Have you ever heard of the spiritual practice of watchfulness? This discipline is a call to active attentiveness to God’s activity and presence in our lives and in our world. By staying alert and awake, we are able to focus on what God is saying to us today and not fall into anxious speculation about an unknown tomorrow. Who seriously doesn’t need that right now?
A lot of Christians focus their attention on the promise and anticipation of Jesus’ Second Coming. People can get very overwhelmed with needing to know what the signs will be. They ask what the timing of it will be? How will we know it’s about to happen? Are we indeed living in the End Times right now? How do we know?
But what we really should be asking is how can we be ready? Our time and attention is better served by observing where is God acting in the “here and now” as we wait for the “there and then”.
And so we are invited to faithfully wait and watch. These beautiful words from Jeremiah explain our duty as watchmen:
Jeremiah 6:16-18 (Common English Bible)
The Lord proclaims: Stop at the crossroads and look around; ask for the ancient paths. Where is the good way? Then walk in it and find a resting place for yourselves. But you said, “We won’t go!” Still, I have appointed watchmen to warn you. But you said, “We won’t listen!” Therefore, pay attention, nations; take notice, assembly, what is ahead of them.
Watchfulness causes us to stop.
It calls us to look around and ask questions.
It invites us to rest in the good way.
It warns us to pay attention and take notice of what is ahead of us.
Where did you see God today? Take notice, and then go share what you see with others.
This morning I am fasting for some routine blood work and I am marveling at what medical science can tell us about ourselves with an inside look at our blood. I am also missing my usual coffee-with-cream, but I’m grateful that somebody figured out that black coffee won’t alter your results like they used to think in the old days. No lab technician with a needle wants to encounter me on a morning without my usual dose of caffeine!
This got me to thinking about ways we can do a checkup on our internal spiritual health without a lab or (Thank God) a jab. It is a spiritual discipline known as the Examen.
The Examen is an ancient Christian practice of daily self-examination designed to bring us closer to God. John Wesley developed questions for his Holy Club at Oxford to use every day. Here is a sample of his Examen questions that can help you to honestly assess your soul’s daily health and growth.
Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am?
Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?
Am I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?
Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?
Did the Bible live in me today?
Am I enjoying prayer?
When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?
Do I pray about the money I spend?
Do I disobey God in anything?
Do I insist upon doing something about which I am uneasy?
Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy, or distrustful?
Do I grumble or complain constantly?
Is Christ real to me?
This is one of those practices that we should print out and tape on our mirror, checking it first thing in the morning for guidance and last thing at night for evaluation. Does that list encourage you or intimidate you?
Paul encouraged his church in Corinth to do regular checkups on their faith. He knew it would help them in their effort to be stronger disciples and better as a Body of Christ:
2 Corinthians 13 (The Message)
5Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it.
Is it time for your checkup? Don’t delay! Any change that the list requires is doable. You can turn things around right now, with God’s help.
Today’s lesson will focus on tripping. And more importantly, how not to trip. I am an expert at both tripping and falling, so read this carefully.
Hebrews 12 (Common English Bible)
12 So then, with endurance, let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Let’s throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up, 2 and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter.
I don’t even know how many times I have fallen while running and it all has to do with what I where I was looking. The first time happened when Kenn and I were running and a lady with an adorable little Corgi dog came toward us. I slipped behind Kenn so they could pass us, but of course instead of looking where I was going, I was looking at the dog and BAM, my toe caught on a piece of the concrete that was raised up just one inch and I fell and broke my arm. Just recently I did the same thing looking for an alligator in a pond I was passing on a run in Florida. My toe caught a raised up edge of the concrete slab and I took a header. But there may be a case made for looking at the alligator in this instance, however.
Have you ever gotten tripped up because you were looking the wrong way? We can all relate to this hard lesson learned on keeping your eyes forward and on the path God has set before you!
Getting tripped up by sin often starts subtly. A mild flirtation becomes a destructive relationship and a marriage ends. An envious spirit becomes slanderous gossip and reputations are damaged. A few missed Sundays turn into months and years away from a community of faith. We look up and suddenly realize we are so far from God’s path we can’t even see it anymore. How can we prevent that from happening?
The obvious question is, where are you looking right now? What are you looking at right now? Let us not forget that Genesis 1 tells us that Eve SAW the forbidden fruit and then ate.
Genesis 3:6 (Common English Bible)
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food & pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some & ate it.
It all begins with a look.
