Category: IP Devotional (Page 4 of 11)

Me. Now.

September 14, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 2 Comments

“If not us, who? If not now, when?”
Variously attribtued to Rabbi Hillel, JFK, Ronald Reagan, et al.

Regardless of who said it, it’s a powerful call to action. It appeals to our sense of duty and to our sense of urgency. For Christians, these two appeals should be especially compelling.

Christians should have a strong sense of duty.

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14.15).
Jesus said, “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them” (John 13.17).
Paul said, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2.10).

Christians must also have a strong sense of urgency about our work.

Paul said, “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5.15-16).
James said, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4.17).

No one in this world is better equipped than God’s people to act boldly and swiftly in a sinful world.

Who’s better equipped than children of God to care for the sick and dying?
Who better than children of God to show compassion to the hurting and lonely?
Who better than children of God to demonstrate divine love to the unloved?
Who better than children of God to speak the truth?
Who better than children of God to stand up for what is right?
Who better than children of God to exhibit hope in the midst of despair?
Who better than children of God to act with wisdom in a world gone mad?

Have I prepared myself to engage? Have you?

If not us, who? If not now, when?

Purposeful Pursuits

September 6, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

“In absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.”
Attributed to Mary Kay Ash

Ouch! I can relate to both halves of that quotation.

There are (far too) many days when I begin without a clearly defined agenda. Consequently, I resort to a series of familiar, but not always productive activities.

Realistically, all of us have a certain amount of trivial, repetitive, more-or-less mindless activity in our schedules. Most of us don’t have grandiose thoughts as we empty the trash, put on our socks, brush our teeth, or check the status of our Amazon purchases.

But that’s OK. The challenge is refusing to allow the trivial to define us and dictate our activities. Mrs. Ash was correct that we need clearly defined goals to prevent slouching our way toward the trivial.

From a biblical perspective, I’d add one more step to the process. More correctly, I’d back up one step. We not only need clearly defined goals, but we also need an overarching purpose that drives everything we do, including our goals and activities.

The Bible has numerous statements of purpose. Each of us would do well to adopt one of them as our own.

Ecclesiastes 12.13 – “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.”
Matthew 6.33 – “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Philippians 1.21 – “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Some biblical statements of purpose encourage us to look at our life’s purpose with respect to how we use our time.

Psalm 39.4 – “LORD, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days; let me know how transient I am.”
Psalm 90.12 – “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”

Before we grade our daily to-do list, we should examine our goals. But before we set our goals, we should consider our purpose. Only then can we set goals and pursue activities that are consistent with our ultimate purpose in mind.

So instead of trivial pursuits, may God help us with purposeful pursuits.

Refreshing

August 30, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

I took out a small trash bag early this morning and was pleasantly surprised at the temperature. It was significantly cooler and less humid than it’s been for some time. My wife’s word was “refreshing.”

“Refreshing” means “serving to refresh or reinvigorate someone” (Oxford). “Making you feel less hot or tired, or pleasantly different and interesting” (Cambridge). “Agreeably stimulating because of freshness or newness” (Merriam-Webster).

I’m not a hot weather fan, so this morning’s conditions were invigorating, pleasantly different, and agreeably stimulating. I was refreshed.

There’s a pair of words in the New Testament which carries the same connotation. Literally, the words meant cooling or to cool. The adjective (anapsuxis) means refreshing or providing rest and repose. Metaphorically, it means to provide breathing room, relaxation, or relief. The verb (anapsucho) means to refresh. Metaphorically, it means to revive or provide breathing room. Each word is used only once in the New Testament.

The adjective is used in Acts 3.19, where Peter said, “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” He was speaking about faith in Jesus of Nazareth, who was raised from the dead by God. Jesus was the fulfillment of Old Testament promise and prophecy who brought these refreshing times. Peter was talking about finding rest, repose, and breathing room in Christ. From a lifetime of carrying the burden of sin to a new life of refreshment in Jesus.

The verb is used in 2 Timothy 1.16, where Paul said, “The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains; but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me.” Paul commends his friend and fellow-Christian to Timothy for refreshing him while he was imprisoned in Rome. We don’t know the details, but likely Onesiphorus provided food and presence when the apostle was isolated and forsaken by others.

Apart from Christ there is no refreshment, no rest, no repose, no breathing room. Sin has a way of smothering us and amplifying our misery. As Peter said, there is refreshment available if we’ll just repent and return.

For those who are in Christ, we must remember what that refreshment felt like when we first experienced it, then make every effort to refresh others. We should want others to experience the breathing room, the rest, and the comfort we have known.

May God help us to find refreshment in his Son and extend it others in the name of his Son.

Your Happy Place

August 16, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed.
Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute
with love, grace and gratitude.”
Denis Waitley

Waitley is a popular, long-time motivational speaker and writer. I remember attending a “Seeds of Greatness” seminar in college sponsored by his organization. If memory serves me correctly, I think his Seeds of Greatness was the first motivational book I ever bought.

His quotation is a good starting point for thinking about happiness. First, happiness isn’t a thing. It’s not something apart from us that we go and get. It’s not something to be purchased or acquired or traded.

