Scripture Nugget 5.21.2017

Scripture Nugget 5.21.2017

Scripture Read 2 Corinthians 9-10

Nugget 2 Corinthians 9:6-10

“The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. As it is written, ‘He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’ He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”

Devotional Thought: Jesus told a story, a parable about a Sower, we read His words in Matthew 13:1-9. As the sower cast seed, he did so indiscriminately, some fell on the path (hard ground), some fell on rocky ground (little soil) some fell among the weeds and some fell on good soil. The seeds that fell on good soil brought forth grain, some hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. The seed on the path was eaten by birds, it still had a chance to produce, who knows where it may end up? The seed on the rocky soil may be like the fruit tree I once saw growing in the middle of a brick patio, the seed fell in a crack, as the tree grew it busted up the brick, the seed among the weeds may survive and choke out the weeds. If we never sow, or if we limit how and where we sow; we are limiting the possibilities. Righteousness is from God, it is a gift shared by God, it is to be shared with others, so they too may receive. Let’s all be a part of the harvest of righteousness – let’s sow indiscriminately and see what happens!

Scripture Nugget 5.20.2017

Scripture Nugget 5.20.2017

Scripture Read Luke 3-4

Nugget Luke 4:14-21

“Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. he has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon him. The he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’

Devotional Thought: Jesus came to change the world, to turn the status quo upside down. Good news to those who haven’t any; freedom to those in spiritual bondage; sight to those who either cannot see, or choose not to; lift burdens off broken and bent backs and to proclaim the Good News of God’s love of all creation. I would rather be a part of what Jesus came to do than one who continues to be a part of the world that needs changing and prevents that change from occurring: It may help us to remember - the great requirement; “He has told you, O Mortal what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8); - the great commandment; “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:12-13); - the great commission; “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority I heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” Now that is change I want for my own life, for the lives of others and can get behind! Who will join me, as I follow Jesus?

Scripture Nugget 5.19.2017

Scripture Nugget 5.19.2017

Scripture Read Jeremiah 37-41

Nugget 37:1-2

“Zedekiah son of Josiah, whom King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, succeeded Coniah son of Jehoiakim. But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD that he spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.”

Devotional Thought: God speaks through prophets; the message is usually not “keep doing what you are doing, all is well.” But, rather, a call to repentance, a call to listen and pay attention, a call to change your ways or you will die. And, often, it is a message that defies “common sense”, it challenges our ideas of the way things should be. We may for a time, be asked to surrender to the Babylonians in order to spare our lives. God may use one enemy to overcome another. God may use an unlikely character (an Ethiopian eunuch) to rescue. Am I, are you listening? Paying attention? Or do we refuse to hear? Faith is required.

Scripture Nugget 5.18.2017

Scripture Nugget 5.18.2017 (5.19.2017)

Scripture Read Job 39-40

Nugget Job 40:6-14

“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: ‘Gird up your loins like a man; I will question you, and you declare to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be justified? Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? Deck yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with gory and splendor. Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on all who are proud, and abase them. Look on all who are proud, and bring them low; tread down the wicked where they stand. Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below. Then I will also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can give you victory.’”

Devotional Thought: Bottom line up front: Job cannot save myself! Job is not strong like God, Job can’t speak life into death like God. Job cannot adorn himself with majesty, dignity, glory or splendor. Very simply Job is not God and cannot do the things God does, nor totally understand God’s ways. Job cannot do the tasks God lays out. Job needs a Savior to provide victory. Job does, and so do I, so do you. God’s providence is not predictable, The totality of God’s ways cannot be explained by simplistic formulas and are not easily understood – faith is required. God, not any part of creation, (and certainly not Job, his friends or us) is the center of Creation. The Creator God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) provide justice and mercy as God sees fit. Salvation, is a gift from God, to be accepted on God’s terms. Life with God is to be lived on God’s terms. Faith is required.