Are you focused on the course of faith that has been laid out before you or have your eyes strayed away to other distractions? Lord knows we live in a world of distraction. Social media, thousands of streaming channels that offer escape from the real world, political news that is endless in our 24-hour news cycle, attention diverted by wealth and greed and trying to get ahead of your neighbors, obsessing over the success of our children and having to post every minute of their lives … the list goes on and on. Many of us truthfully spend a good portion of each day looking at our phones.
But where should you be looking? Scripture instructs us to just keep looking at Jesus.
When we look at Jesus, we see the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
When we look at Jesus, we see a race completed with determination, endurance, and grace.
When we look at Jesus, we see his power to continue moving forward and away from old habits and baggage.
Today we continue our focus on Hebrews 12, where the writer encourages us to pursue a race with endurance that leads to a finish line of Christ.
Hebrews 12 (Common English Bible)
12 So then, with endurance, let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Let’s throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up, 2 and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter.
We notice is that verse references “the race that is laid out in front of us.” Just stop for a moment and consider that. This is a reassurance that God has a path, a way, a journey already laid out for us. Not in the predestination sense of the word; as Methodists, we don’t believe in predestination. We understand this more in a prevenient grace kind of way, like the grace that is spelled out in Jeremiah 29:11. In other words, God has a plan for your life, it is a plan to prosper you and not harm you, and it is a plan to give you a future with hope. If you run your life between the cones and follow God’s plan, you are sure to cross the finish line with grace.
That’s why we are instructed to lay aside any weight or sin that would keep us from being all that God is calling us to be. Verse 1b says: Let’s throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up. Old baggage and sin will always cause you to go off course and stray from the lane that leads to a good finish.
I’m reminded of a story my husband tells about a time when he was at the airport in Tokyo moving from one plane to another in his Delta Air Lines uniform. He was walking down the hallway when he noticed a very small Japanese woman struggling with an overloaded cart filled suitcases and bags. Every time she seemed to make a little progress, another bag would slide off the top and fall onto the ground and she would have to stop and reload the cart. He approached her and offered to help, mostly using hand signals since they didn’t speak each other’s language. Maybe she mistook him for a porter! In any case, they finally got a plan for her to carry two of the bags that kept falling while he pushed her baggage cart all the way to her final destination.
I love that visual. Baggage can be overwhelming and definitely impedes your forward progress. We do well as a church to remember that we are called to help each other with our baggage issues. Every single person reading this has some kind of baggage that impedes their forward progress. Past history, past trauma, past poor choices, family dynamics, grief, addiction, struggles with body image, anger, resentment, abuse … we carry a lot, don’t we?
The writer simply says to throw it off. Easier said than done, isn’t it? Many folks can spend years trying to throw off old baggage. But no matter how long it takes, it is worth the effort.
Jesus came to be our Baggage Claim. He stands at the ready to take the heaviness of everything that slows us down and prevents us from pursuing the path he has laid out for us. All we need do is ask.
Are you able to name your baggage? Can you ask the Lord to come and claim it from you?
May we find ways to ensure our continuing the race with clarity, forgiveness for ourselves and others, and the freedom to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Our Scripture today was written by the author of Hebrews around 65 AD, prior to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. The primary message of this book is that Jesus Christ is the completely supreme Son of God and is the ultimate fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about a messiah. In fact, Jesus is greater than any prophet who came before him, any angels, and even greater than Moses and Elijah. The writer laid out the argument that Jesus is the ultimate High Priest, eliminating the previous animal sacrifice system of the old Jewish temple with his one sacrifice on the cross. His new covenant was superior in every way.
When I was in seminary at the Candler School of Theology, I was required to take a Bible Survey course that covered all 66 books in one semester. When the end-of-semester test was imminent, I created a shorthand for memorizing the major themes of 66 books. My trick for remembering the theme of Hebrews was to break it down into He is Better than the rewst. Its awkward, but it worked. An easier way to remember it is this: any He that likes Brews is a superior fellow indeed. Can I get an amen?
Let’s talk about endurance today.
Hebrews 12 (Common English Bible)
12 So then, with endurance, let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.
We are encouraged to run this race with endurance. The Greek word for “endurance” is hypomone, meaning determination, unyielding, and not delaying. By the way, the Greek word for “race” is agona which running certainly can be at times. Agona means struggle or conflict.
So we understand this verse to suggest that we need a level of good conditioning, proper strategy, and determination to run this arduous race of discipleship. Those things only come about with good training, and so that is where we start our conversation.
Followers of Jesus are called to take their discipleship seriously.
Let me ask you a question. Do you pursue discipleship like you are in training? As followers of Jesus, we know that we’re automatically in a workout of lifetime learning, growing, and developing the traits and skills of being more like Christ every day. Are you actively engaged in your training right now?
