DEVO: May 21 - #8 Responsibility

Just as the church is subject to Christ,

so also wives ought to be, in everything,

to their husbands.

Husbands, love your wives,

just as Christ loved the church

and gave himself up for her

Ephesians 5:24-25

 

Have you ever heard anyone say, “Our marriage is 50-50”?

 

What a shame?

 

Do you really want your spouse to give 50% effort?

 

Marriage should be 100-100. We should all share in the chores and responsibilities, including the kids. Many of the old traditional roles don't matter – who cooks, who cleans, who earns, who fixes, who stays home – as long as all agree together and responsibility is shared … and as soon as start agreeing with God’s priorities in the home.

 

Sometimes when spelling J.O.Y. people often envision that they have three options for priority. Jesus … others … or themselves. But realistically there are only two priorities. It's either all about Jesus. Or all about You.

 

Because even if we try and make it about O and others and serving the other person, things are never going to seem fair. (Which is where 50-50 breaks down)

 

But if we make it about Jesus … when we yoke ourselves with him … when we grow to look like him and assume his character, his ability to love others empowers our service. And we move from 50-50 to 60-60 to 80-80 to 100-100.)

 

In Christ’s Love,

A guy who’s 50% on his own,

but through Christ who strengthens me

Mary Louise gets a better husband

than just plain mediocre

 

DEVO: May 19 - #10 Parenting

the Lord disciplines

those whom he loves

and chastises every child

whom he accepts

Hebrews 12:6

 

How would you define love?

 

I saw a Christian Broadcasting Network editorial recently which said, “Love means more than acceptance … It means discipline.”

 

That’s the kind of love that God has for us – see our verse for today. Scripture tells us that this is the kind of love that good parents have for their children. For example, Proverbs 13:24 says, “those who love them are diligent to discipline them.” Conversely, this same verse says that shying away from discipline is a form of hate toward our children.

 

Last Sunday, I listed the top ten godly tips for a successful family life. I labeled “parent” as number ten. But that wasn’t really what the research I was basing it on said. “Discipline” was actually listed as family tip number ten.

 

Why is discipline perhaps THE key to effective parenting? It’s because – as our old Lutheran confession used to say – “we are, by nature, sinful and unclean.” Indeed, children are by nature stubborn and rebellious. Therefore, successful parenting requires disciplining them.  

 

But beware … discipline must not be harsh. Rather it must be loving, consistent, and firm. Rules must be explained. They should be grounded on love and respect and God’s deepest principles. Children should be allowed to experience the consequences of their actions. And then loving parents must forgive and help them rebuild.

 

How do you define love? Well, include this: parenting requires discipline.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who remembers

that to be a“disciple”

there must be “discipline”

 

 

DEVO: May 17/18 - Top Ten Godly Tips for a Successful Family

Those who trust in

their own wits are fools;

but those who walk in wisdom

come through safely.

Proverbs 28:26

 

What would you say are the top ten tips for a successful family?

 

Actually, think a little deeper. How would you determine the top ten?

 

·         From your own parents? Hopefully they were good. But that’s how most parents determine how to do family life.

·         From the suggestions of friends? We all tend to ask for advice. (But sometimes we ask the wrong people … or we ask and ask until we get the advice we want to hear.)

·         From common custom of the culture around us? We all tend to be shaped inescapably by the morays of our culture. But do we really want to do what everyone else is doing in this messed up world of ours?

 

Yes, there are lots of ways we could go about determining some reasonable parenting tips.

 

But I like the way a pastor in Texas, Dave Dykes, determined them. He simply asked the advice of some of the most successful families in his congregation. (And he discovered what we should all know … that the best ways inevitably point back to “God’s way.”)

 

For the next few days, we’ll be focusing on a list inspired by Pastor Dyke’s congregational research, believing that the secret to successful families focuses in godly ways upon …

 

10. Parenting

9. Money

8. Perserverance

7. Responsibility

6. Laughter

5. Respect

4. Forgiveness

3. Time

2. Speaking

1. Jesus

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who would, by the way,

suggest an additional top ten …

love, joy, peace …

patience, kindness, goodness …

faithfulness, gentleness, self-control

… and the Holy Spirit who

makes all those things possible

 

DEVO May 8 - A More Accurate Way to Spell J.O.Y.

Devotion below … but first read the following Scripture!

 

 

 

 

Do you know what the most miserable day of the week is? Oddly, for me, it used to be Saturday.

 

Why? Because I’d “hard” all week. And by Saturday, I had a long list of all of the things that I wanted to do. (Half of which involved laying around and watching sports.)

 

Yet that meant that any interruption to my personal agenda was demoralizing – if not, infuriating. And there were always interruptions. There always will be. But even the “good” things became agonizing distractions from my personal agenda.

 

Now, if you read those first few paragraphs again, what would be the main words?

