God chose you

13But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.15So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter. 16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word. Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere, just as it is among you, 2and that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people; for not all have faith. 3But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. 4And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will go on doing the things that we command.5May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:13— 3:5, NRSV)

Hold fast to the traditions you have been taught. But what if tradition is something that holds another down?

God chose you to be one who would share God’s love and mercy with all of the world. Not just with those who we have been taught or heard should hear about love and mercy. God loved us and chose us when we could not be with God. When our sin was covering us and we could not be in God’s presence. And because of this, we need to share that love and mercy with everyone. Not those we deem fit because God would not have deemed you fit.

God chose you to make a difference. So go and share the love you received, knowing it will never run out.

 

destined for

Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we decided to be left alone in Athens; 2and we sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in proclaiming the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the sake of your faith, 3so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions. Indeed, you yourselves know that this is what we are destined for. 4In fact, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer persecution; so it turned out, as you know. 5For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labor had been in vain. (1 Thessalonians 3:1-5, NRSV)

Paul told the Thessalonians he was destined for persecution.

What are we destined for?

Greatness or lowliness?

Are we destined for persecutions or rewards?

I know what will come in the very end, an eternity with God. And it will be marvelous and better than I could ever imagine.

But on the way there there will be strife and hardship, persecution, and evil. It will not be an easy road because things will have to change when God’s love comes in and we do not like change. We want things to remain the same as they have always been, so it will be uncomfortable, but remember what we are destined for.

Remember.

sent

35Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;4Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him. 5These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. 9Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, 10no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. 11Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. 12As you enter the house, greet it. 13If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. 15Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. 16“See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; 18and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. 19When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; 20for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; 22and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.23When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. (Matthew 9:35—10:23, NRSV)

Notice that Jesus said if you are welcomed stay and if not shake the dust off your feet. It is not your place to change anyone’s mind. If someone will listen to you, then have a conversation and tell them about God’s love. If they will not listen, then move along and don’t waste your time. We are not put here to make people change their minds. We are to go and help and share God’s love with the world and if people accept that, then God will change them, and if they don’t accept God’s love, God will change them. You see it is God that changed you and will do the work to change others.

We just need to be faithful to go and share the love that has been shared with us if people are willing to hear it.

So go and share. Love as you were loved and don’t worry about changing anyone.

wash your hands…

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them.3(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) 5So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; 7in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ 8You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” 9Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! 10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ 11But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban’ (that is, an offering to God)— 12then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, 13thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.” (Mark 7:1-13, NRSV)

How many of you have ever been in a restroom and seen someone walk out without washing their hands?

It is disgusting. And we have all learned here in the past 3 months just how much we all need to wash our hands. And wash them for at least 20 seconds. Say the Lord’s Prayer while you wash them.

But is it really about following traditions for the sake of following them or for understanding why we do them?

We should love God and neighbor and through keeping the traditions this should allow us to love others, but when the traditions get in the way of loving others, we must do away with traditions.

We have come to a time in history where we must stop doing things the way we always have and listen to each other and move forward together.

Wash your hands and listen to your neighbor. And love them as God loved you.

unwilling

35“It was this Moses whom they rejected when they said, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ and whom God now sent as both ruler and liberator through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36He led them out, having performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. 37This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up a prophet for you from your own people as he raised me up.’ 38He is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living oracles to give to us. 39Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him; instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 40saying to Aaron, ‘Make gods for us who will lead the way for us; as for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ 41At that time they made a calf, offered a sacrifice to the idol, and reveled in the works of their hands. 42But God turned away from them and handed them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you offer to me slain victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 43No; you took along the tent of Moloch, and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; so I will remove you beyond Babylon.’ (Acts 7:35-43, NRSV)

Have you ever had someone who was trying to lead you but you and all those around you were unwilling to follow? Because the things and situations you remembered from before were better than what it seemed you were headed to? Even though you really didn’t know what was to come. You remembered the good times form before and wanted to go back, regardless of all the evil and oppression you lived through.

That is where the Israelites were, unwilling to follow Moses and the path God had given them. Why are we unwilling?

Why don’t we want to follow God? Fear? Are we afraid of what lies ahead even though it is God leading us there?

We should want to follow where God leads. How can we be willing to follow where God leads?

Would you miss my daily devos?

I have come to a time and a season that I wonder if there are people using my daily devotionals. Since Covid-19 started it seems there are other things I could be doing but this daily devotional has been a part of my ministry since February 2012.

So I come to you the people that are reading to ask for your input.

Would you miss this daily devotional?

Please answer the poll and comment. I will continue this if it is a part of your devotional life.

heavenly calling

Therefore, brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider that Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,2was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also “was faithful in all God’s house.” 3Yet Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4(For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.)5Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken later. 6Christ, however, was faithful over God’s house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope. (Hebrews 3:1-6, NRSV)

We all have a heavenly calling and are a part of the house of God.

God will always be with us and give us the strength and words to see through everything that comes our way when we hold firm the confidence and pride that belong to hope.

So stay true to your calling and share the hope you have with all the world.

remind

25”I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. (John 14:25-26, NRSV)

The Holy Spirit lives in us and reminds us of all that Jesus taught us to do.

Have you ever been doing something and you think maybe I shouldn’t do this? Or this isn’t a good idea?

That is the Spirit reminding you what Jesus taught.

I’m reminded a lot. And I’m glad that I am reminded of what God wants me to do, and that God loves me even when I choose to do otherwise, even though I should do what I am reminded to do.

So do what you are reminded to do.

Spirit powers activate

4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. 12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.13For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:4-13, NRSV)

We are all part of the body of Christ. We can not say because we aren’t a teacher we aren’t a part, or because we can’t prophesy we aren’t a part of the body. Everyone is needed.

God through the Spirit has gifted each of us for ministry and we all play a vital part of the plan.

So know you are needed to do your part.

The Spirit says

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. 3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:1-3, NRSV)

You can not say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

Meaning if you say that, then the Spirit is within you. Does that mean everything we do and say then is what the Spirit wants us to do? If we believe in free will then no. We can always follow our own way.

So I beseech you to follow the Spirit and head the leading of God.