Wednesday February 12, 2014

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Romans 12:10  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Being devoted to something is pretty normal in our society.  People are devoted to families, sports teams, hobbies, TV, Facebook, Twitter, etc…  Today’s verse points us in an important direction.  The Lord expects us to be devoted to one another in brotherly love.  This is something we do as part of Jesus’ command for Christians to love one another.  In John 14:34, 35 Jesus declares, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Isn’t it wonderful to be loved?  Isn’t it a blessing to have friends who are caring and devoted?  Think of the richness of relationships we have with those who live out this verse.  Think of individuals that you know who exemplify this truth.  Their lives engender appreciation and gratitude within us.  We are to be the same kind of people. We have the opportunity for others to experience the devotion and love flowing through our lives.  We get to be blessed by being a blessing to them.

One of my favorite verses is Matthew 5:15, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  When we are genuinely devoted to one another in brotherly love, the result is our Father in heaven being glorified.  What a thrilling thought that others will glorify God simply by seeing us live the lives He wants us to live.  Not only that, but loving one another is primary evidence that we are Jesus’ disciples.

When I read of honoring one another I think of humility.  What a refreshing quality that is!  The Message presents another thought on humility, ‘Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.’  We get to honor and defer to others.  Bless them.  Take the lesser seat – not grudgingly, but joyfully.  Be other-oriented rather than self-centered.  One of the great blessings of this process is the heartfelt gratitude we develop.  The more we become what God intends us to be, the more gratitude we have for His kindness and grace.

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Tuesday February 11, 2014

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Romans 12:9  Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

Imagine for a moment someone you love speaking this verse to you; carefully and lovingly, not rushing or reading a list, but focusing upon each thought.  These and the next few verses in Romans 12 present a picture of who we are to be.  They identify the attributes that must characterize our very being.  We get to discover what they each mean and partner with the Holy Spirit to work them out fully in our lives.

Today’s verse raises all manner of questions:

  1. What exactly is this love that must be sincere?  Is it feelings?  Is it actions?  How do we know that what we think is Godly love, really is?  Does God’s word define it for us?
  2. What exactly does it mean for that love, whatever it is, to be sincere?
  3. What is evil?  Are God and the world (our culture) on the same page when it comes to identifying evil?  Where do we look to find out?  Might we consider something okay that God considers evil?  What does it mean to hate evil?
  4. What exactly is ‘good’?  Who defines what is good?  How does one cling to what is good?

The point that I’m getting at is that we must be careful not to use worldly wisdom in determining the answers.  Here are two other versions of today’s verse to give us some additional insight – and also raise some more questions:

“Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good.” (The Message)

“[Let your] love be sincere (a real thing); hate what is evil [loathe all ungodliness, turn in horror from wickedness], but hold fast to that which is good.” (Amplified)

Do we ‘run’ for dear life from evil?  Do we ‘loathe all ungodliness; turn in horror from wickedness’?  Picture the contrast of being around someone wearing delightful cologne, where the fragrance is attractive and draws a response of “oooh, I like that!” – and being around someone with body odor that makes us move away, it repels us.

How do we do these things in a way that honors God; in a way that attracts people to God rather than repelling them from us.  Jesus spent a lot of his time with sinners.  He demonstrated that there is a way to hate sin and love the sinners.

Each phrase contains treasure to dig for – to pursue and discover the richness they hold.  They are guiding principles and qualities that we must have in our lives in order to be the men and women that God has chosen and destined us to be.

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Monday February 10, 2014

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Don Schmidt

2 Kings 2:19  Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold now, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.”

This scripture has always fascinated me.  The men communicate to Elisha that their city is a pleasant situation – with a very significant ‘but’.  There are a few little problems: the water is bad, the land won’t bear crops and the animals can’t reproduce.  But it is a pleasant situation!  It looks good from a distance – and don’t ask too many questions.

