Day 73 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day seventy-three of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 73 Readings: Luke 2:1-9:62

Both Luke and Acts are addressed to Theophilus ("Theo-" means God and "-philus" means lover (in a non-erotic sense). So Theophilus means "God-lover" or "lover of God." This may certainly have been someone's name. It may also be a letter addressed to anyone who would be covered by that descriptor. It certainly seems to invite those of us who might be curious to enter into the pages and the stories.

The details of Jesus' life, ministry, death and resurrection in Luke and the beginnings of the early church in Acts are many. Luke was a travelling companion of Paul's and a doctor by trade (the only one to detail the ear being reattached in the arrest scene). His careful chronicling of these formative times are a deep, rich gift to the the community of believers which includes us.

There is similar material between Matthew and Mark. This is not surprisingly as Luke was striving to create and orderly account. Many thing Mark was written first and both Matthew and Luke drew from that primary source. There are also parts that are common to Luke and Matthew but not Mark which have led some to imagine another source (termed "Q" from German word for source "Quelle"). What is certain is that Luke was thorough in trying to communicate the full story of the gospel of Jesus. We would do well to steep ourselves in this rich resource that works so hard to fold us into the greatest story every told.


God, help us live into your story. Thank you for the testimony of Luke and draw us more deeply into being a Theophilus. Amen.

Day 72 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day seventy-two of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. We have completed Mark (41 down, 25 to go). If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 72 Readings: Mark 9:14-Luke 1:80

Mark wraps up abruptly. Scholars tend to think that Mark originally ended with 16:8: "Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid." (NIV)

There is a type of fear that is like terror. There is a type of fear that is like awe and reverence of being in the presence of something much greater than yourself. Perhaps being alone in a graveyard on the way home from a scary movie is more like the former. Standing in the ocean and feeling the outgoing tide tug at your ankles and realizing that you aren't as big as you perhaps thought you were is more like the latter. These women in Mark 16:8 were probably experiencing both types of fear and it was overwhelming.

Scholars think that someone may have added the next 12 verses to Mark to smooth out the hasty, abrupt ending and to bring it more into line with the endings of the other gospels. (Although that drinking poison and snakehandling verse perhaps missed the mark were those the goals) What if the gospel had ended as some suppose with the fear and trembling?

We would be reminded that God's story is bigger than ours and ends as it will, or not, on God's terms. There is a promise of resurrection but not everything has settled out completely yet (nor has it yet from our day-to-day perspectives) Yet God's promises are still spoken and reliable. Perhaps our awe of God and God's presence might be a little more heightened while waiting for the other shoe to drop (theological, narrative or eschatological - your pick). Sometimes things would be better if we would leave well enough alone.


God, help us live into your mystery. Teach us to trust you amidst the loose ends and hovering shoes. Your promises are sure and certain. Amen.

Day 71 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day seventy-one of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. We have completed Matthew (40 down, 26 to go). If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 71 Readings: Matthew 26:57-Mark 9:13

Mark is terse. Mark is to the point. Mark is thought to be the earliest of the 4 canonical gospels. Mark doesn't have all the frills (no birth narrative, for instance). Mark is the shortest of the gospels (16 chapters compared to 21, 24 and 28). Not much time is spent connecting the dots with the Old Testament (as compared to Matthew).

Mark offers a fairly down and dirty, action packed gospel. Healings, exorcisms, teachings and confrontations show what Jesus has come to do, can do and will do. People experience healing and tell others (often when explicitly told not to) which brings throngs. A whole town's worth of people show up outside Peter's door in Capernaum. Jesus needs to push out to sea to teach many wanting to crowd in. Jesus is touching lives and people respond by wanting to touch him.

Sometimes we in the church get so flowery in our theology and our presentation and our worship. We strive to make things just right and sometimes end up obscuring the good news in our artistry and our well-intentioned flair. Plain-spoken, deeply-abiding truth is what some need. May we allow God to stir us to give people what they need rather than what we want to give.


God, bring your plain-spoken, deeply-abiding, life-giving truth to bear in our lives. Give us what we need. Help us love you better in return. Amen.

