To stone or not to stone

*The following devotional was inspired by bestselling speaker and writer, Liz Curtis Higgs, who I had the great fortune of hearing speak this past weekend at the Northwestern Christian Writers Conference.

Reading for today: John 8:1-11

by Larry Eubanks

The law only required two or three witnesses to charge an offender. They wanted the whole town to see.

In a case like this, both the transgressing man and woman should be brought forward. They only brought the woman.

“Teacher,” the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. So what do you say?”

If Jesus had answered, “Stone her,” then all his teachings on mercy and grace go out the door.

If Jesus had answered, “Don’t stone her,” he discredits the Law of Moses and himself.

So what does Jesus do?

As the crowd watches silently and the disgraced woman waits fearfully, Jesus stoops down to write in the dirt. What did he write?

Some people say that a judge would write down his sentence before pronouncing it. Or maybe he was simply diverting the eyes of the people, saving the humiliated woman from their condemning stares. Maybe he was giving everyone time to think. Whatever he was writing, it took awhile because those around him had to keep asking for a verdict.

Instead of a verdict, Jesus called the question. “Let him who is without sin, be the first to throw a stone.” Silence. Nothing but the sound of unused stones dropping to the ground. Then, one by one and without a word, they walked away, convicted.

The only one who was without sin, the only one who had the right to condemn the woman, Jesus stood quietly before her. And he without a stone in his hand.

Dear God, How is it that You have not condemned me? In my shame and in my disgrace, You offer me forgiveness, hope, and salvation. Give me the power to accept Your grace and to go and sin no more. Amen.

Day 2 – John 3:16-17

Day 3 – Romans 8:1-6

Day 4 – Romans 3:22-24

Day 5 – 1 John 2:15-17

 

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Watermelon for Life

The following devotion was inspired by excerpts taken from a sermon preached by my husband entitled Released (7/2/17).

Reading for today: John 12:23-24

The Bible uses the image of a seed to describe a lot of things. For example, the seeds in the parable of the sower is the Word of God (Mt 13). In the parable of the weeds, the seeds are the followers of God (Mt 13). Jesus compares faith and the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed (Mt 17 and 13). And in the book of John, Jesus refers to himself as the wheat seed that must die in order to produce a great harvest.

When we talk about seeds sometimes we refer to them as being dead or alive, that is how we describe their potential for growth. When we use the terms dead or alive, we are actually talking about whether or not those seeds are viable.

Take for example the average American watermelon. One healthy watermelon can produce 200 to 800 new seeds. In other words, one viable watermelon seed has the potential to sprout and grow and bear fruit for 200 to 800 more watermelons!

The truth, though, is that in the process of sprouting, a watermelon seed (like any other seed) must “die” or sacrifice itself, in order to become a fruit-bearing plant.

During the last week of Jesus’s life, he explains to the disciples the importance of his upcoming death by comparing himself to a wheat seed. He says in John, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

Jesus was the ultimate viable seed. He produced a harvest of many seeds. Through his death and resurrection, he forever shed the binding shell of sin and death, releasing us to also be viable seeds for the kingdom of God. We are not only the fresh produce of Christ’s bountiful harvest, but we are also the viable seeds, ready to bear fruit for God.

This week lets read through those references to seed and learn more about our spiritual growing process.

Dear God, Thank you for planting the seeds of faith and Your Word into me. Lord, make me viable for your kingdom. Show me who I can care for today. Amen.

Day 2 – Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23 (Parable of the sower)

Day 3 – Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43 (Parable of the weeds)

Day 4 – Matthew 13:31-32 (Parable of the mustard seed)

Day 5 – Matthew 17:14-21 (Faith like a mustard seed)

 

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Something for Nothing: Lent Series – Week 5

Reading for today: John 2:1-11

I used to teach adult ELL classes. One of my students (from India) told of a time his American professor had stopped by his home. My hospitable student offered his professor tea and coffee. His professor gladly accepted the offer, asking for coffee.

My student panicked because in his culture and in circumstances like this, people usually never accepted the offer for tea or coffee. Furthermore, he had no coffee!

As my student relayed the story to the rest of us, he laughed and said, “I had to send my wife out the back door to go buy some coffee.”

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus is at a wedding where the beverage of choice – wine – has run out halfway through the festivities. “They have no wine,” Jesus’ mother says.

In Old Testament culture, wine was a symbol of joy, hope, and abundance. And like our own culture, running out of wine at a social event would have been devastating and offensive to guests.