Fortunately for that city, Elisha receives a miracle from the Lord for them.  He asks them to bring him a new bowl and to put salt in it.  He then goes to the spring and throws the salt in it saying, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.’”  No more death from the water.  The situation became a whole lot more pleasant.

Many of today’s Christians seem to have a lot in common with the men of that city.  They consider their Christianity to be ‘a pleasant situation’, but there are a whole lot of problems that don’t seem to go away.  Unfortunately they don’t recognize that the source of these problems is their very lives and the way they live them.

It’s like Christianity looks good from afar, just don’t get too close and ask too many personal questions.  Putting it in the context of today’s verse, it’s like they were hoping that becoming a Christian was the equivalent of having ‘salt’ thrown in their spring.  The natural results would be wholesomeness and productivity.

We are made new when we are born again and God so remarkably transforms our very lives.  But here is where the ‘roads diverge in the woods’.  One road leads to a lifestyle of adding Jesus to the stuff we’ve been doing.  Sort of, God threw ‘salt’ in our lives; we’re grateful; and we go about our business.  Our lives might produce ‘fruit’ but much of it is unrighteous fruit that has a lot of sourness and bitterness in it – similar to the culture around us.

The other road is where the Lord says to us, “I have a way and I want you to walk in it – along with Me.”  He has given us His word and His Spirit to enable us to learn His ways and walk in them with Him.  This road leads to passion for the Lord and the fruit is His righteousness in every area of our lives.  It doesn’t mean we won’t have problems, but faith and godliness will characterize us and how we deal with them.  It is a faith-process requiring our continual commitment and adherence to His word.  People will see Jesus when they see us.  It’s called loving God – and it is the only appropriate response to His loving us.

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Sunday February 9, 2014

Posted on February 8, 2014 by Don Schmidt

The scripture is at the end of the devotional.

One of the sights of spring that we typically see (and in spite of the freezing cold, spring really is coming) is young people at the front of stores in their uniforms raising funds for their season.  There are different uniforms for baseball, track, football, soccer, cheerleading, basketball and the list goes on.  One thing they all have in common is that it’s pretty easy to recognize that they all involve sports – even though we might not recognize which one.

While the uniform indicates sports, it is how they play the game that counts.  Games have rules and require learned skills.  Typically they also have officials, umpires, referees or judges to assure that rules are observed.  Sports involve teamwork, practice and include features that measure how well something is being accomplished: getting the ball in the basket, scoring runs, completing passes, keeping the ball within the lines.

In our culture today it is easy to fall into the trap of treating Christianity somewhat like a sport.  Certain outward behaviors and acknowledgement of certain things indicate we are a Christian; they are our ‘uniform’. The differences between the things we believe, place us in different ‘teams’ of Christians.  Unfortunately, this ‘sport’ of Christianity has lots of players modifying or ignoring the ‘rules’.  In spite of sincerity, we can succumb to the temptation of creating our own definition of who is a player and how the sport is played.

But what constitutes being a Christian? Is it as simple as acknowledging that Jesus is Lord, confessing we are a sinner and adopting certain behaviors (like putting on a uniform)?  Mentally, most of us would say there’s a lot more to it than that.  But what is the actual testimony of our lives, thoughts, attitudes and actions.  What does God say about it?

Yesterday we concluded with the Lord’s admonition to the Church of Laodicea.  They thought they were rich but in reality they were “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”  They were lukewarm – neither cold nor hot.  The Lord also speaks to the Church of Ephesus.  They are commended for doing many things right, but then the Lord says this,

“ 4‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.  5‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place–unless you repent.”  (Revelation 2:4-5)

These admonitions are serious!  They raise questions that we must consider: What are lives really like that have Jesus as their genuine first love?  Do our lives reflect such love?  What is our basis for knowing?  And how do we respond if our lives don’t reflect such love?

To be continued…

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Saturday February 8, 2014

Posted on February 8, 2014 by Don Schmidt

The scripture is at the end of the devotional.

