Tag Archives: Lord

REVISITED: Never at a Loss

Read Psalm 18:2-6

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE

“Walk about Zion, go all around it, count its towers, consider well its ramparts; go through its citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will be our guide forever.” (Psalm 48:12-14)

Grief-And-LossI just recently watched a movie called “The Dead Matter” and, as you can probably guess by the title, it was a horror film about vampires trying to use some magical relic to raise the dead in order to use them as an army to…I can only guess…take over the world. Okay, so the plot wasn’t anything earth shattering but there was something about the film that struck me as being all too familiar to the human experience.

Gretchen, who is the main human character in the movie, accidentally stumbles upon the relic. She also happens to be a grieving sister who had recently lost her brother in a car accident. She wanted nothing more than to see her brother again. She missed him terribly and just could not let him go. As mentioned earlier, this relic has the power to bring the dead to life and, upon discovering that power, Gretchen seeks to bring back her brother.

Of course, that plan does not work out the way that Gretchen had hoped it would. Rather than bringing her brother back, everyone and their mother starts to come back to life. You can only imagine what kind of nightmare that would be. And even if she did bring her brother back from the dead, would he really still be her brother? I think we all can agree that whatever came back to bite her (pun completely intended), it would not be her brother.

While Gretchen was dealing with the loss of her brother, the fact of the matter is that, regardless of what kind we are dealing with, we often have a hard time dealing with loss. Whether it be our relationships, our careers, our sense of control, our comfort, or our way of doing things, there can be little doubt that we spend a great deal of our time trying to avoid letting go. Some people will resist any kind of change for fear of the loss that will come as a result of it. Indeed, it is hard for us to deal with loss.

Jesus was no stranger to loss. He lost his identity as a carpenter. He lost the comfort of his own home. He lost the trust of his family (who all thought he was crazy). He lost the chance of leading a “normal” life. He lost many of his followers when they realized their lives were on the line; and, in the end, Jesus lost his own life. Yet, Jesus let all of that go because he realized that regardless of the loss, he would never lose the hope of God’s presence.

Remember that you, too, are being called to let go of the things that are holding you back from living the life God has called you to live. Let go of your anxiety, let go of your fear, let go of your resistance to change, let go of your need for control, let go of your grudges, let go of it all. The more you let go, the more you realize that God never lets you go. Today’s challenge is for you to let go and let God’s presence fill you with hope, healing and wholeness.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Abundance is a process of letting go; that which is empty can receive.

PRAYER

Lord, teach me to let go and to put my trust completely in you. Amen.

REVISITED: Journey with Jesus: Easter Sunday – The Resurrection of the Lord

SCRIPTURE

Mark 16; Matthew 28; Luke 24; John 20-21; 1 Kings 19:10-12

Resurrection

AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT

My friend and I were traveling back home after a long and terrible weekend. Our rabbi, our Lord, had been crucified like a common thief. What a sad and terrible event. What were we to do now that he was gone? Everything he taught, everything he called us to do, seemed to all be in vain.

While traveling we ran into a person who happened to be traveling alone and wanted to join us for some company. We certainly were in no mood for conversation, but it seemed harmless to let him join us. We said very little, for what could really be said? After sometime, the man broke the silence by asking us why we looked so down in the dumps. We told him the whole story.

He told us we were foolish for being upset that the one we believed to be the Messiah had died. How could he say that? He then started giving us his interpretation of the Scriptures, about how the Messiah would be the suffering servant and that the prophets foretold that this would happen.

We were amazed at this man’s confidence that all was well despite the circumstances. As we approached our home we invited him in to share dinner with us. It was the least we could do and we were interested to hear more of what this stranger had to say. He was going to keep going, but after insisting he agreed to stay. We gave him the honors of blessing the food and breaking the bread. It was then that we realized who this man was…he was our Lord…he was Jesus the Christ…risen from the dead!

REFLECTION

Often times we are looking for the Lord to manifest in miraculous ways. We are looking for the clouds to open and to see the Son of Man descending like God from the sky. We are looking for the earth to shake and lightning to flash across the sky. We are looking for a major, earth shattering event!

Yet, as can be seen in the various accounts of the resurrection, each person experienced Jesus’ resurrection in different ways. In Luke, the men traveling to Emmaus saw Jesus in a stranger passing by. They carried conversations with him, talked with him, listened to him and DID NOT recognize him. Yet, through the act of breaking bread together, they realized who he was.

