Tag Archives: worship

Go to Church, April 8, 2019

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Here we are in the middle of Lent. In just a couple of weeks we will gather together to celebrate Easter. The day we set aside on the Christian calendar marking the day Jesus burst out of his grave to show us his power over death. During this season, I’ve been drawing my devotions from a book titled “For God So Loved”. The scripture I read today happens to come from Hebrews chapter 10. The author of that book writes to the Hebrew people of his day to explain in scholarly terms the proofs that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah and in the last several chapters, including chapter 10, how we should live in community with each other as his followers.

Now in this tenth chapter, beginning in verse 19 we find this admonition:

19 So, my friends, Jesus by His blood gives us courage to enter the most holy place. 20 He has created for us a new and living way through the curtain, that is, through His flesh. 21 Since we have a great High Priest who presides over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with true hearts full of faith, with hearts rinsed clean of any evil conscience, and with bodies cleansed with pure water. 23 Let us hold strong to the confession of our hope, never wavering, since the One who promised it to us is faithful. 24 Let us consider how to inspire each other to greater love and to righteous deeds, 25 not forgetting to gather as a community, as some have forgotten, but encouraging each other, especially as the day of His return approaches.

The author of the devotional I read today, Tara Beth Leach, gives some thoughts about the verses that could be summed up with an opening statement, “Don’t attend church, if…” She then fills in the blanks with several reasons why we should not go to church using a bit of sarcasm in her writing, such as, don’t attend church if you expect everyone to be just like you. Or don’t attend church if you expect easy answers. Or don’t attend church if you don’t want to be stretched and pushed.

So why should we go to church? Isn’t it supposed to be a safe haven for us so we can feel good about ourselves and find joy and peace and happiness? Isn’t church the place to find friendship and a common bond with those around you? Isn’t church the place to find that legacy of peace Jesus leaves us?

Church is all of that and more, but joy and peace and happiness and friendship and togetherness doesn’t mean it is easy or that everyone is or should be just like me. It doesn’t mean everything should be all soft and cushy and rosey. It doesn’t even mean I really want to be there sometimes. But I know I need to be there. Hebrews tells us we need to meet together. We need to support and learn from each other. We know that God doesn’t change, but I have to be honest, there is much about the Bible I just do not understand.

I believe the Bible is true and I believe is spans generations and gives light and life to us as we follow its teachings. I also believe there are some things written in it that apply to the particular culture in which it was written. For instance, Paul speaks out about women speaking in the church, yet he praises Lydia an obvious leader in the church. Jesus had no problem breaking the cultural rules as he spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well. Yet his actions were strictly forbidden and he never told anyone those forbidden rules were wrong. He just reached out to people.

So, I believe there are some things in the Bible that must be interpreted in the light of the culture of Biblical times. Often the principle of what was spoken can be picked out of the words and apply equally to us, but some things are just different in our culture. My wife only walks behind me when my pace gets faster than hers, not because I mean for her to be anywhere other than beside me. But not in some other culture even today and certainly not in Jesus’ day when cattle were more valuable than women.

So how best do we learn what scripture means? How can we interpret the words? We get together and we discuss what we read and how God’s spirit speaks to us individually and collectively and we begin to discern what God is trying to tell us. We should not depend on the pastor to do all of our study or all of our thinking for us. We should be an active part in that gathering to learn.

We should go to church to worship together. There is something about worship in community with other believers that elevates our spirit as we do so. God created us to be in community with him and with others. Yes, we can and should worship alone, but we should also worship with other believers. We can learn from them as they also learn from us in our prayers, our singing, our devotion, our approach to a holy God.

We should go to church to share each others burdens. I know you’ve seen those boxes that recommend a two man lift. Often one person can pick them up, but the movement of the load is so much easier and safer when two people work together to lift it. It’s the same with many of the difficulties we face in life. When we share each others burdens and support each other in times of trial, it just makes life easier. Not necessarily easy, but easier. That 100 pound box still weighs 100 pounds, but when two people lift it, you are less likely to break your back in the process.

We should go to church to share with other believers what we have learned through our own life experiences. I can seldom pass by someone who comments “I just wasn’t fed by the service today.” I can’t help remark, “It’s because you didn’t bring a spoon!” We don’t gather to be fed. We come to share. We come to worship. We come to experience God’s spirit in community. If you want to be fed every time you walk through the door, there are a lot of restaurants in the world that will be happy to feed you. And they supply the utensils. When we come expecting God to touch us because we have reached out to him all week long and worshipped all week long, that gathering in the church is just another opportunity to share that same worship with others who are doing the same.

So when you think about gathering together for worship, don’t think about what you get, but what you give. Do you want your spirit touched? Then reach out and touch someone’s heart with your love. Do you want peace? Then exude peace to those who enter the door and need it. Do you want fellowship? Then be a friend to those who look lonely. Do you need to feel joy? Then surround yourself with those with smiles on their faces, wear a smile yourself and feel it move from your face to your heart.

