Frontline Devotion for Monday, March 8, 2010 by Fritz Foltz
Luke 6: 43-45 ‘No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.
At first this seems so trite and easy. Only good people with good hearts do good deeds. Yes, I believe that, just like I believe, “Faith without works is dead”. That’s how I first read the saying, wondering what I would write, because after all everyone believes this one.
Then I made a big mistake. I read the context of this passage and the ten or so others that use the same language. I began to see the particulars of what Jesus meant. And OUCH, THAT HURTS. Jesus speaks directly to where we are right now as we are slowly learning earthly treasure is not trustworthy. Jesus says, “Don’t trust it, because it is always vulnerable to rust, moths, and thieves”.
But the OUCH THAT HURTS goes beyond cursing the thieves who have stolen the money from the pension and endowment funds in which we invested. The context of the sayings is, “Don’t judge others; judge yourself for investing in order to make yourself wealthy without thought for the poor”.
You see this clearly when you remember Jesus uses the same language when he tells the rich young man who wants salvation that he must sell his goods, give the money to the poor, and follow him in order to have treasure in heaven. Again he uses the language in the parable of the rich fool who uses profit from a good harvest to build barns so he has money in the future rather than sharing his good fortune with the poor. He also uses the same words when he speaks of how difficult it is for the wealthy to get into the Kingdom of God.
Jesus calls us all to be good trees that bear good fruit, to nurture good hearts that produce good words and deeds. And he is clear this happens when we invest our treasures in heaven and the Father of Jesus Christ whom we can trust. The OUCH THAT HURTS comes when we are forced to acknowledge he is talking about real treasures that include our material wealth.
Some of the OUCH is soothed when Paul reminds us we have God’s treasure in earthen vessels. However, the prayers of our devotions should always be asking for the courage to do God’s will and follow his ways. Let our prayers be to use the opportunity given us to realize whom we can really trust and to invest ourselves and all we have there.
Let us pray: Thank you, Father, for all the blessings you have poured out on us, including the opportunities given in an affluent society. Help us to share these blessings with others. Enter into our hearts that we might invest our treasures wisely. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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By Mike Martine
www.goodshepherdonline.org
Luke 7: 24-33 After John’s messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. this is the one about whom it is written:
”‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’ I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
(All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)
Remember the old poster, “Be patient, God’s not finished with me yet”?
You probably saw it in a classroom somewhere, or in a dentist’s office…right next to the kitten clinging to a tree with the subtitle, “Hang in there!”
(Incidentally, I was never too comfortable with this poster being in my dentist’s office…especially when he was reaching for the drill.)
Anyway, when you read today’s passage you have to wonder-how can those in the kingdom of God be greater than John?
Cause frankly, from what I’ve seen, most of us don’t come close.
It’s simple-God sees us as “finished.”
Human beings have a tendency to make up “stories” about one another. Often, these stories start with some observable “fact.” (”He has trouble with his temper.” “She really likes to drink.” “He’s so shy”…etc.) And then, we take that fact, and other items that we observe, and create a tale for ourselves about the person that explains why they might be the way that they are.
Sometimes, these stories might hit at the truth. But often, they’re pretty judgmental and can limit our ability to clearly see a person for who they are…or, more importantly, who they might become.
In other words, we “trap” the person in our perception of the person. It’s kind of like those older relatives that can’t get past the fact that you’re not a kid anymore, even though your own kids might be teenagers.
God doesn’t do that. God sees us as “finished.”
God sees us at the END of the story. When we are with God in the kingdom. When we have learned what we need to learn. When we have gained the ability to love the way we need to love. When we have learned to understand others the way we need to understand.
God sees us as “finished.” That’s why Jesus can make such a grandiose statement about us.
OK?
Oh, and try this. Try to see yourself, and those around you, a little more like God sees us.
You’ll find it makes everyone, including yourself, a little easier to love. And that it makes life ring with something priceless-truth.
Peace.
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By Mike Martine
www.goodshepherdonline.org
Mark 9:38-41 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
“He was not one of us.”
For most of us, too often, it comes down to who’s in “the club.”
Who’s allowed to sit at our table at lunch? Who is really “one of us” as opposed to a “pretender?” Who, in the end, is “all right with God?”
And, as usual, Jesus blows us-and the disciples-right out of the water.
“Do not stop him…Whoever is not against us is with us.”
Jesus has an irritating habit.
Every time we think we’ve got “the club” defined, he moves the marker.
He changes the definition, causes us to think twice…moves us toward inclusion.
Think about it…the disciples have happened upon a guy desperate to do good. Desperate to help people in need. A person who probably had tried everything and then, by chance, tried employing the name of a teacher he had heard of not long ago…and it worked!
But, of course, the success of the man is not what grabs the disciples. It’s rather that the man is not “part of the club.”
But Jesus sets them straight…and sets us straight in the process.