Scripture Nugget 5.17.2017

Scripture Nugget 5.17.2017

Scripture Read Psalms 57-59

Nugget Psalm 57:1-3, 5, 11; Psalm 58:10-11; Psalm 60:1-2, 6-7, 9-10, 14-17

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, until the destroying storms pass by. I cry to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me, he will put to shame those who trample on me. God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness. … Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth. ... Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth. ... The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked. People will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.’…Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from those who work evil; from the bloodthirsty save me. … Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. There they are, bellowing with their mouths, with shard words on their lips -for ‘Who,’ they think, ‘will hear us?’ … O my strength, I will watch for you; for you, O God, are my fortress. My God in his steadfast love will meet me; my God will let me look in triumph on my enemies. … Each evening they comeback, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. They roam about for food, and growl if they do not get their fill. But I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been a fortress for me and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.”

Devotional Thought: Great assurance in God is necessary to cry for mercy for one self while destruction for the wicked. Great assurance comes from faith in God’s grace; grace offered to all, available to all. Grace that I/you have received and grace that we are responsible to share. Always remembering that grace is from God, nothing we have manufactured ourselves. The only way this statement; “the righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked,” even makes sense is if I/you/we have accepted and attempted to share God’s graced with others. If those who are “wicked” are judged before us and slain to the point of our feet being bathed in blood, and we have not shared Christ with them, then there can be no rejoicing. We are unable to change hard hearts, but the love and grace of God is able! Those who return in the cover of darkness to roam and prowl, steal and destroy need an introduction to God’s love and grace so that they can experience God’s mercy. That is why we must sing aloud of God’s steadfast love in the morning – so those who prowl at night may hear as they slink away. So their hearts may be changed, so they receive Jesus’ righteousness. So they enter into the fortress of God, the Kingdom of God. Then there will be rejoicing!

Scripture Nugget 5.16.2017

Scripture Nugget 5.16.2017

Scripture Read 2 Samuel 15-19

Nugget 2 Samuel 15:1,6b, 10a, 12b

“After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run ahead of him. … so Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel. … But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, … The conspiracy grew in strength, and the people with Absalom kept increasing.”

Devotional Thought: King David, Absalom’s father, allowed Absalom to return to Jerusalem after his killing of Amnon then fleeing to safety to escape punishment. David never confronted Absalom, never called him out for this sin, thus there was no confession. Because he has not been called out, Absalom continues his rebellion and does whatever he wants. The “rules” do not apply to him, so he does what he wants. In his own mind he makes himself king, his disobedience is growing out of control and leads to his own death. One of the ideas we can learn from this is; if ever we find ourselves exalting self over those appointed to lead, when we send secret messages, meet in secret, under the cover of darkness or behind closed doors to keep our plans from being known, something is amiss. While Absalom did have a legitimate complaint against Amnon for raping his sister Tamar; Absalom’s method of avenging that wrong and David’s never addressing nor punishing Absalom created in Absalom a rebelliousness that eventually led to his death. Holding each other accountable in love, requires confrontation. Once confronted confession and repentance are necessary. Forgiveness is given from a position of full knowledge; forgiveness is received with confession and repentance. “But God will not take away a life; he will devise plans so as not to keep an outcast banished forever from his presence.” (2 Sam 14:14b)

Scripture Nugget 5.15.2017

Scripture Nugget 5.15.2017

Scripture Read Exodus 25-28

Nugget Exodus 25:40, 26:30, 27:8b

“And see that you make them according to the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain. … Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain. … They shall be made just as you were shown on the mountain.”

Devotional Thought: The “mountain” certainly a reference to the Moses meeting with God where God issued instructions for His people to follow. This repeated reference is a reminder to us of who and what we are to obey. Who our guide is and who is the author of the guidelines we are to follow. The instructions for the tabernacle, the place where God will display His presence to His people, is a portable structure, it represents the mountain, but provides accessibility to God wherever God leads His people. The kingdom of God is where God is, where God is – the kingdom of God is found. We are God’s people, we are made for the kingdom, let us remember, let us live obedient lives that reflect the kingdom of God.