Reflect on all of the times you have felt the presence of the risen Lord. Perhaps you were lonely and someone was present for you in just the right time…or perhaps you were afraid only to find that the fear had been lifted. Perhaps you were helping someone out only to find out you were the one who was helped. Remember that Elijah did not see God in the fire, or the in the earthquake, or in the raging wind…rather, it was in the sound of a gentle whisper (or the sound of sheer silence as the NRSV translates it) that God’s presence was known. This Easter, open your heart to the subtlety of the Resurrection and be transformed by it. Know that Christ is with you always, and where you go…so too Christ follows. Perhaps in you, the risen Lord will be revealed to someone else.

PRAYER

Lord, be present in me, through me and in spite of me for the transformation of this world. Amen.

Journey with Jesus: Good Friday

SCRIPTURE

Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 18:28–19:42

Good_Friday

AN EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT

I cannot believe that this has happened! Where is my friend, O Lord, that I may once again laugh with him? Where is my teacher, O Lord, that may one again learn from him? Where is my, King, O Lord, that I may lay down my palm branches in praise before him again? Hope eternal seems to have finally died.

Early this morning, the chief priests sent Jesus to Pilate who tried Jesus as a traitor. He put on a dog and pony show, a mock trial, feeding off of the crowd.  He patronized them and got them to give him the verdict that he would’ve come to anyway. Jesus was to be flogged, beaten, mocked, spit upon, and crucified. They made his broken body carry the cross beam up to Golgotha. What a terrible, terrible day.

He looked so disfigured, so bruised and bloodied. His flesh was torn and there was blood everywhere. They even put a crown of thorns on his head, calling out in mockery, “Hail to the King of the Jews!” When they got him here to Golgotha, they laid his body down and drove nails into his hands and his feet and rose him up on the cross. I will never be able to erase the shrieking sounds of horrid pain and agony that came out of his mouth.

Wait a second…I believe he is trying to speak. Yes, he’s having a hard time, but he is trying to speak. “Forgive them…Father…f-f-for they know n-n-not what th-th-they do.” Even now, he is still forgiving. How can he forgive them for what they’ve done? Even in the face of senseless evil, he is showing the grace he always talked about. “My G-G-God, my God, wh-why have you f-f-forsaken m-m-me! It…is…f-f-finished. In…to your…h-h-hands…I c-c-commit m-my s-s-spirit.”

O dear God. I think he has died. His head just dropped to his chest and his body is slouched and lifeless. O, my Lord, could you have abandoned your servant in his hour of need? Couldn’t you have done something, anything, to bring life back to your Son? Why are you so silent in his hour of need. Why are you hidden behind the dark veil of clouds that ominously loom above us? “You have seen, O LORD; do not be silent! O Lord, do not be far from me!” (Psalm 35:22)

REFLECTION

Can you imagine the pain and the suffering that Jesus felt in his last hours on earth? Can you imagine the feeling of abandonment, hopelessness and loss? Can you put yourself in the shoes of Mary Magdalene who stood at the foot of the cross and watched her teacher, who numbered her equally as among his disciples, slowly suffocate to death and succumb to the brutality that was mercilessly inflicted upon him? Can you put yourself in the shoes of his mother who was left to do the one thing that every parent hopes will never pass…to bury her son?

We all have moments where this world seems to deal blows that are far too much for us to handle. We have all had our share of darkness, doubts, and despair. We have all tasted the bitter flavor of Sheol, in one way or another. We have all found ourselves staring down into the pit, wondering if there is any hope of escape.

Let not your heart be troubled, for there is hope.  The story does not end with Sheol, the story does not end in death. Just as Jesus was resurrected from the dead, so too are we resurrected him.  And the beauty of it is that you do not have to wait to die to share in that resurrection. You can experience the new life God has awaiting for you right here and right now. You can inherit the Kingdom of God in this life as well as in the next.

All you have to do is surrender all of yourself to God and breathe in the hope, the healing and the wholeness that comes in knowing that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.  Die to the despair and hopelessness that this world has to offer. Die to the inner trappings of the minutia we find ourselves caught up in and take a long, deep breath.  Breathe in through your nose and exhale out of your mouth. Breathe in the life that God is offering you and carry that life, and the good news of it, to those in need around you.

PRAYER

Take this moment to meditate and pray.

