Rooted and Established – The Start of a Relationship

Dec 18 – Made New

This time of year seems to invite people to consider where they are spiritually.  There is more quiet time than usual (or maybe the quiet just seems louder because everyone gets so busy) and that quiet sometimes gets us to thinking.  What does it mean to invite God to be a part of my life?  Is that something I’m ready to do?  What might change about my life if I did that?  Lots of questions come to our minds.  Paul, the guy who wrote today’s scripture was praying for some specific things for people as they began their relationship with God.  One thing Paul alludes to that really can change our lives when we ask God to be a part of them is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is part of God.  It is His unseen presence in our lives that allows for God to speak to us in ways we don’t understand and His power in us that can change our lives for the better.

The other thing Paul prays for is that we would be able to grasp the vastness of God’s love and that we would be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  That is one intense request!  He prays that we might do this by being “rooted and established in love.”  What do you think that means?  I’m not even too sure but here’s how I think of it – Think about a plant.  If you pour water into the soil where its roots are, what’s going to flow throughout the plant?  Water.  If you put soda into the soil instead, what is (presumably) going to flow through the plant?  Soda.  So…if we are rooted in love, what is going to flow through our lives?  Love.  When that is our foundation, it affects every part of us.  What else do roots do?  They hold the plant in place.  When the plant has been “established” – been planted long enough for it to have a chance to grow – the roots keep the plant from moving around too much and from collapsing.  And so it is with us…

Have you been rooted and established in love?  What would it look like in your life if you started planting those roots now?  In this Christmas season, I encourage you to spend some time thinking about where you are in your relationship with God.  Consider taking another step closer to Him and allowing Him to be an even greater part of your life.  Spend a little more time with Him and start giving Him control over some of the things in your life.  Then you really will begin to see the power of God living inside of you…

Even If He Does Not…

Nov 29 – Psalm 136:1,26

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.

Are we noticing a thankfulness theme here in the Bible Gateway verses of the day?  Yes, I think so.  But that’s good.  It’s certainly worth remembering 

Looking at the Shane and Shane journal on their website (which is an AMAZING piece of computer graphics if you ask me – check it out: www.shaneandshane.com), I was reminded of a particularly powerful verse in the book of Daniel.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are standing in front of King Nebuchadnezzar.  At this exact time, they are charged with the federal crime of not bowing down to the statue Nebuchadnezzar made of himself, and they are threatened with being thrown into a furnace.  This is what they say to the king in Daniel 3:17-18 -

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. [emphasis mine]

Did you catch that?  Those are some crazy significant words – “even if He does not.”  Our God is able to save us but even if he does not, we will not dishonor him.  We believe God is going to protect us, but even if he does not, even if we die, we will obey the things he has commanded us.  

What brought this verse to mind is the first line from today’s scripture – “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good.”  I think, as humans, we so often judge the goodness of God based on our own standards of what we think is good.  We think of God as being good if a child is born healthy – but what if she isn’t?  We think of God being good if He allows an injured friend to live – but what if he doesn’t?  Will we still obey Him?  Will we still thank Him?

Praise God for the examples of faith and obedience He has given us in His word.  I pray that I can live my life to glorify God with an “even if He does not” mindset and thank Him even when my human eyes can’t quite see His goodness. 

You Get A Daily Choice!

All right.  No more devo skipping for me, DevoZine or no DevoZine!    Biblegateway.com has a verse of the day that I’ll use from here on out until I get the DevoZines in the mail.

Nov 8 – Joshua 24:15

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

It’s interesting to me that Joshua truly lays this before the people.  He gives them a choice – “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”  The wonderful and frightening thing is that we are each given this choice every single day.  The choice we make daily will determine many of our actions and will influence the ways we interact with people.  Jesus addresses this point in Luke 9:23 when he says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” [italics mine]  What happens if you choose to follow Jesus?  How do you act?  What about if you choose to follow something else?  Maybe you would rather not choose, but a famous Bob Dylan song speaks true - ”You Gotta Serve Somebody.” 

The other thing that stands out to me about this verse is the last line – “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”  Joshua takes a strong stance here.  He makes a statement as the spiritual leader of the household and declares where his family stands.  This is the kind of firm commitment we need to make in our lives each day and it is the kind of commitment parents make that creates a family founded on faith.  What kind of faith home are you in now?  What kind of faith home did you grow up in?  How did that influence what your faith means to you now?  I encourage you to make that commitment or at least to explore what it would mean for your life.  Now is a great time be asking questions! 

Can You Imagine A Major Change?

Oct 27-28 Lost and Found

In spite of what I talked about yesterday, stories like Bethany’s amaze me.  In my mind, it is one thing to be born with a certain condition and grow up with it but it is quite another to live one way and then retrain your mind and your body to live another way.  I cannot imagine relearning how to surf!  (Okay.  I can’t really imagine learning how to surf anyway, but RElearning???)

I suppose a new life of faith can be like this too though.  I have grown up in the church and never really had one of those “conversion experiences” where I suddenly realized the gift of God’s grace and changed everything in my life.  However, I have friends who have.  (For the record, while some of these experiences may be emotional reactions more than anything, as some people vigorously claim, from observing certain people in my life, I know that some of them are sincere and very real.)  How do you relearn vocabulary – how not to use certain four letter words every few seconds?  How do you rechoose music – not all of it but maybe certain kinds that are especially angry, vulgar, or depressing?  How do you reexamine priorities – spending more time with friends who encourage your faith, less time with the friends who got you in trouble, and scheduling in some time for God?  For some people, it may even mean a job change – from something illegal to something on the right side of the law or from something immoral to something that allows you to serve God.