If church were like the social clubs in the community, it would fail as a place to serve God. Those social clubs provide just what the world asks for. Sameness. Emptiness. Hopelessness. You can pay a healthy price to belong to one of those social clubs, but they won’t provide the eternal answers you long to find. I don’t want to go to a church like that.

I want to go to a church that steps on my toes. I want to hear sermons that challenge me and forces me to become more Christlike. I want to surround myself with people who are like me in that they want to follow in Jesus, but I also want the church to be filled with those who are not very Christlike. I want to see people there who are hungry to find something the world can’t offer. And I want to see them there because they have seen something in me and others in my church that they just can’t explain. I want them to question why we are like we are and want the same kind of peace and joy and contentment in life that we enjoy because of our fellowship with God and one another.

Does every church look like that? I’m afraid not. Does my church look like that? Not all the time. But sometimes. And why is it that churches today aren’t as inviting and create as much curiosity for outsiders as we would like? Well, to be honest, it’s my fault…and your fault. Unless we live that life that cause others to see Christ in us every day outside the church, we can’t expect them to want to see what is going on inside the church. Think about it. It wasn’t Jesus’ actions in the temple or the synagog that caused people to follow him. It was his life outside those institutions. People flocked to him because of his everyday actions that showed his love for others. So during this season of Lent, think about your life. Do your actions cause those around you to want to follow you? Do you generate curiosity among those that know you as they watch you live your life for God? Do you have to tell them you are a Christian for them to know it? Lent is the time for preparation. It’s time to examine ourselves and know we are right with him. Take some time this week and do just that.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Would bringing back blue laws help? (John 4:21-26), January 25, 2017

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Do you remember blue laws? If you’re younger than 50, probably not. We don’t have many if any blue laws around anymore, but maybe we should. Maybe we wouldn’t be in the pickle we’re in today with our worship. Listen and find out why.
Scripture
1. John 4:21-26
2. Jesus: Woman, I tell you that neither is so. Believe this: a new day is coming—in fact, it’s already here—when the importance will not be placed on the time and place of worship but on the truthful hearts of worshipers. You worship what you don’t know while we worship what we do know, for God’s salvation is coming through the Jews. The Father is spirit, and He is seeking followers whose worship is sourced in truth and deeply spiritual as well. Regardless of whether you are in Jerusalem or on this mountain, if you do not seek the Father, then you do not worship.

Woman: These mysteries will be made clear by He who is promised, the Anointed One.

Jesus: The Anointed is speaking to you. I am the One you have been looking for.

Devotional
1. I’m not sure, but I think the largest segment of the population today are the baby boomers. Generations before us, families were larger, but they have now passed on our parents started worrying about population growth, being able to send us to college and provide for all us baby boomer kids in the suburbs, and so our families tended to begin to curb those population swells. The Gen-Xers and Millennials seldom have more than two kids and many have no kids, so the baby boomers are the big chunk in the US anyway. So what’s that got to do with today’s scripture?
2. Greatest Generation and their children
  1. Raised with societal norms of Christian standards in this country
  2. Church every Sunday
  3. Blue laws
  4. Nothing open on Sunday
3. Baby Boomers became interested in money
  1. Relaxed and abolished blue laws
  2. Worship anytime or anywhere
  3. Sports took center stage on Sunday afternoon instead of family
  4. Christian values were no longer the norm
4. Today
  1. No worship tolerated
  2. 24 hour operations the norm
  3. Christian values viewed as hate speech
  4. Cesspool of sex, drugs, and violence everywhere you turn
5. Jesus’ words come back to haunt us today because we have lost our way in worship and following what He wants us to do.
  1. It doesn’t matter where or when we worship
  2. but…The Father is spirit, and He is seeking followers whose worship is sourced in truth and deeply spiritual as well. Regardless of whether you are in Jerusalem or on this mountain, if you do not seek the Father, then you do not worship.
  3. When we let the world dictate our norms and leave Him out, we run the risk of losing our eternal life

If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Guys, get it right! (Luke 11:39-41) November 9, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 128-130

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 11:39-41
Jesus: You Pharisees are a walking contradiction. You are so concerned about external things—like someone who washes the outside of a cup and bowl but never cleans the inside, which is what counts! Beneath your fastidious exterior is a mess of extortion and filth.
You guys don’t get it. Did the potter make the outside but not the inside too? If you were full of goodness within, you could overflow with generosity from within, and if you did that, everything would be clean for you.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Obsessive compulsive disorder is a terrible problem for those that have a severe case of it. It can be very debilitating causing you to go through repetitive rituals dozens of times before you can move on to the next item of the day. Maybe it’s as simple as tapping the bed or touching a spot on the vanity or seemingly benign things like lining shoes up in a particular way before you can get on with your life. But sometimes these rituals can take on a life of their own. Sometimes they can become bizarre activities that make no sense to anyone, even the person that goes through them over and over, but just can’t stop until the routine is complete for fear that something bad will happen if they don’t.