Scripture Nugget 5.14.2017

Scripture Nugget 5.14.2017

Scripture Read 2 Corinthians 6-8

Nugget 2 Corinthians 8:2-5, 9”

“…for during a a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints- and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and by the will of God to us, …. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ,  that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”

Devotional Thought: Generosity is not determined by the size of the gift, but by the attitude of the heart with which a gift is given. Generosity “depends on our readiness to open our hearts for the needs of others and to share what we have with them. Considering how generously Jesus shared his life with ours (2 Cor 8:9) may help us to live such gracious generosity whether we are rich or poor.” (Generosity, Wesley Study Bible, pg 1416) The widow contributed 2 pennies to the collection, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than them; for all of them contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.” (Lk 21:4) O God that I would give generously from an open heart not a prideful one.

Scripture Nugget 5.13.2017

Scripture Nugget 5.13.2017

Scripture Read Luke 1-2

Nugget Luke 1:6, 2:40-41,52

“Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. … The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. … And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favor.”

Devotional Thought: Both of them – Zechariah and Elizabeth, husband and wife, uncle and aunt of Jesus, were righteous before God and lived blamelessly! Zechariah was a priest and Elizabeth a descendant of Aaron was the daughter of a priest. They lived together, as husband and wife, righteously and blamelessly, with each other and before God. What a fantastic way for a married couple to live! Imagine the fullness and richness of that life together. God at the center, high and lifted-up. Sounds like perfection, but there is always room for growth with God. Jesus, nephew of these two, who is fully human and fully divine grows in wisdom and years. He grows in divine and human favor. Ongoing sanctification is the life God calls us to. Regardless of when we begin to live righteously and blamelessly before God; there is always room for growth, until we become Christ like, but note, Christ in His humanness continued to grow in wisdom as he increased in years. The Son did not stop growing in relationship with The Father – ever. Let us emulate His example!

Scripture Nugget 5.12.2017

Scripture Nugget 5.12.2017

Scripture Read Jeremiah 32-36

Nugget Jeremiah 34:12-22

“The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD: Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, ‘Every seventh year each of you must set free any Hebrews who have been sold to you and have served you six years; you must set them free from your service.’ But your ancestors did not listen to me or incline their ears to me. You yourselves recently repented and did what was right in my sight by proclaiming liberty to one another, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name; but then you turned around and profaned my name when each of you took back your male and female slaves, whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them again into subjection to be your slaves. Therefore, thus says the LORD: You have not obeyed me by granting a release to your neighbors and friends; I am going to grant a release to you, says the LORD – a release to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. And those who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make like the calf when they cut it in two and passed between its parts: the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf shall be handed over to their enemies and those who seek their lives. Their corpses shall become food for the birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth. And as for King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials, I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon, which has withdrawn from you. I am going to command, says the LORD, and will bring them back to this city; and they will fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire. The towns of Judah I will make a desolation without inhabitant.”

Devotional Thought: Entering covenant with God is serious business! God keeps His side of the covenants He enters; why do we think there will be no negative consequences and can get away with breaking covenants made with God and with each other in God’s presence? Serious consequences came about when Covenants were broken. They became like the two halves of the sacrificed animal that they passed between while making the covenant. “Wesley comments, ‘God should cut them in pieces like the beast if they did not make their words good,’ a statement that reminds us that words mean little if corresponding action is not applied (Notes, 34:18). (Wesley Study Bible, pg 946) God keeps His promises, God expects me/you/us to keep ours. There are consequences to breaking covenants – why are we surprised by this? Why are we surprised that God would get angry when we break a covenant, when we worship other gods, when we sin against God and others? Thanks be to God for grace! But don’t think for a minute that grace is cheap or free. Repentance, turning away from sin and to God is required; turning away from God to return to repeat sin negates all that proceeding – it is a breaking of covenant. Which half of the sacrificed animal do you wish to be identifies with? For me, I desire to identify with Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice. O that I always turn to Him and not return to my sin.