Lent devotional

Forsaken, Yet …

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever felt betrayed or forsaken? Life can be full of little rejections and large betrayals that leave us feeling adrift and unloved. Abandonment by family or friends is a terrible blow that can leave you so far down, you can’t even imagine getting up again. Have you ever experienced that? I have.

King David certainly felt this way, as his life was filled with strife and trials, mostly of his own making. In our Psalm today, he cried out to God about his plight, and began with the terrible cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1) It is one thing to be forgotten by a friend or undermined by a colleague, but to feel that God has abandoned you is a soul-shattering thing. Yet these very words were uttered by our Lord on the cross in his moment of agony.

But in the second half of this psalm, David has come around to the reality that God never leaves us or forsakes us. He gives us permission to feel this way for a time, but strongly asserts that God never despises or abhors us in our times of sin and trial: God will never hide his face from us, and always hears us.

Psalm 22 (New King James Version)

I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But when He cried to Him, He heard.

I think this says a lot about doubt. Some people believe that doubting God is a sin. David says otherwise. This psalm assures us that there will be times when we are unsure of God’s activity in our mess, but we are never forsaken. Everyone who seeks God will find God. The poor and the prosperous alike will eat and be satisfied:

25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!

27 All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the [nations
Shall worship before You.
28 For the kingdom is the Lord’s,
And He rules over the nations.

29 All the prosperous of the earth
Shall eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust
Shall bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep himself alive.

In the end, God is God. Jesus promised us at his own leaving that he is with us always, even to the very ends of the earth. So if you are struggling with your faith today, take heart! God is here. God is with you. God is working things out for you.

30 A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
31 They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this.

So while you wait in your trial, take time to remember God’s righteousness. Bow before him and worship his name. You are precious to him, and he will never abandon you.

God With Us by Michelle Robertson

Walk With Me

Posted on by Betsy

About a hundred years ago (!) I walked down a church aisle toward a much-too-young Navy Ensign as he stood waiting for me at the altar of the little chapel at the Philadelphia Navy Base. He was nervous, I was nervous, but we said our vows with integrity and hope, and we’ve been walking together for all these (100+) years. Walking with someone “til death do you part” is a high and holy privilege and blessing, one which I have never taken for granted. Marriage is fragile. Marriage is holy. Marriage is filled with challenges and triumphs. If you’re married and you still like your spouse, give me an “Amen!”

Life can be a series of walking with people through wilderness times. I have a dear friend with whom I have walked for over a decade through extreme life challenges. I walked through cancer with my oldest daughter. I have walked with family members who were caught up in sudden storms. Numerous people have walked the way of suffering with me over the years, and I’m sure it is the same with you. God intentionally calls us to walk beside others as we make our way through every valley and high mountain.

Today’s lectionary passage describes a time when God chose Abram to walk a new path with him. This startling invitation set into motion the beginnings of the nation of Israel and the journey of promises that led them through the Promised Land all the way to the Messiah. Notice that God first identifies himself, and then immediately issues the invitation to covenant:

Genesis 17 (Common English Bible)

17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Walk with me and be trustworthy. 2 I will make a covenant between us and I will give you many, many descendants.” 3 Abram fell on his face, and God said to him, 4 “But me, my covenant is with you; you will be the ancestor of many nations. 

There were many times when I felt that God invited me to walk with him into a new facet of ministry, but this call to Abram is mind-blowing. I can’t even imagine how he felt, and how confusing it must have been. No wonder he fell on his face!

5 And because I have made you the ancestor of many nations, your name will no longer be Abram but Abraham. 6 I will make you very fertile. I will produce nations from you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will set up my covenant with you and your descendants after you in every generation as an enduring covenant. I will be your God and your descendants’ God after you.

A change of name was in order and was significant. God identifies himself as El Shaddai and almost immediately changes Abram’s identity to Abraham. Sarai becomes Sarah, and it signified to the world that their role and purpose changed. Much like the moment of marriage where I took my husband’s last name, the old identity was severed, and a new relationship took over. While I never ceased being Fred and Nancy’s daughter, I now was marked as a member of the Haas clan and the wife of the nervous Ensign. Indeed, I made a covenant agreement to take on my new family and was identified as such.

15 God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you will no longer call her Sarai. Her name will now be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and even give you a son from her. I will bless her so that she will become nations, and kings of peoples will come from her.”