REVISITED: Journey with Jesus: Holy Wednesday

SCRIPTURE:

Matthew 26:6-16

30 Pieces of Silver

AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT

Today I did something that I am not sure I should have done. I have been following Jesus for three long years, waiting for the time when he would step up and become the Messiah we are so longing for! With all of the miracles and signs, I just knew that this man must be the one God is sending to liberate our people from the foreign oppressors.

But I fear that these past three years have been in vain. On Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem and there was such a crowd! He could have easily inspired that crowd to rise up against the Romans! And who would stop this man who can control the winds and the seas? Who would be able to stop this man who can raise the dead to life and cause the paralyzed to walk again! Surely, Jesus has the power to crush Rome at the snap of his fingers, but instead he does nothing by causes division among our leaders and teaches about his coming death.

I fear that I have been mistaken these past few years. Today I went to the chief priests and spoke with them. They told me that this Jesus was dangerous and that he needed to be dealt with before Rome crushed us all. They said that all Jesus would offer me is Roman punishment and death; however, they said that if I brought them to Jesus, they would give me thirty pieces of silver. Though I am still uncertain as to whether I should or not, I agreed to lead them to Jesus tomorrow night. At least they are offering me something tangible.

REFLECTION

How long have you traveled with Jesus? How long have you listened to him and learned from his teachings? Are you sure you know him as well as you think you do? Are you sure that you understand all that he has been teaching you?

It is easy for us to look at Judas as being different than we are. It is easy to see him as the scapegoat, as the ONE who betrayed Jesus. Yet, are we free from that betrayal? Do we sacrifice our loyalty when Jesus doesn’t fit into our worldview? The truth is that Judas is not alone in the department of betrayal. When we preach the Good News, but don’t live it…are we not betraying Jesus? When we ignore the poor, avoid the sick, judge the “sinner”, and put our own theologies before the LOVE of God, are we not betraying Jesus

Hear the Good News: in whatever ways you have betrayed Jesus, he as forgiven you! Now, move on from the past and allow God to transform you. Embrace Jesus mission of hope, healing and wholeness (Luke 4:18-19) and go forth into the world bearing it!

PRAYER

Lord, Create in me a clean heart and renew a righteous spirit within me. Use me in a way that bears hope, healing and wholeness to those around me who need it. Amen.

REVISITED: Journey with Jesus: Holy Tuesday

SCRIPTURE:

Matthew 21:23–24:51; Mark 11:27-13:37; Luke 20:1-21:36

Matthew 231322

AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT

Wow, and I thought yesterday was tense! I was shaking from head to toe when Jesus started to overturn those tables and was shouting like a madman! Part of me was scared that the Romans, perched in towers overlooking the Temple complex, would descend on us and crush us right then and right there. The other part of me was excited because Jesus was finally showing the zeal that we have been taught that the Messiah would have. I began to wonder if, perhaps Jesus was this Messiah…cleansing the House of God before purging Israel of her enemies.

But today Jesus started teaching really strange things! He spoke in parables that were set up to make the Pharisees look bad. He compared the Pharisees to a group of murderous farm tenants who refused to give the farm owner his due and killed anyone the farm owner sent them…including his own son! Jesus went on to flat-out curse the Pharisees and the scribes shouting, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth.”

You could just feel the tension in the air. The religious leaders looked beyond mad. If looks could kill…well you know how the phrase goes. Then, Jesus questioned their knowledge of the very scriptures they are well versed in. He asked them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?” I got the real sense that he was referring to himself! Was he saying that he was going to be rejected and die? How could he be the Messiah and die? How was that even possible if the Messiah was supposed to free Israel from oppression? Why would this “Messiah” curse our religious leaders? Wouldn’t the Messiah focus his energy on Rome?

REFLECTION

What are your expectations of Jesus? Who is Jesus to you? Do you find that your “Jesus” falls in line with what you think he should be? When you hear or read Jesus’ words of chastisement, who do you envision Jesus talking to? Is he talking about “them”, or is he talking about “us”? Is he talking about “you” or is he talking about “me”?

On this Holy Tuesday, let us remember Jesus’ warnings to the religious leaders of the day. Will we continue to cross land and sea to create converts to OUR way? Will we look like we are righteous on the outside, when in reality we are dead on the inside? Will we be the ones who reject the stone only to be crushed by it? Or will we lay down OUR way and make GOD’s way the cornerstone of our faith? What is God’s way, “No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

PRAYER

Lord, humble me and become the cornerstone of my faith. Let me drop my religion and pick up your love, compassion and mercy in its stead. Amen.

