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Monday, October 26, 2020
“I, I am he who comforts you; why then are you afraid of a mere mortal who must die?” —Isaiah 51:12
My guess is that if I could see a report of the percentage of my thoughts that are rooted in one way or another in fear, I wouldn’t like the results. I don’t think of myself as a particularly fearful person, and yet it’s so easy to be consumed by fear of what might happen in the future, or fear of what I might miss out on, or even fear of who I might become.
Fear is a powerful emotion, but it rarely has positive long-term effects. Fear may allow for incredible feats when our fight-or-flight response kicks in, but ongoing, chronic fear makes it very hard to live as we truly want to live.
God knows we will encounter things that frighten us. There are things in this world that are stronger than we are, forces that are beyond our control. A healthy fear of a rip current might save your life if it leads to a wise decision to stay on the shore. But God calls us again and again to be courageous. Courage doesn’t mean stupidity. And courage doesn’t mean not feeling fear; courage means not allowing fear to become your master, not allowing fear to become your lord.
We can be courageous because we already have a Lord, and our Lord is stronger than any of the things we’re afraid of. We can have courage because our Lord is stronger even than our sin, our Lord is stronger even than our death.
So may we be people who remember that our Lord makes us brave and courageous and strong. So why should we have anything or anyone to fear? The one who comforts you and loves you and holds your life in his hands is greater than anything you might fear today.
Friday, October 23, 2020
Today’s post is written by Deacon Karen Katamay.
“I will make with you an everlasting covenant.” —Isaiah 55:3
“Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight.” —Hebrews 13:20-21
Both of the passages for today talk about God’s covenant. The verse from Isaiah tells of God’s covenant with Israel, and the verses from Hebrews refer to the covenant that God made with us through Jesus. We may remember from Jesus’ words at his last supper with his disciples that he shared with them the new covenant: “For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).
A covenant is a binding agreement or a promise. When you make a promise to someone, are you always able to keep it? I know I certainly try to keep all my promises, but I know there have been times when I have failed to do so. I sometimes forget the saying that we shouldn’t make promises that we cannot keep. There have been times when I made promises that I would have liked to have kept, but for one reason or another, I was unable to do so, such as promising to call someone then forgetting to do so. As much as I always want to be honest and trustworthy, I have to remember that I am only human and will sometimes fail. I would say the majority of the time I am able to keep my promises, though.
But with God it is different. We can trust God to always keep his promises. God will never fail us or let us down. And if it feels sometimes that maybe God has failed us, we have to stop and ask, “Am I asking God for my will to be done, or God’s will?”
God’s covenant with us is one of love and grace that both stands with us and forgives us at the same time. God’s covenant comes to us through Jesus and saves us. We are so lucky to have a God we can trust all the time and who will never fail us. Thank you, Lord! Amen.
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not belong to us. – 2 Corinthians 4:7
I had a professor in seminary who once said that you can tell the health of a church by how willing people are to name their own sin. His point was that if a person truly believes in the redemptive power of God’s grace, they should be free of the shame and embarrassment that often accompanies sin. Unfortunately, it’s that shame that makes us want to keep our sins hidden and keeps us from truly experiencing the freedom God’s forgiveness is intended to bring.
In today’s verse, Paul is trying to communicate that the power of God’s grace is exemplified in our messy and (likely) hypocritical lives. When we strive to make our lives look picture perfect, we obscure the redemptive work that God has done in us. Just imagine what the New Testament would look like if the people who encountered Jesus’ forgiveness were never willing to share what God had done in their lives!
May each of us live this day fully embracing God’s forgiveness and taking steps toward sharing our own story for God’s glory and the good of those around us.
