Lent Devotion: Interrupted - Ephesians 2:4-5

 

Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved. (ESV)

 Do you ever lie awake at night and are unable to sleep because you’re thinking about all of the foolish mistakes that you’ve made? Do you ever relive those stupid moments in your mind and regret the things that you’ve said or done? Do you wish you could live parts of your life over again and avoid causing the problems or even the hurt that happened to other people? Me, too.

 It’s sometimes hard to come to terms with our imperfections and foolish ways. It’s not easy to get over the guilt for the wrong or shameful things that we’ve done. And it’s difficult to deal with the times when we should have said or done something to help someone else, but we were too scared, too busy, or too proud to do it.

 I used to think that the older I got, the more that I’d be able to handle the past and because I would be chronologically distant from those moments, I would be able to shove them aside. But that’s not true because the closer I get to being face-to-face with God, the more I know that He knows everything about me from the day of my birth to the time when I will die.

 It could make me despair, but then Jesus interrupts my melancholy and reminds me of His role as Savior. From the riches of God’s mercy, Christ applies grace to the moments and memories that keep me awake. He not only saves me from my sinful past, He rescues me from my hopelessness, so that when I do meet God face-to-face, Christ will be standing with me as my Savior, my Advocate, and my Friend.

 Q: What regrets do I have about my life? Am I ready to let Jesus apply His grace to those moments?

 Prayer: Lord Jesus, we all make mistakes; we all experience shame; we all do foolish things. Save us from ourselves and graciously forgive us. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

Pastor John Stuart

www.erinpres.org

Lent devotion: Redirection

Psalm 25:5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. (NIV)

I love using my GPS (Satnav in the UK), especially when I’m traveling to a distant or new place. It takes the worry out of reaching my destination and has made driving so much easier. I trust the satellite system to be accurate and it has only failed me a couple of times. I rely on it to be updated and will continue to use it whether it’s to get me around the city or even across the country.

In very much the same way and with a great more faith, I place my life into God’s hands. The ultimate destination is a new and distant place: Heaven. I can only get there by following God’s directions which are mapped out for me in the Bible. There are times when I get lost, or take a short cut, or even ignore God’s guidance. During those moments, I need to return to God, ask for forgiveness, and allow Him to recalibrate my direction. Thankfully, God’s grace through Christ permits me to get back on His path again, so I can once more travel heavenward.

Perhaps you feel lost or have taken a wrong path. Maybe you feel a gap between you and God and don’t know where to go with life or what to do. Come to God in prayer and just ask for His guidance. He’ll put you back on the right road and once more you can find hope in Him all day – and all life – long. 😊

Q: Where am I headed in life? Am I willing to let God recalibrate my direction?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, be our Guide today and reset our tracks on the right road that leads to heaven. Grant us the guidance we need and reassure us of Your love. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Gospel devotion - Fools for Christ - 1 Corinthians 1:18

1 Corinthians 1:18     For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (NIV)

            There are some Christians today who believe that the Cross was accidental and not a part of God’s plan. They say that Christ’s message of love is what is important now, and that to pin our faith on being forgiven through Jesus’ agonizing death is to worship a God that is vindictive, violent, and vile.

            Paul would call them foolish and that they will end up perishing because they cannot accept the purpose of the Cross. I agree with Paul because if I accept that Christ’s death was purely accidental, then God is powerless and not worthy of worship. It would also mean that Jesus was just a foolish preacher who got caught up in his own rhetoric and deserved to be killed by the authorities. Christ would become just another was a self-centered religious simpleton instead of a selfless Savior.

            For those of us who accept the power of the Cross as being predestined by God, we embrace an understanding that we are sinners who need to be saved from our sins. We don’t ever want to be separated from God and we don’t want to be cast aside forever. We claim the power of the crucified Christ, whose body was broken for our mistakes and whose blood was shed for our transgressions. In other words, without the Cross there is no forgiveness, and without Christ being nailed to that Cross, there is no hope of life after death. We would rather be fools for Christ on this side of life than fools for all of eternity on the other side of death.

Question:        What does Christ’s Cross mean to me? How has it shaped my faith?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, You are the Savior of the world and the Redeemer of our souls. Your life was predestined by God to end in a sacrificial way. You accepted God’s will to be crucified, so that we can be forgiven of our sins and restored to God’s favor. Thank You for not abandoning us; thank You for loving us so much that You willingly sacrificed Your Life. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to ask questions or make comments about today’s message, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of John’s new Lenten Cross drawings. If you would like to view a larger version, please click on this link: Cross.

