And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
TO PONDER
In my mid-thirties, I was involved for a while with a para-Christian group. One of their activities was a yearly conference which would usually include an evening devoted to a debate with invited atheists and sceptics. Needless to say, these evenings would be quite lively. At the end of the evening when the attendees left there would usually be a review of the evening and an assessment of who won the debates. I doubt if anyone ever changed their mind as the result of attending the debates. Maybe the organisers of these debates should have taken the advice of the apostle Paul to young Timothy.
A very interesting book I read recently was “How to Talk About Jesus (Without Being THAT Guy)” by Australian author Sam Chan (available from shopACR.com.au). Sam explains that people become inquisitive about following Jesus when they see the impact of Jesus on his existing followers: their natural serenity, security, trust and joy.
When we wear the badge of Christian, we become ambassadors for Jesus, demonstrating by the way we speak and do things that we have the transforming power of our God working in us. In one sense, this is what others are looking for – a power outside themselves that brings the freedom and healing that they are looking for, and only Jesus can give to them.
The good news for us is that we can stop trying to be the people God wants us to be, and rather surrender our lives to God’s transforming power and let him change us to be his witnesses.
PRAYER: Loving Father, I’ve been trying to be a good witness of your love and regularly fail. I give myself to you to change me into the person you want me to be. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping
Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.
TO PONDER
Jesus used many well-known and understood relationships to help us understand the relationship he wants to have with us. Some are parent/child, ruler/subject and master/servant. We probably warm mostly to the parent/child relationship for the sense of love and security it gives us. But Jesus wants us to also understand that we have responsibilities in these relationships. And here he uses the master/servant model for what he wants to teach us.
Following Jesus is not like signing up to membership of a fitness club and then it is up to us whether we go or not. Following Jesus means getting down and dirty with whatever Jesus is doing and wherever it is happening. Sometimes it is messy, sometimes it will be smelly and sometime it may be heart rendering. Maybe our role is to hold the torch so that Jesus has light to work by, or to just hold a person’s hand. But we can’t do that if we are not there beside Jesus while he is working.
There is an upside; we will see the Master at work, bringing comfort and healing. Our faith and trust will grow as we see Jesus’s renewing and healing power at work. There is no glory for us in this, just a growing sense of awe and wonder at the majesty of our God.
PRAYER: Loving Father, we really struggle to fully understand why you would want to involve us in the work you are doing to bring your healing to hurting people. Continue to open our eyes, ears and hearts to see where you are working and respond to your call to follow you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping
For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed.
TO PONDER
The above verse is part of the song that Mary sang after she arrived at Elizabeth’s house. Elizabeth was Mary’s cousin and 6 months pregnant with the man who would become John the Baptist. So first, let us review what led up to this point. Mary, a young engaged woman, possibly about 16 years old, is at home when she suddenly finds a strange, but awesome, man in her room. Mary freaks out, but the visitor sooths her fears and says he has a special message for her from God. She will get pregnant without having sex – as a miracle from God – and she will deliver a boy child who will have a massive impact on the world. And by the way, her very post-menopausal cousin, Elizabeth, is miraculously pregnant and in her sixth month. Mary’s response to the angel, if translated into Aussie lingo, might be something like “no worries, I’ll do what you ask”. The excited Mary then rushes off to visit Elizabeth. When Elizabeth meets Mary, she gets very excited too and the six-month-old baby, John, in her uterus joins in the excitement. Elizabeth and Mary then share some Holy Spirit inspired exchanges, the above verse being part of Mary’s contribution.
Mary has no illusions about her deserving in any way the honour of carrying and giving birth to God’s Son, and then the responsibility of raising this child. She happily accepted the part she was given to play and let God take responsibility of the rest. For example, she didn’t have to work out how to escape the murderous plans of Herod; God did that.