REVISITED: Journey with Jesus: Holy Monday

SCRIPTURE

Matthew 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-48

Second_Temple

AN EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT:

Talk about taking a turn for the worse! It was just yesterday that we were celebrating Jesus’ triumphal entry! The palms were scattered around the road, and being waved ecstatically in our hands! “Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!” We shouted even louder, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! Hosanna!”

Yet, it is only a day later and this same “messiah” does something beyond what any of us could have predicted. He enters into our sacred Temple and starts ranting and raving. He screams, “You have heard it said that, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” Can he really mean it?!? He is supposed to protect us against our enemies! He is supposed to overthrow the ones who are threatening us! He isn’t supposed to come into our very Temple and attack us! How dare he!

Then this Jesus starts violently overturning the tables of the bankers in the Temple market. Money is flying everywhere and he opens up the animal pens and lets them loose. It is utter chaos. This man is going too far! Someone needs to stop him before he brings ruin upon us all. Doesn’t he know that there are certain rules that need to be followed? Doesn’t he realize that we do things a certain way here, that we are not the ones who need cleansing!

REFLECTION:

What in your life is sacred? What do you cherish the most? What is it that you cling to and refuse to let go of? What is your sacred Temple? Do these things stand in your way of God? Are these sacred things holy because you have deemed them so, or because God has called you to them?

Just as Jesus entered the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and cleansed it of the things that were distracting it from it’s true purpose, so too Jesus is entering into your life and driving out those things that distract you from serving your true purpose.  What is that purpose? To be a living Temple of the living God, to be the house of the living God, to be the bearer of the presence of the Living God to all of those who are around you.

This Holy Monday, recognize that God is calling you to cleanse your Temple so that it may be filled with the hope, the healing, and the wholeness that God is calling you to bring to others. Anything that gets in the way of that purpose has got to go.

PRAYER:

Lord, drive out the impurities that keep me from being your true, and living Temple. Amen.

Lord of the Dance

Read 2 Samuel 6:16-22          

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“And David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing of rams’ horns.”

I have always loved dancing and the physical bodily expression of music…art. That is perhaps why the hymn, Lord of the Dance, has always been one of my more favorite hymns. Here’s are some of my favorite parts of the hymn:

“I danced on the Sabbath and I cured the lame; the holy people said it was a shame. They whipped and they stripped and they hung me on high, and they left me there on a Cross to die…

“I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black; it’s hard to dance with the devil on your back. they buried my body and they thought I’d gone, but I am the Dance, and I still go on…

“They cut me down and I leapt up high; I am the life that’ll never, never die; I’ll live in you if you’ll live in me – I am the Lord of the Dance, said he…

“Dance, then, wherever you may be, I am the Lord of the Dance, said he, and I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be, and I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said he.”

Recently, I rewatched the 2022 film, ELVIS, as I love a good rock biopic and ELVIS is an extraordinary rock biopic. Seriously, if you have not watched it, you should do so now, even though I am not going to give any big spoilers in this at all. You know me, I run a tight no-spoiler ship. I promise you though, the film will shed light on things you probably did not know about Elvis, and one of those will be discussed in this devotion. Reader be warned.

We all know “Elvis the Pelvis”, which the King of Rock himself thought was a rather juvenile jab at his style of dancing and gyrating across the stage. Most people know that he was known for such dancing, and that parents weren’t all that happy to see their teenage sons and especially daughters embracing his behavior. Most of us “remember” whether we were alive to see it at the time or not, Elvis not being shown from the hips down so that television stations didn’t get fined by the FCC for lewd and inappropriate content.

Here, on the other hand, is what you might not have known. From 1953 to 1958, Elvis was doing something very radical and forward for his time. He was taking black Rhythm and Blues songs, making them up-tempo, and recording them. Elvis had a kind of voice that made people initially think he was a black singer; however, news quickly came out that this was a white boy singing black songs. The black community at the time, for the most part, embraced him; however, the white community did not in the slightest.

When Elvis broke out on the National stage in 1956, he was immediately hit with controversy. Parents were outraged that their children were watching him move his hips the way that he was. Yes, they were upset with sexual implications of the movements; however, that is not at the heart of why they were upset. The idea of their children being influenced, or perverted as they would have called it, by black culture what not acceptable or appropriate to most white people at the time.