Second, as Waitley says, it’s a “spiritual experience”. Happiness is the melding of our experiences and our beliefs. Whatever we experience: good things or bad, success or failure, sickness or health, wealth or poverty, good relationships or bad, all of these are shaped by our belief system. Happiness is looking at our experiences in a biblical and constructive way.

Third, Waitley notes that happiness requires “love, grace and gratitude.” Biblically speaking, we are recipients of the first two, and cultivators of the last one. Regarding love and grace, the apostle Paul said, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13.14). If we receive love and grace, we must learn to extend love and grace if we want to find this thing called happiness.

Regarding gratitude, Paul also said, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5.16-18). In other words, gratitude is a choice, and an action, and a frame of mind that’s cultivated by means of our relationship to God in Christ.

We often speak of our “happy place.” Happiness isn’t so much a place as it is a way of thinking. With the right frame of mind, you can be in your “happy place” no matter where you are.

Not What But Whom

August 9, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

You’ve probably heard the old business adage that when it comes to finding a good job, it’s not what you know but whom. You’ve probably known talented, motivated, and honest workers who didn’t have especially good jobs, largely because they weren’t well-connected. On the other hand, you’ve probably known workers who weren’t talented, motivated, or honest, but who had great jobs because Uncle Bob owned the business, or because Daddy knew the CEO.

Before we decry this as being unfair, let’s apply this to our spiritual lives. Is our salvation because of our talents, hard work, motivation, and skillset? Or is it because of something else? Is it because we know Someone?

Near the end of his life, the apostle Paul wrote, “for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (2 Timothy 1.12). He doesn’t say “I know WHAT I have believed”, but “WHOM I have believed”.

Paul wasn’t discounting WHAT he believed, he wasn’t discounting doctrine. In fact, in the letters to Timothy and Titus, he repeatedly emphasizes teaching and believing “sound” (healthy) words and doctrine (cf. 1 Timothy 1.10; 6.3; 2 Timothy 1.13; 4.3; Titus 1.9, 13; 2.1). WHAT we believe is vitally important.

But as Paul approached death, he wasn’t thinking about SOMETHING, but SOMEONE. Someone who knew Paul better than he knew himself. Someone who had never deserted Paul. Someone whose promises and plans would ultimately prevail.

Paul had entrusted his work, his plans, and his life to God. He says in this text that God would guard whatever Paul had given him for safekeeping. It would be safe until the day that Christ returned to reward his people. For Paul, knowing his redeemer was the ultimate reality (Philippians 3.7-11). Nor was it simply knowing facts about God but knowing him relationally and intimately.

For Christians, it’s not about what you know but whom you know. Do you know Christ?

I Am With You

August 2, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
Corrie ten Boom

Fear of the unknown haunts so many of us. We’re afraid of what lurks in the future. We’re afraid of sickness. Of financial ruin. Of exposure for some misdeed in our past. Of divorce. Of loneliness. Of government intervention and overreach. Of dementia. Of crime. Of ridicule. Of persecution. Of being forgotten. Of dying. Of dying alone.

The reality is that I don’t know anything the future holds, and neither do you. I don’t know what’s happening five minutes from now, five days from now, five weeks, five months, or five years. That’s probably a good thing. If we knew what was coming, do we really think we’d be prepared for it? Do we think we could emotionally handle the knowledge of future events?

I don’t know anything the future holds, but I do know who holds the future.

In over three dozen places in Scripture, God assured people with the words, “Do not fear [or, do not be afraid] … I am with you.” In virtually every case, he was speaking to people who were concerned with an unknown factor in their future.

When Isaac, son of Abraham, had doubts about his legacy, God appeared to him in a dream and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you” (Genesis 26.23).
When David was preparing for his son Solomon to assume the throne, he said, “Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you…” (1 Chronicles 28.20).
When the prophet Jeremiah was called as a teenager to prophesy against his own nation, God said, “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you” (Jeremiah 1.8).
When the apostle Paul was struggling in the city of Corinth, God appeared to him in a dream and said, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you…” (Acts 18.9-10).

In each instance, God didn’t promise them an easy road. He didn’t say there would be no problems. He didn’t give them any illusions about the future.

Instead, God promised he would be there with them.

When I was a child, I hated going to the doctor. I still had to go to the doctor. What got me through was knowing that Mom or Dad was there with me. It didn’t change the diagnosis or prescription. But it let me know that someone was always with me. May God give us that same assurance.

About a Minute

July 19, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

A famous guest at a banquet was asked at the last moment to give an impromptu speech for the occasion. As he rose to speak, he asked how much time he had. Someone from the audience yelled “About a minute!”

The speaker asked, “Only a minute?”

He then said, “We normally think of a minute as a short amount of time. Not as short as a second, but still short. In fact, most of us rarely think about what we can do in one minute’s time. In reality, you can do a lot more than you think. It only takes a minute…

“To offer a prayer of thanks to God.
“To offer a prayer of intercession for someone who’s hurting or struggling.
“To send a text message to someone you missed seeing at church.
“To email someone you’ve been thinking about.
“To write a card to someone who’s sick or grieving.
“To say ‘Thank You’ to someone who blessed you in an unexpected way.
“To say ‘Well Done’ to an employee or student or child.
“To say ‘I appreciate your work’ to a boss or teacher or pastor or minister.
“To pick up and put up something that’s been laying there for a week.
“To wipe a spot in the kitchen or bathroom.
“To read a short passage of Scripture and give yourself a boost.
“To call a friend or church member you haven’t seen in a while.
“To make a ‘To Do’ list for tomorrow.
“To hug someone who needs a hug.”

