Devotional 12-18-08

“Are We Prepared?”

Malachi 3:16 – 4:6

Malachi, like his fellow prophets, rooted his understanding of the present in his convictions about the future. Because we can know the future, because we can see what will be, we can understand the reason why we are called to live as we are in the present moment. The book of Malachi is filled with that kind of insight. They feared God; they revered his name.

Malachi is a short book, but it uses one particular phrase 24 times. The phrase is repeated so often that it almost fades into the background; we become so used to it we almost stop hearing it. That phrase is, "the Lord of Hosts," the Lord Sabaoth. Those words mean that Yahweh is the Lord of armies. It is a dread and powerful way of describing our Lord. He is the victorious master of a great army­ the angelic host arranged behind him, his servants in bright array­ that will sweep aside his foes. Our awesome God deserves to be treated with respect, with fear.

The people who love their Lord, both in ancient times and today, speak of him. Whether in a formal worship service, or in the ordinary course of events, at work, in the homes, those who love the Lord are willing to praise him, reach out to one another with words of encouragement about him, to hold his name up to honor.

What we should focus on is the last phrase of Mal.3:16, where it says, ''those who fear the Lord and who esteem his name.'' The idea behind the word ''to esteem'' is to critically think about, to judge, to make a decision. I think what the prophet may be suggesting here is that these people not only spoke about the Lord in the ordinary course of their day, but they also thought about him in all the events that befell them. When they looked at current events they wondered what God was doing, what was in his heart and mind as the events of the day passed before them.

What about us? When we interact in business do we think about the Lord, about the ramifications of Christian truth for a certain business transaction? We must learn to think Christianly, in the phrase that is becoming more familiar to us; to take thoughts captive to the Lordship of Christ. Esteem for the Lord in this sense means that in every environment we think critically about the Lord and about the ramifications of his truth for the way we live. Three things then characterized the people in the Book of Malachi: they feared God; they spoke about him; they thought of him. Can we say the same?

The last three verses of Malachi give us something to ponder upon. Remember that the book of Malachi tells us that by knowing the future we can deal with the present. We have been told clearly by this prophet, as we have been told clearly for years in our lives, about who the Lord is; what the future holds, that he is coming for us, that we can trust him in these things. We need to make a choice: have we prepared the way?

O mighty and righteous God,

May we be the kind of people who repent, who fear the Lord rather than test him; people for whom the coming dawn will bring healing, not ashes. May we open our hearts, minds and doors in preparing the way of our Lord. Amen.

Amy Inghram

Devotional 12-10-08

Faith in Action?
Mark 11:27 - 33

Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?’ Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.’ They argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say, “Why then did you not believe him?” But shall we say, “Of human origin”?’—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

Are we like the priests/scribes, the pride in knowledge of tradition or of scriptures translates down into beliefs in the congregations. Are we proud of our faith even though many times it is dead?

The passage preceding this one spoke about the radical nature of a living faith in God. One could actually move mountains into the sea if he actually believed. Genuine faith, as James said, is one of action. Faith without works is dead. (James 2:17-18). We find it intriguing that the Jewish leaders – the chief priests, scribes and elders - (what a gang!) would challenge Jesus on the things which He was doing rather than teaching. Though they could publicly only refer to the action in the temple courts, they seem to clearly have had problems with all the things Jesus was doing. His actions were so closely interwoven with what Jesus was teaching and believing, that the miracles, the healings, etc. well portrayed Jesus' ministry.

The world starts getting concerned when the church starts practicing its faith. They can tolerate the dead faith which produces no fruit. Why? Because anytime their faith gets in their way, it can be easily shoved aside. They always compromise. They have not learned how to integrate action with their faith.

Some might wonder whether I am suggesting marches for Jesus, ministering to the homeless, buying computers for the inner city children, etc. As long as we look at these expressions of faith, we have totally missed the picture. The issue is not to try to mimic others but to find what God's Word is saying to us and respond to it. There are an infinite number of ways to do our Father's will. But we need to get intensely close to God to make our faith come alive and life-changing. If we do not get close enough to hear Him, then we will not know what to do. This calls for inner and outer transformation, the former preceding the later.

The Lord does not stop asking us to do things when we are ready. There is no sense for Him to ask if we can't or won't do what He wants. There are already enough commands in the Bible that many of His people totally and purposely ignore. But just like the time the Lord confronted Gideon about tearing down his father's idols, we tremble in our weakness about being able to do what He wants. I have boasted many times, "I will do all you want." But when He speaks, then I tremble. He asks for concrete and specific activities, I fear doing them. Like Moses with his stumbling, I can think of many excuses to what He asks. "Go and evangelize that person over there." "Take care of my children – talk with them, feed them" "Give my children a safe haven and minister to them in a different ways like on a Thursday night." He gives us opportunity for our faith to overcome our fears and doubts.

Jesus knew the leaders were not ready to hear the answer as to who gave Him authority to redecorate the temple yard and help out the desperate. He could not have done it without His Father telling Him to do it. But Jesus wasn't there for publicity. It wasn't a production. Jesus cared about how people disdained His Father's house of prayer. Jesus simply switched the question back to them and confused them.

Jesus had a long list of things He did on earth. John states that the list could fill all the books which were ever written!

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they *were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself *would not contain the books which *were written. (John 21:25). They did not come to Him with problems about His teaching but about what He did. We are just too content to have church members do nothing but 'believe.' If we are followers of Jesus, then we should also have works that bring the world into confrontation with the holy Creator.

"Is there sufficient evidence by which others could convict you of being a follower of Jesus? Have you put YOUR faith into Action?”

Amy Inghram

Devotional 12-17-04

“You Bid Us True and Faithful Be”

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the Handmaid of the Lord;
Let it be to me according to your word.”(Luke 1:38)

Have you decorated your tree yet? Because the evergreen remains green and lifelike when other vegetation appears to have “failed” for the season, it has become a symbol of the constant and ongoing faithfulness of our God.

As we decorate our trees each year, we may well remember that the Christmas season offers us the assurance that, like the evergreen, our God is faithful, year after year. He can be trusted to keep his word; he will not fail us or forsake us. He proved that by faithfully keeping his promise to send the world a Savior, one who was not only “faithful unto death” for us (although that in itself is a great gift), but who remains alive beyond the grave for us. The evergreen can be a symbol of that great gift too.

As our God is faithful, so he calls on us to be faithful too, to take him at his word, trusting that he can and will keep his promises to us, and then determined to live in such a way that everything we do gives glory to him – like shining ornaments on a tree.

O Christmas tree! O Christmas tree!
Forever true your color.
You bid us true and faithful be
And trust in God unceasingly.
O Christmas tree! O Christmas tree!
Forever true your color.

Lord, thank you for all the ways you give us what we need to help us grow in faith, hope and love.

Amy Inghrahm