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April 4: Wresting for Authority
Posted: 03 Apr 2014 06:12 AM PDT
Read: Mark 11:27–12:12
By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them? (v. 28 NRSV)
Authority. Some think they have it. Some wish they had it. Some really do have it! Jesus truly had authority, unlike the religious leaders who opposed him. Jesus spoke and acted with authority from God. He claimed that he and God the Father were one (John 10:30). The battle lines were drawn. In the minds of the religious leaders Jesus had broken the very first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exod. 20:3). If Jesus was not the God-man, then their accusation was true, and Jesus really was in league with the devil as they accused (Mark 3:22).
The storm clouds of this controversy gathered with intensity. In this fight there was no middle ground. Jesus is truly God or, measured against his claims, a liar or a lunatic. If he was not God, he was not even a good man, much less a great teacher. He said, “Before Abraham was I am” (John 8:58, emphasis added). Today, we diagnose people with mental illness for saying less. But unlike the mentally ill, Jesus’ life and actions backed his claims.
So Jesus’ authority is real because he really is God. He can restore the worst of sinners. He can forgive the selfish and arrogant. He loves even the silly and the foolish. He will give eternal life to anyone who bows before him. –Ron Geschwendt
Words of Hope is an international media ministry, founded and owned by classes of the RCA, dedicated to building the church in the hard places. The Words of Hope devotional encourages readers to grow spiritually through daily Bible readings and prayer. To subscribe, please visit: woh.org/word/devotionals/.
Lent Devotions
Lent Devotions
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April 3: There Is Glory in This Death
Posted: 02 Apr 2014 07:15 AM PDT
Read: John 12:20-50
Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (v. 24 NRSV)
Life out of death defies all logic. Corpses don’t live again; they decay. Did Jesus have a fixation on his own death? He spoke of it often. On the Monday after Jesus’ popular march into Jerusalem, he said he came to die. A seed planted in the dirt appears dead, but it will spring to life. The mutilated body of Christ hanging on a cross would live again.
Some scholars suggest that Christ was a martyr whose teaching was perpetuated by imaginative disciples. Christ’s life is understood in his death. Great men and women are measured by how they live. Christ’s glory is in his death. Carl Sandburg’s six-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln has only a few pages on the assassination. In John’s Gospel on the life of Christ, half tells of his death and resurrection. For most people life is all about living; for Christ life was all about dying.
The key which unlocks the secret of this God-man’s life is the cross. “I,” he said, “when I am lifted up from the earth will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32). –Ron Geschwendt
Prayer: O Christ, you died for us. You took our deserved punishment on the cross. The cross is filled with glory. Grant to us, we pray, this glory. Amen.
Words of Hope is an international media ministry, founded and owned by classes of the RCA, dedicated to building the church in the hard places. The Words of Hope devotional encourages readers to grow spiritually through daily Bible readings and prayer. To subscribe, please visit: woh.org/wor
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March 30: Come down from the Mountaintop Posted: 29 Mar 2014 11:28 AM PDT Read: Luke 9:28-36 Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings. (v. 33 NRSV) A few years ago I climbed a mountain in the Grand Tetons, in Wyoming. I sat on the summit, savored the view, devoured a cheese sandwich, drank some coffee from a thermos. Then I began my descent. You don’t stay long on a mountaintop. Mountaintops are inhospitable places. It’s cold up there. Your body aches. Breathing is difficult. Nobody would ever want to stay on a mountaintop. Except Peter. “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings.” Christ’s countenance is shining like the sun. His clothes are “dazzling white.” It’s a moment of holiness and majesty, and Peter doesn’t want it to end. “Let us make three dwellings.” Peter wants to stay on the mountaintop. He wants to prolong the experience. Bad idea. Peter made this comment, says Luke, “not knowing what he said.” Jesus, Moses, and Elijah don’t need dwellings. You can’t take something radiant and stuff it into a box. The danger in our mountaintop experiences is that we try to freeze them and make them permanent. And so a life which might have been a voyage of discovery and growth instead is chained to the past. A mountaintop is a nice place to visit, but you don’t want to live there. –Lou Lotz Prayer: Lead me onward, Lord. Words of Hope is an international media ministry, founded and owned by classes of the RCA, dedicated to building the church in the hard places. The Words of Hope devotional encourages readers to grow spiritually through daily Bible readings and prayer. To subscribe, please visit: woh.org/word/devotionals/. |