Jesus uses this moment not only to save the face of his hosts, but also to perform his first sign. From simple water, poured into large, empty, purifying jars, Jesus creates over 120 gallons of the best wine.

Later, Jesus will refer to wine as “my blood of the covenant, which that is poured out for many the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26: 28). Jesus’ blood, like wine, has become for us joy, hope, and abundance.

Dear God, You worked a miracle with water and wine. And you worked a miracle with your blood and your Spirit in our lives. Thank you for loving us so deeply. Amen.

Easter is coming! In these last two weeks, let’s read more stories of how God uses our nothing to work something big, specifically through Jesus.

Day 2 – Luke 7:1-10 – Healing of the centurion’s servant

Day 3 – Luke 7:11-17 – Raising of the widow’s son

Day 4 – Matthew 9:18-26 – Raising of Jairus’ daughter and healing of a woman

Day 5 – Matthew 17:24-27 – Provision of tax, and John 21:1-14 – Catch of fish

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Accountability and Me: Week 1

Reading for today: John 17:20-26

How are you doing spiritually? My college friend used to regularly ask me that question every time we got together. It was my least favorite part of our conversations.

I remember the first time she asked me that question, I immediately thought, That’s none of your business! My personal relationship with Christ was, well, personal! Yet the more I was forced to answer her question, the more I began to see that she wasn’t trying to criticize me or to make me feel bad. She was trying to encourage me. Even though I hated continually answering the question, I felt a gradual change in my attitude and in my faith walk.

Through those conversations, I began to understand that my relationship with Christ and my spiritual walk was not just between me and God, but between me and those around me. I didn’t know it at the time, but my friend had introduced me to basic Christian accountability.

For the next few weeks, we will study Christian accountability. As we prepare for this study, use the daily readings listed below to answer the first question: What are we accountable for?

Dear God, My faith is a gift from You. I am not always willing to share or talk about my faith. Please give me the courage to express my faith, live out my faith, and grow in my faith with others. Amen.

Day 2 – James 2:14-18

Day 3 – Ephesians 4:15-16; 21-32

Day 4 – Galatians 5:16-25

Day 5 – Hebrews 10:19-25

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“Hey! You Withheld My Miracle”: 3 Studies on God’s Timing – Part 2

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” John 11:21, 32

God’s timing is always good. It is always perfect. But the circumstances we find ourselves in are not always good and are never perfect.

The Raising of Lazarus by John Reilly

Reading for today: John 11:1-46

It was completely within your power to save my brother and you let him die. I asked you for a miracle and you withheld it from me. Why? We have poured our lives into you and your ministry. I thought we were friends. I thought you loved us. You said, “Everyone who asks, receives” (Luke 11:10). We asked for you to come, we asked for a miracle, but you were purposefully late! And now my brother is dead. I am so hurt and confused. I don’t know if I can trust you anymore.

Faith in God is tricky. When we believe, it’s not a matter of whether or not He exists. It’s a matter of knowing He exists, knowing He loves us, but feeling confused and hurt when His timing seems off. In other words, if God is so good, if God promises to hear us, then why isn’t He being good to me right now? Why isn’t He responding?

But God is responding. In His goodness, God’s response to our confusion and hurt is the same as Jesus’s response to Mary and Martha and the mourners. First, He hears us and is moved to compassion toward us. Second, He feels our hurt. But third, He challenges us to trust His sovereignty. Jesus said, Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? (John 11:40).

We believe God is able to work a miracle, but do we trust His timing? Do we trust His sovereignty? That is our lifetime challenge: To believe, even when we disagree. To trust, even when we are confused and hurt. And to know that He loves us and our answers are being worked out in His timing and for His glory.

Dear God, We believe! Help our unbelief. Grow our trust. But please, in your mercy, show us your perfect will. Show us your glory. Amen.

This week as you spend time in prayer asking God for clarity or for a miracle, also spend time thanking God for the answer that He is preparing for you in His perfect timing.

Day 2 – Luke 11:9-13

Day 3 – Psalm 40:1-3; Psalm 69:13-17

Day 4 – Psalm 103

Day 5 – Isaiah 40:27-31

 

 

 

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Steps to contentment: Step 5 – Share

For the last four weeks we have studied contentment. Contentment in the biblical sense is peace with God and satisfaction in the circumstances where God has placed you. We have been comparing contentment to a lush, green garden. As we wrap up our study on contentment, let’s review the necessary steps in the care of our garden.