Is God calling you to walk alongside someone who needs your love and support? Are you being invited to take on a new identity and be known in a new way? Is he inviting you to a covenant agreement with him?

Say yes. Walking with God wherever he leads you is a sure pathway to peace.

You’ll Never Walk Alone by Michelle Robertson

VaLENTine

Posted on by Betsy

The confluence of Ash Wednesday falling on Valentine’s Day is an interesting thing for believers. I have seen pictures of foreheads decorated with ash hearts rather than the traditional ash crosses as a way to merge the two. Churches have had to consider the timing of an evening Ash Wednesday service that now falls on one of the busiest restaurant nights of the year. Can romance and repentance fill the same spot? For me, the clash of two unlikely events is more practical. What if my husband decides to give me a heart-shaped box filled with chocolates, and I have decided to give up chocolate for Lent? Do I eat the entire box on the way to church? If you know me, you know I’m up for it!

Yet both events focus our attention on love, and that’s never a bad thing.

Our reading on this Ash Wednesday is the traditional call to repentance that Lent emphasizes. Remember the Lent is the 40 day period of preparation for the celebration of Easter. (There are actually 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. We are invited to cease our Lenten practices on the Sundays, as Sunday is always a celebration of the resurrection. Thus, I could conceivably eat my chocolates on those six Sundays.)

Lent invites us to fast, pray, read Scripture, meditate, serve, give, worship, repent, and go through a process of self-examination. These Lenten disciplines, if practiced with dedication, will deepen our spiritual understanding and appreciation of the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf on the cross.

Joel 2 (Common English Bible)

 Blow the horn in Zion;
    give a shout on my holy mountain!
Let all the people of the land tremble,
    for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is near—
2     a day of darkness and no light,
    a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread out upon the mountains,
    a great and powerful army comes,
        unlike any that has ever come before them,
        or will come after them in centuries ahead.

Immediately we feel the dark intensity of the season falling upon us. Lent is serious. Lent is somber. Lent is sacred.

12 Yet even now, says the Lord,
    return to me with all your hearts,
        with fasting, with weeping, and with sorrow;
13 tear your hearts
        and not your clothing.
    Return to the Lord your God,
        for he is merciful and compassionate,
        very patient, full of faithful love,
            and ready to forgive.

And yet, we are invited to return with all our hearts. If Lent is a process of asking God to do “heart surgery” on us, it is also a time to realize that his great Surgeon’s hands will also repair and restore.

14 Who knows whether he will have a change of heart
    and leave a blessing behind him,
    a grain offering and a drink offering
            for the Lord your God?
15 Blow the horn in Zion;
        demand a fast;
        request a special assembly.
16 Gather the people;
        prepare a holy meeting;
        assemble the elders;
        gather the children,
            even nursing infants.
Let the groom leave his room
        and the bride her chamber.

I pray that you will join a gathering of people tonight in a church that is having an Ash Wednesday service. I promise you, there is no better way to begin Lent.

17 Between the porch and the altar
        let the priests, the Lord’s ministers, weep.
    Let them say, “Have mercy, Lord, on your people,
        and don’t make your inheritance a disgrace,
        an example of failure among the nations.
    Why should they say among the peoples,
        ‘Where is their God?’”

We will find God together every day in this season. May we practice a holy Lent together.

Return to Me by Hannah Cornish

Eternal Covenant

Posted on by Betsy

Think for a moment about your deepest loyalty. Is it a person, place, or thing? Is the connection so strong, absolutely nothing could make you betray or walk away from it? People feel loyal to many things: institutions, marriages, family, ideals, their country, their church … what is it for you?

Today we are stepping into the “Way-back Machine” and traveling all the way back to the time of Noah and the great flood. There are many lessons in this passage, but I want to focus on our understanding of the word “covenant.” At its core, a covenant relationship expresses a connection so powerful, nothing could break it. It is a reciprocal promise, an unbreakable trust, an iron-clad commitment, and a loyalty so concrete, both parties can count on it indefinately .

Genesis 9 (Common English Bible)

8-11 Then God spoke to Noah and his sons: “I’m setting up my covenant with you including your children who will come after you, along with everything alive around you—birds, farm animals, wild animals—that came out of the ship with you. I’m setting up my covenant with you that never again will everything living be destroyed by floodwaters; no, never again will a flood destroy the Earth.”