Our lives are filled with things we do that typically produce results.  Sometimes the results are good – sometimes not so good.  It helps to have a clear idea of what the result is supposed to be and what must be done to produce it.  If we want to take a trip we identify where we are going; when; for how long; and how are we going to get there.  If we’re going to Miami and wind up in Duluth somebody goofed up.

If we are in sales, we had better sell. If we’re in auto repair, the cars we work on must be fixed when we’re done.  But what happens when we become casual or are misinformed as to results we should be having?  What if we think we’re doing things right and we’re not?  Is it possible to become so mistaken as to the nature of what we are doing that we can walk comfortably in that delusion?

I remember when one of my sons got his family an incredible video game system called Wii (pronounced wee) for Christmas a few years ago.  This system allows you to play an immense number of games.  It has a sports component that includes games such as bowling, tennis, golf and wave-boarding where your physical motions with the control in your hands and your body movements determine how well you do.  Now suppose we become really good at these various ‘sports’ on this game system and share our excitement with friends who also have such games.  We discuss how we are improving at golf or tennis or bowling.

Picture people so caught up in these video sports that they consider their performance as the real thing.  Wii golf becomes golf.  Wii tennis becomes tennis.  Wii bowling becomes bowling.  What happens when they meet someone who doesn’t know about Wii, who invites them to play golf?  Our Wii player is then surprised when s/he is taken to a golf course instead of a game room.  What does the Wii player say when confronted with the real sport?  Do they respond, “This is not the way we play the game.”?

Is it possible to become so comfortable with the artificial that we are unaware of what the real thing looks like?  Can we become so mistaken that we completely (and sincerely) distort reality?  Consider the Lord’s admonition to the Laodiceans:

15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  (Revelation 3:15-17)

To be continued…

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Friday February 7, 2014

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Acts 4:12  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

I have referenced my trip to Afghanistan a few years ago as part of a Christian NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) in a number of devotionals.  It was truly a wonderful, eye-opening trip.  I treasure the memories of the Afghan Christians and Christian workers I encountered on that trip.  Seeing first hand, the reality of a Muslim culture faced by those who are Christian in Afghanistan was eye-opening for me.  Even more so was the ever present threat of the Muslim culture to the Afghan Christians.

The leader of our NGO and I would take prayer walks in the mornings after our arrival.  During those initial walks, he first assured me that I wasn’t doing anything wrong.  Then, speaking of the gospel, he went on to instruct me that I must always be aware of the fact that, “Here – the wrong word at the wrong time could get someone killed.”  Wisdom and an awareness of who was hearing what was being said were absolutely required.

Coming to grips with men and women who had accepted Christ but were unable to share that with their Muslim spouse or family was totally new to me.  How could an Afghan who had genuinely been changed by Christ be silent?  A significant part of the answer was the knowledge that in their Muslim culture, the extended family would likely kill the believing spouse when they learned of their Christian faith.  This wasn’t – and isn’t – ‘urban legend’ but a reality that happened to people they knew.

This also kept many Afghan Christians from becoming part of an underground church – or any Christian gathering for that fact.  They did not know who they could trust and who might be there for the hidden purpose of identifying them.  The exposure could result in their death.

The temptation was present to become judgmental and question the reality of their faith.  While I didn’t yield to that temptation, the question was raised in my mind.  Fortunately, I looked to the Lord for understanding and compassion for those around me there.

Gordon Conwell Seminary did some research a few years ago and developed the estimate that each year 171,000 Christians are martyred for their faith.  That is a big number.  Those are all brothers and sisters in Christ who lost their lives simply because they believed in Jesus.  The difficulties we face pale in comparison to the dangers many Christians around the world face – and that isn’t even addressing the poverty of their societies compared to the wealth we have in the west.

Thank God for the many missionaries and Christian workers who are going to the nations to share the ‘true wealth’ of the Gospel of Christ.  In spite of the threats, millions of Muslims worldwide are becoming Christians each year. May our hearts be moved to prayer and compassion for these believers and the dangers they may face daily because they too have responded to the love of God in Jesus Christ.

