What Does This Mean?

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Pray | Father, draw me near to the empty tomb that I might become full. Amen.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

There was a time in my journey when chocolate bunnies and new dresses loomed a little too large for me on Easter morning. Glad to hear of the empty tomb, though not grasping the gratitude and joy that could have gripped my soul and song. I showed up to Easter a little shallow in my faith (a truth, not a judgment), and upon reflection, a little confused on what it all meant. But maybe I was just a little like the women at the empty tomb and the disciples in the upper room, not grasping the reality of what was unfolding.

Read |Luke 24-1-9, 36-39

Luke 24-1-9
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly, two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words.

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.

Luke 24:36-39
While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.  He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

Reflection |

Startled, troubled and frightened are not likely the words that come to mind when we think about Easter. But if “He is not here, He is risen!” is true, then this changes everything!

If you find your own faith journey sometimes confusing, troubled, or even a little shallow, be as gentle with yourself as the one who beckons you to come and see that He is not in the tomb. In him there is no condemnation, but a calling to come and see what the Lord has done, to feel his touch and know he is near. He is risen, indeed!

Where are you in your faith journey this week? What does the empty tomb mean to you personally?

Today’s devotion was written for and originally published in DailyLife Devotionals for Five Oaks Church

Misguided Anticipation

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Pray | 
Father, may I learn to submit my hopes, yearnings, and prayers over and over for your will, not mine. Amen

Jesus entered Jerusalem when huge crowds were in the city for Passover. After experiencing Jesus and hearing of his teachings, healings, and miracles, the crowd went wild upon his entry. Many recognized and celebrated the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” But to fully understand what Jesus’ entry meant was not something they could comprehend. The Israelites had been long-suffering, waiting, hoping for injustices to end, and it was looking like the time had finally come for a new ruler. Coats and palm branches flooded the path as joyful shouts of “Hosanna!” filled the air.  

Read |Matthew 21:6-11

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowds answered,

“This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Reflection | 

It’s easy to be a little judgmental of this fickle crowd, celebrating Jesus and whooping it up one moment, but within days dispersing and calling for his crucifixion. This was a hopeful people, enthusiastic as they anticipated so many wrongs to be made right. They believed liberation and freedom were about to be upon them, and they were expecting things to unfold in ways they could understand only from their worldly perspective.

As much as we might believe we are different from these people, I’m not so sure we are. We may see or experience Jesus work in some way and we get excited. We might be hopeful as we whisper, “Hallelujah, something is going to happen now!” And then, it seems it doesn’t. Our expected and hoped-for outcome isn’t fulfilled (at least in our eyes). We might not be yelling, “Crucify him!” but we may turn away from Jesus, thinking our hope has been misplaced.

Is there an area you’ve been longing for Jesus to make right? Is it possible we might have misguided anticipations or understanding of what God is doing along our path, or the path of someone we love?

Today’s devotion was written for and originally published in DailyLife Devotionals for Five Oaks Church

Hey Jesus, I’m confused

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Pray | God, it’s so easy for me to concentrate on my concerns. Help me to shift my thoughts and direct my prayers to your concerns, for they are higher and better. Amen.

CONFUSION
When Jesus was with his disciples, he shared so much with them – meals, celebrations, lessons, truths, and certainly concepts that seemed confusing: the last will be first and the first will be last, that he came to serve, not be served, where he was going, they could not follow, and on and on. These baffling conversations included Jesus telling his disciples, more than once, that he would be killed and then rise three days later. This was an outcome they couldn’t fathom or believe; it just didn’t make sense.

Read | Mark 8:31-33; 9:30-32
He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Mark 9:30-32
They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
Reflect | Spend some time reflecting on the following:

“Get behind me Satan!” is a stunning statement. I would think none of us can imagine hearing those words from Jesus, and yet as we read the next words, we likely should be able to put ourselves in Peter’s place. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” How often do we put our human concerns in front of, or in place of, the concerns of God? Our world view, as well as the desires of our heart, have the power to stunt our understanding of what God may be doing. I, possibly like you, want my friend to be cancer free, I want struggling to cease for those I love, I want the many wars to end, injustices made right. I want, I want, I want. But what is the concern of God? Or, what might he be doing that I just don’t understand? I appreciate Mark 9:32 “But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.”