12-16 God continued, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and everything living around you and everyone living after you. I’m putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth. From now on, when I form a cloud over the Earth and the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll remember my covenant between me and you and everything living, that never again will floodwaters destroy all life. When the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll see it and remember the eternal covenant between God and everything living, every last living creature on Earth.”

17 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I’ve set up between me and everything living on the Earth.”

After making the violent but necessary correction of flooding his creation, God starts humanity over again on the basis of a covenant. He makes an indelible promise that no matter how bad things get, he won’t destroy all life again. People might argue that we are living in bad times right now and deserve punishment, but our covenant God has promised not to destroy his creation, but to redeem it. Indeed, he went on to send his only Son for that very purpose. His rock-solid promises are just that: rock solid.

We don’t have anything in life that is as immovable as our God. Institutions will fail. People will let you down. Relationships change. Ideals waver and fade under pressure. Everything is dust in the wind … except God.

I hope that brings you comfort today. Our covenant God will never leave us or forsake us. There is nothing we can do that would separate us from his great love through Jesus Christ.

Romans 8 (Common English Bible)

35 Who will separate us from Christ’s love? Will we be separated by trouble, or distress, or harassment, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?36 As it is written,

We are being put to death all day long for your sake.
    We are treated like sheep for slaughter.

37 But in all these things we win a sweeping victory through the one who loved us. 38 I’m convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord: not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers 39 or height or depth, or any other thing that is created.

Nothing.

Even when we break the covenant with him, we can always return and come back. This is the way of repentance. True repentance restores the covenant, through the forgiveness of sins.

Have you walked away from your covenant God? Come home, rebel.

The Way Back by Hannah Cornish

ReLENTless Devotion

Posted on by Betsy

I am very happy to announce that my book, ReLENTless Devotion, has just been published. This book contains 40 days of Lent devotionals and a special Easter Sunday meditation. Lent begins on February 14th this year.

The season of Lent is a time of reflection, renewal, and re-examination. God invites us to do “heart surgery” during the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday in an effort to move deeper in our relationship with Christ. As we contemplate the journey to the cross that Jesus made on our behalf, we will learn and grow through our time spent in God’s word.

God invites us to walk through these days together and remember and read the Messianic prophesies, the poetic voices of the Psalms, hear from the Gospel writers of their first-hand observations of their friend and teacher, and contemplate Jesus’ own words. Each day’s reading offers a brief Scripture, an engaging reflection, and a daily prayer. It is hoped that by the time Easter arrives, we will be rededicated in our Lenten disciplines of study, meditation, fasting, service, prayer, repentance, and self-examination.

Lent is a time to come clean with God.

I hope you will join me as we endeavor to observe a Holy Lent together this year.

ReLENTless Devotion is now available at Amazon.

Inch by Inch

Posted on by Betsy

“Step by step, inch by inch…” this phrase from an old Three Stooges movie reminds me of how some people approach faith. There is nothing wrong with a methodical process, says the Methodist minister! Did you know that the term “Methodist” was given to the Wesley brothers at Oxford? The other students used it as a term of derision, noting how methodical the brothers were in their piety. Centuries later, it is still our identifying characteristic. We proudly approach our faith in a methodical way. Pursuing incremental progress toward a goal ensures that you continue to move forward, and that’s a good thing.

We are invited to practice spiritual disciplines as we participate in the serious work of moving step by step, inch by inch toward the goal of growing closer to God. Lent is not quite over yet!

Today’s reading introduces us to a step-by-step approach to prayer.

Philippians 1:1-6 (Common English Bible)


1 From Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus.

To all those in Philippi who are God’s people in Christ Jesus, along with your supervisors and servants.

2 May the grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

3 I thank my God every time I mention you in my prayers. 4 I’m thankful for all of you every time I pray, and it’s always a prayer full of joy. 5 I’m glad because of the way you have been my partners in the ministry of the gospel from the time you first believed it until now. 

6 I’m sure about this: the one who started a good work in you will stay with you to complete the job by the day of Christ Jesus.

Paul was methodical in his prayers and always started with thanksgiving, as we see here. This is key, as it focuses us on God’s activity in our lives and in the lives of the people for whom we pray. When we concentrate on thanking God first for the blessings that are poured out, it helps us focus on God’s power before we even begin with our list of wants and needs. Giving thanks at the beginning of each prayer puts us in a spirit of praise, joy, gratitude, and humility. We remember how good God is.