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Thursday February 6, 2014

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Acts 5:40b-41  They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.  41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

One of the books I read a couple years ago that really moved me was The Heavenly Man – the story of Brother Yun.  He was not unknown to me as I had the privilege of hearing him speak a few years ago at a conference focused on Afghanistan.  He is a leader in the Back to Jerusalem movement involving Chinese Christians.

His personal story involves a great deal of suffering for the gospel of Christ.  But he counts that suffering as joy because of the privilege of being a Christian and serving Jesus.  His focus was not on himself but upon the Lord and fulfilling the opportunities that the Lord gave him.

In recounting what has transpired in the church in China, he presents an accounting of what happened to the apostles and some key early Christians.  It was good to be reminded that nearly all of them were destined to be martyrs.  They loved and served our Lord Jesus and that righteous road they walked led to an end that not many of us would sign up for.  I wonder if our tendency would be to view such a fate as being due to our failure to really follow the Lord – rather than it being the culmination of following Him.  Needless to say, I was, and am, greatly humbled and moved by the recounting of their destinies.

There are some variances in the historical records we have but here is one accounting of those who have gone before us:

  • John      – exiled to Patmos
  • Stephen      – stoned to death by an angry mob (note: might he have made it out of that      situation alive if God had not given him a vision of heaven in the midst of it?)
  • Matthew      – stabbed to death by an angry mob in Persia
  • Mark      – died as two horses pulled his legs apart
  • Doctor Luke – was cruelly hanged
  • Peter      – crucified on a cross
  • Philip      – crucified on a cross
  • Simon      – crucified on a cross
  • Bartholomew      – skinned alive by heathen
  • Thomas      – died in India     as five horses pulled his body apart
  • James (Apostle) – beheaded by Herod
  • (Little) James – cut in half by a sharp saw
  • James (brother of Jesus) – stoned to death
  • Judas      – tied to a pillar and shot with arrows
  • Matthias      – beheaded in Jerusalem
  • Andrew      – crucified on a cross (like an X – became known as St Andrew’s cross)
  • Paul      – a martyr under Emperor Nero

May our hearts be so consumed with love from and for our Lord that we too will joyously follow Him wherever He leads.  There is a world out there that needs to know Him.

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Wednesday February 5, 2014

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Don Schmidt

2 Corinthians 12:10  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

While in Brazil three year ago we all went to a farm with friends for a few days.  It was about 2 hours west of Recife, up in some mountains.  These friends and their farm were like an oasis for John and Fabi (our oldest son and his family) and we were greatly blessed to be there with them.  One of the interesting highlights of our time there was a little brown Labrador puppy.  There had been seven puppies born but unfortunately the mother only had six well-formed teats for nursing.  This little guy was odd man out – the runt of the litter.

By the time we got there, three of the puppies had already gone to new homes.  This little puppy was ½ the size of each of the other three puppies still there.  He also bore the scars of being the target of their rough play.  Fortunately he was receiving extra milk, food and care to help him grow.  He was sweet, playful, and the chosen recipient of our granddaughters’ affection.

If the puppy could think about it, I wonder if he would have thought of himself as a victim or a survivor / overcomer.  He had been dealt a hand in life that put him at a real disadvantage – circumstances to deal with that were totally beyond his control.  Our granddaughter Becca considered him a ‘survivor’ (that was her term).  He was not going to let his size or ‘misfortune’ hinder him.

While thinking about this puppy’s situation a number of Biblical characters came to mind:

  • Gideon      – “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I saveIsrael?      My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”  (Judges 6:15)
  • Joseph      – “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. (Genesis 37:19)
  • Moses      – Moses said to the LORD, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been      eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” …       Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”      (Exodus 4:10, 13)
  • David      – So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”  Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”

It is so important to remember that we are not victims – no matter what lot in life we are dealt.  We are survivors / overcomers because of the God we serve.  Where we are weak, we look to the Lord and He makes us strong.  Our focus is Jesus. There is nothing He cannot redeem.