In week 1, we learned to weed out distraction by holding fast in faith to God, the master gardener. In week 2, we understood the need to protect our valuable time with God. In week 3, we remembered to water our thirsty gardens by tapping into the living waters offered through Jesus. And last week, week 4, we discovered that contentment is not really about our happiness, our comfortableness, or our desires being fulfilled. Instead, contentment is simply about being in the center of God’s will. In this last week, we will address the purpose of your garden of contentment.

Reading for today: John 15:1-17

The pursuit of contentment must never be confused with the pursuit of happiness or the pursuit of positivism. While happiness and positivism are often welcome side effects of contentment, the pursuit of contentment is more altruistic than you may have originally thought.

Rick’s cucumbers – photo taken by Rick

My favorite harvest-time question to hear is: “Do you want some of our bounty?” My friends, Rick and Chris, have a beautiful, backyard vegetable garden and fruit orchard, and they have always offered to share their harvest surplus. But surplus from their garden is never one or two tomatoes and a lone cucumber. Their surplus borders on farmers’ market quantities. Trays of tomatoes, grocery bags of zucchini and summer squash, and buckets full of cucumbers. My family and I eat as much as we can, and then I freeze or process whatever we can’t finish. Currently, there are 9 jars if pickles in the refrigerator. And in the freezer, I have 8 bags of shredded zucchini and 2 quarts of roasted tomato sauce.

Rick’s tomatoes- photo taken by Rick

I have, because they share.

Why are my garden and its fruit so important? Fruit is a sign of a healthy, thriving garden. A healthy, fruitful, thriving garden means we are connected to the Master Gardener and His Son is at the center of our garden. We are content. Our desires match His desires. And when our desires match God’s desires, we understand that what God desires most is that all people would come to know Him. How do people come to know Him and begin to grow their own gardens of contentment? Through the shared seeds of your fruit.

We are not in the business of secret gardens. What good is a healthy, bursting garden, if it is not seen or shared with others? Gardens are meant to bloom, to be fruitful, and ultimately to serve their gardener. What better way to serve the Master Gardener, then to use our fruits to help grow the gardens of others.

Step 5 in the pursuit of contentment: Share your fruit so that others may grow.

Dear God our Master Gardner, It is by Your power and for Your glory that we are content. Grow our gardens of contentment so that we may bear fruit and share our joy with others. Amen.

Day 2 – 1 Timothy 2:3-4; John 6:40

Day 3 – Galatians 5:22-25 (the Message)

Day 4 – Psalm 1:1-3

Day 5 – Isaiah 58:11; Jeremiah 31:12-14

 

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Steps to contentment: Step 3 – Water

Welcome to week 3 in our study on contentment. Contentment in the biblical sense is peace with God and satisfaction in the circumstances where God has placed you.

If contentment is a lush garden, then being and staying content is a constant battle for turf. Gardening is not simply planting and enjoying. While those are aspects of a good garden, successful gardening requires constant nutrition.

Reading for this week: John 4:3-26; 39-42

In terms of gardening, the nutrition formula for growth is pretty basic: soil, sun, air, and water. And of those 4 basics, I really only have to take care of one – water. The sun, the soil, and the air are not necessarily in my department. So maintenance of my precious garden shouldn’t be that hard. Get a bucket or find the hose and water those plants. But like the woman at the well, it’s the continuous need to come back for water that can get monotonous and wearisome (v.15).

In the spring, my momentum is going. I am happy to finally be outdoors. I am motivated with visions of red tomatoes and full baskets of flowers. But then after awhile, I get a little bored and start skipping the only job I have – the watering.

Unfortunately, my inconsistent watering inevitably leads to fewer tomatoes. And it makes other vegetables – like my cucumbers and lettuce – taste bitter. My flowers are dried out. My herbs are limp and thirsty. And the life my garden had, slowly dies. There is nothing more devastating then coming to the end of a growing season only to realize I have wasted it.

That’s why I am very interested in installing a drip irrigation system. I have no idea how to do that, but with my handy husband and pinterest at my disposal, I think we can come up with something. Knowing my plants could continuously get exactly the right amount of water could make gardening so much easier and more productive.

Trying to maintain contentment or happiness on my own is like having to go out looking for water sources everyday. It may bring temporary contentment, but I need to keep going out for more to maintain that contentment. And when I can’t find a good source or I stop looking, I inevitably become dry and bitter and unproductive. Contentment is no longer within my reach.