 

·         First, would be, “me, myself, and my personal agenda.”

·         Second would be “frustration, demoralization, depression, and anger.”

·         If you wrote that into a formula, it would read: “selfish = dissatisfaction.”

·         If you flip that formula, it produces a path to joy: “Selflessness = Life!”

 

But it’s more than that. Hopefully you’ve learned by now the formula for J.O.Y. – Jesus, Others, You, and in that order of priority.

 

But I’d simplify it even further. Scripture teaches that there are only two real focuses in life – J or Y, Jesus or you (indeed, God or you … or “Upward and toward” or “downward and inward”).

 

It’s like the famous C.S. Lewis’ quote – “Focus on Heaven and you’ll get earth thrown in. Focus on earth and you’ll get neither.”

 

·         If we focus on “J for Jesus,” life will throw-in healthy relationships (with “O for Others”) and right priorities (which will make sense of “Y, Yourself”).

·         But if you focus on “Y for Yourself,” you’ll get neither a joyful self nor a life-giving relationship with God.

·         And if you focus on “Y for Yourself,” you won’t even really and with satisfaction get “O for Others.” Why? Because people are sinful. They’ll inevitably and eventually let you down. That’s why “O for Others” is not a viable third alternative for our focus, leaving us, really and ultimately, with just J or Y.

 

Look further above. I want to refine my conclusion.

 

·         I said earlier, essentially, “What is the formula for satisfaction? The path to joy is: “Selflessness = Life!”

·         Here’s my refined conclusion: “Godliness = Life = Joy.” (For godliness, indeed, is a single-minded focus on God, which allows everything else to be thrown in.)

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who’s prejudice –

I focus on the letter J

to the exclusion of all other letters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEVO May 6 - What the Sabbath is NOT

Devotion below … but first read the following Scripture!

 

 

 

 

Here’s what the Sabbath is NOT: It’s not about you.

 

Here’s what the Sabbath IS: It’s all about God.

 

That’s the secret to life in general, of course. But God knows we’re weak. Sinful. Selfish and self-centered.

 

Fortunately, he want to free us from that. His method: The Sabbath.

 

If you can learn to focus on him for one day out of seven …

Maybe you can learn to focus on him for two days out of seven …

Then three … and four … and maybe 24/7!

 

Sabbath is not the end-goal. It’s the beginning of freedom.

 

Yesterday I challenged you to make plans today to be ready for next Sunday. So … what can you start planning and accomplishing today, so that by Sunday, you won’t have anything on your list that’s about “your own ways … your own interests or … your own [responsibilities]”?

 

In Christ’s Love,

A guy who wonders …

Do pastors work on Sundays?

I used to … and when I’m tired, I still do …

but when I’m prepared, I worship on Sundays!!!

I fully relax by hanging around my (church) family!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YOU ARE INVITED: Robbie's Graduation, This Friday, 7pm, at SOJ

Pastor Ed and Mary Louise Thomas

invite you to join us for

the Home School, High School

Graduation of

Robbie Thomas

This Friday, May 9, 7pm

 

It is a Service of Worship

at Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church

R e c e p t i o n   t o   F o l l o w !

 

 

DEVO May 5 - How to discover delight

Devotion below … but first read the following Scripture!

 

 

 

Our theme for the Spring is Jubilee. Scripturally, the Jubilee is God’s plan for restoration, joy, freedom, and blessing in life. Yesterday, then, we focused on the related them of Sabbath – as a God-designed path to weekly (and eventually daily) joy and freedom.

 

Listen to God’s promises regarding his Sabbath. Indeed, read the lesson above: If you call the Sabbath a delight … then you shall take delight in the Lord.

 

I don’t know about you, but I want more joy and delight in life!

 

But God says, don’t expect it if you blow past the Sabbath (like some people blow past stop signs.)

 

In yesterday’s sermon, I intentionally made a big spectacle of making light of the legalism that some people associate with the Sabbath. Why?

 

1.    Because the Sabbath was God-designed to set us free (and not be human-burdened with rules, which it became).

 

2.    Because I’m nevertheless going to encourage you to be more legalistic about Sabbath keeping.

 

Wait?!

 

What?!

 

No, it’s not about legalism … and to do’s … and not to do’s. It’s that most of us are so far out-of-balance that if we’re not overly intentional (almost legalistic), we probably won’t make enough change to discover the delight that God is promoting!

 

On Monday, start making plans for how you can be more intentional about keep the Sabbath this coming Sunday!

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who knows

that “delightful” means,

“full of delight” and apparently,

“full of the Sabbath” too

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEVO May 3-4 - How to Focus

take every thought captive to obey Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:5

 

C.S. Lewis once said, “If you focus on heaven, your get earth thrown in. If you focus on earth, you get neither.”

 

That quote fits with our recent focus on simplicity and our question of, “What’s your one thing?” My contention is that if Jesus is our one thing, then the rest of life falls more easily into place. Indeed, “If you focus on [heaven and] Jesus, everything [gets thrown in and] else makes sense. If you focus on anything and everything else [on earth], nothing makes sense.”

 

Wait … now add one extra line: “… especially when stress comes.”

 

When things are perking along “normally” and without much stress, we can fool ourselves into the thinking that we can do just fine without too much of God, too much faith, and too much single-minded priority. But what happens when trials come and we have “too little.” We haven’t practiced and prepared and all of the superficial things that we have been relying on are cold comfort.

 

So here’s today’s question: How do we focus single-mindedly on Jesus, rather than on all of the other things in life (even if they seem pretty good and harmless)?

 

Look at our verse for today. The Apostle Paul says, “take every thought captive to obey Christ.”

 

It starts in our minds.

 

What do we think about? What do we prioritize? It’s the old saying, “You are what you eat.” That’s why the Apostle Paul goes on to say, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2).

 

99.9% of us are too conformed to the world. So be honest: What’s your Achilles heel? And don’t take it lightly. Our verse for today – 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 – is a spiritual warfare passage. To focus single-mindedly on Jesus we must continually crucify “the old man” and redirect our own thoughts. Secondly, we must do battle with internal and external temptations.

 

But … we’re not left alone to struggle against it … “for the weapons of our [struggles and our] warfare are not merely human … They have divine power to destroy strongholds. [Therefore,] with these weapons we break down every proud argument that keeps [us] from knowing God … [But first] we [must] take every thought captive to obey Christ.”

 

How do we make Jesus the main thing?

 

·         By thinking more about him? Kind of. But really, it’s much more than that!

·         Jesus is not one of ten reasonable things to focus on. He’s everything!

·         Instead of worrying and talking to ourselves and solving our own problems in our own heads, we take it all to God in prayer.

·         Instead of focusing on my wife, I focus on Jesus and he gives me the grace to treat my wife like she deserves.

·         Instead of grinding my teeth as the person in the checkout line takes twenty minutes, I start talking to Jesus about her. What’s her situation? What does she need prayed for? Does she even know Jesus?

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who thinks

he wants to think of

Jesus more and more

 

 

 

 

DEVO May 1 - Is Jesus your life ... or just a part of your life?

I want to know Christ

and the power of his resurrection

and the sharing of his sufferings

by becoming like him in his death

Philippians 3:10

 

For the past few days, we’ve been making a case for simplicity being the secret to blessing and joy. Therefore, we’ve been pointing toward a simple focus, asking, “What is your one thing?”

 

Yesterday, we discovered that when David’s “one thing” was the Lord, there was light, hope, joy, and blessing. When, however, he focused on himself – and on personal pleasure – there was challenge, complication, and disaster.

 

As a pastor, I watch people all of the time. We want hope, joy, and blessing … but we go about by focusing on ourselves and chasing after personal pleasure. Do you see the problem? Do you live the problem?

 

It’s not that we don’t know God or love God, but for most of us, he’s just one of the pieces of our lives. When I’m at work, I do work stuff. When I’m at home, I focus on home stuff. When I’m church … or when a prayer concern pops into my mind … or for the twenty minutes that I do devotions … then I focus on God. Sound familiar? God is important. We know that. But for most of us (and even for me for most of my life) he was “a thing” (one of ten or twenty), but he wasn’t “everything.”

 

But something powerful and freeing happens when we change our focus …

 

·         What happens when work is about Jesus?! A public school teacher may be forbidden to mention Jesus’ name, but instead of focusing on reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic, what if she focuses on seeing Jesus in each of these kids and inspiring them even if the only tools she’s technically allowed to use are reading and math. Can a manager start trying to see Christ in his employees? Can a clerk subtly share God’s love with in each person who crosses her counter? Can a truck driver use his solitary time for powerful prayer? What happens when work is about Jesus?

 

·         And what happens when home is about Jesus?! This doesn’t mean that all you do is study the Bible! It means when you play ball in the backyard, eat pizza for supper, and choose what to watch on television, you joyfully realize that there’s one extra member of your family with you at all times. Jesus is there. He’s part of your life, your family, and your conversations!

 

·         When Jesus is with us, we aren’t constantly pursuing the elusive goal of “happiness” and “pleasure.” Rather, he is our joy. And he helps us discover simpler (and less expensive) pleasures like gathering with fellow Christians and more purposeful conversations you’re your family … for wherever two or three are gathered in his name, he is there.

 

·         When Jesus is the focus of our lives, we are set free from so many complications in life. There’s forgiveness rather than the complexity of guilt. There’s hope rather than the anchors of regret. There’s confidence and simplicity of peace rather than the ravenous monsters of dread. There is freedom and offering and opportunity rather than legalism and expectations and duty.

 

·         When we know Jesus and grow in faith, we increasingly seek to live life his way. And think of the blessings …

 

o   of honesty rather than the maddening complexity of lies (Have you ever tried to keep all your lies and stories straight? Honest is easier and freeing.) …

o   of integrity rather than the complexity of sin (The consequences of sin always, eventually, and inevitably bring heartache.) …

o   of godly wisdom rather than the hit and miss nature of our changing opinions and the world’s changing morays …

o   of working toward forgiveness (even when it’s hard) rather than the complex, drowning, and never-ending baggage of bitterness.

 

That’s the benefits of making Jesus “the one thing” and the center of our life. Tomorrow, we’ll focus on how to do it … how to make Jesus not just a piece of your life, but the center of our lives.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who wants increasingly

to aim for the bullseye

 

(because that’s where Christ is

… in the center)

 

 

 

 

DEVO: Apr 30 - What is your one thing? The example of David

One thing I ask of the Lord,

this is what I seek:

that I may dwell in the house

of the Lord all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

and to seek him in his temple.

Psalm 27:4

 

Yesterday we ended with a question: What is your one thing?

 

According to this Psalm, David’s one thing was God!

 

·         He desired – single-mindedly – to dwell in God’s house, to live in God’s presence.

·         And more than just being there, he wanted to be there with a purpose. He wanted to actively seek God while in this house, while in God’s temple.

·         Why? Because the more he dwelt and sought, he knew that more and more and more he’d see the beauty of the Lord.

 

As long as this was David’s purpose, the experienced blessing, hope, and purpose.

 

But when he took his eyes off of God, that’s when trouble engulfed his life. Read 2 Samuel 11:1-2, and ask: Where was David and what was he seeking?

 

1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel [out to battle]. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his bed and was walking about on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. 3 David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, "This is Bathsheba, … the wife of Uriah ...." 4 So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her.  

 

Where was David and what was he seeking?

 

·         First, he wasn’t where he was “supposed to be.” He wasn’t leading his people (out to battle like kings should do). Nor was he in the temple worshiping and seeking God. No – verse 2 – he was home in bed in the late afternoon. He’d grown fat and lazy and inattentive to God and kingdom.

·         And what was he seeking? Personal pleasure.

 

For David, it was sin, sex, self-indulgence, and adultery on both sides – to be sure – but focus on that phrase, “personal pleasure.” David was doing what he wanted to do. What he thought would make him happy.

 

Yesterday we asked the question: What is your one thing?

 

We’ll answer this in greater detail tomorrow, but look at David’s life:

 

·         When he sought God wholeheartedly, there was beauty, hope, light, and kingdom blessings.

·         When he turned his focus toward himself, there was sin, laziness, trouble, and generational curses.

 

Read that one hundred times until the secret to life comes joyfully alive in your heart!

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who loves the song

“single-minded, wholehearted”

 

 

 

DEVO Apr 29 - Understanding the Trap of Complexity

Cast thy care, or thought,

[(or) busyness,] on the Lord,

and he shall fully nourish thee

Psalm 55:22 WYC

The parentheses and brackets are how

Wycliffe Translation prints it!

 

As we said yesterday, a key to peace and joy is … Simplicity! (Tomorrow we’ll focus on the simple solution to life’s overwhelming busyness.) Today, however, let me focus on our chronic lack of simplicity. Let’s call it the devil of complexity.

 

Think about the way most of us live. Aren’t we all trying to juggle too many balls?!

 

If I gave you five or six things and asked you make a list of all the things you have to do, think about how long would your list be?

 

·         How many work demands do you have?

·         How many home chores are there on your list?

·         How many daily necessities must we attend too like cooking, cleaning, laundry, shaving, showering, bill paying?

·         How many kid’s activities to you have carpool to and from?

·         How many volunteer opportunities might you have an opportunity to make a difference through?

·         How many things do you really want to do ... need to do … hope to get to?!

·         How much does all of this cost? (Because this is a form of financial complexity.)

·         And how many things does your spouse have for you on your honey-do list?

·         Are there hobbies you want to play at, books you want to read, shows you want to watch?

 

Are you tired yet?!! Complication is a form of bondage that Satan loves.

 

And while we may know that, that’s the way most of us live our lives. We’re buried under an unending and overwhelming checklist.

 

If, as we said yesterday, the key to peace and joy is simplicity, then what is the heart of simplicity? It is focusing on one thing. So, the question is …

 

In your life, what is your one thing?

 

Today, I’m going to leave you in an awkward place. I’m not going to provide a solution to the complexity … yet. (That’s for tomorrow.) Today, I want you to sit with this question – What’s your one thing?

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who’s casting

his cares on the Lord and

waiting for them to flourish