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March 29: The Pleasure of Your Problems Posted: 29 Mar 2014 06:13 AM PDT Read: Luke 8:26-39 What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? (v. 28 NRSV) What are you gaining from your problems? If you could be rid of your problems right now, today, what would you lose? Attention? Sympathy? An excuse? The demoniac wants to be healed. He falls at Jesus’ feet to worship him. Yet when Jesus commands the demons to come out, a voice snarls: “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” The poor wretch wants to be rid of his demons, yet he wants to hold onto them–and they to him. We do strike deals with our demons, for to be rid of them is to be rid of the excuses or the security they provide. We are like the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus looking to be cured of what ails him, yet when Jesus offers the cure the man goes sorrowfully away. He wants to be healed, but he doesn’t want to be healed. We are like that–attracted to, and repelled by, the grace of God. We want Jesus to help us, but help means change, and change hurts. Other than wet babies, nobody likes to be changed. Fortunately, Jesus doesn’t give up on the demoniac; he won’t leave until the man is healed. Please, Jesus, don’t give up on me. –Lou Lotz Prayer: Heal me, Lord. Words of Hope is an international media ministry, founded and owned by classes of the RCA, dedicated to building the church in the hard places. The Words of Hope devotional encourages readers to grow spiritually through daily Bible readings and prayer. To subscribe, please visit: woh.org/word/devotionals/. |
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March 28: Scarcity or Abundance Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:23 AM PDT Read: Luke 7:36-50 Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. (v. 38 NRSV) People approach life with one of two general attitudes: an attitude of scarcity, or an attitude of abundance. An attitude of scarcity says: there is not enough. Therefore I must conserve. I must hold back. I must live sparingly. People with an attitude of scarcity go through life with an eye-dropper, carefully measuring out the contents, fearful lest they spend a drop more of themselves than is absolutely necessary. Simon the Pharisee has an attitude of scarcity. An attitude of abundance, on the other hand, says: there is more than enough. There is plenty of everything. Therefore I can be openhanded, openhearted. People with an attitude of abundance go through life with an alabaster jar, lavishly pouring out the contents. The woman who anointed Jesus’ feet has an attitude of abundance. Listen: there is more than enough love in you. There is more than enough mercy in you, more than enough forgiveness. You’re not going to run out. Your account of goodness does not decrease when you use some. You can afford to be generous. You don’t need to portion yourself out with an eye-dropper, a bit here, a bit there. You have enough time to volunteer. You have enough money to give. Throw away that eye-dropper. Go ahead, be extravagant. Show some love! –Lou Lotz Prayer: Lord, help me cultivate an Attitude of Abundance. Words of Hope is an international media ministry, founded and owned by classes of the RCA, dedicated to building the church in the hard places. The Words of Hope devotional encourages readers to grow spiritually through daily Bible readings and prayer. To subscribe, please visit: woh.org/word/devotionals/. |
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March 27: The Cure for Hostility Posted: 26 Mar 2014 07:03 AM PDT Read: Luke 6:27-28 Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. (v. 27 NRSV) I remember a Mother Goose rhyme from my childhood: That’s hostility. Hostility is the settled state of being enemies. Anger, appropriately expressed and properly handled, can be a sign of good mental health. But there is no health in hostility. Hostility ruins our mental health. I once heard of a psychologist whose first question to every new patient was: “Who is wrong with you?” Can hostility be cured? Not if we cover it up and pretend it doesn’t exist. Jesus didn’t say, “Pretend you have no enemies.” He said, “Love your enemies.” And how do we do that? “Do good to those who hate you,” said Jesus. Try doing something good for your enemy, and see if you can still feel hostile toward him. “Bless those who curse you,” said Jesus. Find something in your enemy that you can honestly praise, and then see if you can still feel hostile. “Pray for those who abuse you,” said Jesus. Pray, not once, but persistently. It is not easy to remain hostile toward someone for whom you pray on a daily basis. –Lou Lotz Prayer: Help me to love my enemies. Words of Hope is an international media ministry, founded and owned by classes of the RCA, dedicated to building the church in the hard places. The Words of Hope devotional encourages readers to grow spiritually through daily Bible readings and prayer. To subscribe, please visit: woh.org/word/devotionals/. |
Lent Devotions
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Posted: 25 Mar 2014 06:35 AM PDT Read: Luke 5:1-11 Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. (v. 5 NRSV) A college student studies all night and still fails the exam. A salesman doubles his sales calls and still doesn’t make quota. A cancer patient undergoes a rigorous program of chemotherapy only to discover, six months later, that the disease is back. Sometimes, like the disciples, we toil all night and have nothing to show for it. In the midst of our frustration it is often not the extraordinary, but the ordinary transformed, that brings results. Jesus tells Simon to do once more what he’s been doing all night without success. “If you say so,” says Simon. The nets are let down yet again, and what a catch! “They caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.” The point of the story is not that Jesus was with Simon in his success. The point is that Jesus was with Simon in his failure. If God is with us only in moments of success, then God is not with us very often, for most of us are more familiar with failure than with success. The good news is that God is with us when we toil all night and have nothing to show for it. Believing this does not mean we will overcome failure. It means that failure will not overcome us. –Lou Lotz Prayer: Lord, I trust you. Words of Hope is an international media ministry, founded and owned by classes of the RCA, dedicated to building the church in the hard places. The Words of Hope devotional encourages readers to grow spiritually through daily Bible readings and prayer. To subscribe, please visit: woh.org/word/devotionals/. |
