Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

Sodom and Gomorrah were married?

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

John 8:28-30
Jesus said to the Pharisees, "I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him." Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

This was not Jesus passing the buck. The people respected what he said, and almost certainly yearned for that kind of intelligent trusting in their own lives. Many came to believe in him.

Jesus "studied" his Father. He knew the scriptures by heart. He also spent time every day alone, listening to Him. Most of us don't study the Bible much. Steve Rethmeier in our weekend worship conference pointed to some of the strange results of a Barna survey: many respondents thought that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife. Sodom and Gomorrah were a married couple in the Old Testament. And they were pretty sure that the Sermon on the Mount was preached by Billy Graham. Oh, my.

But Scripture was written when most of its readers supported themselves, working at a trade and even more likely as small farmers. And we work for large multi-national corporations. As Christ-followers, we aren't sure how to make "honest application across wide cultural divides." So we study less.

Scripture was written for and by people in community based on family, village, tribe. But we are displaced global individuals. Steve pointed out that we are often "militantly missional about events on the other side of the world, but not empathic toward their immediate neighbors," if we know them at all. So we study less.

What do we miss when we leave the 4.7 Bibles in every household on the shelf?

For one thing, we start telling God what we want rather than finding out what he wants. Spending some time in study helps us know the Story, which gives us a source of basic discernment and of fundamental patterns for living as an actor within the Story," in our time and in our place.

Jesus was (and is) wonderfully attractive because he knew his Father so well. He BECAME that source for us. And, praise God, now he "leads us into a PROCESS that helps us define a different way of living than the way of the world."

There are many differences in my way from yours, and in our way from theirs, and in the ways of this day from the day of 1st century Christians. But those differences do not need to distract us from the PROCESS, which never changes. Study, listen, accept, understand, practice. And then start all over again.

Lord you guide me in right paths. And even when I walk in dark valleys I will fear no evil. You are with me, and your rod and staff comfort me. You spread a feast before me in the presence of my enemies.

Devotions Archive

Sodom and Gomorrah were married?

Tuesday, March 24, 2015