lenten disciplines

Irritable and Cross

Posted on by Betsy

Raise your hand if you thought the title is referring to how I woke up this morning…haha! Fortunately, it is a bright and sunny day here on the Outer Banks but that’s not to say that there are times when we wake up irritable and cross. What do you do to remove that dark cloud when it happens to you? When those around you are irritable and cross…say, your children/spouse/co-workers…how do you react?

In today’s passage we see God “reaching his very last nerve,” as we say in the South. The children of Israel had been set free by the power of his own hand. They were being delivered into a Promised Land of milk and honey that he provided. They were safe, whole, and free.

And irritable. And cross. And wholly ungrateful.

Hence, the last nerve.

Their constant complaining reached a point that exacerbated even the patience of God. When their shouts of “why did you free us from beatings, starvation, and slavery just to have to eat this lousy food” became too much, God responded.

Numbers 21 (The Message)

4-5 They set out from Mount Hor along the Red Sea Road, a detour around the land of Edom. The people became irritable and cross as they traveled. They spoke out against God and Moses: “Why did you drag us out of Egypt to die in this godforsaken country? No decent food; no water—we can’t stomach this stuff any longer.”

6-7 So God sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit them and many in Israel died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke out against God and you. Pray to God; ask him to take these snakes from us.”

The extreme reaction of God sending biting snakes might catch you off guard today. We tend to focus on God as our “forever friend” so much that we belittle his right and need to discipline his children in the way that he sees fit. But read on:

Moses prayed for the people.

8 God said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it on a flagpole: Whoever is bitten and looks at it will live.”

9 So Moses made a snake of fiery copper and put it on top of a flagpole. Anyone bitten by a snake who then looked at the copper snake lived.

Even in this, God redeems his people. He fashions a substitute that would take on the sins of the nation and cheat death. He raises up a coppery snake as an atonement for sin. Why? Because the people repented. The leadership prayed for mercy. They confessed their sin.

If a metal snake on a flagpole can do this under God’s authority, how much more powerful is the action of Christ raised on a pole of wood? When God sent his son as a substitute offering for your sin, he guaranteed your eternal life.

So turn your eyes upon Jesus. Confess, repent, and believe. There you will find forgiveness that ensures that you will live forever and sin will no longer be able to bite you to death.

Promised Land by Debby Fox

The Redeemed

Posted on by Betsy

What does it mean to be redeemed?

When you study the roots of the word you will find phrases like “buy back,” “win back,” and “to free from captivity by payment of ransom.” This last definition gets to the heart of the matter in a theological sense. Your very soul was freed when Jesus paid a ransom for it on the cross. YOU are one of the redeemed.

In our Psalm today, we receive instructions on what the redeemed should do. This is a terrific reminder in this season of Lent when we are trying to be more disciplined in spiritual matters. How do you measure up?

Here is what the psalmist suggests:

Give thanks to the Lord,

Say that his faithful love lasts forever,

Cry out to the Lord in your distress,

Offer thanksgiving sacrifices,

Declare what God has done,

Sing songs of joy!

Psalm 107 (Common English Bible)

“Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,
        because his faithful love lasts forever!”
2 That’s what those who are redeemed by the Lord say,
    the ones God redeemed from the power of their enemies,
3     the ones God gathered from various countries,
    from east and west, north and south.

Some of the redeemed were fools because of their sinful ways.
    They suffered because of their wickedness.
18 They had absolutely no appetite for food;
    they had arrived at death’s gates.
19 So they cried out to the Lord in their distress,
    and God saved them from their desperate circumstances.
20 God gave the order and healed them;
    he rescued them from their pit.
21 Let them thank the Lord for his faithful love
    and his wondrous works for all people.
22 Let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices
    and declare what God has done in songs of joy!

This psalm was written during the time when God redeemed the nation of Israel from captivity in Babylon. They had cried out and were heard. They suffered because of their wickedness and were delivered. They were sick to death and were healed of their desperate circumstances. God redeemed his people.

