Out In the Deep

Archive for the ‘Devotional’ Category


Wisdom and Humility

In Devotional on April 21, 2012 at 7:38 am

“The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom, and before honor comes humility.” (Proverbs 15:33)

I grew up in an age of modernity.  In my childhood, I was in awe of a friend’s dad because he worked at a company that made a part on the Apollo lunar module.  I could think of no higher calling.  Through science, tight definitions, exact measurements and experimental replication, we humans got ourselves to the moon and back.  There was no room for mystery.

Growing up, I realized that though this kind of knowledge is important, it is by no means the whole picture.  Wisdom is not merely being factually right and scientifically aligned but it also consists of an attitude towards God and oneself.  The fear of the Lord and humility is the determination of whether my right knowledge is truly helpful or a means towards ruin.


Refreshing an Outcast

In Devotional on April 20, 2012 at 10:46 am

“He often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains;” (2 Timothy 1:16)

To associate with a prisoner certainly puts one in a dubious position socially.  People may wonder if I am making a social statement that I agree with that scoundrel, or even worse, that I am like him. In modern churches we might get the affirmation “aren’t you a good Christian?” when we befriend an outcast provided we don’t get too carried away with it.  The gospel often calls us to go deeper.  God may stir our hearts to make the most unlikely friendships even though many won’t understand it.   Without these friendships, encouragement and refreshment will never get inside the dark dungeon.


Priests and Ministers

In Devotional on April 19, 2012 at 5:22 pm

“But you will be called the priests of the LORD.  You will be spoken of as ministers of our God.” (Isaiah 61:6)

Some traditions have those who are called specifically into the role as a priest.  Other traditions, born out of the reformation see God’s call to all believers to live out this call.  The idea of a full time job to provide service to God does captivate the heart of the believer who sees no higher calling than to serve the One who has given him all things in the first place.  Whether a formal call or not, we step forth today as God’s ministers in the midst of a wayward world.


Peace In Your Borders

In Devotional on April 16, 2012 at 8:57 am

“He makes peace in your borders; he satisfies you with the finest of the wheat.” (Psalm 147:14)

If a kingdom had two things, safety from their enemies and provision for its people, it would be set.  The Psalmist’s prayer for Jerusalem was that it would be such a city.  In our complicated lives, it is tempting to think that we need so much more.  We can analyze our past and worry about our future.  Yet, if I have peace with God, peace with those about me and daily provision from God’s hand, there is no reason not to be content.


Impossible with Riches

In Devotional on April 14, 2012 at 9:29 pm

“With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27)

Riches and possessions have a way of making us feel that we can do anything.  If food runs short, we can buy some more.  If the car breaks down, we can (begrudgingly) get another.  In fact, given time and money, there are few problems that we can’t figure out.  Nevertheless, it is this deceptiveness of possessions that make it difficult to enter into the kingdom of God.  Our salvation presupposes powerlessness, not self-sufficiency.  It tells us that we cannot purchase a new heart or in some way secure our worthiness.  We come up completely empty.  It is impossible to amass enough wealth to secure a reservation in God’s kingdom.  What is impossible with men has been made possible only by God’s grace.


The Reproof of A Friend

In Devotional on April 14, 2012 at 2:49 am

“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.” (Proverbs 12:1)

I dislike going down the wrong path.  More than that, I dislike it when my error is clearly pointed out.  More than that, I dislike the feeling I get when I realize that the rebuke is something I should have seen in the first place but was not able (or more honestly not willing) to see.  Nevertheless, this is the scenario I must love for pushing against it only makes things worse.  Rejecting the reproof only demonizes the messenger.  It exalts the image of how I look over the truth of the situation.  It says that the only thing that matters is what people think of me, not whether or not there is integrity within.

Frankly, my mind is a dangerous place to go alone.  It is the voice of God through friends that keep me sane and lead me to the knowledge of what is right.


God in the Chaos

In Devotional on April 12, 2012 at 6:45 am

“God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands.”  (Genesis 31:42)

In twenty years of a dysfunctional relationship, one might feel all alone.  Through it all Jacob admitted that God was actively aware.  Perhaps deep down Jacob knew that God was actually in the affair, using the disorder to straighten out his own crookedness, ultimately making him into Israel, the prince of God.  God’s presence and involvement does not necessarily mean an ordered and tidy life.  God sees us in the chaos as well.


On Judgment

In Devotional on April 11, 2012 at 10:24 am

“Nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” (Genesis 6:3)

God’s judgment is necessary.  While it is attractive to believe that God only loves and never judges, this goes against the self-evident knowledge that the atrocities of the world need to be set right.  It is doubtful that God loved Adolf Hitler.

God’s judgment is universal.  While it is attractive to believe as the Nazi war criminals that “those in England and America have no right to judge what we believe to be right in Germany”, God insists that His morality transcends people groups and cultures.

God’s judgment is announced.  While it is attractive today to take God’s delay of action as a demonstration that God’s word is irrelevant, God does eventually act after a generous period of patience.   In Noah’s day, God waited a hundred and twenty years – more than any of our lifetimes.  The destruction was not due to an unreasonable God, but an apathetic people.


Go Tell Peter

In Devotional on April 8, 2012 at 5:57 am

“But go, tell His disciples and Peter” Mark 16:7

It was a triumphal day for Christ but things had not gone well for the disciples.  The ordeal had shown their coward resolve, their wayward heart and their lack of understanding.  The angel announced light into the darkness:  “He is not here.  He has risen.”  Not only did this spiritual being tell Mary but he wanted to make sure that the disciples heard these words, too.  Furthermore, he wanted to make sure that Peter heard, for if there was anyone who would be marginalized from this proclamation due to failure, it would be him.  We come as a haltering people on Sunday morning inadequately proclaiming news that is glorious but such news with which we don’t live consistently.  Yet the footnote of this gospel proclamation “He is risen” is this annotation:  It’s for you to hear, too.


The Morning After

In Devotional on April 7, 2012 at 1:04 pm

“. . .and that He was buried”  (1 Corinthians 15:4)

My friend’s church has a service on Saturday where they sit with Jesus in the tomb.  I imagine it is a time where not much is said.  There is not much to say.  Instead, there is the dreadful feeling of the morning after.  It is getting up the next morning realizing that something horrible happened the night before.  It is as a woman who recently told how every morning she would wake to the word cancer.  We arrive to these mornings due to sin of our own or, at best, the result of a fallen world.  Jesus chose to go there.  He differed from all the selfish motives of the disciples around the table in that his intent was always to love the Father and to love others no matter what the cost.  It is this quiet time the morning after that works upon my heart and causes me to ask God to root out that streak of self-seeking within.  It causes me to ponder how grace may make it possible for me to follow Christ in this way of selfless sacrifice.

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