How often are we afraid to get quiet and ask God about the very thing that baffles us? Is there something you are afraid to ask him about?  

Today’s devotion was written for and originally published in DailyLife Devotionals for Five Oaks Church  


Rams and Oil or Mercy?

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Pray | Lord, where I am critical or maybe standing back from you, may I know you are merciful and kind and come closer in response. 

The Pharisees were out to discredit Jesus, and their work to test and trap him seemed endless. In their eyes, everything came down to the law. Jesus responds by acknowledging and respecting the law but replaces malice with mercy. Jesus doesn’t just see the law; he sees the people. 

Read | Matthew 12:10-14; Micah 6:6-8
Matthew 12:10-14

Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

Micah 6:6-8
With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Reflection |

Hey Jesus, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? Should this adulterous woman be stoned? Your disciples unlawfully picked that grain on the Sabbath! You healed a crippled man on the Sabbath?! These are just some of the questions and accusations thrown at Jesus. The response to his compassion was constant criticism and eventually death. The Pharisees didn’t care about hunger, shriveled hands, invalids, and the like. They focused on rules and violations, thus missing miracles and restoration.

Though God gave the Law, he consistently also spoke of mercy. In fact, he delights in showing mercy (Micah 7:18). Through Jesus, God continued to show kindness and compassion, rendered aid and healing, and offered forgiveness and our own salvation. Ultimately, he closes the gap between the law and our sin.

We can bring our rams, oils, calves, tithes, offerings, volunteering and more yet still miss the mark of what God desires from us. Our questions might be: How do we respond to Jesus? Do we isolate and pick apart what we don’t like about him, or do we take in the whole of who he is, trusting him and coming near to him? Are we ever as blind as the Pharisees, sometimes missing miracles and restorations?

Today’s devotion was written for and originally published in DailyLife Devotionals for Five Oaks Church

Is this really about the Sabbath?

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Pray |Lord, as I read your word, help me to really know it so that I can walk it out as I interact with others.

In the story of the disciples picking wheat on the Sabbath, at first glance it might seem the tension is about keeping the Sabbath; but maybe it’s not. Sometimes real issues are clouded beneath frustrations felt and words said. There are times we just don’t say what we really mean.

Read |Matthew 12:1-8

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.  Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Reflection | 

When Jesus responds to the Pharisees, you can kind of feel the tension in his response. Haven’t you read? Aren’t you aware that David ate the consecrated bread? Haven’t you read about the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple? And you know these words: “I desire mercy not sacrifice.” Jesus knows his audience. He knows the Pharisees know what David did. They know that priests have work to do even on the Sabbath, and he knows they have ignored God’s word on desiring mercy, not sacrifice.

Maybe the Pharisees had been so long in looking for violations of the law that the intent of the law was no longer within sight. Perhaps this response to Jesus was less about the Sabbath and more about them looking to bring him down and take him out – his upside down kingdom was certainly messing with the established rank and order of the day.

One of our takeaways from these verses might be to examine our hearts and check our vision. When something inside wants to sling words, accusations, or our own (perceived) righteousness, could we instead take a breath, inhale grace, and offer mercy? The reality is, sometimes that’s difficult. But we are not alone in this journey, Jesus is with us walking through the office and sitting at family tables. He’s in our hearts as we peruse and comment on all manner of things we see and hear on that world wide web. If we pause, we might just hear him ask, “Hey, child of mine, haven’t you read. . . ?”

Does our response to Jesus impact our response to others?

Today’s devotion was written for and originally published in DailyLife Devotionals for Five Oaks Church

So many rules . . .

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Pray | Father, help me to know your law, understand the intent, and respond well.

As we consider the verses below, we see the disciples picking wheat on the Sabbath because they’re hungry. The Pharisees see this and pounce, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath!” It’s almost as if they’re following Jesus around just to watch, judge, and challenge him.

The Pharisees were highly concerned about following the law – right down to the letter – as well as every other letter they had added. For perspective, the fourth commandment, Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy, had been given 39 types of prohibited work, creating more laws around the law. These were called fence laws. In fact, 1,500 of these laws were created around the Ten Commandments (maybe originally out of concern for the people), attempting to create a wide berth around sin.