And you thought a minute wasn’t much time!

As the apostle Paul said, “Make the most of your time” (Ephesians 5.16). May God help make the most of our minutes!

The Will of the Lord

July 11, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

Do you understand the will of God?

Phrases like “the will of God” or “the will of the Lord” occur about 30 times in the Bible, most often in the New Testament. “The will of God” means God’s desire or wish, what God wants. Specifically in relation to us, God’s will refers to what he desires or wishes from his people.

Regarding this notion of God’s will, the apostle Paul said, “So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5.17).

These words from the apostle Paul are a simple reminder of three things: (1) God has a will, a desire, a plan for all of us. (2) We have the intellectual and moral capacity to ascertain what that will is. And (3) we can do something about it.

God’s will is plainly expressed in Scripture. Although some portions of the Bible aren’t easy to understand, an average reader is capable of discerning what God wants. Mark Twain supposedly said, “Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture which they cannot understand; but as for me, I have always noticed that the passagse of Scripture which trouble me most are those which I do understand.”

I think Mark Twain was right. The problem with either Scripture or the will of God isn’t their inscrutability. The problem is simply man’s desire (or lack of desire) to pay attention and apply it to his life.

C. S. Lewis once observed, “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.’”

May God help us belong to the first category.

Free Indeed

July 5, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

Yesterday was Independence Day here in the United States. On the Fourth of July each year, we celebrate our country’s decision in 1776 to separate itself from British rule and become a sovereign nation.

For all our country’s problems – and we have many – I can’t think of any other place I’d rather live. Much of my viewpoint stems from the many freedoms granted to us in our Constitution and its Bill of Rights. I’m thankful for freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the freedom to assemble, and so many other kinds of freedom. I honestly can’t imagine living elsewhere.

With one exception.

There’s one freedom that can’t be given to me by any government or human entity. It’s a freedom that has nothing to do with my earthly residence. It’s freedom in Christ.

In John chapter eight, Jesus and his critics argue about the issue of paternity, his and theirs. Jesus claims that God is his Father, they claim that Abraham is their father. Jesus says their spiritual father is Satan and they accuse him of blasphemy. But within this lengthy conversation, Jesus makes three assertions about freedom that are noteworthy.

“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free’” (John 8.31-32).
“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin’” (John 8.34).
“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8.36).

There are many forms of enslavement, and none of them are good. But Jesus is talking about the dangers of enslavement to sin. To commit sin is to become the slave of sin. We become a slave to the guilt, shame, and habit of sin.

But Jesus says that to follow him and feed on his lifegiving word is what gives us freedom. To be a disciple of Jesus brings freedom from the guilt of sin, its shame, and its power. We don’t have to live with uncertainty, guilt, fear, and shame.’’

Finally, Jesus asserts that only he, as the Son of God, can grant us the truest freedom of all. In Jesus’ day, children and slaves often grew up together. Slave children, however, weren’t treated as family. Jesus said that as the Son, he could grant freedom and they could become children of their heavenly Father.

As Americans, we have a lot of freedom. As children of God, we have even greater freedom. May God help us to live like free men and women!

Compassion Fatigue

June 22, 2023 / BroClo-Blogger-2022 / 0 Comments

The clinical term is secondary traumatic stress syndrome. A more euphemistic term is compassion fatigue. What most of us call it is burnout.

It’s when you feel like you have no more empathy to give. It’s a feeling of helplessness in the face of helping others who are suffering in some way. It’s the loss of joy when giving help.

It’s normally associated with people who are in the care-giving business: first-responders, healthcare workers, therapists, military personnel, social workers, and ministers. Experts have noted, however, that more and more the general public is experiencing it because of constant bombardment with appeals for charity and the pervasiveness of crime. When you’re tired of doing good and skeptical that it even matters, you’re suffering from compassion fatigue.

I think the apostle Paul was familiar with the concept. Although I doubt that he looked at it in a clinical way, he understood the tendency to get tired of doing good for others. In the book of Galatians, he said, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Galatians 6.9-10).

He was writing to the churches of Galatia who had been fighting among themselves about their salvation. Were people justified before God by faith in Christ or by the Law of Moses? Their disagreements led to strife and disagreement. They were tired of fighting and Paul offered them a better way.

In chapter five, he told them to walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh. Then in chapter six he follows this with practical exhortations about how to treat one another in Christ. It ends with the two verses we just read, where he told them to look for opportunities to do good. But he warns them that doing good can be a tiresome exercise, so he encourages them to not become weary in well doing, and not to lose heart about it. Negatively, don’t stop doing good. Positively, continue always in doing good.

By way of commentary, John Wesley (1703-1791) is credited with saying, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

For today and every day, do some good.