What’s more, to further prove the point, Elvis was creating modern “rock and roll” out of black rhythm and blues while Civil Rights Activists were pushing for the Segregation laws to be lifted across the country and for blacks to be integrated with whites. In just 8 years, segregation would be no more…and integration was implemented. The bizarre and sinful white societal fear of white children getting corrupted by black culture was very real and, let’s be honest, it still is today (e.g. look at white culture’s’ reaction to Hip-Hop, Gangsta Rap, and other current forms of black music.

But Elvis kept on dancing despite of it. At one point he was convinced to not dance; however, that was short lived. The boy just couldn’t help himself. He didn’t just sing music, he felt it, embodied it, and performed it with his very being. Why? Well, first off, Elvis had tremendous stage fright and dancing took his mind off of his anxiety. It was an outlet for it – a release. Also, he grew up in the black community because his parents were too poor to live in the white community.

So, he was a victim of classism growing up and that led to him being segregated along with the blacks. His friends were mostly black as there were only 4 white kids on that side of town. What’s more, he grew up in the black, Pentecostal church. Meaning, he learned how to dance and gyrate from church; except, in church we of faith know this as being “moved by the Spirit.” It was an expression of his deep religious faith, which Elvis had his whole life, despite his personal struggles.

So, while “good Christian” white folks were complaining about Elvis’ moves, he was just doing what the Good Lord gifted him, through the Holy Spirit, to do. Now, I am not saying that it wasn’t sexual or anything like that. For the time, it would have been a shocker to any parent with or without the racial reasons; however, the racial reasons cannot be dismissed or denied.

What’s more, it also cannot be denied that God loves dancing. Look at how King David brought glory to God after conquering Jerusalem…Wait a minute, wasn’t it through dancing through its streets angering his wife because she thought that sort of wild behavior was beneath a king? Yet, David danced onward, and did not heed the criticism of his wife or others who thought he was embarrassing or inappropriate, just as Elvis kept dancing despite the controversy.

Friends, as the hymn suggests, Jesus is the very Lord of the Dance. He is the one who turns the water into wine at a dance-filled wedding reception. He is the one who laughs and plays with the children, who causes the crippled to leap on two legs, and the blind to see where the dance floor is. Our whole lives are a dance and we should not be afraid move around as the Spirit leads!  Jesus is the Lord of the Dance and we should celebrate and honor God through our dance and through our very being. I believe, despite the controversies and personal struggles, Elvis did that and I believe we all should be doing that as well!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“I ain’t no saint, but I’ve tried never to do anything that would hurt my family or offend God…I figure all any kid needs is hope and the feeling he or she belongs. If I could do or say anything that would give some kid that feeling, I would believe I had contributed something to the world.” – Elvis Presley, 1950s

PRAYER
Lord, help me to learn to dance for you in all that I do, and to not be afraid to show my joy and delight in you! Amen.

A LOOK BACK: The Trust Game

Read Genesis 16

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE

“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.” (Psalms 37:5)

Picture_12_xxxlargeWhen I was in High School, I remember that we used to have to do all sorts of different “team building” activities in gym. The idea was to teach the students how to work as a team, how to rely on each other as teammates and, most importantly, to learn to trust one another. If a team does not act as a single unit, it will fall apart into a fragmented mess.

One of the activities that our gym teachers would have us do involved a great deal of trust. They would blindfold some of the students and have them stand with their backs facing other students. In turn, the students were told to lean back and let themselves fall back into the arms of the people standing behind them.

I remember when it was my turn to be blindfolded. I remember how paralyzed I was for fear that the other person wouldn’t catch me. The last thing I wanted to do was to fall flat down on the ground, making a fool of myself in front of all my peers. It was hard, extremely hard, letting myself go in order to fall back into the arms of the person behind me. Eventually, I did let go, was caught in mid-air, and was relieved when my turn was over. With that said, I cannot say that I felt any more trust, nor was I looking forward to do that again.

We, as human beings, have a particularly hard time putting our trust in other people. And this is never any more evident than it is in the church. Too many times we find infighting, bickering, dissention, and all sorts of conflict rise over the issue of trust. But the trust issue doesn’t stop there. Though we attend church, we sing hymns, we praise God, and we pray to God, we ultimately find ourselves lacking in trust when it comes to God.