Day 70 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day seventy of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 70 Readings: Matthew 16:1-26:56

Run-ins with those who bear the traditions of the people continue to escalate. Pharisees and Sadducees try to trap Jesus in his words. People try to outwit Jesus to no avail. In the end the only way that they are able to bring him down is by force. Judas agrees to betray Jesus for 30 silver pieces and the events leading to the cross continue to unfold.

Jesus couldn't be much plainer about how things were going to go but the disciples seemed a bit hard of hearing and slow of understanding. Peter proclaimed that he would never desert or deny Jesus even if it meant giving up his life. The other disciples spoke likewise.

When Jesus talks of his cross we don't hear so well. When Jesus says we must take up our cross and follow after him we mutter a half-hearted assent without thinking it through. The call to discipleship is deep and abiding. There is no greater call but it requires us in our entirety. The call is still made to us today. How shall we hear? How shall we respond?


God, Bonhoeffer said that when Jesus bids us that we are called to come and die. May we hear and weigh the depth of your call and know the promise of this life it bears as well. Amen.

Day 69 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day sixty-nine of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 69 Readings: Matthew 5:1-15:39

Jesus is doing his ministry full swing: teaching, healing, exorcizing, etc., etc. In some ways he seems to lessen the restrictions of the religious teachers (healing on Sabbath, not washing hands or cups before meals, eating grain on Sabbath, etc., etc.) but at the same time he greatly increases expectations: "You have heard it said... but I say to you..." Jesus is about the task of properly interpreting the Law. Customs of people are yielding to the true expectations of God.

Jesus is pushing against people with power and influence. That didn't work out very well for John the Baptist. It won't work out well for Jesus, either, in the short term. People are plotting to kill Jesus already because of what he does and how he does it.

When the disciples try to warn Jesus about his causing offense he responds by saying don't worry about such things. Jesus may not have been actively trying to provoke his death but he didn't seem too worried about the possibility either. The things he invested his time in transcended his mortal life. And when we enter into the kingdom on Jesus' terms our mortal lives are transcended too.


God, thank you for the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. Help us accept him as he offers himself to us. Amen.

Day 68 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day sixty-eight of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. We have finished Zechariah and Malachi which completes the Old Testament (39 down, 27 to go). If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 68 Readings: Zechariah 11:1-Matthew 4:25

We find ourselves straddling some major changes in the worship, understanding and theology of the people. The collection of books of the Old Testmanet ends with Malachi's words about the return of Elijah ushering in "the great and dreadful day of the Lord." If you go to a Seder meal (Passover) there is a place set for Elijah at the table. During the meal someone gets up and goes to the door to see if Elijah has made an appearance.

In Matthew, John the Baptist is doing his ministry of prophetic warnings and baptisms. People are going out to hear him and to be washed in preparation for what is coming. Jesus goes to him. John is hesitant to baptize Jesus. Jesus says it is necessary. Jesus is baptized. Immediately Jesus begins his ministry coming to the fore and John fades to the background. (see John 3:30 which some have reduced to a bumper sticker in "I < + >") John ends up in prison. John will be beheaded while imprisoned. John's time of ministry has come to a dramatic and grisly close.

Jesus equates in the gospels that John was the Elijah that was to come (see Matthew 17:9-13). John didn't perceive that. (see John 1:21) John unknowingly fulfilled the trailing passage in Malachi ushering in the new kingdom. We need not be always entirely aware in order to bring about God's plans and promises. God will do what God will do and we are a part of how God will bring that into being.

As we delve into the rest of the New Testament we have a better foundation to understand it (particularly books like Matthew and Hebrews) having spent time in the deep treasures of the Old Testament. God's promises while perhaps changing in that they become more expansive in Jesus Christ are sure and certain. May we discover the deep truth that every promise of God is "Yes" and "Amen" in Jesus Christ (see 2 Corinthians 1:20)


God, thank you for your promises that are indeed "yes" and "amen" in Christ. Help us rest in them. Amen.