God’s children rarely, if ever, agree on everything. God’s children keep redefining “the club” to the point that even those who call on the name of Christ can be excluded by brothers and sisters who do the same…
BUT…right or wrong, good theology or bad, Jesus is with and cares for all of us. Jesus doesn’t really care about the club, or who is (or isn’t) a card-carrying member.
Take this from this story. Christ wants to act for you and for all people. Any idea that all of the rules have to be followed in order for this to happen is not only false, it flies in the face of the message of grace.
Jesus is willing to love beyond the boundaries we would set.
Jesus is willing, and does love this way, because (truthfully) every time we start defining “the club” the definition is wrought with sin.
Whoever is not against us is with us.
Are we willing to accept that this is the truth?
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by Pastor Dave Sonnenberg
Reprinted from September 15, 2005
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I am haunted (in a good way) by a song that Chris Rice sings. The song is called, “Welcome to our world” and is a contemporary song about the birth of Christ. Rice sings of welcoming Christ into the everyday situations of our lives- each situation greeted with “welcome”.
We need to “welcome” Christ into each situation of our lives. Welcoming requires intentional action and an intentional mindset. When we wake, our call is to learn to say, “Jesus, welcome into this day. Hang out with me. Teach me something.” When we go to work, we need to say “welcome into my interactions with others.”
Perhaps the most intriguing welcome by Rice was his welcome of Jesus into the midst of our violence. Rice sings out “Bring your peace into our violence; let our hungry souls be fed.” In a world filled with turmoil, hurt, anger, and too much division, the call to welcome is a call that needs to be uttered by more and more. Bring your peace Jesus.
I don’t know about you, but I need to intentionally welcome Jesus into more and more of my life for all of life is sacred. It is no easy task but I fully believe that Jesus is interested in every aspect of my life and yours.
Invite and welcome Jesus into this day.
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By Penny Risen
www.goodshepherdonline.org
Mark 9:42
“But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck.” New Living Translation Bible
To become the people God wants us to be, we need vision. He wants us to notice those who need help, who are disenfranchised, who don’t have someone to talk to our perhaps don’t even know where their next meal might come from.
To become the people God wants us to be, we need empathy. He wants us to care enough to reach out with a helping hand, to stand up for social justice, to listen and step into someone else’s shoes.
To become the people God wants us to be, we need to turn from sin and hold the hand of our brother and sister to lead them from sin. As the passage from Mark says, if we turn a blind eye or refuse to care, we become threatened to sink into tragedy.
We need to adjust our course and find answers in His Word. Only He can pull us out of deep trouble and despair. Only the Spirit can bring us into relationship with a Savior as our guide. Only He can nudge us into action to bring others into light, to raise our hands and say we’ll help — not hurt through apathy and selfishness.
Our Lord knows our name and by His grace, He calls us His child. Let’s see, feel, act and move toward adding “little ones who trust” to His flock. In this way, how can we not try to become more like Jesus to a troubled and hurting world?
A simple, low-key praise song has become a favorite of mine recently. It reinforces the awesome mirror our Savior is for our soul. It brings into sharp focus what kind of people He wants us to become, as we connect with others in faith.
The lyrics remind believers:
”I have a father, He calls me His own.
He’ll never leave me, no matter where I go.
He knows my name, He knows my every thought.
He sees each tear that falls and hears me when I call.”
— “He Knows My Name” by Paul Baloche
Prayer for the day: Dear Lord, thank you for guiding me to care for my brothers and sisters. While I may not know by name those I help through service, offerings or donations of food during troubled times, grant me a giving heart for those in need. Allow me reach out to those near me, to offer words and deeds which reflect Your grace and love. Amen.
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By Anne B. Crawford
www.goodshepherdonline.org
Scripture Reading: Numbers 11: 4-6, 13-15
“4 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost-also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna! 13Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now-if I have found favor in your eyes-and do not let me face my own ruin.” (New International Version)
By: Fritz Foltz
www.goodshepherdonline.org
Mark 9: 43-48 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell,* to the unquenchable fire.* 45And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.*,* 47And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,* 48where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
Wow! I’m glad I don’t have to take this command literally. Of course, there is little evidence that anyone does, no matter what their biblical theory. No one in their right mind maims themselves physically to prevent their sinning.
On the other hand, there have always been some who are willing to take such commands literally when it comes to other people. The Medieval Inquisitors used such passages to rationalize their torture. They justified breaking the bodies of convicted sinners before execution as offering a last chance for repentance, penance, and heaven. And of course, even today we sometimes hear of people who have cut off the hands of thieves or claim God is pleased at the killing of those they label sinner. We always seem more ready to impose penalties on the sins of others.
Most of us realize Jesus is talking in hyperbole, trying to get across how important it is to follow God’s ways. Our survival is based on more than food. “We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” This is especially pressing in the context where this passage appears- a warning against putting “a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me”.