Though we say that we put our faith and trust in God, we often find ourselves acting in a way that would state otherwise. Though we say that we trust God to guide us through our situations, we find ourselves trying to do things our way, just like when Abraham figured he would have to sleep with his servant in order for God’s promise to come true. Instead of fully placing our trust in God, we pull back our trust in order to “take control” of things.

It is in those moments that we find ourselves in situations we could have otherwise avoided had we only placed our trust in God to guide us through. As the church, as Christians, we are called to be a people of faith and of trust. We are called to trust in God and we are called to trust in each other. If we do not stand together, and place our trust in one another, then what good news are we really displaying to the rest of the community? If we are lost in our own brokenness how can we ever witness to the hope, healing and wholeness that Christ has to offer?

The challenge today is for us, as Christians, to begin to reestablish our trust in God. It is time to let go and fall back into God’s arms. We need to trust that God will not let us fall and, so long as we love God and are called according to God’s purpose (Romans 8:28), God will do mighty things in us, through us and even in spite of us. But how can we place our trust in God if we cannot even put our trust in those who are trying to serve God alongside of us? God desires all of us to be a people of trust. Place your trust in God and let God lead you from where you are to where God is calling you to be.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

“Let the love of God lighten your life, let his kindness mold you into his presence, let him be your guide as you travel the road of life.” – Unknown

PRAYER

Lord, today I place my trust in you. Lead me in a way that deepens my trust in you and in your people. Amen.

A Thanksgiving That Counts: 2020 Edition

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE

“Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
(Psalms 50:23)

A Thanksgiving That Counts

As we approach Thanksgiving Day, it is easy for us to get warm and fuzzy about the festivities that are about to occur.  Well, maybe that was true previously, it may be less warm and fuzzy because of the COVID-19 restrictions in place that I certainly hope you will all be following responsibly. Still, the smell of turkey roasting in the oven, stuffed to its brim with stuffing. Mashed wax turnips, candied yams, and other sides being cooked on the stove.  All of these scents filling the air and blending with the wafting scent of warm apple and pumpkin pie sitting on the cooling racks.

As a vegan I don’t eat meat or dairy products; however, I am still getting excited about Thanksgiving as well. Albeit plant-based, I am a foodie all the same and I LOVE EATING. There will be aspects of Thanksgiving I miss this year due to the pandemic; however, that does not mean I will be any less thankful.

But as we sit down for dinner on Thanksgiving and prepare ourselves for the feast of all feasts, as we sit down and say our prayers of thanksgiving to God for the abundance we have, let us not forget that a good many people in this world do not have the abundance, or excess (depending on how you look at it), that we have.  A majority of people in the world are lacking the very necessities that they need to survive. Heck, this is even true in America too. Many people are lining up for hours to get what they can from food pantries. Many of these people have never had to rely on pantries before but are now because of the pandemic caused recession we’re in.

God gives each and every one of us what we need, but we often end up taking more than what we need in order to supply ourselves with what we want. We saw that  in the great toilet paper shortage of 2020.  In the process, billions of other people are lacking what they need. Is this because God has failed to give them what they need? No. This is because what God has given to all people has been hoarded by some. The majority of the world suffers as a result of the excessive abundance of a minority.

This is not being brought up to guilt anyone over the disparities of others; rather, it is being brought up as a reminder that praying our prayers of thanksgiving is not enough. God is calling us to something more than empty prayers, God is calling us to act out of our thanksgiving for what God has given us.  Instead of praying and eating our fill, God wants us to take our fill and share it with those in need.

In James 2:16, the author is warning his readers of just that.  It is not enough to tell someone in need that you are “praying” for them without actively seeking to help fill their needs.  That is not to say that prayer is useless, but that empty prayer is no prayer at all…just like empty faith, without deeds, is dead.  We are not a people of a dead faith, nor should we be people who pray dead prayers.

So, with all of that said, enjoy your Thanksgiving festivities tomorrow!  Enjoy your time spent with your household family and all of the good food and fun that God has given you.  As you pray your prayers of thanksgiving, also pray for God to guide you to fill a need of someone who is in need, just as God has filled you.  If you do, God will surely not let you down!  Remember that to whom much as been given, much is required .  Go and bear the hope, healing and wholeness that God wants you to bring to those who need it! God bless and Happy Thanksgiving! May your Thanksgiving be a thanksgiving that counts!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

A truly thankful person gives out of what there is to be thankful for.