Day 67 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day sixty-seven of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. We have finished Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Haggai (37 down, 29 to go). If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 67 Readings: Habakkuk 1:1-Zechariah 10:12

Here is a passage in today's reading that gets some play in the New Testament:

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and the River to the ends of the earth Zechariah 9:9-10, NIV

The people are expecting a military leader, like King Saul or better yet King David, to come and obliterate the occupying enemy (the Romans in New Testament times). They are looking for a strong-arm to oust the ones who have had them in a choke hold.

They are hoping for a conquering victor to ride into town with a procession of defeated enemies--perhaps with hooks in their noses, broken and bleeding for all to see. Jesus comes into town in a parade of sorts but he has no prisoners, just a ragtag bunch of misfit followers. He is not riding a chariot nor a steed but a donkey. (or a pair of donkeys for those who need to make the Hebrew doublet literal). He is not brandishing a sword but turning the other cheek.

When Roman military leaders had their parades there would be a slave whose job was to whisper in his ear "memento mori"("remember that you will die") Jesus was clearly thinking about that dark Friday that was looming even if the makeshift parade was oblivious. Through his death Jesus would make peace between us and God. Through his submitting to the Romans Jesus would forever change how powers are truly unsettled.

In post-resurrection appearances Jesus so often said "Peace, peace". He came to proclaim peace. His peace is not just for his terrified ragtag bunch of followers but for all nations and for all times--from Dan to Beersheba and beyond, from Easter morning until clocks have nothing left to count. Jesus is the River of life and from his mouth until the ends of the earth "peace" is proclaimed. Thanks be to God.


God, thank you for changing the ways of confronting the powers. Help us live in your peace and help proclaim it all to your glory. Amen.

Day 66 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day sixty-six of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. We have finished Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah and Nahum (34 down, 32 to go). If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 66 Readings: Amos 9:11-Nahum 3:19

So hard to give the so-called minor prophets their due when we are tearing through the Bible at the pace we are.

Here are two passages to consider, the first from yesterday's readings:

I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard to for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll like a never-failing stream. Amos 5:21-24, NIV

The second is from today's readings:

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 oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:6-8, NIV

We get so hung up, at times, at what can we do for God. We want to know what is required. We want to know what is the "admission price" for heaven. We want to know how much we have to do to be safe.

God has done what is required. God has made us right. God has saved us. God gave up God's own firstborn for our transgression. We insult God when we try to offer more to "up the ante"--we are in right standing with God. All we can really do is "Love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, strengths and minds."

If in response to God's good and gracious salvation we want to live and amended life it should be one concerned about neighbor. That is what it means to let justice flow. That is what it means to act justly and to lover mercy. If we want to express to God and to the world our appreciation for all God has done for us we can let it seep out of our lives in the form of "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Everything in the Law and the Prophets (including the "minor" ones) points to those two ways to live.


God, thank you, thank you, thank you. Help us live in ways that show our neighbors our gratitude to you. Amen.

Day 65 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day sixty-five of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. We have finished Hosea and Joel (29 down, 37 to go). If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 65 Readings: Hosea 13:7-Amos 9:10

If you blink you can miss Joel. Just 3 chapters long and nestled between Hosea and Amos it can be overlooked.

The image of the locusts coming and stripping bare the vines is a vivid image of judgment and punishment coming from God. Anyone who remembers locusts or has seen the devastation in Africa done by these critters or even has been near the cicadas when they emerge from the earth know how overwhelming the winged, herbivorous invaders can be. When we choose Godless ways we will find, sooner or later, devastating stripping of all we thought we could rely upon.

But God will not leave us with only the image of the devastation. There is also coming an impartation of the Spirit. In the second chapter of Joel are promises that find their fulfillment in the day of Pentecost. People are dreaming and prophesying anew. God's promises are being clearly spoken. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

The Spirit has come and is available to us all. Not as a tool to be controlled or exploited but a living manifestation of God to dwell in us stirring belief, faith, hope, love, service and equipping us with gifts to do live into those things. Thanks be to God.


God, fill us with your Spirit. Steer us from ways that lead to bare-vined consequences. Amen.