Perhaps, we can also use the passage to remind ourselves of another guideline for Bible reading. Jesus warns time and again that we are to take the log out of our own eyes before attempting to remove the splinter from others. We had better not impose on others what we are not willing to impose on ourselves.
Take care to ask God’s will during this day and take special care in applying it to yourself before judging other people. But even more important, take time to thank God for the Gospel that puts the passage in the context of God’s unconditional love.
Let us pray: Open our eyes, our minds, and our hearts, Father that we might always see what you call us to do and have the courage to do it. And enable us to hear the Gospel that assures us of your love, not matter what our sin. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Frontline Devotion for Sunday, September 20, 2009
By Don Kress
www.goodshepherdonline.org
Text for the Day: James 3:13-18 Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom-it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats. Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, over-flowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor. (The Message)
All of us have known someone who claimed to be wise? My experience is that a person who proclaims them self as wise seldom acts that way. People who are truly wise are generally more humble in their actions. James says that wisdom isn’t revealed through the way we talk, but rather through the way we live. True wisdom is measured by a person’s character.
The “American College Dictionary” defines wisdom as: ”knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action.” True wisdom requires two things: learning and discernment. The Reverend Dr. Selwyn Hughes says that there are seven traits – or “pillars” – that are evident in a person who has wisdom: trust, integrity, generosity, diligence, watchfulness with words, friendship, and personal purity. (”Wisdom for Living,” “Everyday Light” 1998) It’s interesting that knowledge doesn’t even make his list! But Hughes’ list is consistent with James’ message: it’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that defines wisdom.
The commentary related to today’s text in the “New Living Translation Study Bible” says this: “Foolishness leads to disorder, but wisdom leads to peace and goodness. Are you tempted to escalate the conflict, pass on the gossip, or fan the fire of discord? Careful, winsome speech and wise, loving words are the seeds of peace…Bitter jealousy and selfish ambition are inspired by the devil. It is easy for us to be drawn into wrong desires by the pressures of society and sometimes even by well-meaning Christians. By listening to the advice: ‘Assert yourself,’ ‘Go for it,’ ‘Set high goals,’ we can be drawn into greed and destructive competitiveness. Seeking God’s wisdom delivers us from the need to compare ourselves to others and to want what they have.”
Do you know someone who claims to have wisdom, or do you, yourself, think you are wise? Evaluate those claims of wisdom against Hughes’ seven pillars. A person who is truly wise will exhibit all of those traits. James is right: when it comes to measuring wisdom, “It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.”
Prayer: Heavenly Father, your servant Solomon – acclaimed as the wisest man in history – said, “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.” (Proverbs 9:10) Grant me such wisdom, Father. Help me to demonstrate my wisdom by the way I live. I ask it in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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By Mike Martine
www.goodshepherdonline.org
Isaiah 11:6-9 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea. (New International Version)
As Fritz Foltz mentioned in the latest “Frontline Study,” (you can find it at www.fritzfoltz.com)
it’s interesting that, from a biblical perspective, God did not even allow humans to eat animals until the time of Noah! (Genesis 9:1-7)
Of course, there’s enough of a biologist in me to look at this passage and say things (in my head, of course) like, “Ah…so God will give the lion and leopard molars!”
But kidding aside, the meaning of this is very clear. God is working for a time when violence will cease on the earth. A time when beings will not only exist side by side, but when they will even go so far as to care for one another’s young.
In truth, the “kingdom of God” proclaimed by Jesus is this exact kingdom proclaimed among human beings.
Gandhi seemed to understand this kingdom…he also understood that the opposite of the kingdom is a very different place indeed.
One day, a man named Nahari burst in to see Gandhi. He was crying out, “I’m going to Hell! I’m going to Hell!”
“Why?” Gandhi replied.
“I have killed a child! I smashed his head against a wall!”
Again, Gandhi asked, “Why?”
“Because!” Nahari yelled. “Because they killed my son! The Muslims killed my son!”
(Now you have to understand, this was during a time when the followers of Islam, the Muslims, and the Hindus-i.e., Nahari’s {and Gandhi’s} people, were rioting against one another. Violently threatening one another and making good on those threats.)
“They killed my son!” Nahari sobbed. “And now I have killed one of their children. I most certainly am going to Hell!”
Gandhi was silent for a time, and then he said, very quietly. “I know a way out of hell.”
“You do?” Nahari said.
“Yes. I do. But you must do as I say.”
“Anything!” Nahari cried out.
“Go find a child,” Gandhi said, “whose parents have been killed in the fighting…and raise him as your own.”
“Yes, Mahatma!” Nahari said.
“But…” Gandhi continued, “you must be sure he is a Muslim. And you must raise him as one as well.”
The wolf must live with the lamb…the asp must make no notice when the child’s hand reaches into its nest.
The vision of the peaceful kingdom is not an elimination of differences. It is, rather, a picture of life that looks past differences to the basic truth: that all are children of God.
Can we embrace that kingdom?
Can we afford not to?
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