That’s the amazing thing about what Jesus offers us through the Holy Spirit. It’s like a drip irrigation system for my soul. It is a truer, more consistent source of watering that I can tap into daily. And as Jesus told the woman at the well, with the water that Jesus offers, it’s like a spring welling up to eternal life, and I will never be thirsty again.

It’s time to water.

Step 3 in the pursuit of contentment: Water your garden by tapping into the only everlasting water source.

Dear Lord, I am constantly thirsty for something. But I spend a lot of valuable time looking for water from other sources. Help me to tap into Your everlasting water. Quench my thirst and bring me contentment. Amen.

This week, let’s read about those deep waters that God offers through His Spirit.

Day 2 – Psalm 1:1-3

Day 3 – Jeremiah 17:7-8

Day 4 – John 7:37-38

Day 5 – John 6:35-40

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Face the Sunshine

I thought I would share this post from four years ago as encouragement for this week.

 

Originally posted on 5/23/2012 my blog, http://801seminaryplace.wordpress.com

The last few international women’s Bible studies that I led were about understanding what Christians mean by faith or belief. The last two stories we studied were about the healing of a demon possessed boy and the resurrection of Lazarus. Both stories illustrate not only the amazing power of Jesus, but also the two-sided coin of Christian belief.

In the account of the demon possessed boy (Mark 9:14-29), Jesus had just been away on a mountain. While waiting for his return, a man had approached Jesus’ disciples for help in healing his boy who was possessed by an evil spirit.  The disciples were unable to heal the small boy and because of it, they and the Jewish scribes had gotten into a heated argument.

It is at that point, Jesus returns and asks what they are arguing about. The father explains his son’s dire situation and then asks Jesus, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus responds, “If I can! All things are possible for one who believes.” To which the father immediately cries, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Likewise, in the story of Lazarus (John 11:17-45), Mary and Martha (Lazarus’ sisters) call for Jesus to help their dying brother. Jesus tarries and when he finally arrives, Lazarus is already dead and buried, and the funeral procedures are well underway. Both women come to Jesus privately and express their confidence in Jesus’ ability mixed with their disappointment in his delay. Martha says, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Later a distraught Mary also says, “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.” Jesus promises Martha, “Your brother will rise again.” Yet when Jesus asks them to move the stone of Lazarus’ tomb away, Martha questions him saying, “Lord, by now there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” In other words, “You are too late to do anything.”

In Matthew 28:17, the disciples are watching Jesus prepare to ascend into heaven and it says, “And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some of them doubted.” The Greek word for “doubted” in this verse is distazo which means to waver between two points of view, to be uncertain at a crossroads, to vacillate.

To be uncertain at the crossroads. To waver between two points of view. Belief and unbelief occupying the same space. British writer, Adrian Plass wrote in his book Why I Follow Jesus, “Perhaps belief and unbelief are two sides of the same coin. You can turn the coin over, but you can’t make the side you’re not looking at go away” (2000, p. 7).

But that’s where Jesus comes in. Our worthiness for the gift of faith, or healing, or a miracle is not dependent on the excellence of our belief or the absence of our unbelief. No, our worthiness is completely dependent on Jesus’ merit.

To the father of the demon possessed boy, Jesus did not walk away affronted by the man’s lack of confidence. Instead, he turned to the boy, cast out the evil spirit, “took him by the hand and lifted him up.” To Mary and Martha, Jesus did not take offense to their limited and shifting belief in his power. Instead he wept with them and then performed one of his greatest miracles – he brought Lazarus back to life. To the doubting disciples standing on the mountain, Jesus did not withhold his blessing from them. Instead he gave them the ultimate job of making disciples of all nations, promising them, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

So what do we do about the other side of the coin? What do we do about our uncertainty at the crossroads? How do we manage distazo?

We look to Christ. We cry out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” as the father did. We fall at his feet and pour out our hearts, as Mary did. We allow the stone to be rolled back, as Martha did. We accept Christ’s authority and his promises, as the disciples did. We persistently face the Son so that we cannot see the shadows.  It is in “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:2a) that we see where our strength of faith truly comes.

 “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.” ~ Helen Keller

 

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The Power to Save: A six-week study on the powers of Jesus: Week 6

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” ~Luke 24:5-6

Resurrection Morning by James Martin

Reading for today: John 20:1-18, 30-31; 21:25

The power over disease, evil spirits, and nature. The power to forgive sins and the power over death. And then, on Easter, Jesus’ revealed his ultimate power and purpose – the power to save.