That’s the sense I get when I read these verse about the Pharisees and their cleansing rituals. I often think about OCD and the terrible plight of the disorder’s victims when I hear about the rituals the Pharisees demanded the Jews follow in their daily routines. When we look back at the book of Leviticus at some of the cleansing ceremonies that God prescribed for the wandering Israelites in the deserts of the middle east, it’s easy to understand many of them.

Having served in army units that spent a lot of time in the field, I know how important some of those personal and community hygiene rules are. It doesn’t take much for disease to spread through a unit if soldiers aren’t following good hygiene rules. In fact, until recent years, disease accounted for the vast majority of casualties every army around the world suffered in times of war. Even today, there are far more soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan due to illness and injury than from battle injuries.

When you have three million people moving across the desert, living in tents, eating from open cook fires, things can get a little dicey. They didn’t have our current medical knowledge. They didn’t use our current medicines. They didn’t have the same kinds of equipment with which to travel. They needed some practical instruction from God to survive.

But by the time Jesus came to visit us, Rome had some pretty good systems in place. Medicine had progressed significantly. Running water appeared in some houses. They understood the importance of hygiene for the most part even though they didn’t understand germs and viruses and the mechanics of disease communication. But the Pharisees took those Levitical laws and turned them into OCD actions. It seemed like somewhere along the line one of the chief priests really had undiagnosed OCD and just multiplied all the rules by ten and no one had any breathing room about anything. It became impossible to keep up with the rituals.

So Jesus intervened. “You guys don’t get it.” It’s what’s on the inside that counts. If you were generous on the inside it would show by your giving. If your were happy on the inside, you’d be smiling and laughing on the outside. If you cared about people, you would try to lift their burdens instead of adding to them. If you loved God, you would love people.

So what would Jesus say to us if He came to visit? Do our services and our institutions look like we have OCD? Do we get so wrapped up in the routine activities that just have to be done in just the right order and just the right way that we forget why we come to church in the first place? Do we forget that what God wants from us is our worship and that when we gather for fellowship it isn’t the ritual that’s important but the relationships we build with people that supersedes everything else? It’s not what we eat or what we drink or how we wash our hands or how we set the table or whether the silverware matches the plates or the napkins match the tablecloth. None of that matters if we love people and care about the relationship we are building.

The Pharisees took their rituals to an extreme to try to assuage their spiritual conscience. It didn’t do any good. They still didn’t meet God’s standard because what God wanted was their devotion and love for each other. They could give neither as long as they were so focused on getting the ritual right. It’s the same with us. Until we get it right and love God and each other, we, like the Pharisees, will try to substitute our rituals, our activities, for the right stuff. Like Jesus says, “Guys, get it right!”

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Let God fill the hole (Luke 11:24-26) November 6, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Peter 1-3

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 11:24-26
Jesus: When a demonic spirit is expelled from someone, he wanders through waterless wastelands seeking rest. But there is no rest for him anywhere, so he says, “I’m going back to my old house.” He returns and finds the old house has been swept clean and fixed up again. So he goes and finds seven other spirits even worse than he is, and they make themselves at home in the man’s life so that he’s worse off now than he was before.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

There’s no such thing as demons, …is there? Satan’s minions can’t invade our minds and bodies and control what we think and do, …can they? All this demonic spirit stuff is just to make people act better and listen to preachers so they get their salaries paid, …right? Jesus doesn’t really mean what He says here about spirits coming back and bring their friends, …does He?

Well, He said it. So far, everything He said would happen has happened at the right time. So far, every time someone has tried to prove the Bible wrong, they prove it right. So far the number one seller in every book store around the world keeps proving itself accurate in what it tells us. So I expect this tidbit must be true, too.

What do we learn from these three verses that Luke records for us? First, there are demonic spirits in the world. Satan has the ability to infill us with His demonic spirits if we let him. But those demonic spirits will not be looking out for our good but to strengthen their master’s power. Those demons want Satan in control of this world. Even though he has no legitimacy here, they try to give it too him by enticing and tempting us through our selfishness.

Second, Satan’s demons can be removed from our lives. Note Jesus starts out His words with when a demon is expelled. You don’t have to keep a demon around. They can be kicked out of your life. They might be stronger than you, but they are not stronger than God and just the name of Jesus causes them to tremble in fear.

Third, Jesus’ words tell us that we need to replace those evil spirits with God’s Spirit in us. We can leave that spiritual hole in our lives empty. It will be filled with either God or Satan, one or the other. We are all created with this spiritual hunger that wants to be satisfied. But God will not enter our lives unless we invite Him. Satan, like any bully, will crowd his way into any space he can. So when he finds an empty spiritual hole in our lives, he will do his best to fill it with evil. He will tempt us and use whatever enticements he can to keep us from turning to God to fill that God shaped hole in us.