The second step is intercession, where we “mention others” and petition God for the needs of others and ourselves. We ask God to intervene in our lives and our situations to bring healing, mercy, comfort, and grace. We are reminded that we exist in fellowship and connection with others. By putting the needs of others before our own, we focus on the mercy of God, and practice the type of humility Jesus taught from the cross.

A natural third step is confession, a necessary part of every prayer. We confess our distance from the righteousness to which we are called. We confess our willfulness. We confess our sins. We confess it all in the sure and certain knowledge that God hears our confessions and cleanses us of our sins. Confession focuses our attention on the forgiveness of God.

And then we finish with a doxology, or a word of praise. God is worthy of our praise every day, and it’s important to let God know that! We praise God, from whom all blessings flow, and that moment reminds us that we are not self-reliant, but indeed we rely on God for everything that we have and need. Praise focuses us on the joyfulness of worshipping God.

Try this pattern in your prayer time this week. Remember that God always answers our prayers, so be persistent. Prayer changes things…mostly it changes us.

Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow by Michelle Robertson

The Promise of Joy

Posted on by Betsy

Let’s start today’s devotional with a riddle. Question: A cowboy rides into town on Friday and stays for three days. He rides out on Friday. How is this possible?

Answer: His horse’s name is Friday.

Groan!

Today’s reading is like a stepping into a riddle that Jesus gave his disciples just before the events of the crucifixion took place. Question: How can Jesus promise that in a little while they will no longer see him but then again in a little while they will see him? Answer: Jesus will be crucified and die, and so they won’t see him. But then he will be resurrected, so they will see him again, and their joy will be made complete. That joy will be so sure, nobody will be able to take it away from them, or us, ever again.

John 16:17-22 (Common English Bible)

17 Some of Jesus’ disciples said to each other, “What does he mean: ‘Soon you won’t see me, and soon after that you will see me’ and ‘Because I’m going to the Father’? 18 What does he mean by ‘soon’? We don’t understand what he’s talking about.”

19 Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, so he said, “Are you trying to find out from each other what I meant when I said, ‘Soon you won’t see me, and soon after that you will see me’? 20 I assure you that you will cry and lament, and the world will be happy. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 

21 When a woman gives birth, she has pain because her time has come. But when the child is born, she no longer remembers her distress because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. 22 In the same way, you have sorrow now; but I will see you again, and you will be overjoyed. No one takes away your joy.

 Of all of God’s promises to us, this promise of eternal life through the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ is the one we can count on the most. There is no riddle to this. This promise comes with a washing away of our sins that is so complete we are made into a new creation. This promise comes with the guarantee that the troubles and the burdens of this world will be lifted from us, and we will walk in the purity of God’s grace. This promise comes with the certainty that we will sit at Jesus’ feet in eternity and bask in the glow of his teachings. This promise seals us as children of God. 

And so the sorrows of the world will be turned into joy. Notice that the promise is not that sorrow is replaced by joy, but it will be changed into joy, which carries with it the promise of being able to forget what the sorrow even was once it is no more. Like a mother in labor, the pain and sorrow of giving birth turns into the joy of holding a new life in your arms. This was my experience, and I was grateful for the “obstetrical amnesia” that turned pain into joy, … which was the only reason I had a second child!

What does this say to you today? Are you carrying a deep sorrow that you desperately need to turn over to the Lord? Jesus’ promise that he would see his disciples again turned out to be true. When he appeared to them in the Upper Room and on the shore of the sea of Tiberias, they were filled with a permanent joy that obliterated all of their sadness and confusion at his death. It is important to note that none of them ever wrote about Jesus’ death with regret. Their words reflect the great joy that the resurrection brought to the world. There is no riddle in that.

One of Jesus’ last promises was that he will be with us always, even to the end of the earth. That is one promise we can count on. Jesus is here; Jesus is near; bring your sorrow to him that you may find joy.

Waves of Joy by Michelle Robertson

Clap Your Hands

Posted on by Betsy

     One of the joys of raising babies is teaching them simple forms of expression. When a baby can imitate smiling, waving, and clapping, you know they are on their way toward higher forms of communication.