Easter Morning by He Qi

For all humanity, Easter morning was the dawning of a new existence. New life offered at the very moment that Jesus rose from the dead.

For all the power he had, Jesus chose to save us. To save us forever from the clutch of sin, to save us from the fear of death, and to save us from the overwhelming darkness that pulls us away from our Creator God. We are saved for eternity, by the power of Jesus.

But underneath all this power, there is yet a deeper power that courses through the veins of God himself. It is the power that drove, from the very beginning, his unwavering commitment to our salvation. It is the basis of God’s every action through the person of Jesus. This underlying power is love –God’s steadfast love for us.

It is God’s love that first created us. It is God’s love that set his plan of salvation in motion at the Garden of Eden when humanity first sinned against him. It is God’s love that heard humanity’s cry, “Lord save us!” It is God’s love that sent Jesus as Immanuel – God with us – to earth. It is God’s love that set Jesus’ face towards Jerusalem and the cross, as people shouted Hosanna – God save us. And it is God’s love that sacrificed his only Son, to be the answer to our cries.

In love, God sent Jesus, with all authority and power, in order to make a way for us to enter back into his perfect love. And God desires that you not only accept his love in faith, but also extend it outward to those who have not yet felt its warmth. For he who is mighty to save, has given his power to us. God’s loving promise to save is now upon us and we have the power to share his love with those around us.

I want you to know all about Christ’s love, although it is too wonderful to be measured. Then your lives will be filled with all that God is. ~ Ephesians 3:19 (CEV)

This week, spend some time basking in God’s love for you.

Day 2 – John 3:16-17; Ephesians 3:14-21

Day 3 – 1 John 4:7-12,16

Day 4 – 1 Corinthians 13

Day 5 – John 15:9-17

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The Power to Save: A six-week study on the powers of Jesus: Week 5

Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ~ John 11:25-26

Quick review: Over the past four weeks, we have been studying Jesus’ powers. In week one, we looked at Jesus’ healing power over disease and affliction. In week two, we studied his power over demons and the devil. Week three, we saw Jesus demonstrate his power over nature. And last week, we read about his power of forgiveness of sin.

This week as we prepare for Good Friday and Easter, we will study his power over death.

Reading for today: John 11:1-46

Jesus stood at the burial site of his recently deceased friend, Lazarus. As he stood among the mourners, he was deeply moved and he too wept (11:33-35). In the original Greek, the term “deeply moved” also suggests that Jesus felt anger.

A weeping Jesus seems appropriate, but an angry Jesus? Anger seems an odd response, since Jesus had purposefully delayed in coming (he could have saved his friend from death – claimed Lazarus’ hurt sisters). And he had just told his disciples “this illness does lead to death. It is…so that the Son of God may be glorified” (11:4) and then later, “our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him” (11:11).

But anger is an appropriate response to death. Because unlike popular notion, death is not a natural stage in the life cycle. Death is the exact opposite of life. God didn’t create us to expire, he created us to live.

And if God created us to live, then that makes death our greatest adversary. It’s why Jesus came to earth in the first place. It’s why he stood in front of his friend’s grave and felt deeply disturbed. For he was face-to-face with the very enemy he had come to conquer. The thing that constantly threatens God’s miracle of life.

Yet in that moment of quiet anger and deep sadness, Jesus demonstrated his greatest power. “Take away the stone,” he said. Lazarus’ sister, Martha, objected, “Lord! He’s been dead for four days!” Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they rolled away the stone and Jesus thanked the Father who had sent him and then called Lazarus out. The Bible says, “The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go’” (John 11:44).

Jesus confronted death and commanded life. That’s what Jesus came to do, he came to conquer death and grant new life. But this new life isn’t just a rebirth into our broken, expiring world. It’s actually an eternal life, one that’s saved for us in Jesus. A life without the threat of death. A life full of God’s perfect glory.

Dear God, We praise and thank you for your power over death through Jesus. Create in us new and everlasting life. Amen.

Welcome to Passion Week! This week we observe Jesus’ battle with death and we celebrate his victory on Easter. As we prepare, let’s take a look at more scripture pertaining to Jesus’ power over death.

Day 2 – Romans 5:12-17; 6:9; Hebrews 5:7; 2:14-15

Day 3 – Acts 2:23-28

Day 4 – 1 Corinthians 15:19-26

Day 5 – Revelation 21:3-6

 

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