Our challenge today is to choose one of the things that the redeemed do, and go out and do it. Can you offer a thanksgiving sacrifice by paying for someone’s order in the line behind you? Can you call or text a friend and remind them of God’s faithful love? Perhaps you might sing a song of joy to the Lord today as you take a walk or spend extra time in prayer offering nothing but thanks.

We are the redeemed. We are his people. We are bought and paid for by the shed blood of the atonement. Give thanks!

Let all the redeemed say so.

Waiting for Sunrise by Michelle Robertson

Easter Eggs

Posted on by Betsy

Movie-goers love to find “Easter eggs” hidden in scenes of popular films. Easter Eggs are hints or clues that reference a less obvious part the story. These hidden messages are fun to hunt and act almost as love letters from the movie’s creators to their fan base. Alfred Hitchcock often appeared as an extra in the first five minutes of his films. Fans love to try to spot him. “Catch Me If You Can” is the story about Frank Abagnale’s defrauding the government out of millions of dollars. The real Frank Abagnale appears as a cop in the scene where his character (played by Leo DiCaprio) is arrested. Caught ya, Frank!

In a similar way, the scriptures are full of Easter Eggs that reveal clues and hints about the nature of God. I have always thought that the Bible is one big love letter from the Director. These glimpses of his character are meant to reveal him to us.

See if you spot any Easter Eggs in this very famous passage.

John 3 (Common English Bible)

14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the Human One be lifted up15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. 16 God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. 17 God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him isn’t judged; whoever doesn’t believe in him is already judged, because they don’t believe in the name of God’s only Son.

In writing to the Jews, John deliberately takes them back to the time of Moses’ authority. Moses is the hero of their faith. Moses led them out of slavery into the Promised Land. Moses defeated Pharaoh. Moses gave them freedom. The symbol of the raised snake on the pole was a sign of deliverance.

Easter egg: Jesus is the new hero. Jesus will lead his people to an eternal promise. Jesus defeated death. Jesus gives us freedom. The symbol of Jesus raised on the cross is a sign of deliverance.

Jesus is the new Moses…only better.

19 “This is the basis for judgment: The light came into the world, and people loved darkness more than the light, for their actions are evil. 20 All who do wicked things hate the light and don’t come to the light for fear that their actions will be exposed to the light. 21 Whoever does the truth comes to the light so that it can be seen that their actions were done in God.”

John loved to write about light and dark. It is a dominant theme in his book. In this passage he helps us understand that sin traps us in the darkness of evil. But here is the Easter Egg: Christ is the Light of the world, a light no one can extinguish. ALL the world (not only the Jews…surprise!) may come out of the dark and live in his Light. And surprise! When God sees your actions through the Light of Christ, he won’t condemn you for your sin. He will save you from it.

God so loved the world that he sent his only son. This is his enduring plan to save us all. Thanks be to God.

That the World Through Him Might Be Saved by Karen Warlitner

The Power of Love

Posted on by Betsy

The power of guilt is something that can overtake an entire life and crush it with the strength of an oncoming avalanche. I saw this firsthand at a women’s retreat I attended many years ago. A participant sought me out after a very emotional worship experience where people were invited to give over their guilt, sins, burdens, and shame in an act of “dying moments.” The invitation was to process those life-long secrets and figuratively place them at the foot of the cross and “die to them” by letting them go.

This particular woman had about twenty years worth of crushing heaviness to lift up. She told me her story in gasps and sobs as we sat under a piano until 3 a.m. It included drug and alcohol abuse, criminal activity, adultery, an abortion she had never told anyone about, and the eventual loss of her marriage and children. It all came spilling out that night. She was dead inside.

Ephesians 2 (Common English Bible)

2 At one time you were like a dead person because of the things you did wrong and your offenses against God. 2 You used to live like people of this world. You followed the rule of a destructive spiritual power. This is the spirit of disobedience to God’s will that is now at work in persons whose lives are characterized by disobedience. 3 At one time you were like those persons. All of you used to do whatever felt good and whatever you thought you wanted so that you were children headed for punishment just like everyone else.

