Ephesians 4:20, 22-24
20That is not the way you learned Christ! 22You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, 23and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
I'm sure you've never said or heard the phrase, "That' s not how you were raised!" But, imagine for a moment, the tone with which a parent might speak such a phrase. Now re-read the above scripture.
We constantly need to be reminded that we have learned Christ, that we have been raised (whether we're 5 or 50 or 90) to a new life, a new self according to the likeness of God. So, hear again, the words that turn us away from the former life, the old self, and turn us toward the righteousness and holiness of our God-life. Again and again and again, God turns us back to God. Thanks, God, we need that.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
ASLC Devotions -- Thursday
Romans 11:34-35
O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?’
The depth of God's riches and wisdom and knowledge -- O! While it's always true, most of us probably live day in and day out without giving a lot of thought to the magnificence of God. I've written before that it can be overwhelming to imagine God in all of God's ways... O, how rich, how wise, how filled with knowledge.
While we might forget, or simply not acknowledge it on a daily basis, remembering that God is God (and we're not) can be helpful. It's not up to us to shoulder the concerns of the world -- God has far more wisdom and knowledge to handle those things that come our way than we ever will. We are to turn to God for counsel, we are not expected to counsel God.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?’
The depth of God's riches and wisdom and knowledge -- O! While it's always true, most of us probably live day in and day out without giving a lot of thought to the magnificence of God. I've written before that it can be overwhelming to imagine God in all of God's ways... O, how rich, how wise, how filled with knowledge.
While we might forget, or simply not acknowledge it on a daily basis, remembering that God is God (and we're not) can be helpful. It's not up to us to shoulder the concerns of the world -- God has far more wisdom and knowledge to handle those things that come our way than we ever will. We are to turn to God for counsel, we are not expected to counsel God.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
ASLC Devotions -- Wednesday
Psalm 55:16-17
16 But I call upon God,
and the Lord will save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he will hear my voice.
There is a sureness that the psalmist shares -- the Lord *will* save me; he *will* hear my voice. Is this a mantra that the psalmist repeats to get himself through the day? Is this the prayer before bed? Perhaps a little bit of both. While I'm sure that the Lord appreciates hearing our joys and thanksgivings, in addition to our complaints and moans, the truth is that there are days (weeks? months?) when complaints and moans dominate our conversations with God.
Let us trust that the Lord will hear our voice, and save us.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
16 But I call upon God,
and the Lord will save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he will hear my voice.
There is a sureness that the psalmist shares -- the Lord *will* save me; he *will* hear my voice. Is this a mantra that the psalmist repeats to get himself through the day? Is this the prayer before bed? Perhaps a little bit of both. While I'm sure that the Lord appreciates hearing our joys and thanksgivings, in addition to our complaints and moans, the truth is that there are days (weeks? months?) when complaints and moans dominate our conversations with God.
Let us trust that the Lord will hear our voice, and save us.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
Friday, July 23, 2010
ASLC Devotions -- Friday
Acts 2:29 Fellow Israelites,* I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
Peter gave the sermon at the first big Pentecost celebration and he started by reminding the people that David was still dead. David, the great leader of Israel's past... David, the greatest king in Israel's past... David, for whom God seems to have had a soft spot... David, the writer of the psalms... David died and stayed dead.
Sometimes we think about or talk about Jesus as the greatest prophet and moral teacher in the history of the world. And he was. He taught brilliantly in parables. I believe his Sermon on the Mount would stand up to any political speech today as a great plan for how people can live together. He motivated thousands. He brought food and healing and love and hope throughout his nation. He did all that. And so have others, to varying degrees.
But Peter here is hinting at the key difference. What makes Jesus Jesus? What makes Jesus worth following and worshiping? He didn't stay dead. That makes all the difference in the world. Because not only did Jesus not stay dead but he promised that neither will we. Thanks be to God!
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
For more information about all of the ministries of All Saints, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org To share your story or your responses to this devotional, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com
Peter gave the sermon at the first big Pentecost celebration and he started by reminding the people that David was still dead. David, the great leader of Israel's past... David, the greatest king in Israel's past... David, for whom God seems to have had a soft spot... David, the writer of the psalms... David died and stayed dead.
Sometimes we think about or talk about Jesus as the greatest prophet and moral teacher in the history of the world. And he was. He taught brilliantly in parables. I believe his Sermon on the Mount would stand up to any political speech today as a great plan for how people can live together. He motivated thousands. He brought food and healing and love and hope throughout his nation. He did all that. And so have others, to varying degrees.
But Peter here is hinting at the key difference. What makes Jesus Jesus? What makes Jesus worth following and worshiping? He didn't stay dead. That makes all the difference in the world. Because not only did Jesus not stay dead but he promised that neither will we. Thanks be to God!
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
For more information about all of the ministries of All Saints, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org To share your story or your responses to this devotional, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com
Thursday, July 22, 2010
ASLC Devotions -- Thursday
John 20:18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Mary Magdalene said "I have seen the Lord." You have seen the Lord too. I know you have. You've seen God bringing hope into your heart at your grandmother's bedside as she died. You've seen God offering you a place to rest when you didn't think there was any room in the inn for you. You've seen God giving you a word of hope that let you get through another dreary and downcast week. You've seen the Lord. I know you have.