I’ll never forget something lovely that Rev. Bob Pitsch told me years ago. Bob was a beloved retired pastor who attended our church after serving Colington United Methodist Church for decades. In 2010, at age 91, he signed up to take my Disciple 1 class. I was a little flabbergasted to have a man of Bob’s wisdom and knowledge in a class I was teaching. It would be like having Moses or Paul in your classroom. When I asked him why he signed up, he winked at me and told me that he was “studying for his finals”. Many years later I stood in the pulpit at his funeral as we celebrated that fact that he had indeed passed his finals with flying colors.
We’re all here studying for our finals. This race of endurance is a training program that needs dedicated Bible Study, weekly worship, daily prayer, passionate serving, engagement in a small group, generous giving, and most of all, discipline.
Trying is not training. I invite you to take your training to the next level and grow deeper in your relationship with the Lord. The race is on!
Let’s talk about the Spiritual Practice of Intercessory Prayer today. This practice is one that most of you are probably already doing. When we pray in intercession for others, we effectively stand in the gap for that person by petitioning God to intercede in their situation. Intercessory prayer allows us to step into a situation and act as a bridge, taking the focus away from our own needs and centering our attention on the needs of the other.
Intercessory Prayer is an important function in the household of God. When we pray for others, we join God in the compassion, caring, and healing ministries that build love and strengthen bonds among the household members. We can find our Biblical mandate for Intercessory Prayer in 1 Timothy:
“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— (1 Timothy 2:1, New International Version).
Paul certainly knew what he was doing by calling them to pray for each other, didn’t he? When people put other peoople’s needs before their own, those relationships are elevated above personal concerns. And the power of those prayers are realized as we work and live our lives together. Prayer is not just the work of the pastors on Sunday morning! It is the work of the people every day. I bet you can tell a story of when intercessory prayer changed your life of the life of someone you know.
And we need to remember that God answers prayers in his own time. That is why people sometimes feel that prayer didn’t work; either because they didn’t get the answer they wanted, or it came so long after the prayer, they had given up. Even God’s “no” is an answer to prayer. A bitter one, indeed, but one that is absolutely for our best. We must trust that.
I recently was blessed to be able to prayer for a young church member who desperately needed a better paying job to be able to sustain her family and get out of a bit of debt. It took two years of hard praying through several disappointing interviews. But in one week, a job offer came through that was markedly better than any of the other positions she had applied for, and an inheritance was advanced that resolved the debt issue. We never stopped believing that God had a plan, but boy, did we have to wait for it! There were a lot of “no’s” before we got a “yes.” Thanks be to God, the deliverance was better than any of us could have imagined. Prayer works!
Paul encouraged his young churches to pray for one another to strengthen their relationships with each other and their relationship with God. So it is with us. May we be people of passionate and intentional prayer, praying for others by name and circumstance until we see the result.
Twenty-five years ago today our nation sustained a terrorist attack on our soil the likes of which had never been experienced before. A total of 2,977 (plus 19 hijackers) perished that day. Four airplanes full of passengers were crashed. The North and South Towers of New York City’s World Trade Center, part of the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and a field in Shanksville, PA were demolished and destroyed in a little more than an hour that morning.
It has taken years for structures, industries, and lives to recover. The airline industry plunged into chaos as air traffic was grounded for three days. Major airlines were forced into bankruptcy following the aftermath of consumer fear. My Delta pilot husband lost his pension due to 9/11. Years later, people who had been exposed to falling debris were dying of cancer. It seemed like it would never end. The world looked heavenward and cried, “Where is God?”
Can you think of a time in your life when things were so chaotic that you wondered “Where is God?“ A death, divorce, terminal diagnosis, a child who gets arrested, getting fired from your job, or anything currently happening in America might cause you to ask such a thing. Anytime we sustain a shock to our system we are tempted to question God’s presence and activity.
Such was the case with the struggling Israelites as they made their way across the desert. Tired, hungry, thirsty, and exhausted, they quickly forgot how God had just delivered them from certain death in Egypt. They voiced their fear that they might be looking at certain death in the wilderness:
Exodus17 (The Message)
1-2 Directed by God, the whole company of Israel moved on by stages from the Wilderness of Sin. They set camp at Rephidim. And there wasn’t a drop of water for the people to drink. The people took Moses to task: “Give us water to drink.” But Moses said, “Why pester me? Why are you testing God?”
3 But the people were thirsty for water there. They complained to Moses, “Why did you take us from Egypt and drag us out here with our children and animals to die of thirst?”