Day 64 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day sixty-four of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. We have finished Daniel (27 down, 39 to go). If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 64 Readings: Daniel 9:1-Hosea 13:6

Our texts for this day involve some rather cryptic texts from Daniel (akin to Revelation) about the end times. Perhaps we'll visit these when we get to Revelation (not so likely, but perhaps).

Hosea includes a rather disturbing prophetic instructional aid. Hosea is told to find an unfaithful wife and marry her. His kids get names like "Jezreel" (which contains a promise meaning "God sows"), "not loved" and "not my people." The end of chapter one says that these names will be reversed in that God's people will be loved and will indeed be God's people. Little consolation to the kids on the first day of class. "Oh, you are not-my-people BarHosea?!? You must be the little brother of not-loved and your big brother is Jezreel, right?"

Hosea's willingness to inflict his wife and kids with their family arrangement and those names says much about how intently Hosea was willing to communicate the broken nature of the relationship between God and the people. For the remainder of today's readings the punishment and judgment that is coming Israel's way is articulated. God has faithfully loved Israel (as depicted by Hosea's love for Gomer) yet Israel has not been the faithful spouse.

One would hope that Hosea would not have to spell the dysfunction out so profoundly and so clearly but it seems that it is required. Hosea shows up at most twice in any given year in the lectionary. We don't like steeping ourselves in reminders of our own faithlessness. Yet, here it is spelled out in scripture.

How might we let God draw us into being more faithful? Into knowing God's love for us? Into knowing that we are God's people? How might we let God sow in us and reap in us that which is God-pleasing and life-giving?


God, help us hear the words of Hosea. Help us not be a Gomer. Let us love you and act as your people. Amen.

Day 63 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day sixty-three of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. We have finished Ezekiel (26 down, 40 to go). If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 63 Readings: Ezekiel 47:13-Daniel 8:27

We have the familiar texts of Daniel in the lions' den as well as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace. Both of these stories communicate clearly God's ability to protect those who serve God against incredible circumstances. The testimony that these events and the faith of God's servants are powerful. Clearly deep impressions were made. You can imagine what was all the talk of the people after these two events.

Perhaps most powerful in today's reading is the statement by the men before they are put into the furnace: "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (NIV)

They say:
+ We don't need to answer your accusations, oh world.
+ Our God is able to save us from anything you throw at us.
+ Our God will save us from anything you throw at us.
+ But even if God lets us perish in your hands we will not serve your gods or worship your idols.

Oh that we would have such faith when trials and temptations come our way.


God, thank you for the faith and testimony of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Help us know and trust you so much more than we know and fear the world. Amen.

Day 62 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day sixty-two of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 62 Readings: Ezekiel 36:1-47:12

Probably the most familiar part of today's readings is the section on Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones. It is one of the twelve appointed texts for the Easter vigil. It has the vivid image of dry bones forming into skeletons. Flesh and sinew comes on the skeletons as well. But life isn't there until it is breathed with the spirit. I can't help but have Ray Harryhausen's work come to mind as Jason does fierce sword battle with skeletons. We may have the bones and the flesh but without the spirit we are as good as dead. That is what resonates from this text from Ezekiel.

Most of our text, though, is about a new temple. This temple is different than the one laid out so meticulously in other parts of scripture. The priests are different too (not all Levites, only the Levites descended from Zadok). The worship of the people had become defiled. They had broken God's expectations for how and who to worship. They had become, if you will, like the dry bones and the spiritless flesh and sinew. They had chosen differently than God and God withdrew the holy life breath.

Where are we in our worship lives? Where are we in knowing and abiding by God's plan for our life? Are we fresh and alive or dry and spiritless? God desires us to have life. The image of the brackish waters being made fresh and supporting life is a good one for us as well. Do we need to return to our baptism? Do we need to let that life giving water do its work again? Luther said we ought to return to our baptism daily. May we find life and hope in that life-giving devotion.


God, renew us. Breathe your life into us. Help us not rest until we rest in you. Amen.

Day 61 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day sixty-one of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 61 Readings: Ezekiel 23:40-35:15

Many more images and prophecies to be had today about the destruction of powerful and violent empires. Violence begets violence. Boasting begets humbling. Destruction begets destruction. Assyria, Tyre, Sidon, Moab, Egypt, Babylon, etc., etc. all suffer fates of being laid low (literally and metaphorically). All who trust in their own power and ability and resources eventually come to naught.

