Weekly Devotional - A Joyful Solution

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." - Matthew 5:6

When I first read this verse, I imagined a straight laced, uptight, Bible-toting church boy. That kid who never let anyone see him do something wrong, and was always ready to call out sin when he saw it.  But I don't know if that's an accurate picture.

This is the girl who has lost a loved one to cancer. This is the boy who's father beats him every single day, for no real reason. This is for the victims of the Boston Marathon Bombing, who wonder why someone would hate them so much. This is for those of us who have been oversees to third world countries, and seen the most abject poverty, and wonder who these people can still smile. These are the people who have come face to face with the brokenness of the world, and can't deny it. And they thirst for this brokenness to be fixed.

Enter the Gospel.

Jesus promises that one day they will. On the cross, Jesus dealt the death blow to Satan, sin, and death. And we look forward to the consummation of that victory at his second coming. Until then, He invites us into the joyful solution. Jesus has come to save the world, and as his Church, we're called to be his hands and feet. If you call yourself a Christian, you need to know that we're his plan.

So, echoing the words of Jesus, I invite you today to look out into the world, find something touched by unrighteousness, and do something to fix it. However small your action, it doesn't matter. Choose today to go be the Church.

Sit Down And Shut Up

Our culture is obsessed with talking. We love to hear the sound of our own voices. We love to tell the best stories; we enjoy having our opinions heard; we love being asked for advice. And those aren't always bad things. But sometimes we talk too much.

Matthew 5:5 says this, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." But the word meek doesn't mean much to us these days. It's just not a common word. So let’s look at another place in scripture where the word "meek" is used.

"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls." - James 1: 19-21

Here we have this example of a person who is a good listener, he thinks before he speaks or becomes angry. And then James sums up these characteristics by using the word meek.

Are you a better listener than you are a speaker? Next time you're hanging out with your friends, try listening instead of speaking. Don't think about what you're going to say as soon as they stop talking. Listen. Next time you're hanging out with one of your best friends, ask about their life. And again, really listen.

Why? Because the meek shall inherit the earth.

Weekly Devotional - The Teacher Speaks

"Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." - (Matthew 5:1-4, ESV)

Picture it. Set the scene in your head.

Jesus has just started his ministry. People are just starting to listen. He's gained the ear of the Jews. And the crowds have started to amass, to come and hear this new, courageous teacher of Scriptures. He climbs a hill, followed by his disciples. He sits. His disciples sit around him, waiting. The people gathered around fall silent, waiting as well. The teacher speaks...

And so begins the Sermon on the mount - an epic collection of Jesus' teachings in which he shows us what it means to live in the Kingdom of Heaven.

He begins with a seemingly contradictory statement.

"'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

How is it the poor end up inheriting a kingdom? What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Do I have to be poor in spirit to gain the kingdom of heaven? It sounds like being poor in spirit means I can't own a flat screen TV or a swimming pool.

Here are five short devotional thoughts from these two verses.

This Is An Invitation
Jesus isn't writing pithy one-liners to put on bumper stickers or hallmark cards. He's giving us an invitation. He's asking us to become poor in spirit. He wants us to inherit the kingdom of God.

Being Poor In Spirit Has To Do With How We See Ourselves
It's that beautiful moment when we're relieved of the burden of self-reliance. It's understanding we're broken. It's realizing our own inability. It's knowing we're powerless, and unworthy of the love and affection of a God who is the opposite of all that. Poor in spirit means we see how deeply we're screwed - which is something that's easy to see when we look at humanity as a whole, but it's a hard thing to own up to personally.

God Cares For Those Who Turn To Him
Some might say it's unhealthy to look at ourselves as fundamentally flawed creatures. But I would simply ask which is more unhealthy, being sick and refusing to acknowledge it, or being sick and calling a doctor? Jesus says those who mourn shall be comforted. The only comfort which has any meaning is the Gospel. The only comfort which lasts is the love of Christ - that tangible, self-sacrificial, never-ending love which was the impetus of Christ's death on the cross. It's the only kind of love which comforts those who mourn.

We Must Live In A Contradictory Manner
Just like Jesus' first statement, we who seek to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth must live in a contradictory manner. This goes beyond not using swear words, smoking, or watching R-Rated movies. It means loving people in a radical (and tangible) way. It's understanding the self-sacrificial and never-ending love of Christ which drives us to love others with that same kind of tangible love. If you want to read a practical book about learning to love people in our day and age, go pick up Bob Goff's book "Love Does." It's a short and easy read packed with awesomeness based on the idea that love is a verb. These are the kind of people who inherit the kingdom of heaven - the ones who love like Jesus loved.

Being Poor In Spirit Ultimately Looks Like Humility
All of this combines to give us an attitude of humility - the poor in spirit are humble. They know they need help. They know it's not all about them, it's about Christ. And they want to help others in any and every way possible.

How can you seek to be poor in spirit this week? How can you show others a tangible and self-sacrificing love?

Weekly Devotional - Remaining Faithful, Even Through Hard Times

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.  

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:2-6, ESV)

Paul, the author of the book of Colossians, was a man well acquainted with suffering. He was beaten, whipped, betrayed, and was even shipwrecked. The book of Colossians was written from a prison cell. Paul was imprisoned for spreading the Gospel.

And yet Paul's main concern was still spreading the Gospel! He asks the Colossians to pray for him, that he would be able to leverage his current imprisonment to share the Gospel.