God created us with a desire for worship. The question is who or what will we worship. Paul tells us the predicament the human race got itself into starting with Adam and Eve. We began to think we were better than God so we began worshiping two-legged beings instead of God. Then it was the image of two-legged beings. Then we continued our downhill degradation and began worshiping four-legged creatures and their images, then insects and serpents and trees and rocks and anything else. Our problem as humans, we forgot that the desire for worship can only be satisfied when we worship the only One worthy of worship and He is the God of creation.

Fourth, Jesus tells us that if we don’t fill our lives with His spirit, we are in danger of falling further from Him than we were before He drove out the sin and evil the first time. It’s easy to see that in the behavior of a drug addict, but it’s the same with any sin. The first time you take a drug it doesn’t take much to feel the effects. But every subsequent time you take the drug, it takes a tiny bit more to create the same effect as the first time. Your body become adjusted to the foreign substance and you tolerate it until finally it takes almost a lethal dose to get the same result.

The same is true with sin in your life. You might feel some pleasure in that momentary sin that thrills or satisfies some base desire in your life, but it’s momentary, artificial, not the kind of satisfaction that only God’s spirit in your life can create. And every subsequent attempt to gain that same level of pleasure takes a little more or a little stronger dose of the behavior to obtain the same pleasure until the perversion is incomprehensible to a sensible person. But sin has taken over. Satan has done his work well. The addiction is complete and your brain tells you to get more of the temporary pleasure at any expense.

These words from Jesus give us ample warning about the way Satan works in our lives. We need to be careful to fill our lives with God or risk the dangerous consequences Jesus describes. Don’t take the chance. Let God fill that hole in your life.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

What will you do in heaven? (Luke 7:44-50) October 15, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Acts 7-8

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 7:44-50
Jesus: Do you see this woman here? It’s kind of funny. I entered your home, and you didn’t provide a basin of water so I could wash the road dust from My feet. You didn’t give Me a customary kiss of greeting and welcome. You didn’t offer Me the common courtesy of providing oil to brighten My face. But this woman has wet My feet with her own tears and washed them with her own hair. She hasn’t stopped kissing My feet since I came in. And she has applied perfumed oil to My feet. This woman has been forgiven much, and she is showing much love. But the person who has shown little love shows how little forgiveness he has received.
(to the woman) Your sins are forgiven.
Simon and Friends (muttering among themselves): Who does this guy think He is? He has the audacity to claim the authority to forgive sins?
Jesus (to the woman): Your faith has liberated you. Go in peace.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Have you ever thought about what you will do when you get to heaven and have an eternity to spend with Jesus? What’s the first thing you’ll do when you see Him? What do you think it will be like?

Some have written books about near death experiences and what they have described as glimpses of heaven they were privileged to see. Some have talked about people they’ve met, loved ones who passed on before them and greeted them as they entered the world beyond this physical one in which we reside. Some have tried to describe the incredible music that touched their ears as they listened the celestial choirs singing their praises to the King of Kings. Others have tried to describe the array of colors that make our color palates seem dull.

Writers talk about the conversations they have with those around them and the knowledge they have of everyone. No strangers in heaven. There is a familiarity among everyone because we are all brothers and sisters together in Christ. They talk about the indescribable light that floods the place. Brighter than the noon-day sun, yet they are not blinded by it, but rather they are soothed by its warmth and comfort. Writers try to describe the peace and beauty of the place they glimpse in these near death experiences, their glimpse of heaven, but they all tell us they fall short in their ability to adequately tell us of what heaven is really like.

But have you thought about what you will do when you get to heaven? I don’t remember reading any of those authors talking about meeting Jesus or falling at His feet. I think it’s because they only get a glimpse of heaven, not entry into that place. I don’t think we’ll get to see it in full, in all of its glory until the end of time, but I’ve not read any of those authors talk about falling at Jesus feet for some reason.

But I really think that’s what we will all do when we get there. This woman Jesus describes in Luke chapter 7 recognized what Jesus had done for her. She was an outcast to society. Everyone looked down on her. She was a prostitute. She sold her body to survive in a territory that said she should be stoned for such a debasing action. God holds humans in such high esteem, He think treating His personal temple, our flesh, in such a way deserved the penalty of stoning. Or at least that’s what He told Moses to share with the Israelites, His chosen people.

Jesus recognized the potential in her when her sins were washed away, though. He saw who she could be and when she came to Him in repentance, He forgave. He looked beyond her sin and saw who God made her to be. He saw the beautiful creation God intended and lifted the guilt from her shoulders. What could she do but fall to her feet in gratitude and cry those crocodile tears of joy on His feet?