This is exactly where this woman was in her journey. She had lived a life of disobedience to God’s will. She spent her life doing things that “felt good” and subsequently lost her life to those things.

4-5 However, God is rich in mercy. He brought us to life with Christ while we were dead as a result of those things that we did wrong. He did this because of the great love that he has for us. You are saved by God’s grace! 6 And God raised us up and seated us in the heavens with Christ Jesus. 7 God did this to show future generations the greatness of his grace by the goodness that God has shown us in Christ Jesus.

And so here she was sitting with a strange pastor in the middle of the night and it all came out. Her greatest struggle was believing that with all that she had done, God would still be able to forgive her. She kept saying that her behavior was unforgivable. She was unredeemable. She was “unworthy.”

8 You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith. This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. 9 It’s not something you did that you can be proud of. 10 Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.

When she had finally exhausted herself, I calmly asked her if she thought that she was stronger or greater than Jesus. The question took her aback and she said no, of course not. I went on to explain that there is no sin greater than his activity on the cross and so it takes a certain kind of arrogance to think that OUR sin is the one so great and unforgivable that his death couldn’t obliterate it forever. To Jesus, she IS that worthy.

Otherwise the cross is a joke.

The next day, this woman woke up and knew for the first time in her life that she was forgiven, redeemed, and freed of her sins. She was a brand new creation in Christ. Hallelujah!

We are God’s accomplishment. Salvation is not something we possess on our own. It’s not something we did and now we can be proud of ourselves. And the opposite is true: there is nothing we’ve done that is so bad it can’t be forgiven. That’s the power of love.

You were created in Christ Jesus to do good things. Receive his forgiveness and go forth in your new life.

Cleansed by the Water by Jess Spiegelblatt

Gladdening the Heart

Posted on by Betsy

What rules did you have to obey as a kid? Every family establishes its own set of house rules so that order is maintained and fairness is achieved. In my house, there were rules around homework, bedtime, respect for one another, taking turns, and not chewing with your mouth open. That last one was so strongly enforced that, as an adult, I have had to walk away from people who chew with their mouths open. There is some remnant of a childhood aversion in my spirit that makes me not be able to tolerate the breaking of this particular rule, as though a punishment is going to come down from heaven and I don’t want to be any part of that.

Plus, it’s gross!

We appreciate the safety net that society’s rules and regulations place around us. Don’t speed. Don’t run though red lights. Place your trash cans on the curb on certain days. No swimming without lifeguards. Rules are good for us.

In today’s Psalm, David celebrates the laws and instructions that God has laid down for his people. David knows firsthand the chaos and devastation that come when you break the rules, as he personally violated all of the Ten Commandments and experienced the misery of living outside of God’s safety and provision.

Psalm 19 (Common English Bible)

The Lord’s Instruction is perfect,
    reviving one’s very being.
The Lord’s laws are faithful,
    making naive people wise.
8 The Lord’s regulations are right,
    gladdening the heart.
The Lord’s commands are pure,
    giving light to the eyes.
9 Honoring the Lord is correct,
    lasting forever.
The Lord’s judgments are true.
    All of these are righteous!
10 They are more desirable than gold—
        than tons of pure gold!
    They are sweeter than honey—
        even dripping off the honeycomb!

David’s love of the law almost goes overboard here. He declares that the law is more desirable than tons of gold and sweeter than honey dripping off the honeycomb. As we say, there is nothing stronger than the testimony of a reformed sinner! He has seen both sides of the law and knows that staying on the right side of it is far preferable to the punishment that comes from breaking it. Remember, he lost a son because of his sin.

11 No doubt about it:
    your servant is enlightened by them;
    there is great reward in keeping them.
12 But can anyone know
    what they’ve accidentally done wrong?
    Clear me of any unknown sin
13         and save your servant from willful sins.
        Don’t let them rule me.
Then I’ll be completely blameless;
    I’ll be innocent of great wrongdoing.

