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Monday, July 20, 2020
Today’s devotion is written by Deacon Karen Katamay
Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, you who are now far from my righteousness. I am bringing my righteousness near, it is not far away. – Isaiah 46:12-13
I had to smile a bit when I read this passage. Can’t we all be a little stubborn-hearted at times? This passage ties in so well with Pastor Dan’s message on Sunday about Noah, and what was happening in the world at that time. The people were sinful and stubborn-hearted, turning away from God and God’s righteousness. God had every right to give up on the human race, but he provided a way for the human race and creation to survive through Noah and his family and all the animals on the ark.
Today we can be just as stubborn-hearted as the people back then. We know exactly what God should do, so why doesn’t he do it? Why doesn’t he just speak the words or wave his hand and make the coronavirus go away? Why doesn’t he bring an end to all the violence in the world, and solve all the world’s problems for us? Shouldn’t our will be God’s will, too? Yes, we are a stubborn people, thinking we know better than God about everything. And that includes me at times, too.
But no matter how stubborn or self-righteous we are, God always gives us a way back, bringing his righteousness and salvation near to us through Jesus. We only have to read the Bible to know through what Jesus taught us that God and God’s kingdom are near. We have to trust that God understands our suffering and our pain and is with us through all of this. He sighs when we sigh, and weeps when we weep, and surrounds us with his comfort and grace. And we know that when God is by our side, and works with us and through us, that every little thing we do to make this world a better place and to ease the sufferings of others helps God’s kingdom draw a little bit closer. Yes, God’s righteousness is not far away, it’s here. You only have to believe!
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. – Titus 2:11
Friday, July 17, 2020
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. –Deuteronomy 10:17
If you zoom out from today’s verse, you’ll see that it’s nestled among other verses (Deuteronomy 10:12-22) that capture two different, but equally essential, elements about God’s character.
In verse 15, God is intimately personal. Moses shares with the Israelites God’s message about their unique history: “..the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all nations, as it is today.” Words like “affection,” “loved,” and “chose” remind the Israelites that they are beloved, and they have a special covenantal relationship with their Lord. A few verses later, Moses also reminds the Israelites that God cares deeply for individual people, especially those who are easily left out and marginalized—the widow, the homeless, the fatherless—and that they should be concerned for all people, too. God is personal.
At the same time, this passage is peppered with unambiguous pronouncements that God is infinitely powerful. Moses reminds Israel that their LORD rules the heavens and the earth, is great and mighty and awesome, is God of gods and Lord of lords, and is worthy of fear and service. God reigns over everything that was, and is, and will be…all of it. God is beyond our comprehension.
God is both personal and infinite. God takes an interest in the details of your life, and God is also omnipotent and limitless. That’s hard for me to wrap my mind around. Holding both of these truths about God’s character in balance is tricky. It may even seem counterintuitive. But it’s important as we seek to know God more fully. It’s a balance I need to ask God’s help to maintain. Sometimes I find myself thinking only of God’s friendship, and I forget that God is infinitely powerful; sometimes I think only of God’s vastness, and forget that God is relational and loving. But how truly wonderful that we get to serve a God who really is both of these things all the time.
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Today’s devotion was written by Deacon Karen Katamay.
“Therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. Above all, maintain constant love for each other.” – 1 Peter 4:7-8
During Lent of this year I led a Bible study on the Lord’s Prayer. Most of us know the prayer by heart and can recite it easily if asked. The problem for us can be that we recite it so often, that we sometimes forget to focus on what those words mean. The study was just as helpful for me as it was for my group, because it helped me dig in to the meaning of each part of the prayer and explore it in depth.
As we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, one helpful thing to remember is that this is a group prayer. Our Father … give us this day … forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us … and lead us not … but deliver us. See the pattern? Jesus was teaching us more than just a prayer to pray, he was teaching us to care for each other and to pray for one another. Everything we do, and every time we pray, we are to show our constant love for each other. We are to pray for daily bread for all who are hungry. We are to forgive others as we ask for our own forgiveness. We pray that God will deliver all of us from evil and keep all of us from temptation.
My favorite part of the prayer is about God’s kingdom. (Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven). I dream for the day when life on earth can be as it is in heaven, with everyone loving each other and caring for each other and following God’s will each and every day. Jesus gives us so many different images for what the kingdom of God is like. We can think of a net thrown into the sea, catching fish of every shape and kind and color, including all and leaving none out. We can think of yeast being mixed into flour, changing the flour and helping it to expand and grow and flourish. We can think of the kingdom of God as a great banquet, where all are invited and no one is left out and everyone has enough to eat. And many more. Jesus gave us these images because that is how he wanted us to see our life on earth – as the kingdom of God here on earth, with everyone loving and caring for each other.
So take time to pray the Lord’s Prayer this week and pause after each petition, reflecting on what it means. You can use the contemporary or traditional version, whichever you are more comfortable with. It might give the prayer a whole new meaning for you and a new love for all.
And the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours, forever and ever, Amen.