Simon, who thought himself better than the sinner cleaned by the power of Jesus’ forgiveness, still looked down on the woman because he couldn’t see what Jesus saw. Simon was repulsed by the woman, Jesus loved her as one of God’s children. Simon was disgusted with her presence, Jesus welcomed her. Simon chastised Jesus for letting this prostitute come near Him, Jesus elevated her action into the annals of history. What a difference in the way God sees us and the way others see us! Aren’t you glad God doesn’t pass judgment on us the way the rest of humanity does?

But maybe we should be taking lessons from Jesus, too. Maybe we should take care when we are quick to judge those around us and label them with all sorts of names. Usually those labels are given just so we can justify our own less than honorable actions. We look down on others so we can help ourselves think we are somehow better than those around us. We are not. We still far so short of God’s standard and need His forgiveness.

What will I do when I get to heaven? I think I will probably fall face down at Jesus feet and sob like a baby, thanking Him for His forgiveness for the first few millennia. After that, I might find enough voice to begin singing His praises.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

It’s more than just rest (Mark 6:31) July 28, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Proverbs 13

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 6:31
Jesus (to the disciples): Let us go out into the wilderness for a while and rest ourselves.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

The fourth commandment is an interesting one. It tells us to honor the Sabbath and keep it holy. It tells us to do all our labor during the first six days of the week and to rest from our labor on the seventh day. When God gave Moses and the Israelites that command, they worked hard just to survive. Tilling the land, harvesting crops, preparing meals, protecting themselves from wild animals and marauding enemies, these men and women worked from before sunrise until after sunset at hard labor to survive. It’s not the same as what we think of as hard work today.

Even in our “hard labor” jobs, we have tools and mechanical aids that lighten the load significantly compared to what those Israelites used to eke out their existence. You’ll remember it was later in Israel’s history that the Philistines took away their metal tools, so they didn’t even have those to plow the land. Not like our tractors and combines and robotic factories today. No nail guns or power saws or machines to tamp and mix cement for construction. These folks worked hard.

God commanded them to rest from their labor on the seventh day. The interesting thing about that ancient Hebrew word for labor, though, it’s also used for serve, service to God, worship. The Israelites considered their everyday labor a means of worship. A way to serve God through the use of their hands every day. For six days they were to give their hard labor of service to God in a physical way, then on the sixth day, God commanded them to rest, set it apart, make it different, keep it holy.

We don’t do the kind of physical labor people did in Jesus’ day. I’m not sure we could keep up with them today. I’m not sure we could keep up with our grandparents in terms of physical labor on a day to day basis. We’ve gotten pretty soft as the generations have passed along. We think eight hour days are too long, even though a lot of us spend too much of that time stealing from our employers by checking our Facebook, Tweeting our friends, Instagramming with our social circle. Recent surveys tell us the average worker really actually works less than five hours of that eight they get paid for every day.

We think we need our four weeks of vacation and sick leave if we’re just tired of working. We figure fathers need paternity leave since mothers get maternity leave. We really don’t work like our ancestors did and I don’t think they complained nearly as much as we do about wages, time off, unfair working conditions, and all the other things we seem to complain about today.

Still, the commandment is valid. In our weakened condition, we still get overwhelmed by the stress and strain of the world just as our ancestors did. We don’t have to work as hard to survive anymore. God has allowed us to use our mental capacity to invent tools and equipment to ease the physical burdens of life. But we still suffer through the same temptations, emotions, and evil our ancestors did. In fact, we probably face more evil because we have more leisure time on our hands.

The question becomes, what do we do with that leisure time and what do we do when we rest from our labor? Now few people work six days a week at their jobs. 40 hours is the standard and most people have the whole weekend free. But what do you do with it? Do you honor it and make it holy? Do you remember, like the Israelites that your labor, whatever it might be, is service to God, and then your rest is a time to remember Him and should be made holy, set apart, different?

God didn’t need rest from the labor He expended to create the universe. He spoke and light appeared. He spoke and water separated the firmaments. He spoke and the sea stopped at the coastlines. He spoke and all the vegetation and animals in the world came into being. Then He made man in His image. God just said the words and things happened. God spoke. He didn’t need rest from what He did. But He commands us to honor the Sabbath because we need rest.

We need a Sabbath to stop from our self-imposed busy-ness and remember Him. We need a Sabbath to do something different from our every day labor to give our physical bodies and our minds a chance to recover from the labor we gave to Him the other six days of the week. We need a Sabbath. That’s why God commands us to remember it, use it, honor it, set it apart and make it different and holy.

How are you doing with that fourth commandment these days?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

We need the Sabbath (Mark 2:25-28) July 13, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 81-83

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 2:25-28
Jesus (turning toward the Pharisees): Do you remember the story about what King David and his followers did when they were hungry and had nothing to eat?
They said nothing, so He continued.
Jesus: David went into the house of God, when Abiathar was the high priest, and ate the bread that was consecrated to God. Now our laws say no one but the priests can eat that holy bread; but when David was hungry, he ate and also shared the bread with those who followed him.
The Sabbath was made for the needs of human beings, and not the other way around. So the Son of Man is Lord even over the Sabbath.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I wonder how many of our religious rules and regulations we get wrong. The Pharisees, the priests, the scribes, those in positions of authority within the constructs of the religious order of the day built their whole existence on upholding and enforcing their understanding of those rules. If people didn’t believe in those rules or live by them at least most of the time, then their livelihood disappeared.