When they looked at their immediate circumstances, it indeed seemed as though God was absent. Their thirst and exhaustion were the only things they could see. Any hope for the future based on the deliverance in their past was wiped from their minds. Desperation set in.
Have you ever been in that kind of wilderness where all you could see was pain and despair and you forgot how God had loved you through your wilderness wanderings in times past? It is easy to forget.
4 Moses cried out in prayer to God, “What can I do with these people? Any minute now they’ll kill me!”
5-6 God said to Moses, “Go on out ahead of the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel. Take the staff you used to strike the Nile. And go. I’m going to be present before you there on the rock at Horeb. You are to strike the rock. Water will gush out of it and the people will drink.”
You see, the people hadn’t arrived at their final destination yet. They needed to keep moving forward. They needed to be obedient to God’s call to become his people and follow his way. They needed to have a smidge more faith. God was trying to lead them out of their thirst and into a land flowing with milk and honey … they just needed to keep going.
6-7 Moses did what he said, with the elders of Israel right there watching. He named the place Massah (Testing-Place) and Meribah (Quarreling) because of the quarreling of the Israelites and because of their testing of God when they said, “Is God here with us, or not?”
Where is God telling you right now to just keep moving forward? What circumstance has you so momentarily paralyzed that you have forgotten his goodness to you in the past? Can you keep your faith just a little longer?
God always goes before us. If you look up with the eyes of faith, you will be able to spot him there on the rock where the waters of peace, hope, justice, and consolation await. Just as he was with us on 9/11, he is with us today.
Today we continue with Paul’s warnings and encouragements to young Timothy in 1 Timothy. The subject is the use of money. False teachers in Ephesus were equating wealth with contentment, much like prosperity preachers of today. Paul encourages us to simply be happy with what we already have. Pay particular attention to verse 10!
1 Timothy 6 (Common English Bible)
6 Actually, godliness is a great source of profit when it is combined with being happy with what you already have. 7 We didn’t bring anything into the world and so we can’t take anything out of it: 8 we’ll be happy with food and clothing. 9 But people who are trying to get rich fall into temptation. They are trapped by many stupid and harmful passions that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some have wandered away from the faith and have impaled themselves with a lot of pain because they made money their goal.
11 But as for you, man of God, run away from all these things. Instead, pursue righteousness, holy living, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness. 12 Compete in the good fight of faith. Grab hold of eternal life—you were called to it, and you made a good confession of it in the presence of many witnesses.
Verse 10 is probably one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible. You’ve likely heard the misquote: “Money is the root of all evil.” Read it again. It actually says that the love of money is the root of evil. Money is not inherently evil, but loving it and pursuing it at all costs can certainly result in being trapped in stupid and harmful passions.
John Wesley would agree. In his sermon “The Use of Money,” he outlined three sensible ways to handle our wealth. First, we are to gain, or earn, all we can. This level-headed statement enables the two that follow. Next, Wesley encouraged us to save all we can. Building a nest egg for retirement and future unexpected costs is a good plan. Finally, Wesley counseled us to give all we can. Wesley’s intense commitment to social holiness was lived out in his support and concern of those in the work houses and the vulnerable poor in his community. Giving all you can is how you can return your tithe of God’s blessing, acknowledging that everything you have is a gift from God.
Paul appropriately reminded us that you can’t take your wealth with you. Having come into the world with nothing, it’s a good idea to leave with nothing and bless others on your way out by giving all you can (verse 7). Following Wesley’s three directives of wealth management would enable us to avoid the ruin and destruction that results from trying to get rich for the sake of getting rich whilst wandering away from our faith in the meantime.
Do you follow Wesley and Paul’s advice regarding managing your money? Does this Scripture call you to change anything? Don’t get trapped. Be happy with what you already have!
In Paul’s letter to his young apprentice Timothy, he issued a fair amount of both encouragement and warnings. In the Sixth chapter, Paul cautioned him against any teaching that isn’t consistent with godliness and doesn’t come from the sound and solid Word of Jesus Christ. Then he encouraged Timothy to pursue righteousness, holy living, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness. This technique of teaching between the contrasts was a uniquely Pauline device. But take a look at verses 4 and 5 and see if any modern day example comes to mind.
1 Timothy 6(Common English Bible)
3 If anyone teaches anything different and doesn’t agree with sound teaching about our Lord Jesus Christ and teaching that is consistent with godliness, 4 that person is conceited. They don’t understand anything but have a sick obsession with debates and arguments. This creates jealousy, conflict, verbal abuse, and evil suspicions. 5 There is constant bickering between people whose minds are ruined and who have been robbed of the truth. They think that godliness is a way to make money!