Whoa!  Changing all of those things would blow my mind.  But people do.  Take a look at John 8:1-11.  This is one of the most stunning acts of grace we see Jesus make.  I believe we have discussed this story before (read it here) but this time, we’re taking a look at the woman’s life more than Jesus’.  The last thing we see Him say to the woman whose life He has just saved is “Go now, and leave your life of sin.”  We don’t know exactly what this woman’s life was like, but I wonder how much of her life changed after that.  Did she break off the relationship with the man she was with?  Did she change some of the people she hung around with?  Did she commit herself to the Jewish faith again – or maybe for the very first time?  We don’t know.  But what if she did?  Or think about Paul.  Acts 9 tells the story of his conversion and that produced an immediate change, so immediate in fact that the Jews in Jerusalem were afraid of him!

Whether you’re Bethany Hamilton and something about your life changes drastically on the outside or if you’re like the woman caught in adultery or like Paul who go through an inward change, know that God carries us through all of it.  

When you pass through the waters, 
I will be with you; 
and when you pass through the rivers, 
they will not sweep over you. 
When you walk through the fire, 
you will not be burned; 
the flames will not set you ablaze.
-Isaiah 43:2

On the Run

Oct 3 – Too Much

I’m sorry everyone.  I’d really like to make a post today, but I’m really running late.  See, there’s the conference I’m going to this weekend that I’m really excited about and I’ve got to head out.  I would have done it earlier but, well, I had this parent meeting to plan for (which still isn’t quite done) but there were contacts that had to made – and a flyer.  Oh shoot!  I forgot to e-mail the parents like I had planned to!  I meant to do that yesterday but it was my friend’s birthday so I headed out with her instead and, you know, I was going to make a few phone calls about the meeting coming up but I had to deliver some flowers to my friend’s mom who was just getting out the hospital and pick up a few things at the store for work.  I guess really the only thing I wanted to mention from today’s devo is to always try to give your best to all of the many things you’re doing and make sure you leave time for the most important things in your life, those that bring you or others closer to God…Aw, man.  I’d love to write more, but I’ve gotta run.  I really don’t have time right now……

A Hard Verse and An Only Child

Sept 3 – Twins for Christ

The squib (fun word) for today starts out with a verse that has always been a difficult one for people to read and understand.  Luke 14:26 quotes Jesus saying “You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters…”  Some translations even say “If anyone come to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple.” [italics mine]  That sounds so harsh!  Let’s look at it in context and see if it makes more sense:

Start in Luke 14:25 (if you don’t have a Bible, use the BibleGateway.com link at the bottom of this page).  Large crowds were following Jesus and then He turns to them and says basically that they can’t be His disciples unless they hate their family.  Then He continues by asking them a few questions – If you wanted to build a tower, wouldn’t you first figure out if you had enough money to build it?  If a king is about to go to war against another king, shouldn’t he first figure out if his army will be able to stand up against the opposing forces? 

So what do towers and strategy have to do with Jesus?

Building something huge, going to war – these things require a major commitment.  You either give everything you have to that project or it fails.  Before making the huge decision to proceed with either of these, you have to consider the cost of what you’re about to undertake – it might cost you more than you’re willing to give up.  Being Jesus’ disciple requires the same kind of commitment and consideration.  Have you thought about the cost of following Christ?  Are you willing to give up everything?  (There’s a reason this is called a “narrow road”! – Matthew 7:13-14) 

I think our author in DevoZine, Ryan, makes a great point about the first verse we looked at – even though he was extremely close to his twin sister, once they were separated, he was able to realize that Jesus was the ultimate sibling, the ultimate father and mother, the ultimate companion.  Our lives should be focused on and lived for Him alone, even above our families.

The journal questions for today are great:  What does it mean to you that Christ is your brother?  How close are you?  What can you do to strengthen this relationship?  What would it mean to make Christ Number One in your life?

Sept 4 – Sisters

As soon as I saw the topic for this first week of September, I laughed.  I’m supposed to write stuff about siblings when I don’t even have any???  How is that going to work? 

Yes, it’s true.  I am an only child.  I realize that there aren’t very many of us so, if you’ve never met one, now you have!  (Let’s just get this out of the way now – yes, some of us are spoiled rotten, but most of us are just plain spoiled, just like you are, ok?  )

Over the years, so many people have asked me, “You’re an only child?  Wow.  Did you like it?”  Well, this is real life and, like anything in real life, being an only child has its high points and low points.  I must admit that, even in fairly recent years, I have had times when I wanted a sibling.  When I was younger, I used to ask for a little sister all the time, like most kids do.  And now that I’m older, I’ve seen some really beautiful sibling relationships that make me wonder.But there are two really neat things I want to point out —  

Proverbs 18:24 says, “…there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”  Even if you don’t have siblings, be encouraged!  God has given us people in our lives with whom we can build relationships that are even closer than the ones we have with our family.

Secondly, if you have some time, take a look at the friendship between David (yes, David-and-Goliath David, King David – it’s all the same guy) and Jonathan.  You can read most of their story in 1 Samuel 18-20.  Jonathan was the son of Saul who was king of Israel just before David was.  If God hadn’t intervened, Jonathan would have been king instead of David but not even this could come between them.  These two men of God had one of the closest friendships in the whole Bible.  It is those kinds of friendships that reassure me as an only child that God has not given me any less ability to love.

As God would have it, I found sisters too.  I’m not in a sorority like the devo’s author, but my roommates from my senior year of college are, oddly enough, both only children as well.  We share as sisters, act as sisters, laugh as sisters, and love as sisters, and I could not be more thankful for their presence in my life.  

Today, spend some time thanking God for the siblings you have, even if they’re not related to you.  And if you’re an only child feeling particularly lonely today, know that you are not alone and that God is more than able to fill that void with Himself and in time, may bring along friends to be the siblings you never had.