     I play the “clappity clap clap” game with my grandbabies and I love to sing and clap with them. They take this skill into other places, and soon learn to clap when food is presented, when a sibling is being silly, or when they simply are happy. Our youngest set of twins are almost one, and I can envision that joyful first birthday party with its colorful balloons, their first messy bites of cake, and a lot of clapping … mostly by me.

     Why don’t we clap more? Clapping is a natural response to something that feels good. We clap and shout at football games, at the end of a great theater performance, and when the bad guy gets caught in a movie, but many of us were taught that clapping and shouting in church are things we shouldn’t do.

     I think the Scriptures say otherwise. Today’s reading starts with the direction to “Clap your hands, all you people!” It could hardly be clearer than this! The psalm was written for the music leader and the sons of Korah, who were Levite priests. We can assume that this joyful song of victory was presented in the tabernacle and temple ceremonies as victories were being celebrated. Thus the people of God were invited to clap, shout, and sing in the context of worship.

Psalm 47


Clap your hands, all you people!
    Shout joyfully to God with a joyous shout!
2 Because the Lord Most High is awesome,
    he is the great king of the whole world.
3 He subdues the nations under us,
    subdues all people beneath our feet.
4 He chooses our inheritance for us:
    the heights of Jacob, which he loves. Selah

5 God has gone up with a joyous shout—
    the Lord with the blast of the ram’s horn.
6 Sing praises to God! Sing praises!
    Sing praises to our king! Sing praises
7     because God is king of the whole world!
    Sing praises with a song of instruction!

8 God is king over the nations.
    God sits on his holy throne.
9 The leaders of all people are gathered
    with the people of Abraham’s God
    because the earth’s guardians belong to God;
        God is exalted beyond all.

     Worship should always be a joyful experience. In verses 6 and 7 the phrase “sing praise” is used five times, just so we get the point. We have so much to celebrate! God is the king over all the earth. God has subdued the nations under Israel. God sits on the holy throne and reigns from on high. Everyone and everything belongs to God.

     How easy it is to see the messianic prophecy in this psalm, and easier still to see Jesus as the fulfillment. Jesus went up with a “joyous shout” (verse 5) at his ascension and will come again to be “king over the nations” (verse 8). For this alone, we rejoice.

     I think worship should feel like a child’s first birthday party. Noise makers, hand clapping, singing, and joy should be a part of our experience whenever we gather together as God’s assembly. Every week!

     How do you worship? Do you go into a service with anticipatory joy or a sense of obligation? Do you feel the pure happiness that comes from being in God’s presence, or are you distracted by your worries as you sit down?

     We are invited to praise God with joy. God is worthy of our praise! We can’t praise enough.

Sing Praise by Michelle Robertson

Hope Wins

Posted on by Betsy

Today is Wednesday.

I type that with the certainty of a person who thought it was Wednesday all day yesterday. I got up, edited and published my Wednesday devotional and then suddenly remembered it was Tuesday. I went to my Tuesday staff meeting (thank God for that brief moment of clarity!) and then went to pick up my dog from the vet in the afternoon. Then at 5:00 I told my husband that it was time for our Wednesday night family ZOOM call. But it was still Tuesday.

Lest you think I was having a day-long senior moment, (a reasonable guess) I need to explain my lack of focus. On Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church, my 13 -year-old Labrador Retriever collapsed. I called some friends to help me get her in the car. I was able to check her in to an Animal Hospital, and with the very kind and knowledgeable help of Dr. Grossman, she was diagnosed with Vestibular Disease, and we brought her home late Tuesday afternoon. She is wobbly but well.

Those three days were a nightmare for me. I got a harsh reminder of what grief and anxiety feel like. From Sunday morning until she wobbled through the door yesterday, I was in physical and emotional pain. My chest and stomach actually hurt, and I could not keep my mind from going to all of the worst situations. I could not sleep, nor could I eat. Driving up the driveway knowing she would not be running to greet me at the door rendered me paralyzed to the point that I could not get out of the car for fifteen minutes that first day.

Yesterday morning, on my Wednesday/your Tuesday, I woke up to a much too quiet house and proceeded to upload my Wednesday devotional. My mind was spinning, but luckily, I had written it last week. As I worked on it, a large robin red breast perched on the railing right outside my window and sang his beautiful song to me. I stopped and watched him, thanking God for this gift of rare beauty in the midst of my emotional tsunami fog.I felt my heart lift just a tiny bit and I allowed my mind to envision bringing Georgia home and things returning to normal.

In other words, I began to feel hope.