I also know, or at least I can guess, that you haven't felt like you could quite put it into words. You haven't felt quite worthy to tell anyone that you've seen the Lord. Because you're not a pastor. Because you're not a brilliant writer. Because you don't write amazing songs. Mary Magdalene felt the same way. She was a woman. She was an outcast woman. She followed Jesus but wasn't counted one of the Twelve Apostles. And yet God chose her to bear the message the first time. Mary Magdalene told the Easter story the very first time. If she could do it, so can you.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
For more information about all of the ministries of All Saints, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org To share your story or your responses to this devotional, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com
Mary Magdalene said "I have seen the Lord." You have seen the Lord too. I know you have. You've seen God bringing hope into your heart at your grandmother's bedside as she died. You've seen God offering you a place to rest when you didn't think there was any room in the inn for you. You've seen God giving you a word of hope that let you get through another dreary and downcast week. You've seen the Lord. I know you have.
I also know, or at least I can guess, that you haven't felt like you could quite put it into words. You haven't felt quite worthy to tell anyone that you've seen the Lord. Because you're not a pastor. Because you're not a brilliant writer. Because you don't write amazing songs. Mary Magdalene felt the same way. She was a woman. She was an outcast woman. She followed Jesus but wasn't counted one of the Twelve Apostles. And yet God chose her to bear the message the first time. Mary Magdalene told the Easter story the very first time. If she could do it, so can you.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
For more information about all of the ministries of All Saints, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org To share your story or your responses to this devotional, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
ASLC Devotions -- Wednesday
Psalm 119:97 Oh, how I love your law!
It is my meditation all day long.
The law gets a bad rap. God's law, I mean. Too often we associate it with oppressive laws that tell us all the fun things we'd like to do but aren't allowed to do. And I think we in America have a particular problem with this because we confuse freedom with a lack of law and structure. God's law is not a list of don'ts. Part of God's law is a list of don'ts. Yes, we are not allowed to do things like kill and steal and bear false witness and covet our neighbor's donkey.
But that's just one part of God's law. God's law is really about teaching. God's law is God's way of guiding and teaching us to live the fullest lives that God has offered tou s. God's law includes love and humility and grace and graciousness. God's law includes hope and promise and mutual respect and prayer. Now that's a kind of law I could love and I could meditate on all day long.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
For more information about all of the ministries of All Saints, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org To share your story or your responses to this devotional, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com
It is my meditation all day long.
The law gets a bad rap. God's law, I mean. Too often we associate it with oppressive laws that tell us all the fun things we'd like to do but aren't allowed to do. And I think we in America have a particular problem with this because we confuse freedom with a lack of law and structure. God's law is not a list of don'ts. Part of God's law is a list of don'ts. Yes, we are not allowed to do things like kill and steal and bear false witness and covet our neighbor's donkey.
But that's just one part of God's law. God's law is really about teaching. God's law is God's way of guiding and teaching us to live the fullest lives that God has offered tou s. God's law includes love and humility and grace and graciousness. God's law includes hope and promise and mutual respect and prayer. Now that's a kind of law I could love and I could meditate on all day long.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
For more information about all of the ministries of All Saints, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org To share your story or your responses to this devotional, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
ASLC Devotions -- Tuesday
Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
We all know in a secular, regular educational context that the most important step in learning something is to recognize that you need to learn it. Those who "know it all" will never learn. The most widely-acknowledged brilliant people in human history are all united in one thing: they recognized profoundly how much they did not understand. It's a common maxim that the more I know the more I know that I do not know.
The same is true of our relationship with God and our understandings of the divine and of our relationship to God. Proverbs puts it that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." That common biblical phrase "fear of the Lord" gets a bad rap in our day because we think of fear as hiding under the table cowering. That's not at all what we're talking about here. In this case, what the writer of Proverbs is saying is that the beginning of wisdom, the first step to understanding the world more deeply comes when you recognize that God is God and you're not. There is a difference between you and God. It's obvious, but we all need reminders.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
For more information about all of the ministries of All Saints, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org To share your story or your responses to this devotional, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
We all know in a secular, regular educational context that the most important step in learning something is to recognize that you need to learn it. Those who "know it all" will never learn. The most widely-acknowledged brilliant people in human history are all united in one thing: they recognized profoundly how much they did not understand. It's a common maxim that the more I know the more I know that I do not know.
The same is true of our relationship with God and our understandings of the divine and of our relationship to God. Proverbs puts it that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." That common biblical phrase "fear of the Lord" gets a bad rap in our day because we think of fear as hiding under the table cowering. That's not at all what we're talking about here. In this case, what the writer of Proverbs is saying is that the beginning of wisdom, the first step to understanding the world more deeply comes when you recognize that God is God and you're not. There is a difference between you and God. It's obvious, but we all need reminders.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
For more information about all of the ministries of All Saints, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org To share your story or your responses to this devotional, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com
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