Devotion 3.1.16

What is the greatest male weakness?  For Norm on "Cheers," it was beer and the opportunity to stay at the bar away from his wife Vera.  "Women," he was once heard to proclaim, "Can't live with them and can't live with them." Perhaps we deceive ourselves as men when we limit the desires of the flesh to the sensual, but it is probably the greatest male weakness.  Solomon likens wisdom to a fine woman as he speaks in Proverbs, "Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold.  She is more precious than jewels and nothing you desire can compare with her." (3:13 - 15)  He turns right around then to warn of the adulteress in the same gender reference.  "My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge, for the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword." (5:1 - 4)  She can tell you what you want to hear, and it sounds so good.

Yet, much like the weakness of the attention from a woman, we should remember our desires stretch beyond the adulteress to other fields.  Power and influence are relative as men seek both in their own corner of life, regardless of station or status. So we seek power and influence, each in our own way, which is a desire that can leave us as vulnerable as a woman.  You don't have to be wealthy and pursue wealth to have desires for the trappings they contain.  If love of money, desires of the flesh, and other such sins were exclusively for the wealthy, there would be no country music.

Solomon talks of hearing his father's words, "Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.  Do not forsake her, and she will keep you, love her and she will guard you." (4:4 - 5).  Yet, we each seem to need to learn on our own despite Solomon's pleas to the contrary.

Like Eve in the Garden, we dabble our toe just for a second in the warm spring of our own knowledge, understanding, and desires and turn away from God's.  We build ourselves up and really believe in another god, ourselves and our own knowledge and wisdom, and turn from God's insight and understanding.  As Eve turned away from God, we turn away from the cross, and we leave ourselves vulnerable to our own ways which can be treacherous.  The sin may not be adultery, but it is a grievous sin in God's eyes.  We have forgotten Him and turned to our own devices.

Should we find ourselves in a moment of weakness and temptation, know that as Luther teaches in "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," one "little word can felled him (Satan)."  That word is Christ, God's true Word.  "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)  We seek that Word daily, in bad times and especially in good times, when we begin to believe in ourselves and rely on our own wisdom and forget the source of all that we have is Christ.

Pray for that strength that can only come through Christ to overcome the temptations we face in our daily walk.

Hope Men's Ministry

Devotion 2.29.16

George on "Seinfeld" had a passcode for his debit card.  He won't give it out, even when it means life and death.  Kramer, looking at George during this episode, begins to narrow down the possibilities and comes perilously close to guessing the passcode correctly.  His rationale?  George's desires.

Desire.  You know the word.  You have them.  You know you do, and to deny that you do is to deny the entire essence of scripture itself.  "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8)  Kramer knows he's onto George's desires (chocolate in this case) and sees George sweat as he narrows the guesses down to what it is that makes George tick.

We have desires.  Scripture is replete with our sinful nature and the desires that we fight in story after story.  It starts in the Garden, where Adam and Eve have a simple task: Tend to the garden and worship God, yet they don't succeed.  Satan, like Kramer, finds a weak spot. "Did God really say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?'"  That Eve even responds speaks of pride.  That Satan speaks of being "like God" shows he knows the weakness and flirts with Eve's lust to be like God by saying, "You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God...."  That's all it took in a state of perfection.

During Lent, we've used the theme "Ctrl.Alt.Del." That attempt to reset our lives based on the lives we lead in our marriages, our children, our finances, and even in the sins we face, such as the potential to sin through yielding to our desires.  To whom do we turn?

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

Pray that in temptation and as our desires stand before us, we turn to God to not yield to the flesh, and that when we fail, we turn to him for that forgiveness he provides through his Son Jesus Christ.

Hope Men's Ministry

Devotion 2.27.16

February 27        “Let Us God to the House of the Lord” 

Why go to church? Your feelings, that’s why! “We walk by faith, and not by sight” means monitoring your feelings against the Word of God (2 Corinthians 5:7).

For example, think about fear. Overwhelming things come your way, like cancer, financial worry, marital problems, you name it. “When all things seem against us to drive us to despair, we know one gate is open; one ear will hear our prayer” (Lutheran Service Book 915, 4). In the storm you need a safe place. “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” (Mark 6:50). Faithful living is a weekly back and forth, back and forth between emotions and the solid Word. 