PRAYER

Lord, thank you for all you have given me. Guide me to fill the needs of those around me who are in need. Amen.

God’s People, part 242: Eunuch

Read Acts 8:26-40

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’”  (Matthew 7:22-23, NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Moroe-ArmletPart 242: Eunuch. There is certainly a lot to unpack in the account of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. Before we can understand the account itself, we ought to understand the components of it. First, we all know of the Gaza strip, which is a contested strip of land that the Israelis fight over with the Palestinians who live there and govern it. It is a small strip of coastal and that strategically borders Egypt.

As far as Biblical history is concerned, the Philistines were located in Gaza originally. Of course, the Philistines and the Israelites did not have a good relationship with one another and it is this group of people which Samson, Saul and King David, among others, notoriously fought against. In 332 B.C., Alexander the Great conquered the area during his Egyptian campaign, and then it became a part of the Ptolemaic and Seleucid Dynasties after that. By the time of Philip the Apostle, the Gaza strip was a part of the Judaean Province of the Roman Empire.

The Eunuch that Philip runs into on the road to Gaza, was a high court official who was the head of the Queen of Ethiopia entire treasury. In the account, the Queen is seemingly named Kandake, or Candice; however, Kandake/Candice was not a name as much as a title. It is in dispute whether or not she was the the sole queen and ruler or if she co-ruled with a King; however, most scholars point to Amantitere as the name of this particular Kandake. Not much is really known about her other than that she was quite affluent. It has been speculated that she may have been Jewish; however, this is little more than speculation due to the fact that her Eunuch was reading Isaiah. It is possible, as there were Jewish settlements in the area; however, that proves little.

As for the Eunuch, he was clearly at the very least a “God-fearer”, or someone who was non-Jewish, but who believed in the Jewish God and came to worship in Jerusalem at the Temple. It is even possible that he, himself, was Jewish. As with all Eunuchs, he was castrated, meaning that he had at least his testicles, if not his penis as well, surgically removed. This form of emasculation was done on slaves who were assigned to the courts of royalty. These Eunuchs served in a variety of different positions, most notably but not limited to, guardians of royal harems.

Our particular Eunuch directly served the queen herself as her treasurer. He was a highly valued person in the queen’s court and was clearly permitted to travel to Jerusalem in order to worship in the Temple. No, doubt, he was probably also there on diplomatic business as well. When Philip ran into him, he was reading Isaiah 53:7-8, which is the prophecy of the Suffering Servant. When he asked Philip to explain to him what he was reading, Philip used that opportunity to talk about how Isaiah was prophesying about the coming of the messiah, who would be a suffering servant through whom God would bring about Salvation for the whole world.

The beauty of this is that we clearly see that the early Jewish Christians saw Isaiah 53 as clear prophecy of who Jesus was. Beyond that, we see how powerfully transformative that passage is in light of Jesus Christ. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, prophecied about hundreds of years prior to the event of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Eunuch believed and got baptized, becoming an early convert to the Christian faith.

Following that Philip was “snatched away” by the Spirit of the Lord. Our fancies can get the best of us hear and we can imagine that Philip vanishing in thin air and appearing elsewhere; however, it would be a mistake to read it that way. Rather, this is poetic license to say that following the Eunuch’s conversion, Philip did not stick around; rather, he followed the guidance of the Holy Spirit and found himself being led to a town farther North. The term “snatched” is from the Greek word ἁρπάζω (pronouced harpazō), which means “carried away”, “snatched”, “take away by force”. In other words, Philp felt compelled by the Spirit to go elsewhere and abruptly left the presence of the Eunuch.

We should be challenged by this. In this passage, we see how the Holy Spirit works. We get called to one thing and, then, the Holy Spirit compels us to go elsewhere. We, as God’s people, get too attached to the seasons we find ourselves in and we are being reminded that, at any moment, God could snatch us away and send us to serve Him elsewhere. Are you okay with that? Are you, like Philip, willing to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit? Are you willing to go where you are being sent? Or do you prize your comfort more than your faith in God?  I challenge you to reflect on your relationship with Christ and his Lordship over your life.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
If we are going to truly call Jesus Christ our Lord, we must be willing to submit our lives to his Lordship.

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I submit myself to you. Help me to grow stronger in my submission to your way. Amen.