Lent Devotions
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March 25: Washed in the Grace of Christ Posted: 24 Mar 2014 06:57 AM PDT Read: Psalm 36:1-9 With you is the fountain of life. (v. 9 NRSV) Prayer is like taking a shower. When I have been bathed in the love of God I am cleansed and renewed. When I take a shower I submit to the water and soap that makes me clean. When I pray I surrender to God allowing the living water, Jesus Christ, to cleanse me of all that hinders my relationship with God. I step into the shower of God’s love and grace. A quick shower is better than none. But I have to stay in the shower long enough for the cleansing and renewal I need to take place. I let go of all else for the moment as I receive the presence of God. As I consent to God’s presence I am refreshed. My soul is renewed in faith, hope, and love. Of course, taking a shower is not just for our own enjoyment. Our health depends upon it–as well as our social relationships! In prayer we become persons who express the love of Christ. We are called to demonstrate the grace of God. When we are cleansed by grace, we can be gracious. Immersed in the love of God, we become people of loving compassion ourselves. –David Muyskens Prayer: Fountain of Life, cleanse and renew me for your service. In Christ. Amen. Words of Hope is an international media ministry, founded and owned by classes of the RCA, dedicated to building the church in the hard places. The Words of Hope devotional encourages readers to grow spiritually through daily Bible readings and prayer. To subscribe, please visit: woh.org/word/devotionals/. |
Lent Devotions
Lent Devotions
March 24: Daniel’s Prayer for Forgiveness
Posted: 24 Mar 2014 05:55 AM PDT
Read: Daniel 9:1-10, 17-19
Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, . . . we have sinned and done wrong. (vv. 4-5 NRSV)
This beautiful and heartbreaking prayer is one of stark contrasts. Daniel has just learned that the exile of his people will continue yet for some time in the future. This is so overwhelmingly sad that he turns to God for sustaining mercy. The prayer acknowledges that all the things that have happened to him and his fellow exiles are appropriate because of their sin. It also declares the greatness and goodness of God. Daniel uses one of the most famous words in the Hebrew Bible in this prayer: the word for “righteousness.” Daniel says, “Righteousness is on your side, O Lord.” The word righteousness includes not only the idea of divine justice, but also God’s mercy and compassion, longsuffering and holiness; in fact, it includes all the characteristics of God that call out of us our best worship.
“Ah, Lord, great and awesome God,” Daniel begins. He goes on to list all the faults of the people and all the greatness of God. But in the middle of these stark contrasts, Daniel finds the perspective to sink his own roots in God. His own identity, and his people’s identity, is forever linked with Israel’s Lord. And all his hope is found in God. –Leanne Van Dyk
Prayer: “O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and act and do not delay!” Amen. (v. 19)
Words of Hope is an international media ministry, founded and owned by classes of the RCA, dedicated to building the church in the hard places. The Words of Hope devotional encourages readers to grow spiritually through daily Bible readings and prayer. To subscribe, please visit: woh.org/word/devotionals/.
Lent Devotions
Lent Devotions
March 23: In the Arms of God
Posted: 22 Mar 2014 08:43 AM PDT
Read: Psalm 131
I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother. (v. 2 NRSV)
The great reformer John Calvin said that prayer draws us into God’s “bosom” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, III.xx.5). Embraced by loving arms, held close to the heart of God, we pour out our souls. As Psalm 131 expresses it, in prayer we are held at the breast of a loving Parent.
Calvin is best known for his reformed theology. What may not be as well known is that Calvin devoted a large portion of his writing to a discussion of prayer.
Calvin taught that prayer is how we develop an intimate relationship with God. We respond in love to the God who first loved us. We receive the blessings of the One who is the fountain of goodness. In the attitude of prayer we realize that God is “wholly present to us” (Institutes, III.xx.2).
Our prayer flows from “this sweetness of love” (Institutes, III,xx.28). The reformer used the same word to describe our intimacy with God–dulcedo, “sweetness”–as did Catholic mystics like Bernard of Clairvaux or Richard of St. Victor. In prayer all who love God rest in God’s loving arms. –David Muyskens
Prayer: Thank you, God of love, for all who truly love you. Amen.
Words of Hope is an international media ministry, founded and owned by classes of the RCA, dedicated to building the church in the hard places. The Words of Hope devotional encourages readers to grow spiritually through daily Bible readings and prayer. To subscribe, please visit: woh.org/word/devotionals/.
St Croix Reformed Church 