The wonderful things you hear in church can evaporate pretty quickly. Come Monday when you begin to descend into the emotional swirl, the Spirit in you yearns to go back to the Word. “Let us go to the house of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1). Church is practical. Church is survival. “Lord, to whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life!” (John 6:68).   

CTRL+ALT+DEL: “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” Amen. (Psalm 94:19)

Devotion 2.26.16

February 26        Count to Ten!

The widow I wrote about yesterday, the one who trusted God to take care of her when she had only enough food for one last meal… Her challenge is ours: Do I let myself be led by the promises of God or my emotions? 

Think about your computer. Maybe you’re entering financial information, maybe typing a report, maybe work emails, when the computer goes goofy. Sanctified Christian that you are, you break out singing, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” Far from it! Your emotions trigger a reaction that is, hmmm…. Let me say, “Less than holy.” Sooner or later you get rational. “I have to reboot.”

That illustrates our daily challenge as flesh and blood people. Sometimes our heart overrules our head to our hurt. Christian maturity means “having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth.” Why is it that we were taught to count to ten? “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter1:14). 

CTRL+ALT+DEL: Jesus, help me abstain from desires that war against my soul. Amen. (1 Peter 2:11)

Devotion 2.25.16

February 25        “Do Not Desire Many Things and You Will Have What You Want” (Epictetus, a Roman philosopher) 

Think you can never have enough “dough?” When drought ravaged Israel, Elijah asked a poor widow for some water and bread. “Sorry,” she said. She only had enough for one last meal. Elijah pushed back with a promise: “Thus says the Lord the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” Hard as it must have been, she trusted God. “And she and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord” (1 Kings 18:14-16).

Repentance means rebooting your feelings about money. “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Trust God’s promises more than you trust what you see in your accounts. “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5)

CTRL+ALT+DEL: Our Father who art in heaven, give us this day our daily bread. Amen.

Devotion 2.24.16

February 24        “You Cannot Serve God and Money” (Matthew 6:24) 

“Jesus, grant that balm and healing in Thy holy wounds I find, ev’ry hour that I am feeling pain of body and of mind.” How can Lenten repentance for sin also free us from painful hours of financial fretting? 

“I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” Unwisely we seek safety in things we can see. “The things you have prepared, whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:19-21).

Sin uses our desires to enslave us. Credit card debt, unsustainable life styles, financial fears, financial confidence…Those are symptoms of our bondage to sin. Jesus forgives our sin, our searching for fulfillment apart from God, but the Gospel of forgiveness does something more. It helps us reboot to a new attitude, a determined attitude to break financial bondage.  “For freedom Christ has set us free… Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

CTRL+ALT+DEL: Spirit of my Savior, help me seek first Your kingdom. Assure me that other necessary things will then be taken care of. Amen. (Matthew 6:33)  

Devotion 2.23.16

Lutefisk.  Ever heard of it?  It is fish prepared in the old ways of the Norwegians, often described as an oddity.  It is a piece of fish that is aged, dried, salted, and prepared in lye.  Yes, lye.  As a Minnesotan Lutheran once explained to me, lutefisk is "that piece of cod that surpasses all understanding."

An equal oddity is the notion of "peace" in general.  Where is that "peace of God that surpasses all understanding?" (Philippians 4:7)  There are times I wonder and ponder on that.  Perhaps we look at "peace" as the absence of conflict, which is a mistaken notion.  As was once expressed to a group of novice administrators, the superintendent said, "There are people who suffer no stress, and they are all six feet underground."  Christ speaks to this as a people when he says, "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not alarmed for this must take place, but the end is not yet.... All these are but the beginning of the birth pains." (Matthew 24:6)

According to several sites, there are currently 10 active wars taking place with several smaller regional conflicts.  The world is a place at war - religious wars, sectarian wars, territorial conflicts among many.  The world is in conflict simply because we are a sinful lot, so the "peace of God" seems elusive. The world also reflects our own inner-turmoil. How much conflict exists within us?  Does that make the peace of  God elusive for us?  Or is it?

Christ invites us to come to that "desolate" place to be with him (Mark 6).  As we learn in Aarons' blessing from God to speak to Israel, "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." (Numbers 6)  God's face shines upon us, so do we turn to him to take in that comfort he provides?  We may never feel "peace" in terms of a lack of conflict, but we know that God is there for us to turn to as we seek his guidance in those desolate places in life where Christ invites us to come to be with him.

Pray that we seek God's true peace in that relationship with him through his Son Jesus Christ.

Hope Men's Ministry