The Mosaic law described how the priests and the tribe of Levi would gain its wealth. They would get a portion of most of the sacrifices the people made to God. That was their pay as the intermediaries for God. It was their wages for caring for the tabernacle and then the temple and the synagogues after the desporia. If those rules and regulations fell apart, how would the priests and scribes make a living? They might have to figure out some other kind of work to feed their families.

It wasn’t that the work of the priesthood was easy. They often started their day at two or three in the morning to begin preparing the fires for the altar, sharpening the knives, cleaning the utinsels used for the various rituals of the day. The traffic in and out of the temple every day was pretty significant. It was much more than the town hall or the city court house or even the nation’s supreme court. This place was the center of everything for the Jews. So things were busy and the priests and their families were responsible for keeping it running smoothly.

So we might understand a little about why the Pharisees came down so hard on Jesus and His disciples. They were breaking the rules. God said not to work on the Sabbath and they grabbed a handful of grain as they walked through the field because they were hungry. The Pharisees considered taking that handful of grain off the stalk harvesting so they were breaking the Sabbath.

But the Pharisees forgot why the Sabbath came about in the first place. God didn’t get tired and need rest after He brought everything into creation on those first six days. He set aside the seventh day for humankind to rest. God has infinite energy and power. He doesn’t sleep. He doesn’t rest. He doesn’t take a day off. But He knows that we need to stop from our labors and remember who brought all of this into being in the first place.

Part of our problem today is we somehow forgot about taking time off to remember God and His goodness to us. I don’t think it really matters what day of the week it is, we just need to stop and spend time remembering Him. And that hour and a half on Sunday morning doesn’t cut it if that’s all the time we give to Him. We need to stop, slow down, quit our busy-ness, set aside time to meditate on God and the blessings He gives us. We need to remember the Sabbath, not as a day on which we must follow a bunch of dos and don’ts, but as a time to worship and praise our Redeemer.

I wonder what would happen if we started remembering the Sabbath again? I’m not too sure we know how anymore. What if we spent one whoe day in worship and fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ relaxing in the company of each other, hopefully safe from the evils of the world as we share in that one day together each week? What if we stopped doing all our household chores and our shopping and our sports and other activities we didn’t have time for during the other six days of the week and spent that whole day on things related to our salvation instead of on things related to ourselves? Would that make a difference in our spiritual lives? Would it change the dynamics of our families? Would it change our churches?

The Sabbath isn’t about making or breaking rules and regulations. Jesus made that clear when He spoke to the Pharisees that day. But have we gone too far by just forgetting it all together? Maybe it’s time we pull out that Exodus verse and see what it’s all about again. Maybe it’s time we remember God set aside a day for us to focus on Him instead of doing the things we usually do every day. Jesus said the Sabbath was made for the needs of human beings. It’s about time we start realizing just how much we need to use that day.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

The temple will fall (Matthew 24:2) May 29, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Galatians 1-3

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 24:2
Jesus: Look around you. All of it will become rubble. I tell you this: not one stone will be left standing.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

The temple was a beautiful structure. Herod erected the gleaming white stone structure to create an awe inspiring edifice for the Jews he ruled. He wanted to win their favor and so spent what amounted to millions today to complete this monument to God. Only, it was more a monument to men than to God. Herod wanted the Jews to accept him as their king. Despite his evil, despite his loyalty to Rome rather than God, despite his utter failure in his faith, Herod thought he could win the Jews by buying their devotion with this temple.

And for many, the temple did win their favor. Herod put the priests in place who would allow his extravagances. The put up with him. They failed to call him out on his evil deeds because they enjoyed their privileges and power. They didn’t want to give up the luxuries and position and power the king gave them. Even these leaders and teachers knew where their power came from, they didn’t want to lose it, so they tolerated Herod.

This monument that was supposed to please God didn’t. But none of the temples did, really. If you go back to the first temple, you’ll remember David collected all the materials for it and gave the design to his son, Solomon to build it. God wouldn’t allow David to build it because of the blood on his hands in all the battles he had fought. But God allowed Solomon to build a temple. Solomon dedicated it and made some promises that he failed to keep.

Solomon’s son, Reheboam lost the northern tribes of Israel from the kingdom because of his father’s and his disobedience. The nation continued to falter in their faith and the temple finally was destroyed after it had been ransacked several times in the nation’s history. Ezra came back to lay its foundation four hundred years before Christ came, but it was nothing compared to the splendor of the ancient temple of Solomon or the awe inspiring edifice of Herod’s temple. And through all that time, the people continued to look at the building as the place where God resided.