Our culture teaches, too often, for us to rely on our own strength and ambition. We are encouraged to win at practically any cost. We are encouraged to be strong and tough and to take no prisoners. That emphasis on winning at all costs may well be our undoing. The emphasis on the one in the mirror can lead to disastrous results. There is a different and better way.

Near the end of today's reading is an rebuke of the faithless shepherds that have mistreated the lambs of Israel. We perhaps have been mistreated or misled or poorly cared for by those called to serve as a shepherd for us. But there is one who self-identifies as the "good shepherd". This one knows his sheep and his sheep know his voice. He is not like the hired hand. He lays down his life for the sheep. Jesus is the one who will lead us. He will not lead us as a triumphant military leader. He will show us how his kingdom is ushered in. His kingdom is not like those of this world--thanks be to God for that.


God, guide and direct us. Continue to speak your voice to us. Give us ears and hearts to listen and follow. Amen.

Day 60 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day sixty of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. Two thirds of the way through our daily readings--woo hoo!!! If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 60 Readings: Ezekiel 12:21-23:39

Judgment is coming upon the people who have been unfaithful. The language and images used to describe what is coming upon the people are violent and harsh and stark. The images and the imminent experiences are some of the most graphic to be found in the Bible.

Israel is called worse than a prostitute. The country has chased down other gods and other peoples and given away themselves for free. God found them as an abandoned and exposed child. God cleaned them up and brought them up. All of the good and the riches that were lavished upon them by God ended being used for sinful and sultry purposes. The judgment that Ezekiel speaks upon the people of Israel disturbs the reader. What wouldn't we do to spare our own children from such a fate?

What do we have that hasn't come from the hand of our gracious God? What good and riches that have blessed our lives weren't lavished on us by God? Perhaps a question for us would be what have we done with our own divine inheritance? Do we find ways to delight God and to bless the things that God would want us to bless? Or do we find more sinful and sultry purposes for them? The real question is how far are we from the fickle and adulterous ways of Israel?

God cannot be fooled even though we might be able to delude ourselves for a season. Do we stir up in God the same indignation that has been stirred before? The good news is that if we find ourselves going the wrong way or serving the wrong gods or scratching the wrong itches that we can repent. God would rather see us live than bring about our demise. When we seek God and call upon God we will surely be heard and helped.


God, move our hearts and minds to be set upon you. Help us know you and abide in you. Amen.

Day 59 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day fifty-nine of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. We have completed Jeremiah (25 down, 41 to go) and entered Ezekiel. If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 59 Readings: Lamentations 2:1-Ezekiel 12:20

Ezekiel doesn't only say the words God sends to him, he shows them. Through actions and images he communicates God's intentions for the people.

The old maxim "actions speak louder than words" comes to mind. People are barraged with words all day long. Pundits blare, reading assignments (even Bible in 90 Day readings) and endless conversations can be overwhelming. We don't necessarily need more words (although perhaps we could do with some more edifying words). We could use some actions that are consistent with the words we hear. How refreshing it would be if the one preaching love would truly be loving. ...if the politician talking reform would live a life of life-giving change. ...if the repentant one would actually walk in a new a better place. ...if we would align more with what we confess.

It isn't about perfection or works righteousness. It is about seeking to align our actions with our words. Words are easy. Actions not so much. It is a lot easier to talk about crosses then to actually pick them up and follow someone. Yet, that is that call.


God, us live in a way that shows you and shows the world how important and life-giving you are to us. Amen.

Day 58 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day fifty-eight of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. We have completed Jeremiah (24 down, 42 to go) and entered Lamentations. If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 58 Readings: Jeremiah 48:1-Lamentations 1:22

The judgment that was exacted upon Israel is coming upon Babylon as well. The object of God's wrath is enduring God's wrath.

