July 15, 2015 SOAPing

Scripture: Isaiah 53:1-6

¹ Who has believed our message?
    To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
² My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
    like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
    nothing to attract us to him.
³ He was despised and rejected—
    a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
    He was despised, and we did not care.

⁴ Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
    it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
    a punishment for his own sins!
⁵ But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.
⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
    the sins of us all.

Observation: It is hard to read this chapter of Isaiah without being filled with wonder and amazement. This prophecy was spoken nearly 700 years before it was fulfilled by Jesus. This chapter talks about how we (when I say we, I mean the human race from Adam and Eve to the present and into the future) have either chosen to believe God’s message or not to believe it. It talks of a humble man that God sent to us. A man that by all appearances was no different than anyone else. Yet He was very different from everyone else.

Much like the Old Testament prophets He and His message were rejected. The message that Jesus was teaching and preaching went against the grain and was tested time and again by the Jewish leaders. In today’s terms we could really say that He was bullied. Those of us who have been bullied can attest that you feel alone. Sure there are those around you like friends and family, but it is an internal loneliness. Unlike us I would think that this cause Jesus great pain as He listened to and watched what the people were saying and doing.

We turned our backs on Him. Most of us know what that feels like. A feeling like nobody cares about us or what happens to us. Jesus would have felt the full effect of this. Even His disciples would abandon and deny Him. That is a weight that is impossible for us to bare. He could and did bare that weight and did so willingly. Not something anyone I know could do.

How frustrating this must have been, especially knowing that He would carry this along with our sins to the cross. When He was whipped with a whip that was designed to break and rip skin and then crucified it was believed that He was being punished by God for His sins. And for the treatment that He received they had to think that Jesus’ sins were really bad. Jesus’ punishment was extremely severe and undeserved.

Unlike us, Jesus had no sin. He lived the way that God wants us to live. Jesus took a punishment that we should get for our sins. A punishment that if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior we do not have to endure. He took it all. Even to the point that God left Him on the cross.

Application: The question now is, would I take the punishment for someone else. Would I die for someone I didn’t know? I can tell you that for a time when my brother was little I did take the punishment for him. That is until he took advantage of it. But seriously, how far are we willing to go for each other?

Am I living a life worthy of the punishment that Jesus took for me on the cross? Am I striving every day to be more like Jesus?

Just because He took the punishment for me does not mean that I have a blank check to do whatever I want to. It does not give us a license to keep sinning. If we do, we are turning our backs on Him. We are doing exactly what is described in verse 3, “³ He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.”

Prayer: Father, I don’t want to live life constantly turning my back on you and Jesus. I don’t want to look away from you. What Jesus did for me and everyone else should not be in vain. Help me to live a life worthy of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. I pray that my example would let others see You in me. Amen.

July 13, 2015 SOAPing - Our words

Scripture:
James 3:5
In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.

Observation:
There is more to this passage from James than just the destruction that the tongue can create.  He also talks about how powerful it can be. In verses 3-4 he uses the analogies of moving a horse with a "small bit in it mouth" and how "a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go." For now let's concentrate on the destructive power of the tongue.

Have you ever said or written something you wish you could take back? I know I have. I like the example Chris used a couple years ago at youth group. He had the kids squeeze a small tube of toothpaste on a plate. Then after he talked about words he gave them a fork and told them to try to put the toothpaste back into the tube. Sounds a little crazy but it made the point. Once our words are out there we can't take them back.

Our words speak volumes. Speak, post and comment wisely whether online or in person. If not, one word, one sentence, one thought can cause a lifetime of hurt. Think about some of the news articles over the past few years.  People get bullied. In some cases those that are bullied are making permanent decisions and taking their lives. I don't want my words to be the ones that are like a single match that light a dry forest on fire. The effects are so much bigger than we can imagine. I don't know what started the fires in Northern Canada, but I do know that the resulting smoke was affecting people all over. Here in Iowa we were warned to stay inside if we had breathing troubles. Our words, written or spoken can have long lasting consequences.

Application:
Just like the article below I am relying on God's Word to guide how I not only post and comment online, but also how I speak to others. I know if I don't, well, let's just say I know some of things I would have like to have said. Those words. Those comments. Those posts. They would have been like a small match starting a huge forest fire. So, what do I do with those thoughts? Those words? I tell God how I'm feeling and ask Him to release me from them. I know alone I can't deal with them but He can.

The article I have linked here has more on how we can apply this to our lives every day: www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-should-christians-comment-online

Prayer:
Thank you God for giving us Your Word to teach us.  Your Son Jesus to show us. And the Holy Spirit to guide us. I pray the my words would encourage and not destroy. That my actions would shine Your love and not hate. I pray that in everything I do that You would get the glory. Thank you for using me with all my faults and failures to show and speak so that people would see You in me. Amen

Ash Wednesday

Last night for youth group I had the students create masks because masks are what we use to hide our true selves.  We hide our sin.  We hide our shortcoming.  Basically, we hide anything that we do not want others to see.  That takes care of the inside, but what about the outside?  That is where our masks really come in handy.  With our masks on, we can pick and choose exactly what we want others to see.  This led to the following instructions for the students; on the outside they put words representing how others see them.  On the inside they put their fears, doubts and shortcomings.  When they finished, they put their masks aside and we discussed Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness using a video from your tube based on “40” by Si Smith with the song “How He Loves” by John Mark McMillan.

Today’s New Testament prayer mentions how we are still “sometimes paralyzed in fear.”  That is when we put the masks on.  We want to hide our pain from everyone, even God, but God does not want that for us.  He wants us to be honest with ourselves and with Him.  God wants us to share those fears, shortcomings and doubts.