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Tuesday February 4, 2014

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Don Schmidt

John 12:3  Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume

In the past year I’ve read a number of really good books including Jack Deere’s book entitled, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit.  It is a wonderful book that concludes with focusing on passion for the Lord and then its relationship to power.  It is so important that we recognize that passion for God is absolutely essential to our life with God; it along with obedience.

This passion cannot be just a sense of longing or affection for the Lord.  It must be a life and habit forming condition of our heart that brings those actions that characterize individuals that truly are passionately in love with Him.  We must want to be such men and women!

There are Psalms and numerous songs that we sing in worship that describe attributes and actions that reflect passion for Him.  Do these describe us?  Our prayer should be for the Lord to transform us so that those words reflect our true condition more and more.  We want to be genuine Godly men and women.  The issue is not to be able to rejoice in our Godliness but to rejoice that He enables us to passionately love Him.  Let each of us wholeheartedly desire:

  1. to thirst for the Lord as a deer thirst for streams of water
  2. a heart that yearns within me for Him;
  3. to earnestly seek Him;
  4. my soul to thirst for Him;
  5. to think of Him through the watches of the night;
  6. for Him to be my joy and my delight;
  7. for my soul to yearn and even faint for His courts;
  8. for my heart and soul to cry out for Him;
  9. to be a doorkeeper in His courts;
  10. to sing for joy on my bed because of Him;
  11. my heart to yearn to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in his temple.

This passionate love for Jesus becomes our heart’s motivation.  I believe that is what motivated Mary to anoint Jesus.  She was consumed with passionate love for Him and her heart responded to the inspiration of His Spirit and she just gave herself to anointing Him.  The focus was Him.  Her actions were genuine and selfless.

Later she probably experienced real joy that she had been able to do this for Jesus, but at the time she was motivated purely by the Holy Spirit and her heart of love for Him.  May we be continually transformed so that more and more of the things we do are motivated by such love for our Lord.

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Monday February 3, 2014

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Don Schmidt

1st Thessalonians 4:1  As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.

Suppose you’re driving your spouse’s car and you notice the gas gauge is nearly on empty.  Even though you’re rushed for time you stop and fill up the tank.  You might do it simply because it needs to be done; without really thinking about it.  There is nothing wrong with that.  A helpful deed is done that is good in its own right.

Or while you’re standing there filling the tank, you have a smile come upon your face as you think about blessing the one you love.  It is an act of kindness that has its own fulfillment.  It’s possible that your spouse might not even notice that it was done, but that’s not important.  You did it to bless them.

Have you ever noticed that an obligation doesn’t have to feel like something we have to do, like one more demand upon our time?  It can be perceived as an opportunity, rather than one of simple duty.  Much of the time we might not even notice or think about these activities – we simply do them because thry’re the right things to do.  It is part of being responsible.

But these same obligations can also have the rich feel of opportunity.  They are something to be done that brings blessing and pleasure; to the one they are being done for and to the one who does them.

The more we learn to differentiate right things from wrong things, the more aware we become of our opportunities (rather than obligations) to do the right and avoid the wrong.  (Sometimes the wrong thing is simply not doing the right thing we see needs to be done – James 4:17)  While this can take on the feel of duty, doing the right thing is positive in its own right – and such an opportunity if we have the eyes to see it.  In every one of these situations we can recognize that we have the opportunity to do something pleasing to God.  We get to experience the joy of blessing Him.

Making wise choices and living righteously are pleasing to Him and enriching to us.  They communicate our love to Him (and to those around us) in a way that is genuine and biblical.  Words are important, but they don’t compare to actions done with our motivation centered in Him.  The Holy Spirit will transform us as we pursue this opportunity of living lives that please Him more and more.

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