I sometime wonder if when we feel God is calling us to do something for Him, we baulk at the task because we see it taking us far beyond our comfort zone or our ability. But in reality, God is just calling us to go, and He will do the difficult stuff. Thinking about Mary, all God was asking her to do was carry and give birth to a baby, something that she had every expectation she would be doing anyway after she married Joseph.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you for inviting us to be part of your family and to be involved in your family business. Please help us to grow in trust in your promises to be with us as we obediently follow where you lead us in serving you and sharing the good news of your love for everyone. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping
A king delights in a wise servant, but a shameful servant arouses his fury.
TO PONDER
Now retired, I do sometimes reflect on my working life, on the highs and lows; on my successes and failures. Often these reflected my relationship with those I reported to. But I also had a few situations where the relationship I had with someone who reported to me just wasn’t working. Often the source of conflict was that the goals of the more junior person did not align with the goals of the more senior person.
Our relationship with God can be seen in the same light. God has a plan and purpose for every single person on this earth. Through Jesus and his disciples, God has revealed his plan to us and he is inviting us to surrender OUR goals and purpose into HIS goals and purpose for us. But we tend to see this as negative and restrictive. We have things we want to do and a whole world of wonders to experience. We have responsibilities to our families and to those who provide the funds (e.g. wages) we need to live on. We also have responsibilities to our governments.
I, and I guess you too, often find it difficult to trust God’s love and promises when we are faced with the practical realities of life. Jesus did promise that if we surrendered our lives to his goals and purposes, all the other things that he sees we need for a fulfilling life would be given to us (Matthew 6:33).
And just an afterthought, the most awesome experience we ever have in this life will pale into insignificance when we experience the glories of heaven.
PRAYER: Father, thank for your amazing love and commitment to us. Help us to grow in trusting your love for us and letting you lead us on your planned adventure for us. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
TO PONDER
Jesus is giving instructions to his disciples on what life will be (or should be) like as they answer the call to follow him. Yes, there will be some big and exciting stuff like performing miracles and providing healing, but there will also be challenges and opposition. They will even be tempted to give up and go back home to what they were doing before their call by Jesus. Jesus’s teaching ends with the verse above.
You will notice that cup of cold water is not being offered to those outside the group but to the extended group of Jesus’s disciples, even the quiet, insignificant ones. I see this as a call to the way we care for one another within our congregations or small groups (depending on our individual situations).
I am reminded of a former member of our church (who has now gone home to be with her Lord) as she would watch out for any visitors to our worship services, or anyone standing alone after the service, and go and talk to them. She would then take them to a group of members standing around with their tea or coffee having a chat and introduce this person to the group. (And often she would then leave the group to see who else may need some company.)
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please open our eyes to see the opportunities around us to live out your love, even if it is just as simple as a cup of refreshment. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
TO PONDER
When we first meet Joseph in the Old Testament, he is a spoiled brat, so much so that he really gets under the skin of his brothers. He then goes on a roller coaster ride of being sold into slavery; working his way up to becoming chief servant, highly respected by his master; falsely accused and being sent to gaol; working his way up to be a highly respected chief inmate in the prison; and finally released to be governor of Egypt.
Joseph, for a large part of his life, had little control of the circumstances of what happened to him. But he had a strong commitment to honour his God in how he lived his life in whatever these circumstances were. In time he came to see God’s hand in all the things that had happened to him and he learned to let go of the resentment and hurt he would have been feeling over the unjust way he had been treated. He came to fully forgive all those who contributed to his pain of his earlier years.
And in hindsight, Joseph came to realise the valuable training he had received in administration from both of his senior positions as a slave and as a prisoner. This training would be valuable in his role as governor of Egypt in preparing for the 7-year drought and then looking after the people during the drought.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you that you are always with us in whatever is happening in our lives. Please help us to thank and praise you for all the good things, and to trust your love and purpose in all the challenging times we face. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping
Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
TO PONDER
If you are not familiar with the story, I suggest you take the time to read it in 2 Kings 5:1-19. Naaman is head of the army of Aram and a close confidant of the King of Aram, but he has a dreaded skin disease that doesn’t seem to be contagious. Obviously the disease is distressing to Naaman and his family.