They put Him in that box and assumed He stayed there. Just like we too often put God in our sanctuaries and assume He stays there. We leave after the worship service and live our lives pretty much the way the Israelites did when they left the temple. We forget God is the God of everyone and everything. That means He is in control of your home, whether you want Him to be or not. He is God in control of your job, whether you like it or not. He is God in control of who sits in the White House, whether the President is in your party affiliation or not. He is God in control of the terrorists, whether we want to think so or not.

We don’t understand why God allows things to happen the way they do, but we are not God and I’m glad for that. We would be terrible at the job. We are not just. Sometimes we are fair, but most of the time, we’re not and we are not just. But God is just. His actions are never unjust. It’s not in His nature to be unjust. He allows evil things to happen sometimes because we collectively made such a mess of His creation. Sometimes He gives us what we asked for. And the result is the world we see around us.

But God is still in control. He will not let His creation go further into an evil path than He desires. He will not let His children suffer beyond the point He chooses. God is beyond our understanding and we may not be able to figure it out with our finite minds, but God is still God. We are not. That’s the basic problem we have had since Adam. He thought he could become as wise as God. He couldn’t.

We think we can put God in a box. We can’t. We somehow get the idea we can confine His influence to the few hours we spend in worship with Him or we can turn Him on or off at our pleasure. We can’t. We think we can get by with our agenda and He’ll just go along with it because He likes us and we’re pretty good people. We’re not and He won’t.

You see, God is God. To really understand the purpose of the temple or the synagogue or the church, you really have to start with getting that one truth straight. God is God. Everything revolves around Him, not us. All those edifices are only temporary facilities for us to gather in community to worship. They have nothing to do with Him except as places for us to gather. He’s everywhere. We can meet with Him anywhere and we should. We can meet with Him anytime and we should. He is God.

So figure out God just wants to be with you. He doesn’t care much about the place. He cares about the relationship. We can’t impress Him with stuff, we only impress ourselves and others around us. They don’t count, only He does. Was Jesus sad that the temple would fall? I’m sure He was. Not because God wouldn’t have a place of worship, but because of all the reasons that caused God to allow its destruction once again. Our failure to listen to His voice.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Is your worship ordinary? (Matthew 15:3-11) April 7, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Job 27-28

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 15:3-11
Jesus: Why do you violate God’s command because of your tradition? God said, “Honor your father and mother. Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.” But you say that one need no longer honor his parents so long as he says to them, “What you might have gained from me, I now give to the glory of God.” Haven’t you let your tradition trump the word of God? You hypocrites! Isaiah must have had you in mind when he prophesied,
People honor Me with their lips,
but their hearts are nowhere near Me.
Because they elevate mere human ritual to the status of law,
their worship of Me is a meaningless sham.
(to the multitude) Hear and understand this: What you put into your mouth cannot make you clean or unclean; it is what comes out of your mouth that can make you unclean.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

How do Jesus’ words sound to you today? You might look at the Pharisees and wag your finger and say, “He really put you in your place, didn’t He?” But be careful. When you point your finger at someone, remember three are pointing back at you. Look at His last words to the Pharisees. “You hypocrites! Isaiah must have had you in mind when he prophesied, People honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are nowhere near Me. Because they elevate mere human ritual to the status of law, their worship of me is a meaningless sham.”

I think about what we do in our services sometimes and wonder if we have reduced our worship routine to just a ritual. We used to talk about the service being three hymns and a sermon with an offering thrown in there somewhere. We’ve gotten rid of the hymns, but most churches have a pretty set routine for that hour and a half people spend inside their walls. You can probably recite your routine for me without much trouble.

And so it goes. We come to church, spend our time in mindless rote without even thinking about the words we sing or the scripture we read. We listen to the pastor pray a few words and give a nice sermon. Then we walk out the doors and do the same thing we did last week. We don’t let God intervene in our lives. We just go on day after day assuming we are okay with the Creator.

Did you listen to Jesus’ words? He called the Pharisees hypocrites for doing just that. God isn’t interested in our routines in worship. He wants our real worship. He wants to touch our spirit with His Spirit. He wants to lead us to a life of righteousness, holiness. We have become callous in our familiarity with God. He tells us we are His children, but we have lost sight of the command Jesus quotes when we don’t honor Him as our heavenly Father. Jesus says to honor our Father.

How is just going through the motions of worship honoring Him? See, He wants a relationship with us. He wants to talk to us. He wants to listen to our prayers. He wants to hear our praise. He wants us to set aside anything we have between each other and anything we have between us and Him so we have open communication. He doesn’t want anything to block the transparency between us so His Spirit in us can work as He wants to work.