David’s plea to be cleared of any unknown sin is a reminder to us today to be diligent in reading God’s instruction for our lives. During Lent, we are called to immerse ourselves in scripture everyday. This is a call that will last past Easter and should be the “rule of law” for every day of our lives.

So good for you…you have read scripture today! Like David, we are enlightened by studying God’s commands. Our hearts are gladdened when we read and obey.

Gladdened Hearts by Jessica Spiegelblatt

Again

Posted on by Betsy

March in the Outer Banks is a confused and confusing month. Half winter, half spring, spits of windy days followed by spats of rainy days…it simply can’t make up its mind what season to be. Yet the beauty that surrounds me every waking day, regardless of the weather, is breathtaking. Even on the worst day, this place sings of God’s handiwork.

This beautiful song reinforces that notion that God’s creation has a language of its own. Heaven doesn’t need words. The sky can communicate without them. The days and nights proclaim God’s handiwork by their very existence. We are surrounded by evidence of God’s grace and glory.

In the presence of such majesty, words are unnecessary.

Psalm 19 (Common English Bible)

Heaven is declaring God’s glory;
    the sky is proclaiming his handiwork.
2 One day gushes the news to the next,
    and one night informs another what needs to be known.
3 Of course, there’s no speech, no words—
        their voices can’t be heard—
4     but their sound extends throughout the world;
        their words reach the ends of the earth.

When was the last time you stood outside and just reveled in God’s handiwork? With no other thought, petition, need, or want crowding your mind…just the experience of creation informing your soul of God’s presence?

God has made a tent in heaven for the sun.
5 The sun is like a groom
    coming out of his honeymoon suite;
    like a warrior, it thrills at running its course.
6 It rises in one end of the sky;
    its circuit is complete at the other.
        Nothing escapes its heat.

The sun rises every day, bringing light, heat, and the promise of new things. You can count on that, just as you can count on God’s presence in your situation. So no matter what you are going through right now, know this: God is with you. God is here. God redeems.

If you forgot that, just go outside and look up.

Again by Michelle Robertson

Sacred

Posted on by Betsy

What is sacred to you? Are there actions, behaviors, or things that you categorize as sacred and untouchable?

Things that people find sacred include marriage vows, children, sabbath practices, the language we use when we speak of God…we can attach holiness to any number of things. When we hold something as “sacred” we indicate its value and the prominence it takes in our lives.

The temple in Jerusalem was sacred to Jesus. It was his father’s house. It was a house of worship. It was a place where God resided. It was not to be violated or used for any other purpose than the worship of God.

John 2 (Contemporary English Version)

13 Not long before the Jewish festival of Passover, Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 There he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves in the temple. He also saw moneychangers sitting at their tables. 15 So he took some rope and made a whip. Then he chased everyone out of the temple, together with their sheep and cattle. He turned over the tables of the moneychangers and scattered their coins.

16 Jesus said to the people who had been selling doves, “Get those doves out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace.”

I remember a story that a former colleague once told of watching someone violate the sanctity of his church. It was at the end of a wedding, when people were still milling around the sanctuary waiting for pictures to be taken. (As a side note, I must confess that pastors often struggle with weddings and how they can become mere commercial venues for folks who have no notion of the sacredness of the space.) Such was the case that day, and my friend watched in horror as the father of the bride strode up the steps to the altar and lit a cigarette from the Christ candle. I haven’t seen this friend for over a decade, but I bet he still tells that story with the same sense of revulsion he felt when he observed it the first time.

Jesus felt the same revulsion at the loan sharks and money changers who charged exorbitant rates to lend money to people so they could buy overpriced animals for slaughter in the house that he loved. His actions that day remind us that we don’t have to put up with such violations in our sacred spots, whether they are physical locations or places in our hearts and minds. If someone is violating your spirit with their inappropriate words or behavior, throw them out of your life.

17 The disciples then remembered that the Scriptures say, “My love for your house burns in me like a fire.”

18 The Jewish leaders asked Jesus, “What miracle will you work to show us why you have done this?”

19 “Destroy this temple,” Jesus answered, “and in three days I will build it again!”

20 The leaders replied, “It took forty-six years to build this temple. What makes you think you can rebuild it in three days?”

21 But Jesus was talking about his body as a temple. 22 And when he was raised from death, his disciples remembered what he had told them. Then they believed the Scriptures and the words of Jesus.

This last part reminds us that even in his zeal to rid the temple of the merchants, Jesus ultimately acknowledges that he is the true temple. He is our church. He is our sacristy. He is our altar. Even after a temporary tear-down, he was rebuilt and raised from the dead. His words and his sacredness can never be defiled!

No matter what we build with our hands, the House of Jesus lasts forever.

Sacred Space by Kitty Hawk United Methodist Church

The Big Ten

Posted on by Betsy

No, this isn’t about football, although your girl here is a fan of her college team, which happens to be in the Big Ten…which has fourteen colleges in it. Strange math, if you ask me! But it lays the foundation for today’s devotional, which starts with the premise that God created a big ten of his own, to which Jesus effectively added an expansion that enhances, but does not eliminate, the original. I am talking, of course, about the Ten Commandments.

Some people have the mistaken idea that Jesus came to eradicate the original ten. They are wrong. While Jesus spoke against the minutiae of the many laws that were extra add-ons made by the rabbis of the day, the sanctity of the original ten remains paramount to this day.

Exodus 20 (Contemporary English Version)

 God said to the people of Israel:

2 I am the Lord your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt where you were slaves.

3 Do not worship any god except me.

4 Do not make idols that look like anything in the sky or on earth or in the ocean under the earth. 5 Don’t bow down and worship idols. I am the Lord your God, and I demand all your love. If you reject me, I will punish your families for three or four generations. 6 But if you love me and obey my laws, I will be kind to your families for thousands of generations.

7 Do not misuse my name. I am the Lord your God, and I will punish anyone who misuses my name.

8 Remember that the Sabbath Day belongs to me. 9 You have six days when you can do your work, 10 but the seventh day of each week belongs to me, your God. No one is to work on that day—not you, your children, your slaves, your animals, or the foreigners who live in your towns. 11 In six days I made the sky, the earth, the oceans, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That’s why I made the Sabbath a special day that belongs to me.

12 Respect your father and your mother, and you will live a long time in the land I am giving you.

13 Do not murder.

14 Be faithful in marriage.

15 Do not steal.

16 Do not tell lies about others.

17 Do not want anything that belongs to someone else. Don’t want anyone’s house, wife or husband, slaves, oxen, donkeys or anything else.

Seems pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? In Matthew, Jesus states that he has not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Then he says this:

John 13:34 (Common English Bible)

34 “I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other.”

Think for a moment what the world would be like if we obeyed everything on this list. Think for a moment how different things would be if we just obeyed the new commandment given by Jesus. Wouldn’t the rest of the ten simply fall into place?

Imagine how changed your conversations would be with your family if all of the world lived under these commandments. What would your office “water cooler” conversations sound like? Not being able to lie or covet would certainly change the neighborhood. Sundays would be reverent again. Marriages would stay intact, or die trying. False idols would be forbidden and not tolerated, let alone revered. Our reverence for God would increase, as would our witness in the world. If we loved each other the way Jesus loves us, harmony would reign.

As you continue along on your Lent journey, take a look at this passage again and see how you measure up. God’s Big Ten (plus) still speak to us today. Where is God calling you to obey?

Just as I Have Loved You by Deena Sharp

Lose your Life

Posted on by Betsy

In an earlier devotional, I referenced the story from Greek mythology of King Midas, who was granted a wish that everything he touched would turn to gold. Then he discovered that the food he needed to live could not be consumed, as it became gold the minute he touched it. I think this is a perfect allegory for what Jesus was talking about when he said, “Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives?” We are reminded that when we pursue worldly goods, ideas, agendas, and behaviors, we risk losing the eternal life to which all are called through Christ Jesus.

Take a look at this exchange between Jesus and his disciples:

Mark 8 (Common English Bible)

31 Then Jesus began to teach his disciples: “The Human One must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and the legal experts, and be killed, and then, after three days, rise from the dead.” 32 He said this plainly. But Peter took hold of Jesus and, scolding him, began to correct him. 33 Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, then sternly corrected Peter: “Get behind me, Satan. You are not thinking God’s thoughts but human thoughts.”

Peter is admonished for thinking “human thoughts.” What human thoughts do you engage in that are ungodly? What behaviors would condemn you as someone speaking for Satan? Is Jesus trying to correct something in your life today? Say NO to yourself.

34 After calling the crowd together with his disciples, Jesus said to them, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. 35 All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me and because of the good news will save them. 36 Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives?37 What will people give in exchange for their lives? 38 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this unfaithful and sinful generation, the Human One will be ashamed of that person when he comes in the Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

The invitation is to follow Jesus. That means saying NO to all of the unholy things we say, do, think, and participate in. Those things are not worthy of a holy life, and those things are not worthy of you. Jesus invites us to take up our cross and follow him, and in that way we will save our lives as we lose them…in other words, lose the secular lives we are living and gain eternal lives in Christ.

The call is real. The circumstance is dire. The time is upon us. Lose your life because of Jesus, and you will gain heaven itself. And that, my friends, is good news.

Take Up Your Cross

The Art of Listening

Posted on by Betsy

In a sermon I recently preached on the subject of prayer, I reminded the congregation that God gave us two ears and one mouth, which perhaps might be a hint that we should listen twice as much as we speak. I was applying this to prayer, but I think it could apply to everything else…our conversations, our arguments, our discussions with our family, our debates…there is nothing we do that wouldn’t be improved by more listening and less talking.

Listening is a way of God. Did you ever think about that? No matter what you take to him, he is guaranteed to listen to you. There is NOTHING you can say, no evil or destructive behavior you need to confess, no grudge so petty, no angry word expressed, that he won’t hear with loving concern. As the psalmist says, “He didn’t hide his face from me. No, he LISTENED when I cried out to him for help.”

Psalm 22 (Common English Bible)

All of you who revere the Lord—praise him!
    All of you who are Jacob’s descendants—honor him!
    All of you who are all Israel’s offspring—
        stand in awe of him!
24 Because he didn’t despise or detest
    the suffering of the one who suffered—
    he didn’t hide his face from me.
    No, he listened when I cried out to him for help.

For this alone, God is worthy of our praise. He inclines his ear to our suffering. He is found by those who seek him. He is worthy of the worship of all nations.

25 I offer praise in the great congregation
    because of you;
    I will fulfill my promises
    in the presence of those who honor God.
26 Let all those who are suffering eat and be full!
    Let all who seek the Lord praise him!
        I pray your hearts live forever!
27 Every part of the earth
    will remember and come back to the Lord;
    every family among all the nations will worship you.
28 Because the right to rule belongs to the Lord,
    he rules all nations.
29 Indeed, all the earth’s powerful
    will worship him;
    all who are descending to the dust
    will kneel before him;
    my being also lives for him.
30 Future descendants will serve him;
    generations to come will be told about my Lord.
31 They will proclaim God’s righteousness
        to those not yet born,
        telling them what God has done.

What can we do in response? We can listen in his name. We can incline our ear to suffering. We can come back to him with repentant hearts. We can refuse to hide our faces from people who need help.

We can hear the way he hears.

Find someone today who simply needs to be heard, and offer them the gift of your time and your presence. And remember to listen twice as much as you speak.

Listen Well by Michelle Robertson