His wife also had a slave girl who had been captured during a raid on neighbouring Israel. The thing that amazes me about this story is firstly that Naaman’s wife would take the advice of a slave girl, then the head of the Aram army would also listen to a slave girl and finally the King of Aram would listen to and act on the advice of a slave girl.
What eventually happens is that Naaman is healed of his disease and dedicates his life to now worshiping Yahweh, the god of the Israelites. We are not told, but the expectation is that his whole family follow him in this worship.
To bring about the transformation in Naaman’s life, the un‑named slave girl didn’t preach a sermon or give a long theological discourse, she just pointed to the one who could bring about the healing change. God did the rest, leading Naaman eventually to the prophet, Elisha, and to his miraculous healing.
We too, no matter how insignificant or unequipped we may feel, can be used by God in very simple ways to point people to Jesus, and then let the Holy Spirit work in their lives with his transforming love.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please lift from me all the fears and insecurities I have of talking to others about you, and give me the courage to share with them what you have done in my life, and then trust your Holy Spirit to take it from there. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping
But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
TO PONDER
In these verses, Paul is talking to the Philippian Christians about his imprisonment. Paul's response to his situations is basically "What does it matter? I may be in prison, locked up in chains but what does it matter? I'm here because I faithfully did what God asked me to do which was to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and I know that whatever happens I'm safe in the arms of God."
Now I don't know if Paul was necessarily talking about his physical safety, or whether he was referring to his assurance of eternal deliverance, but either way, this kind of faith propelled him to boldly proclaim Christ in ever circumstance.
I have to be honest, I have not always had the confidence of Paul, I often think about the possible implications of proclaiming Jesus in different situations. "What if it ruins my relationship with this person?", "What if it impacts my employment or opportunity for promotion?", "What if I don't know how to answer their question and end up looking stupid?" The list of "what if's" is almost endless. And yet, according to Paul, the answer to all those "what if's" is the same; "what does it matter?"
What does matter is that every time we do share the good news of Jesus, we have an opportunity to see God at work. Every time we share Jesus we create an opportunity for someone else to respond to the good news and become part of God's family. What matters is that Jesus has made us free so that we can live free of the burden and anxieties of the "what if's". Paul's joy and fulness of life was not attached to his political freedom, his wealth or status, or anything like that, His joy was found in seeing and hearing Christ Jesus preached and proclaimed. That's what matters!
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, you are all that matters. I know I often forget that and priorities other things and other concerns. Help me to be able to discern more accurately the things that really matter. Help me to trust that when I seek first your kingdom and righteousness, all the other needs and concerns of life will be taken care of. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble.
He cares for those who trust in him
TO PONDER
If you have ever doubted God's goodness, you are in good company. The Bible, particularly the Old Testament is full of people who question God's goodness. Job has a whinge, perhaps most directly in the book of Job, chapters 23 and 24. Jonah the prophet complains about God's forgiveness of the people of Nineveh, complaining that the 'just' thing to do would be to wipe them out. Many are the prayers and psalms of lament and frustration over Israel's time in exile under the Babylonians and Assyrians.
With the 20/20 vision of hindsight, we might now be able to see how God was at work through those situations, but it is another thing entirely when we are in the midst of a difficult, or unjust time of trouble.
There is a song that plays a lot on the christian radio station in Newcastle called 'Joy in the Morning', by Tauren Wells. There is a line in that song which says this...
"If it's not good, then He's done; no He's not done with it yet. There will be joy in the morning."
I wonder if this verse from Nahum was not some of the inspiration for that song. Sometimes in the midst of trouble, all we can do is remember that God is good, that he does care for those who love him and trust Him to see us through. If things do not look good, then hold onto Him because he is not done yet.
PRAYER: Lord, you are good and your mercy endures forever. When things inevitably go wrong Lord, and I feel out of control, help me to trust that nothing is ever beyond your control and that you are good and that you will see me through. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle