Spiritual bodybuilding

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jude 1-25; Psalm 39

TO CHEW ON: "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." Jude 20-21

Jude, the brother of James wrote the short letter of Jude. It's a letter of warning to an unnamed church or churches. False teachers were the problem.

Jude talks of the havoc these teachers had created by comparing them to Bible characters. They acted in the spirit of:
Cain: destruction. Cain murdered his brother instead of caring for him (Genesis 4:8).

Balam: greed. Balam was a prophet who consented to try to curse Israel for King Balak in return for money (Numbers 21:1-22:41).

Korah: rebellion. Korah led a rebellion against Moses (Numbers 16:1-24).

How can the people resist these teachers? Jude says by "building yourselves up on your most holy faith."

The phrase "building yourselves up" brings to mind the gym. There people do multiple repetitions of exercises (sit-ups, crunches, leg lifts, bench presses, cycling, etc.) to build up different parts of the body. What would a spiritual workout look like? It could consist of reading, studying and memorizing the Bible, praying in the Holy Spirit (praise, thanksgiving, petition, intercession, worship), and singing.

The crowd of runners we pass on our way to church Sunday morning have tapped into another effective way to work out physically. They do it together for companionship, accountability, even safety. In our spiritual workout program, this would compare to being part of a faith community — a church, home group or Bible study group. (Of course Jude's letter, written out of the need to warn church members about false teachers within tells us that such togetherness also has its hazards.)

We know that in order for a physical workout program to accomplish what we want it to, it has to be consistent. That's where we get tested. For no matter how exciting a fitness program is at the beginning, it's hard to stick with it. Doing the same exercises over and over can get boring. Sometimes we're tired and don't feel like exercising. We may not notice any difference in our body and wonder if it's actually making us stronger.

Sticking with a spiritual fitness program is just as challenging. Some parts of the Bible are hard to understand. We may wonder if our prayers are making any difference. We may get discouraged by the spiritually immature tendencies we still see in ourselves and feel disheartened when temptations still trip us up. But just like sticking with a physical fitness program eventually brings about changes in our bodies, so sticking with regular routine of spiritual fitness will strengthen us spiritually.

Do you work out spiritually? If not, decide to make such a program a part of your routine. Life is full of challenges. You'll want to face them with a well-toned faith.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for being my teacher and trainer. Help me to be as devoted to developing my faith as I am to caring for my body. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 39

The Bible Project VIDEO: Jude (Read Scripture Series)



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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The amnesia of self-sufficiency

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Hosea 11-14; Psalm 124

TO CHEW ON: "When they had pasture, they were filled;
They were filled and their heart was exalted;
Therefore they forgot me." Hosea 13:6



Forgetting who one's source of supply is and becoming self-reliant and self-satisfied is a state that Bible writers talk about again and again. Here Hosea names it as one of the reasons for Israel's spiritual prostitution.

We find warnings against God-forgetful self-sufficiency throughout the Bible. Let's examine a few to see what conditions predispose to such an attitude.

1. Plenty of food. Forgetting God is often linked with having enough and more than enough to eat; fatness, even obesity - Deuteronomy 32:15; Psalm 17:10; Isaiah 10:16; Jeremiah 5:28; Jeremiah 50:11; Ezekiel 16:49.

2. Full of their own ways - Proverbs 14:14.

3. Spiritual dullards and lethargic. Isaiah talks about people with dull hearts, heavy ears, shut eyes - Isaiah 6:10. Jeremiah speaks of spiritual ease and lethargy - Jeremiah 48:11.

4. Pride, idleness, and ignoring the needs of the poor - Ezekiel 16:49.

5. Preoccupation with the superficial things of life - Luke 6:25.

6. And perhaps the most sobering condition of all, there is no awareness of one's own need - Revelation 3:17.

In our technologically advanced, wealthy society we are more prone than ever to forget that God is our source of supply. Often in the Bible, God's remedy for this was to send trouble so that the people would again remember Him and renew their allegiance to Him.

Though we may feel immune from the troubles of Bible-time people, even for us it really takes very little to feel our vulnerability. A storm wiping out our dwelling, a lost job, a deathly illness, a computer virus, even a few days with no electricity show us how susceptible we are to things beyond our control.

Let's take to heart Hosea's words to Israel, whatever state we find ourselves in.

"O Israel (or insert your name here___________)
You are (or 'easily can be') destroyed.
But your help is from Me.
I will be your King
Where is any other
That He may save you in all your cities?"
- Hosea 13:9-10.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to always remember that I need You — no matter how well, or poorly, things are going. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 124

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Avoiding spiritual osteoporosis

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Matthew 24:45-25:13

TO CHEW ON: “‘Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.’” Matthew 24:25

This passage has been a rhema word to me this morning. Let me explain.

Over the past few weeks I’ve toyed with the thought of ceasing to write these devotions. My idea has been to use the several hours of morning writing time for other projects. In fact, I’ve tried that out for a few weeks (frequently re-posting devotions here).

Yes, I’ve still had a short Bible reading and prayer time before the other writing. But the clock moves quickly and the start time for “work” comes all too soon. So these personal devotion times have felt unsatisfying.

Further, as I thought of no longer having a place to document what I’m learning (yes, I can record things in a my writing journal, but it’s not the same), I felt like I was about to demolish an important part of the structure of my daily life. (Reminds me of the verse “The wise woman builds her house, / But the foolish pulls it down with her hands” Proverbs 14:1.)

My decision to quit has been bugging me. In fact, before going to this Matthew passage this morning, I spilled some thoughts in my journal. As I did that, two verses came to mind:

"When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer" Psalm 32:3,4.

"Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him,
Nor speak anymore in His name.”
But His word was in my heart like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
I was weary of holding it back,
And I could not" Jeremiah 20:9. 

I noticed both had to do with deteriorating bones and wrote to myself: “I’m sensing a possible bone condition. Interesting thing about bones. They need exercise to stay strong. Perhaps God is saying to me—‘Violet, you can do this, stop writing these daily devos and posting them. But there will be consequences to you, just like if you stopped your daily physical walk. Do you want to get spiritual osteoporosis?  For your bones will weaken if you don’t feed and exercise them. This daily devo writing is a  good way to feed and exercise those bones and keep them from growing old.’”

And then I opened my Bible to work on the next devo and read Matthew 24:45. It’s not lost on me that the name I’ve chosen for this blog has to do with food.

When one reaches a certain age, one is expected to retire, at least in my culture. But God has made it clear to me this morning that the time to retire from writing these isn’t quite yet. I need to keep faithfully “so doing”—giving out this Other food in “due season.”

What about you? What is God telling you to be faithfully found “so doing”?


PRAYER: Dear Father, You are faithful in giving me the direction I need at the moment I need it. Help me to listen to Your voice above all others. so that I will be found doing the things You’ve tasked me with when You return, or call me home to You. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Spiritual activewear

Runner - by Phillip Martin

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jeremiah 1:11-19

TO CHEW ON: " ' Therefore, prepare yourself and arise …'" Jeremiah 1:17


Yesterday we read how God came to young Jeremiah, called him to be a prophet, answered his objections, and promised His presence. In today's reading God comes to Jeremiah again and begins to show him visions—symbolic scenes of Israel's demise such that when Jeremiah speaks of them, he won't be popular. In light of how his hearers will take him, God tells Jeremiah, " 'Therefore prepare yourself and arise…' "

"'Prepare yourself' means literally to 'gird your loins,' that is, arrange your clothing for activity" - R. E. Hayden, study notes on Jeremiah, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 960.

As we read on, we see God uses war words to describe the prepared Jeremiah: "' I have made you … a fortified city … iron pillar … bronze walls" - Jeremiah 1:18.  Jeremiah is to prepare for battle.

We read of a similar action ("girding the loins") on the night the Israelites were to eat the Passover before leaving Egypt: "This is how you are to eat it; with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand" - Exodus 12:11. The Israelites were to get ready for flight.

We see Elijah do the same thing after the Priest of Baal showdown on Mount Carmel and the coming of the rain: "The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel" - 1 Kings 18:46.  It appears he was preparing to celebrate victory.

All this getting prepared for spiritual action reminds us of the classic NT spiritual preparation metaphor, the Armour of God, that Paul tells Christians to put on:  Because our enemy is spiritual, dark, and wicked…"Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand" - Ephesians 6:13. We need spiritual armor to stand against spiritual attack (Ephesians 6:10-18).

Finally, we read of the life-race readiness pictured in Hebrews 12:1 "… let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." We need to be prepared to run our everyday race of faith.

I think we could say that whatever spiritual activity confronts us—whether it's battle, flight from the devil's clutches, a victory celebration, standing firm, or running the daily race of faith, we need to be sure we're wearing our spiritual activewear—have on  those bullet proof vests, are wearing our spiritual spandex, have the laces of our cross trainers tied tight i.e. live alert and always be dressed and prepared for spiritual action.


PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for this warning to Jeremiah to be prepared. Help me to be live prepared for whatever You allow to cross my path today. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Do you eat every day?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Job 23:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "I have treasured the words of His mouth
More than my necessary food." - Job 23:12


Because of this blog's foody title and the way daily Bible reading, meditation, and prayer have always seemed like needed spiritual rations to me, it's no wonder that Job's mention of God's word as food caught my attention.

• Job pictures God's word as treasured and essential food—more important than physical food.

Here are some other benefits of "eating" God's word:

• It keeps us spiritually alive.

"… man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord" - Deuteronomy 8:3, also Matthew 4:4.

• It satisfies our desire for what is truly sweet:

"How sweet are Your words to my taste
Also sweeter than honey to my mouth" - Psalm 119:103; Psalm 19:10.

• It leaves us feeling joyful:

"Your words were found, and I ate them;
And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart" - Jeremiah 15:16.

• It delivers essentials for ministry (a spiritual vitamin pill, if you will):

"Moreover He said to me, 'Son of man, eat what you find, eat this scroll and go, speak to the house of Israel" - Ezekiel 3:1.

• Drinking and eating it helps us grow:

"As newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby" - 1 Peter 2:2; Acts 20:32; Hebrews 5:13.

• Through ingesting it we remain doctrinally healthy:

"… nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed" - 1 Timothy 4:6.

• Biting off and chewing its more complex and difficult portions matures us and sharpens our palette to discern good and evil:

"But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" - Hebrews 5:14.

I don't know what form those "words of His mouth" came to Job. An audible voice? A deep heart conviction? Words written on a clay tablet or scroll? However, for us there is no question about this. For us who have the Bible translated in our language and available in dozens of versions, God's word is as available and handy as the pantry or fridge in our house—a banquet book that never runs out. Let's eat it regularly!

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the Bible. Help me to read it, understand it, and obey it. Amen. 

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Foolish or wise?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jeremiah 4:19-31

TO CHEW ON: "'For My people are foolish,

They have not known Me.

They are silly children,

And they have no understanding.

They are wise to do evil,

But to do good they have no knowledge.'" Jeremiah 4:22

Bible writers didn't hesitate to label certain folks fools or foolish, describing them as being without understanding. Some of the people who earned that description were (linked words lead to four versions of the passage on Bible Gateway):
- The person who spent his time on frivolous pursuits instead of work (Proverbs 12:11).
- The lazy person (Proverbs 24:30).
- The haughty person (Proverbs 18:12).
- The oppressive ruler (Proverbs 28:16).
- The person who made an idol and fuel out of the same block of wood (Isaiah 44:19).
- And those people who did not have the sense to seek after and know God (our focus verse today).

Isn't that a little harsh, we ask. We humans have knowledge that spans the disciplines from Archeology to Zoology and know lots about the human body, mind, and psyche. Does none of this count as wisdom?

God's word tells us it doesn't count for much. In God's economy, the vast sum of things we know is of little account - I Corinthians 1:25. But what we do with the things of wisdom matters a great deal.

So when we hear God's voice (through His word or His servants) teaching, correcting, scolding, advising, chiding, we have a choice. We can refuse to listen (Zechariah 7:11-13) and become confirmed and stuck in our foolish ways (Romans 1:28), or we can take what we hear to heart, letting it root and fruit in our lives (Matthew 13:23).

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to put more stock in what You say than what so-called wise but godless people say. I want to be wise in Your ways. Amen.

MORE: Foolish or wise foundation?

At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells this little story (Matthew 7:24-27):

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

Build yourselves up

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jude 1-25

TO CHEW ON: "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." Jude 20-21

Jude, the brother of James wrote the short letter of Jude. It's a letter of warning to an unnamed church or churches. False teachers were the problem.

Jude talks of the havoc these teachers had created by comparing them to Bible characters. They acted in the spirit of:
Cain: destruction. Cain murdered his brother instead of caring for him (Genesis 4:8).
Balam: greed. Balam was a prophet who consented to try to curse Israel for King Balak in return for money (Numbers 21 & 22). 
Korah: rebellion. Korah led a rebellion against Moses (Numbers 6:1-24).

How can the people resist these teachers? Jude says by "building yourselves up on your most holy faith."

The phrase "building yourselves up" brings to mind the gym. There people do multiple repetitions of exercises (sit-ups, crunches, leg lifts, bench presses, cycling, etc.) to build up different parts of the body. What would a spiritual workout look like? It could consist of reading, studying and memorizing the Bible, praying in the Holy Spirit (praise, thanksgiving, petition, intercession, worship), and singing.

The crowd of runners we pass on our way to church Sunday morning have tapped into another effective way to work out physically. They do it together. This gives them companionship, accountability, even safety. In our spiritual workout program, this would compare to being part of a faith community — a church, home group or Bible study group. (Of course Jude's letter, written out of the need to warn church members about false teachers within tells us that such togetherness also has its hazards.)

Of course in order for a physical workout program to accomplish what we want it to, it has to be consistent. That's where we get tested. For no matter how exciting a fitness program is at the beginning, it's hard to stick with it. Doing the same exercises over and over can get boring. Sometimes we're tired and don't feel like exercising. We may not notice any difference in our body and wonder if it's actually making us stronger.

Sticking with a spiritual fitness program is just as challenging. Some parts of the Bible are hard to understand. We may wonder if our prayers are making any difference. We may get discouraged by the spiritually immature tendencies we still see in ourselves and feel disheartened when temptations still trip us up. But just like sticking with a physical fitness program eventually brings about changes in our bodies, so sticking with regular routine of spiritual fitness will strengthen us spiritually.

Do you work out spiritually? If not, decide to make such a program a part of your routine. Life is full of challenges. You'll want to face them with a well-toned faith.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for being my teacher and trainer. Help me to be as devoted to developing my faith as I am to caring for my body. Amen.

MORE: Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude

Today the church celebrates the Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude. The liturgy for this day begins with the following collect:

O God, we thank you for the glorious company of the apostles, and especially on this day for Simon and Jude; and we pray that, as they were faithful and zealous in their mission, so we may with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

  

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