God know we struggle and face temptations.  Jesus struggled and faced temptations in the desert when the devil tempted Him.  Jesus showed us that we can get past those struggles and temptations by relying on God.  We ended youth group by turning off the lights, the room lit by a single candle.  In silent prayer each student came forward and placed their masks with all the fears, doubts and shortcomings at the foot of the Cross.  They placed it in God’s hands.  Won’t you?

Father, I pray that we can truly “rise up” and “follow You fearlessly.”  Go not let us fall prey to ways of the world, but instead help us to get up and not be afraid.

Amen.

Terry Van Wyk

Journaling Life - March 25, 2010

Joshua 21-22 / Psalm 47 / 1 Corinthians 10

Wow, today’s readings had a lot to say.  From the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to the house of Israel as stated in Joshua 21:45 to the whole of chapter 22 which in a nutshell is an example that before we go in to a fight we first need to confront the other party, there may just be a misunderstanding as there was with the Eastern Tribes.  This was also an example of holding one another accountable to doing what the Lord would have us do.

Paul continues in 1 Corinthians by warning us to stay true to God using the history of Israel.  He goes on to tell us that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear and that when we are tempted that He provides us an out – a way to stand up to the temptation.  Finally Paul tells us to do everything for the glory of God; just as it turned out that the Eastern Tribes had done by building the altar when the returned to the land that Moses had given them.

In all things, do them for God by leading by your example.

Too often we are afraid to confront one another when we are not being true to God or for any reason for that matter.  What is your reason?  Mine has been that I don’t want to make anyone mad.  The leaders of Israel that went to confront the Eastern Tribes and found out that what they had perceived was wrong.  How many times have I perceived something incorrectly and caused even more trouble.  Probably more than I’ll ever know.  That is not leading by example and is not God honoring.  Time to man up and do it God’s way and not my own.

Father, help me to do things your way, not my own.  Provide for me opportunities to resolve conflicts and misunderstandings to that in all things I can bring glory and honor to you.  Amen!

Journaling Life - March 24, 2010

Today’s reading is from Joshua 18-20 and 1 Corinthians 9.

In the passage from Joshua we read that 7 of the tribes have not received their land yet. Joshua doesn’t get it, why are they taking so long. It doesn’t say why there hadn’t claimed the land, but it does tell that Joshua gives instructions on how those 7 tribes need to figure out what land they want and then report back. By the end of chapter 19 all the tribes had their land and Joshua had his land. The only group that did not receive land was the Levites for their work was to serve the Lord.

Jumping to the New Testament reading we read Paul’s thoughts on earning a wage for doing the Lord’s work. We already know that the Levites in our Old Testament passage were taken care of for doing the Lord’s work and because of that they did not own any land. I remember as I was growing up the pastor at my church, First United Methodist Church in Clarion, Iowa, lived in the parsonage. It was the home that the church owned and provided for the pastor and his family to live in. When I started going to my wife’s church, Hus Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, I heard someone mention the manse and I wondered what that was so I asked and found out it is the same thing as a parsonage. Both are homes provided by the church for the current pastor and his/her family. I am not sure about the church I grew up in, but Hus has since sold the manse.

Paul reminds us that it is our responsibility to take care of the men and women who are doing the Lord’s work. Just as the Levites received what they needed for the work they did, so should those in ministry today.

I am truly blessed by the congregation that I serve as the director of youth ministries. But with that blessing comes a responsibility not just to the congregation, but to our community and ultimately to God. It is not something to take lightly. I am also blessed to a mentor that holds me accountable as I seek to be a servant of God.

Thank you Lord for the blessings that you have given me. I pray that I am doing your work while constantly improving. Help me to plant the seeds of faith, nurture those you have placed in my care and to be a servant to all. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

Journaling Life - March 23, 2010

Yesterday's devotional readings were from Joshua 15-17 and 1 Corinthians 8. As I read the passage from 1 Corinthians 8 I stopped to really think about how what we do as followers of Jesus affects everyone we come into contact with, especially those who do not hold the same beliefs or are new to the faith.

In this passage Paul is talking about food that was offered to idols. He begins the passage by defining what an idol is. He tells us that there are many idols that are known as both god and lord both in heaven and on earth. But for us as Christians there is only one God, our Father and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ. He further goes on to explain that not everyone knows this. This is where I not only thought about those who were new Christians, but also to those people that have heard, but still do not believe. Part of that unbelief is that so many Christians do not live their faith that the non-believers just shake their heads and chalk up it up to all Christians being hypocrites.

Can it be that Paul's message was so much more than being about eating meat that was sacrificed to idols? I'd have to say yes. When we do things that would make anyone question what we believe, then we are taking away the opportunity to fulfill Christ's words just before he ascended to heaven:

"All power in heaven and on earth is given to me. ¹⁹So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of this age."

If we are to reach our friends, families, neighbors, communities and beyond we have to live a life that will "not cause any of them to sin."

How? That can be the hard part. Many times we all, myself included, have found it easier to not do the right thing. When we do that we are saying we don't want to stand out, we want to be comfortable. Two brothers who were tired of being comfortable decided enough was enough and a few years ago wrote "Do Hard Things" because they were tired of low expectations. Since then Alex & Brett Harris have written another book, "Start Here" in which they talk to their readers about doing hard things from right where they are at. They decided they didn't want to be comfortable, they didn't want to let the culture dictate what they should do.

What about you, are you ready to "do hard things" or will you remain complacent and comfortable? I'm tired of being comfortable and complacent, but doing hard things can be, well hard. It is something that I know I will always struggle with, but I refuse to let that be an excuse. It means thinking before speaking or doing. It means letting God be my guide, not the world.

Hey God, its me again. I know I struggle with a lot of things, especially with things of the world. Please help to me overcome those things and that when I do mess up that I don't just learn from it, but that I do not make the same mistake again. In Jesus name I pray ... AMEN!