Read |Matthew 12:1-8

At that time, Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began picking some grain heads and eating them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.  For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Reflection | 

In response to the law, extra laws and heavy burdens had been put on the people. Then along came Jesus, who said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus cares deeply about people, which doesn’t mean he dismisses the law, though he does lean into the intent of the law.

It seems that somewhere along the line, the original concern for people to follow the law got complicated and out of focus. Rules, regulations, expectations, and judgment reigned; maybe pride came near, and mercy was squeezed out. However it happened, people of faith started hurting people of faith. Unfortunately, we still do that today.

The challenge for us is to question ourselves: Are we watching for and pointing out what other Christians say and do that we interpret as wrong? Do we approach (or post) from places of pride and pouncing, or do we draw near with mercy and grace? As we walk out this life alongside others, do we truly desire mercy over sacrifice?

Today’s devotion was written for and originally published in DailyLife Devotionals for Five Oaks Church

Hello NEW YEAR – Day 3

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Pray | 

Lord, you know the number of hairs on my head, have seen my days, and have made a way for me. May I truly trust you this year.  

If you have left the previous year with joy in your heart and contentment in your soul, then rejoice and be glad in that! Or maybe you find yourself walking a new path this year that’s difficult, lonely, has traces of regret, or looks uncertain; maybe joy just isn’t coming easily. In our jobs, churches, and daily living we are shoulder to shoulder with ones who are in really good places as well as ones who carry heavy weights and shed quiet tears. If the latter is you, take heart because splashed all over the Bible are good and true words that call us to lift up our face.
Read |

Isaiah 43:18-19
Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the dry land.

Lamentations 3: 22-24
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Revelation 21:5
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

We have a tendency to ruminate on regret, anger and frustration, and no one’s better at beating ourselves up over the former things than our own selves. But God tells us not to dwell on the past, his word says to put our eyes forward to look for the new thing he is doing. If we’re lost in a wilderness or walking in a dry land, God says he’s making a way and creating streams. Do we perceive it? And God loves us so much, has such compassion that even when it feels like we are, we cannot be consumed by grief, anger, heartache, disappointment, or fill in the blank. In addition to all of that, believe it or not, his compassions never fail, his mercies are new, waiting each and every morning; we can hang on, he is indeed faithful to make everything new.

Consider pausing to assess how you’re really doing before pushing through this first month of the year. What do you believe you need from God and others to move through these days?

Hello NEW YEAR

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Pray | 
Father, as I walk into this new year, may I seek you with all my heart, trust your plans for me, and walk in wisdom.

The new year has arrived! As we switch our calendars to 2024, some of us are sensing a refreshing and new beginning. Some of us feel loose ends, scuff marks, family strife, illness, loss, and unknowns leading the march into the new year, so flipping the calendar doesn’t necessarily feel refreshing. And just maybe it’s a mix of both anticipation and apprehension, wondering what these next 365 days will – or will not – hold.
Read | 
Psalm 139:16; Jeremiah 29:11-13; Psalm 90:12

Psalm 139:16
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Jeremiah 29:11-13
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Psalm 90:12
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 
Reflection | 
One thing we can know for sure is that God has seen these upcoming days, and they are ordained. Nothing will take his breath away even as we gasp with joy or bend in heartache. If promise is looming large in front of you, if your toes have been pointed to a new land, if a new day is showing itself to you, then call on the Lord as you go on your way. Come, pray, and seek him with all your heart, for he has plans to give you hope and a future. If job loss, family struggles, health concerns, or a busy mind and heavy heart is your current lot, then call on the Lord as you go through your days. Come, pray and seek him with all your heart, for he has plans to give you hope and a future. No matter our circumstances, whether light and abundant, or scarce and heavy, may we ask the Lord to teach us this year to seek him with all our heart and to number our days so that we may indeed gain a heart of wisdom.

As you enter this new year, are you feeling promise and a refreshing, or weariness? If all of your days are ordained and written in a book, do you trust the Lord to meet you where you need him?  

Today’s lesson was written for DailyLife Devotions for Five Oaks Church

Faith and Work ~ Work Can Destroy You

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Pray | Lord, give us insight on how my faith should shape our work, because our work matters to you and to others.