Seeking to rule by violence and domination ends badly. God's truest rule and reign comes not through inflicting violence but enduring it. Jesus brought to an end the rule by military conquest and domination through his pierced hands and skewered side. Jesus prayed not for vengeance but forgiveness. Jesus calls us to take up our crosses and follow after him. In part that means that we ought to pray like he did when hanging from the cross.


God, help us endure what comes our way. Stir us to pray for forgiveness for our enemies. Amen.

Day 57 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day fifty-seven of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 57 Readings: Jeremiah 33:23-47:7

In today's reading the shoe finally drops:

Jeremiah has been warning for quite some time about the judgment coming from the north upon those who have been adulterous with other gods. He has warned people again and again and again. They continue to consult him and then reject the unfavorable prophecy. Jeremiah is faithful to proclaim God's messages. But the people will not hear.

One of the dangers of asking God's opinion or judgment is that we may well not like the message that comes back to us. When we ask, however, we become accountable to the message that is given to us.

In one sense it makes sense to avoid church and other places of proclamation of God's word to avoid needing to respond with accountability to the message spoken. Once we read the word or hear the prophecy or experience the exhortation we are left without defense. Israel had many opportunities to hear God's word. When they plugged their ears and minds and hearts they sealed their fate as well. We, too, make bad choices when we reject what we clearly hear God saying to us.


God, open our hearts and our minds and our ears to your corrective word. Draw us more deeply into being your people. Amen.

Day 56 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day fifty-six of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 56 Readings: Jeremiah 23:9-33:22

The flavor of today's texts is one of a reluctant warning with a deep, abiding promise attached.

God is clearly intending to send the people into Babylonian exile. There is talk of 70 years of being uprooted and living in a foreign land. But in the midst of those words:

Jeremiah 29:11-13 talks about God knowing the plans for the people, plans to prosper them and not to harm them, plans to give them a hope and a future

Jeremiah 31 has God putting the law in peoples minds and writing it on their hearts establishing a new covenant

Jeremiah 32 has Jeremiah buying a field as a symbol that the exiles will return and will buy and sell property again

Jeremiah 33 has the promise of the covenant with David being unbreakable and that his descendants (like those of Abraham) will be as countless as the beach sands and nighttime stars

Some call Jeremiah a prophet of gloom and doom but these chapters are full of hope and life. Even when God punishes or allows consequences to happen it is with the hope or healing and restoration. God's parenting is like ours on a good day. We want healing and life for our children even when we have to bring to bear something hard for them.


God, help us endure what you allow to happen in your parental wisdom. Help us trust and lean into all of your good and abiding promises. Amen.

Day 55 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day fifty-five of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 55 Readings: Jeremiah 10:14-23:8

I was in Denver at a Youth Specialties youth workers' conference. One of the speakers was talking about us being clay in the potter's hands (much like Jeremiah 18). I remember vividly listening to him talk as he spun pottery on a wheel. At one point one of the pots became off center and unbalanced. He threw it aside as useless. It made a vivid point about how God might or might not be able to work in and through our lives. I like the image in Jeremiah better in which the "marred" pot was reshaped and repurposed. God doesn't cast us aside recklessly but longs and desires to shape and reshape us into a healthy and helpful vessel.

Our appointed text for today has much to say about people worshipping God in form or with lips but not with heart. God will not be fooled. God is not to be trifled with. The people have grieved God deeply and harsh punishments are coming. It is hard to get past Jeremiah 15:2 inviting those destined for death, the sword, starvation or captivity to follow their destinies. God says these people won't be spared even if Moses and Samuel were to make intercessory gestures--much less Jeremiah. God promises that some will come back but in the mean time things look grim indeed.

In the midst of the bad news God promises in chapter 23 that a righteous branch is coming. He will be a King in the line of David who will reign wisely and do what is just. He will bring salvation. He will be called "the Lord our Righteousness" aka Jesus. May we trust deeply in the "good news" aka "gospel" of Jesus and allow ourselves to be shaped by the master potter in healthy and helpful vessels.


God, help us learn from those who aren't so very different from us. Help us not trifle with you but trust you and deeply abide in you. Have your way with us, your clay, Potter. Amen.