Have you ever noticed in the books of the Law, especially as laid out in Leviticus that God gives no remedy for those who intentially disobey Him? He talks about punishments and sacrifices for those who do things accidentally. Those who injury or kill by misfortune, not by plotting to do so. For those who intentionally commit sin, God gives one punishment. Death. Because the wages of sin. Is death, eternal separation from the Creator of Life, God.

So what do we do about it? Do we change the order of our services? Unless you’re the pastor or worship leader, probably not. Do we refuse to go to worship services? That won’t help, we need to worship in community with others. So, what’s the answer? The answer lies in examining Jesus’ worship. He went to the synagogue or temple every Sabbath. He participated in all those rituals He just condemned those Pharisees about performing.

So, what’s the difference? The difference rests in why and how He participated. First, He always stayed connected to His Father. He didn’t wait until He got to the synagogue to pray or meditate on God’s word. He spent time in prayer, fasting, study. He communed with His Father regularly and frequently.

Second, He recognized the significance of each ritual and symbol within the worship service and each time He participated in any of the rituals, I imagine He let them envelop Him. He let them sink into His heart and mind. He didn’t allow Himself to just go through the motions, but instead focused on each action, each word, each symbol and let them become a part of His individual worship of His Father.

Finally, He let those rituals enrich His life throughout the days ahead until He could come back and renew them again the next time He came into the synagogue or temple. He made them a part of His thought process and used those symbols and actions as teaching points, sermon prompts, exits from temptations, means and methods to draw closer to the Father.

How can you use the services you attend help you draw closer to God? How can you use the routine to take you to the extraordinary? Remember, when we worship, it’s never about routine, it’s about God, and He can never be described as ordinary.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Who do you worship? (Matthew 10/34-39) March 5, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Matthew 26-28

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 10:34-39
Jesus: Do not imagine that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. I have come to turn men against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, and daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law. You will find you have enemies even in your own household. If you love your father or mother more than you love Me, then you are not worthy of Me. If you love your son or daughter more than you love Me, then you are not worthy of Me. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow Me on the narrow road, then you are not worthy of Me. To find your life, you must lose your life—and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

How would you like to hear those words as one of Jesus’ twelve disciples? Talk about negative motivation. Follow Me and not only will you have authorities opposing you, but your own families will turn against you. The message you share will break apart families causing sons and daughters, fathers and mothers to turn against each other. Because of their faith in Me, I will disrupt the religious norms of society and touch the heart of people’s faith. And by following Me, you will be right in the middle of it, because you are compelled to share My message.

Jesus’ words really get to the heart of our devotion. Who or what do we worship? Will we worship Him or someone or something else? He only accepts first place. Remember the second commandment God gave Moses on Mount Sinai? “You are not to make any idol or image of other gods. In fact, you are not to make an image of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. You are not to bow down and serve any image, for I, the Eternal your God, am a jealous God.” That any image, include any person. Sometimes that’s our biggest problem. We begin to put our spouse or our parents or our kids ahead of God.

You say, I’d never do that! But then we take them out of church to go to those soccer games. So, what’s more important? We decide to hit the lake instead of helping our invalid, widowed neighbor since that’s the only day we have off. So, what’s more important? We choose silver over service, gold over God’s glory, pleasure over piety. We don’t pour precious metals into molds and bow down to them as they sit on altars. But we have our idols as surely as the pagan nations of the Old Testament. We just disguise our better. Or so we think.

If you’re going to follow Christ, He must take first place. Period. He must be more important than everything else in your life. Are those other things bad? Not necessarily, but when they become more important than God, they become your idols. When your kids’ welfare becomes more important than God, your priorities are confused. But I guarantee you that if God is first in your life, He will help you ensure the welfare of your kids much better than you could alone. When you job becomes more important than God, your priorities are confused. Does that mean God doesn’t want you to have a good job? No, but when He is first He will help you with the right job in the right place so you can carry out His will for your life.

Following Christ means doing what the Father intends, not what we intend. It means giving up control of your life to His control. It means letting Him be Lord. Dying to self and letting Him become your Master. It means doing everything you do in ways that please Him, not you or others. When you do, it will please some and cause others to hate you, but in the end, isn’t it God you want to please anyway? If He will judge our actions and our hearts, isn’t He the one we need to listen to and obey?

Jesus promised His disciples (that includes those of us who follow Him now) trouble in this world. He promised suffering and hardship. He promised misunderstanding. He promised the world would hate us. But listen to His words again. “If you refuse to take up your cross and follow Me on the narrow road, then you are not worthy of Me.” He knows we will face all these things. He made the prediction. He made the promise. So if He knows we will face these things, He also knows how to help us stand in the face of these things. Since Jesus has already overcome death, hell, and the grave, He can help us overcome the problems we will face in this world.

Knowing this, what should we do? Stay on the narrow path. Keep sharing His message. Stay on the course He sets for you. Don’t worry about the opposition that comes your way. Recognize that our hope of eternal life in Him far exceeds the short duration of suffering we may endure here. Just keep on doing what He asks you to do.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.