We finally got the call that she had recovered enough to be brought home and I began to feel the deep knot unknot itself. Hope was then affirmed by spotting another red-breasted robin sitting on a hedge outside the vet’s office. God had been with me all along and these two bird sightings were like a sweet tap on the shoulder as he reminded me that he had never left me in those long hours of uncertainty.

Hope is the antidote to grief. Hope stands in the boxing ring with anxiety with its gloved fists raised and yells, “Give me your best shot.” Hope wipes out the fear of the worst thing happening. In the end, hope wins. Even if the worst thing had happened and we lost Georgia, I was reminded that thanks to the hope we have in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, I could look forward to that day of seeing her again, whole and restored. And ornery. Always ornery.

When we first got Georgia as a thirteen-week-old puppy, a vet told us that large pure bred dogs like her had a life expectancy of 8 to 12 years. She is thirteen and I know we are living on bonus time. The last three days were just a dress rehearsal for her inevitable curtain call. But somehow, I know that when it happens, peace will come at some point as I anticipate the reality of being reunited again.

Isaiah wrote a lot about hope, and this Scripture describes how I felt … except instead of eagles, I got robins:

Isaiah 40:31 (New Revised Standard Version)

But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

I don’t know what battles of hopelessness you are facing today, but I pray you will take this Scripture to heart. It is hard to wait when you don’t know the outcome, but Jesus reminded us that he is with us wherever we go, even to the land of hopelessness. So hang on! Your Redeemer comes.

Happier Days

Layer by Layer

Posted on by Betsy

The practice of art restoration is fascinating. Normal decay, neglect, pollution, and the ravages of time take their toll on paintings, making them dull and even hard to see. Trained restorers can bring a painting back to life by slowly and carefully cleaning and removing layers of dirt and grime in order to reveal the details and colors of the artwork underneath.

     The restorer must be careful in their work. Using the wrong solvent to remove varnish might also remove the paint. It can take up to six months to restore just one inch of a painting. 

     Scripture study works in much the same way. A trained instructor can help us uncover layers of meaning by revealing the history, culture, and conditions of the time that the Scripture was written, giving clarity and understanding. 

     This is the work of the Holy Spirit when we read a Bible passage. How many times do you sit down to read something you’ve heard and read a hundred times and suddenly you hear something new? This happens all the time to me. Daily Bible study is imperative for bringing the fresh word of God into our lives. Like a master restorer, God reveals meaning and nuance to us with each reading. 

     And sometimes, it hurts. Sometimes that fresh reading brings a new word of conviction or rebuke that must be dealt with in our lives. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that every Scripture is useful for teaching, revealing mistakes, correcting, and for training character. 

     When we are convicted by the Holy Spirit that it is time to repent, it would be good to remember what the people of Israel experienced when the Law was read once again after a long silence. When they heard God’s instruction and understood it, it caused them to weep. But the Levites and the priests who taught them instructed them to not be sad, but to rejoice. They were told that joy of the Lord was their strength (verse 10). A second chance was at hand. The day was proclaimed to be holy, and weeping and grieving were to cease. God’s word had been revealed and all who heard it could see and understand it clearly.

Nehemiah 8:7-12

7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah[a]—helped the people to understand the Instruction while the people remained in their places. 8 They read aloud from the scroll, the Instruction from God, explaining and interpreting it so the people could understand what they heard.

9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all of the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Don’t mourn or weep.” They said this because all the people wept when they heard the words of the Instruction.

10 “Go, eat rich food, and drink something sweet,” he said to them, “and send portions of this to any who have nothing ready! This day is holy to our Lord. Don’t be sad, because the joy from the Lord is your strength!”

11 The Levites also calmed all of the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy. Don’t be sad!” 12 Then all of the people went to eat and to drink, to send portions, and to have a great celebration, because they understood what had been said to them.

     We who read the Word that was God in Christ Jesus have even more reason to rejoice. While our sin is great and causes us to weep, his salvation is even greater, bringing us joy. Every time we sit down and study God’s word, we are given an opportunity for a new beginning, and that indeed is a cause for celebration.     

Having heard the word revealed, the people chose to rejoice and feasting and sharing commenced. So too should it be for us today, as we celebrate the Scripture made new in our lives and go forth to reveal it to others. God is the master painter! May his work be revealed in us.

God’s Artwork by Michelle Robertson