Paul warned Timothy about the “sick obsession” that leads to debates, arguments, jealousy, conflict, verbal abuse, and evil suspicions. He decried the constant bickering that resulted from this sick obsession. In his time it was the pursuit of riches at the expense of integrity.
When I read verses 4 and 5, I automatically thought about our current obsession with social media. And while that is a very modern take on ancient words, it ends in the same place; the pursuit of wealth. Consider Facebook. What began in a college dormitory as a means of connecting students has erupted into a 1.5 trillion dollar industry. According to Google, founder Mark Zukerberg is one of the top ten billionaires in the world. The love of money has surely fueled all of the changes and growth of parent company Meta, and yet we need to consider the “product” this company produces.
If you are on Facebook, you are likely to have experienced the things Paul cautioned about; debates, arguments, jealousy, verbal abuse and constant bickering. At the time of this writing, a Pew Research Center survey reported that 71% of American adults use Facebook every day. That percentage will go up if current trends continue. Clearly social media profits from human engagement that is too often based on fear, unrealistic comparisons, and anger. It truly is a place where minds are ruined and people are robbed of the truth (verse 5). What would Paul say to this?
Have you been hurt or upset by a Facebook post? I know I have. For all the good that it can bring into our lives, such as connecting families, old friends, and my being able to post these devotionals and you being able to access them every day, Facebook and other forms of social media can certainly be devilish, distracting things. It behooves us to consider how much time we are spending on social media. If we realize that the answer is “too much” what should we do with things that have become sick obsessions? Let’s read the next part of the passage:
11 But as for you, man of God, run away from all these things. Instead, pursue righteousness, holy living, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness. 12 Compete in the good fight of faith. Grab hold of eternal life—you were called to it, and you made a good confession of it in the presence of many witnesses.
Run away.
Pursue righteousness, holy living, faithfulness, endurance, and gentleness. (There is not a lot of gentleness on Facebook.)
Today’s devotional is a re-posting from 2024. We just celebrated my father-in-law’s 96th birthday this week!!! Here’s to you, Cap!
I have just returned from a wonderful family weekend where we celebrated my father-in-law’s 94th birthday. That is not a typo, folks! 94 years of life on this earth, working, loving, laughing, and providing for his family as a Naval officer for over 30 years. Our time together was kind of a replay of the life my husband’s family lived. There were jokes, stories told again, joy, mayhem, and a feeling of connectedness that was bred into them by their parents. Everyone came together with a helping hand and a happy heart. Even Muffin the cat had a great time getting extra ear rubs.
We often use familial language when referencing our relationships with our church and the larger body of Christ. We call one another brothers and sisters and refer to God as our Abba, a beautiful Aramaic word that best translates as “Daddy.” This word signifies the close and intimate relationship of love and trust between father and child. You may remember that Jesus called God his Abba Father. In Mark 14:36, Jesus called out to his Abba in a moment of agony and asked if perhaps the cup of suffering (the impending crucifixion) might be taken from him if it was Abba’s will. This alone should give us permission to cry out to our Abba Father in any moment of hurt, confusion, and deep distress. Both Paul and Jesus related to God as their big Daddy who will rush to their aid, fix any problem, and never leave their side.
Romans 8 (Common English Bible)
12 So then, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but it isn’t an obligation to ourselves to live our lives on the basis of selfishness. 13 If you live on the basis of selfishness, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live. 14 All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters.
15 You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. With this Spirit, we cry, “Abba, Father.”16 The same Spirit agrees with our spirit, that we are God’s children. 17 But if we are children, we are also heirs. We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him.
Paul wrote Romans while in Corinth as he wintered there during his third missionary journey. He had been a preacher of the Good News of Jesus Christ for 20 years. Romans is a sophisticated and well-articulated theological statement of faith that is incredibly timeless. If you have time today, read the whole book. Unlike his other letters where he addressed issues that were being faced by each church, Romans focuses on God’s plan for salvation.
This beautiful father-child relationship that Paul described in this passage comes with an obligation to live by the Spirit. The Spirit of God leads us in all paths of righteousness and away from the selfishness of being led by the flesh/body. Fear has no place here: We are children of God and have nothing to fear, even suffering. The cup that our Lord took on our behalf ensures that we need not fear death, for his death brought us life. As Paul said, we can “also be glorified with him” (verse 17). So even in our suffering, we are assured that there are better days ahead.
Think about your relationship with God. Do you experience God as Abba, Father, or as a harsh judge? Do you know him as your trusted Daddy, or do you fear his wrath? God desires to sit at our family birthday parties and share the joy.