Day 54 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day fifty-four of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. We have finished Isaiah (23 books down, 43 to go). If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 54 Readings: Isaiah 66:19-Jeremiah 10:13

Apparently God has had enough with the unfaithful ways of the people. They are likened to adulteresses. They have given themselves far and wide to other gods and idols. God has chosen to bring destruction upon them from the north. Jeremiah is given the task to warn the people but also told that the people won't listen. He goes about his futile task that is certainly a thankless one as well. Nobody puts much in the tip jar of a prophet of doom. The people have abandoned God and God is about to abandon them into exile.

How about us? How faithful are we to God? Do we keep our eyes and hearts focused on God? Or do we allow ourselves to be wooed by what our world has to offer. Do we seek God first when things come our way or do we rely on our own know-how and ingenuity? Is God our first and best resort or just the fallback plan when nothing we can figure out works? Do we bring offerings of our devotion, our time and our hearts or do we neglect our first love? Do we look more like the world or more like one in the world but not of it? Would Jeremiah have something to say to us? If so, would we listen?

God has something to say to us. "I love you." God said it most clearly in Jesus in his life, ministry, death and resurrection. God has something to say to us as Jesus did to the woman taken in adultery: "Where are those that accused you?" God has liberated us from the ultimate consequences of sin. God has something to say to us as Jesus said to the woman taken in adultery: "Go and sin no more." God has set us free and loved us back from death to life. We get to respond through the stirrings of the Holy Spirit. Will we?


God, help us hear what you would say to us and do what would please you. Forgive our wandering eyes and ways. Make us new again. Amen.

Day 53 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day fifty-three of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 53 Readings: Isaiah 52:13-66:18

There are some powerful promises about God's words and the Word in our portion of scripture assigned for today:

Isaiah 55 invites those who are hungry and those who are thirsty to come and eat and drink. That God will provide for God's people. There is a deep and abiding promises that just as snow and rain do not go through their cycles without accomplishing their intended purpose so, too, with God's words. Scripture does not enter us without accomplishing what God has intended. There are not passive or ineffectual encounters with scripture. The reason we are embarking on "The Bible in 90 Days" is that we hold it to be true that we will be different come July 12 as compared to April 14.

Isaiah 52 and 53 give us a powerful picture of Jesus' suffering and passion as well as his motivations for enduring it. He was "pierced for our transgressions" and "crushed for our iniquities" because "we all, like sheep, have gone astray" and are in need of what only he can provide. So Jesus was disfigured and marred. He went willingly to the slaughter. He who created all life entered into a gruesome death on our behalf. He died among the wicked and was put into a rich man's place. Through those things and through all he endured in his life, ministry, death and resurrection Jesus has secured a right place with God for us.

Isaiah 61 is where we find the text that Jesus quoted regarding himself at the synagogue in Nazareth in Luke 4:14-21. It is early in Luke. Jesus was baptized by John, tempted in the desert and now makes he presence publicly known upon his return. He connects the beginning of his public ministry with the year of the Lord's favor. He will indeed preach the good news to the poor. He will bind up the brokenhearted. He will free the captives. Prisoners (of sin, of demons, of false understanding, of legalism, etc., etc.) with find release from the darkness.

The promises penned by Isaiah about God's words (scripture) and the Word (Jesus) are finding their fulfillment in the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. They are finding their fulfillment in our own lives as well. The snows are rains are not returning empty.


God, help us to steep ourselves in your words and your Word. Thank you that every promise of yours is "Yes" and "Amen" in Jesus. (2 Corinthians 1:20) Amen.

Day 52 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day fifty-two of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 52 Readings: Isaiah 41:19-52:12

Our readings today have God making a case between God and idols.

There is a contrast between the servant (whom in retrospect we understand to be Jesus) in 42:1-9 and the other choices which reflect a lack of sense (thought) and senses (observation) from God's people.

The text begins, in earnest, to juxtapose the Lord and idols. Idols are made out of wood and metals. Some might fix a meal over half a log of wood and fashion a "god" out of the other half. The "god" might need to be nailed down lest it topple. One might bring petitions to the "god" but it cannot hear through the non-functional form of its carved ears. One might bring offerings to the "god" but it cannot see through carved eyes or sense the aroma through its carved nostrils. The "god" is literally senseless. And thinking that such a carving could bring about change or hope or deliverance is rather senseless too.