Often, when we face hard times, our first instinct can be to blame God. Maybe not directly, but we ask questions like, "God, why would you let this happen to me?" But to Paul, the answer to that question is clear. God let him be put in prison so he could share the Gospel. 

Paul goes on to ask for prayer, that he would be able to make the Gospel clear. And then he exhorts the Colossians to do as he does. To leverage their current situations to share the Gospel clearly.

Our circumstances, good or bad, are opportunities to speak of Christ's saving work on the cross. Your ability to remain faithful to Christ through hard times may be the strongest testimony of all.

Weekly Devotional - Seek The Things That Are Above

If then, you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above not on things that are on earth. - Colossians 3:1-2

Chapter 3 of Colossians begins a section of encouragements, though not the type of encouragements you see on Hallmark cards. These are encouragements to live in a more Christlike way - an exhortation. Paul is showing us how to become better Christians. He has a big list. But don't miss the first thing he says, "IF THEN, you have been raised with Christ." If you are a Christian, then seek to do these things.

See, it's not that do's and don'ts are necessarily bad. It's that do's and don'ts aren't the starting point of the Christian Faith. We can't hold non-Christians to these standards we can't keep ourselves.

Because here's the thing, I've never once gone an entire day without falling short of those lists. This list includes things like anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk and lying. That's why Paul uses the word, "seek" in verse 1. It's a journey of persistence. One in which we, as Christ-followers, daily seek to put to death those things in the first list while simultaneously trying to emulate the things in the following list. Things like compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. A list which sounds an awful lot like characteristics of Christ.

So be persistent and take heart. This whole "seeking" thing is a process. We're going to mess up. They'll be days where we make more progress, and days where we make less. But it's not like God loves us any less because we haven't gotten very far yet.

Set your minds on Christ. He is the goal. 

Weekly Devotional - This Is Disicipleship

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. - Col 2:6-7

Jesus was a unique man. Besides the obvious, the whole equally God and equally man hypostatic union... thing... we see a man who was fearless but humble, fierce but gentle, and a man who turned every expectation upside down. He cut through the insincere practices of religion, getting to the heart of God. He healed sickness and disease, fed thousands, and preached mercy and forgiveness. He loved with a radical and overwhelming love and was killed for it.

And we are told to walk in him. 

What does that even mean?

Everyone has a different answer to that question. Super-Conservatives will tell you exactly what it means. They have endless lists with subpoints, charts and graphs. Super-Liberals will give you a wishy-washy answer that has something to do with feelings and fair trade coffee.

But it simply comes down to imitating the life of Jesus. I don't mean wearing a tunic and sandals and walking all over the desert preaching against the religious and political leaders. I mean being the type of person that Jesus was.

But to do that, you have to build a solid foundation - a solid root. You need to know who he was before you can imitate him. And the only reliable way to do that is to constantly be reading the gospels, asking yourself, "Who is this Jesus?"

This is discipleship.

As you continue to do this, you will find yourself being built up. You'll start to see your life change. You'll start acting like Jesus.

So do you know what Jesus was like? How can you start acting more like him?

Weekly Devotional - Living A Kingdom Focused Life

A few days ago, my friend Toby found himself being dragged to a McDonald's parking lot. This was obviously strange and terrible, as McDonald's food is nasty. But as it turned out they weren't there to buy food.

Earlier that week, Toby had his cell phone stolen. And to make matters worse, in his attempt to retrieve his phone from the thieves, he dropped his car keys in their car while they were making their get-away. As a phone-less, key-less, broke college kid, Toby was understandably upset. After hours of trying to think of a solution to his unfortunate predicament, he realized there was nothing he could do. He was powerless to fix his situation.

But in an act of Christ-like generosity, Toby's friends conspired together to replace his phone.

Like Toby, they are also poor college students. But they figured they could make a little bit of a sacrifice, and help a friend out. Which is what Christ did, albeit on a much larger scale. This lifestyle of sacrifice is what we, as Christians are supposed to be doing with our lives. We're supposed to be kingdom-focused.

The Christians in Colossae were apparently pretty good at this.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. (Colossians 1:3-8, ESV)

The Christians in Colossae loved each other, just like Jesus commanded us. But why? Paul says its because they were looking at the big picture. They were looking forward to Heaven. They knew how their story ended, and it gave them hope. They were kingdom-minded.

Kingdom-minded means suffering is temporary. Which frees you up to sacrifice - like Toby's friends. It frees you up to spend less time on yourself, and more time on other people. It means when times are tough, we can grit our teeth and take the pain because our story ends well.

Kingdom-minded means looking to God. Later in Chapter 1 it says this, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (1:15-16). Paul writes with absolute clarity - Jesus IS God. He made the world. He is over and above all rulers and authorities. Jesus is in control. He's God, and everything is for his glory. We can worship him in the difficult times by resting in the truth of his being in control of everything. 

Kingdom-minded means loving people. It's just one of those things. If you truly love God, you will love people. If you don't love people, maybe you don't love God. When Paul talks about the Gospel, "bearing fruit," this is what he means. They heard the Gospel. They heard about Jesus - God coming into human history as a man, living the life we couldn't live, paying the price we couldn't pay, and dying the death we all deserved to die - and, "understood the grace of God" (1:6). And it led them to love each other with the same type of self-sacrificial love that Jesus demonstrated, and the same type of self-sacrificial love that Toby's friends demonstrated. Mother Teresa said this, " I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."

So how can you shift your perspective to be a bit more kingdom focused this week?