Lent Devotion: The Great Escape - Psalm 55:7

Psalm 55:7    I would flee far away and stay in the desert. (NIV)

            Like most people, there are some days when I would like to run away from all of my responsibilities, travel somewhere remote, and just be all by myself. I sometimes daydream about getting in my car, driving as far west as I possibly can until I reach the ocean, and then just sit on the beach to watch the sun going down over the Pacific horizon. I’m certain that everyone has days just like this, where the impulse to ‘get away from it all’ occurs. I also believe that the writer of Psalm 55 experienced something similar.

            We all go through stressful times and bad moments in our lives. It’s part of our human experience. Most of the time, the majority of us resist those impulses to run away, simply because our common sense, as well as our devotion to others, over-rides our desire to escape.

            As we travel through the forty days of Lent, I’m reminded that the origins of this season are rooted in Christ’s wilderness experience, when He was whisked away by the Holy Spirit to a solitary place, free from any distractions, and unburdened by any responsibilities. He was not there, though, to get away from it all. Jesus was in the wilderness to be severely tested and tried. Thankfully, He overcame His time of trial and then began His ministry of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration for humankind.

            Running away from our responsibilities does not change anything. However, turning to Jesus with our burdens can change everything. He understands our isolation and vulnerability. He knows what it’s like to be stressed out and under pressure. This is why Jesus gently speaks to us across the centuries with His own comforting words: “Come to Me, all of you who are heavy burdened. In Me, you will find rest for your weary souls.” (Matthew 11:28).

Question:      What is currently stressing me out? How can Jesus help me?

Prayer:          Lord Jesus, You know us completely and understand everything that is going on in our lives. You know the isolation we feel, the fears we have, and the burdens that we carry. Help us to turn to You, to receive Your loving embrace and perfect assurance. Be with us all today. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to ask questions, give feedback, or make comments about today’s message, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is on of John’s latest Celtic drawings called “Celtic Heart.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click on this link: Heart.

Lenten devotion: Slavery Today - Titus 2:9-10

Titus 2:9-10    Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

This is one of those passages in the New Testament which, on the surface, appears to condone both the injustice and inhumanity of slavery. I personally find it troubling and I’m certain that Southern preachers in the past used this verse to support plantation owners, especially when those same slave masters financially strengthened the local congregation.

Superficially, it’s about slaves humbling themselves before their masters, no matter what they are asked to do. They are urged by the apostle Paul not to talk back or to protest about their circumstances. Instead Christians, who happen to be slaves, were supposed to be absolutely loyal and trustworthy in order to attract their owners to Christ. In other words, they were to endure all sorts of oppression in the hope that their acquiescence might make their masters come closer to Jesus.

This is a very high standard of faith and is very difficult to maintain. However, strangely enough, it also underpins much of the great work of civil disobedience that the likes of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr displayed in order to change American society. Their policy of non-retaliation, in the midst some of the most horrifying and inhumane acts of brutality that our nation has ever seen in modern times, is a continuing credit to their dignity, integrity, and faith. On the surface, the verses from Titus may appear to be unjust and unfair, but at a deeper level they convey the non-aggressionist teaching of Christ Himself.

Perhaps instead of being so insular and insecure because of the in-fighting within our churches and denominations, we should all get back to the proper ministry of Christ of standing with the weak, vulnerable, and oppressed, who are enslaved by loan sharks and unjust economies, in order to show the money masters and powerful people both the needs of the poor and the teachings of Christ at the same time.

Questions for personal reflection

Where does injustice occur in my community? What is my church doing to help overcome it?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, You constantly challenge us to spread the Gospel and live according to Your teaching. Sometimes we get in the way of Your words and cast aside Your commands. Forgive us for our obsessive ecclesiastical navel-gazing in a time of increasing poverty and economic slavery. Challenge our cozy ways and change our outdated ideas. In Your radical and holy name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of my latest Lenten drawings. It’s a Lenten Prayer wheel and features many symbols associated with the sacred season of Lent. If you would like to view a larger version, please click the following link: Lenten Prayer Wheel.