This week in looking at work and its relationship to the fall in the Garden, we’ve seen that we’ve been working from the very beginning, and that work became more difficult after listening to the serpent. Limitations set by God are for our good, and brokenness causes us to ignore those boundaries creating difficulties in and between us. Today we’re considering how our faith can influence our work, and that if faith doesn’t, our work has the potential to destroy us.
Read | Psalm 119:30; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; Micah 6:8 

Psalm 119:30
I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.

1 Thessalonians 1:3
We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. 
Reflect | Spend some time reflecting on one or more of the following:

Pastor and theologian, Tim Keller, in speaking on faith and work, offers four ways faith can serve us in our vocation. The first is faith gives an inner stability without which work can destroy us. 
If our self-worth, importance, identity or competence comes from work, our successes go to our head and our failures go to our heart. If we are not absolutely certain of our worth, we’ll be whipped back and forth but faith can keep us grounded in the stormiest of times.

Faith reminds us of the dignity of all work.
With this truth central in our hearts, we won’t have a belittling attitude toward others’ work. The shutdowns during the pandemic revealed and reminded us of some of the unsung heroes in our midst. Our uplifting of them showed we valued their dedication and work, that their work very much mattered.

Faith gives us a moral compass without which work could corrupt us.
With so much pressure for profitability, and with culture leaning toward moral relativity, leaving our faith at the door may cause our clarity and conviction to become soggy and soupy.

Lastly, faith gives us a world view that shapes the character of our work, and without faith, our work could master and use us.
We might find ourselves giving more to our jobs than to our families, which in turn causes us to prioritize in a disordered manner, putting our best effort, energy and position toward work. Our work has the potential to shape us if we walk unaware of if we are shaping or being shaped by our work environment.

Though people can be difficult, and work is harder and slower due to a ground cursed with thorns and thistles, that’s not all we’re left with, we have faith. Faith gives us hope in all circumstances, so let us not leave it at the door as we finish our prayers, begin our day and enter our work.

Does my faith shape my work, or am I being shaped by my work? If so, how? Am I certain of my self-worth and identity outside of my job or role?

Written for Five Oaks Church Daily Life Devotional
Link here to the second message in a four part series on Faith and Work
Pastor Jonathan Haage // (message The Curse of Work begins at 16:12)

Your Work Matters ~ Embracing Limits

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Pray | Lord, help me see the limits you have in place for my daily life.

“Should babies have maple syrup?” my daughter-in-law asked as I dipped a piece of pancake into syrup before plopping it in my granddaughter’s mouth as she murmured “Mmmmmm.” Turns out, they should not.

Just because the taste is sweet, or something looks appealing, doesn’t mean it’s good for us. Sometimes it’s as simple as syrup for a baby, but it can be as complicated as the fruit on a forbidden tree. 

Read |  Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-5 

Genesis 2:15-17
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” 

Genesis 3:1-5
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

Reflect | Spend some time reflecting on one or more of the following

In the Garden, God forbid Adam and Eve the fruit of one tree. Enter the serpent, who out points out to Eve the prohibition of one tree, neglecting God’s provision of the rest of the trees, implication — God is restrictive. While living within the limit God set for them, Adam and Eve lived harmoniously and uninhibited with God and one another. But once they broke that boundary, they suddenly felt naked, ashamed, covering themselves and even hiding from God. When asked what they had done Adam blamed Eve (and kind of blamed God, “The woman you put here with me . . . “) and Eve blamed the serpent and they became fragmented. That decision to take the forbidden fruit still affects work environments and relationships today; we can be difficult with each other, have a hard time taking ownership of our actions, we can be disagreeable and prideful . . . fragmented.

Interestingly while living within God’s limitations in the garden, work was fulfilling and good, yielding much. But with disregarded limitations, work became harder, there were thorns and thistles to contend with. Those thorns and thistles are still present in our work today, they can pop up as tedium, exhaustion, blaming, difficult deadlines, co-workers, clients, bosses and such. But we still have the option to embrace God’s limits today, and when we do, we live with each other much more harmoniously, and work is good and fulfilling.

How might the brokenness back in the Garden affect your relationships and work life? Do you have a sense of God’s limits for you? What are some limitations that have yielded fruit in your home and work life?

Written for Five Oaks Church Daily Life Devotional