Lord and savior, not only will be delivered from hell and death, but that we will shine like the stars in heaven above. While I am not looking forward to the despair that befalls humanity, I am hoping and praying that God will lift me up to shine like a star at night. That sounds awesome to me! To have not only eternal life, but to shine like a star! I want that! Don't you?

And so we pray:

Dear Father in heaven, you know us and you love us completely. We cling to your promises and to your Son, Jesus Christ, who delivers us from hell and gives us eternal life! Thank you for this precious gift, and give us the strength to be shining examples of that love while we are on earth, so that someday, we may be with you, shining like the stars! In your dear son's name we pray. Amen.