God, in contrast, is the one who made all wood and all metals (and all else that you could ever find). God is not fashioned by us out of anything but rather fashioned us out of nothing. We don't bring meals to God but receive every morsel of food, every sip of drink and every other gift from the hand of a gracious God. God cannot be toppled but rather steadies our feet and keeps us from stumbling. We bring petitions to God, at God's request, and God hears and responds. Offerings of materials, and more importantly our lives, are received by God--not so much for God's need but rather our need to give. God is the most sensitive being there is and seeking after the ways of that God is the most sensible way to live.

God intervenes in our lives in a saving way because that is the nature of our loving God. Our missteps are not so large as to remove us from the grace and mercy of a God bent on relationship. We may, on occasion, flee God and seek idols. God, however, seeks us harder and longs to bring us back.


God, so many things of our own imagination and creation take your rightful place. We turn from you and give glory to idols. Please forgive us. Turn our hearts back to you. Amen.

Day 51 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day fifty-one of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 51 Readings: Isaiah 29:1-41:18

Part of our readings have a familiar ring to them as they are recounting things we read about in 2 Chronicles 32 and following. We have the account of Sennacherib threatening Hezekiah, God's deliverance, Hezekiah's illness, God's healing, etc., etc. There is more than the size of the foe or the extent of the illness when God is involved. The threats of a tyrant are no match for the promises of a gracious God.

Part of our readings have a familiar ring to them as they are source material for Handel's Messiah as well as predictions of the ministry and testimony of John the Baptist. Great and glorious promises are made and delivered upon in the life and testimony of John which points unflinchingly to the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus, his cousin and Lord. Threats of a tyrant and even a beheading are no match for the promises of life and resurrection from a gracious God.

Part of our readings have a familiar ring to them because we know what it is to be parched and forsaken. We know what it is to be so desperate that we try to prop up solutions of our own making with hastily pounded nails trying to keep our idols from toppling. We know what it is to run and get weary. We know the fear of enemies and threats that overshadow us. But God makes promises to slake our deep thirst. God makes promises to forgive our idolatry and be the only means of salvation we need. God promises to give us rest. God promises to vanquish our enemies up to and including death. Threats of a tyrannical world may frighten us but they are no match for the power, grace, joy and sufficiency to be found in our gracious God.


God, thank you for your healing and deliverance. Thank you for the life and testimony of John the Baptist. Thank you for the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. Thank you for caring about and tending our needs. Help us lean hard into your grace. Amen.

Day 50 of 90 Devotion

Dearest e-votees-

Day fifty of our cover to cover voyage through the Bible. If you want to see the readings for our trip through the Bible you can follow this link:

www.christthegoodshep.org/biblein90days.html

Peace,
Karl

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Day 50 Readings: Isaiah 14:1-28:29

These 15 chapters detail all sorts of destruction and judgment coming down upon all sorts of places that at one time or another were helping keep Israel down. It is rather bleak and depressing to read about the hard fates of these various countries. Perhaps these words were ones of consolation to the people of Israel but most of the joy and comfort they brought are lost on our modern ears.

Towards the end of today's reading, however, is found:

See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;
the one who trusts will never be dismayed.
Isaiah 28:16b

The study notes in my Bible link this text to:
Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 8:14-15, Matthew 21:42, Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:20, Romans 9:33, Romans 10:11 and 1 Peter 2:6.

In the midst of these harsh verses about judgment and destruction is hints about the one to come who brings salvation and freedom.

Truth be told, we are no less deserving of judgment than Tyre, Sidon, Moab, Damascus, etc., etc. God has chosen to deal differently with sin through the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. We are made right and made safe and made secure not through our own doing but by pure gift from Jesus. When we build our lives upon that precious cornerstone and sure foundation we are saved.

Thanks be to God.


God, thank you for sending Jesus. Help us to build on that cornerstone. Help us to invite others to do the same. Amen.