Archive | February 2020

Chaplain’s Corner – Fresh Start

Feb26

I was going to call this devotional “Lent,” but I thought you might not read it if I did. That said, the season of Lent begins today. Although my church does not officially recognize Lent, I observe it. Lent is not mentioned in the Bible, but it has been recognized as a practice since the earliest days of the church and was referred to by name (Lent) by the Council of Nicea in A.D.325.

The name “Lent” is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for Spring, and its length (40 days not counting the Sundays before Easter) represents the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting and praying in preparation for the start of his public ministry.

I think the reason I like to observe Lent is that my favorite day of the year is Easter, the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Lent is a time of intentional preparation for Easter in recognition and as a way of following the example of Jesus.

I am not writing to recommend any particular way to observe Lent. Prayers and fasting are typical ways, but I think most of all it should be a private way to renew our commitment to spiritual growth in Christ. This might be through reading special Lenten devotionals and practicing spiritual disciplines. Whatever we do, we do it not for public recognition but for private reflection and meditation and renewal.  I have included some links to some resources that you might find useful.

Lent Devotional Resources: https://www.bible.com/search/plans?q=lent

Spiritual Disciplines:

I guess I’m basically an optimistic person. I am excited about every opportunity to make a fresh start. That’s why I get so excited about New Year’s Day—yes, I still make resolutions. And I love Sundays because it’s the first day of the week, another chance to start over. And Easter is the event that proved beyond a shadow of doubt that Jesus is Lord. He overcame death and the grave as the first to ascend to Heaven. I celebrate it not only as the resurrection of Christ, but also as the anniversary of my new eternal life in Christ.

I am filled with gratitude for opportunities to make a fresh start. I am so thankful that we serve a God of grace, who sent his Son who paid the price with his life to reconcile us back to Him. I praise God for all our second chances (and third and every one after that).

In Christ,

Judy

Chaplain’s Corner – Wise Choices, continued

Feb19

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6)

For everything in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–comes not from the Father but from the world. (1 John 2:16)

We concluded last week that wisdom is using what we know to make good choices. That sounded pretty good, but after more thought, maybe we need to elaborate. Maybe we need to analyze what went wrong when Eve made her fateful decision.

What did Eve know? Here’s the scripture that will give us some insight, from Genesis 3:1-6 –

1The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.

We know from verse 2 that Adam had passed along the instruction that he had received in Chapter 2 when he was given stewardship over the garden. Eve knew that God had said they were not to eat the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. We don’t know if Adam had added the part about touching it or if Eve embellished, but it really doesn’t matter. She clearly knew that she was not supposed to eat that fruit.

Knowing that she was not supposed to eat the fruit, she listened to the serpent who told her what she wanted to hear, and she was convinced. She did not ask God, she did not consult with Adam, who was right there with her. She looked at the fruit, rationalized that it was beautiful and looked delicious, and she ate it. I doubt if she knew the serpent was evil when he started talking to her. But he contradicted God, and that is should have been the first clue. She heard what she wanted to hear and impulsively made a terrible decision without considering the consequences.

  • Good decision-making involves knowing God’s Word, and refusing to respond favorably to temptation from anyone or anything that contradicts God’s Word.
  • Good decision-making is guarding our senses (our eyes, ears, taste, touch) from anything or anyone that God’s Word tells us is harmful.
  • Good decision-making is guarding our hearts from evil desires, lust, and covetousness.
  • Good decision-making includes consulting a trusted advisor(s) before going forward.
  • Good decision-making includes taking the consequences into account, thinking through the repercussions.
  • Good decision-making is including God in the process. If we are walking with God, the Holy Spirit will convict us of wrong-thinking/wrong-doing and point us in the right direction.

If Eve had exercised good decision-making at any point along the way, she could have avoided so much shame, pain, and heartache. But she didn’t. And she did suffer consequences, dreadful consequences, including death of one son and exile of another, and physical death for herself and all mankind. Worst of all, she and Adam suffered separation from the intimate relationship with God in the Garden of Eden. However, we also know that God covered their shame by providing the skins from the sacrifice of an animal. I can’t image how grieved He must have been and continues to be when we continue to make unwise decisions, but praise be to God for his mercy and grace in that He continues to rescue us from spiritual death by covering us with the blood of Jesus.

In Christ,

Judy

Chaplain’s Corner – Wise Choices

Feb12

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6)

You may recognize this passage from last week. As I pondered the meaning of “wisdom,” this story of the Fall kept coming back to mind. What happened? Eve made a bad decision. What is a decision? Decisions always involve choices.  Even a decision by default is a choice to do nothing. As I look back on my life, I can think of so many choices that I made, from choosing to diligently do my homework rather than play outside (or the other way around), to accept or reject invitations for dates and parties, to continue or discontinue my education, to take or abstain from that drink, to hit the snooze or get up in time for Bible study, etc. We make choices as to what to say and when to say it (or to keep our mouths shut), we make choices about what to look at and when to turn our heads. We even make choices about what to think about (that’s a hard one, I know). I’m sure you can identify with me, and perhaps even with me experience the burning of shame for some of our bad choices as well as hopefully the relief of some of our good choices.

Getting back to the passage in Genesis cited above, one of the first questions that arises from the serious Bible student is why God put the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden and then told Adam and Eve not to eat of the fruit. One commentator asked why he couldn’t have at least put a fence around it! I’m not sure we will truly know the answer this side of Heaven, but what seems to make the most sense is that God put it there with the instruction forbidding eating it in order to give us a choice. Our ability to choose is, in other words, free will. God created man for relationship. He is love (1 John 4:8) and He loves us (John 3:16) and desires our love in return (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37). While we are created with the capacity for love, the act of love is a choice, and the way we demonstrate our choice to love Him is through our obedience. So, our choice to obey is demonstrating our choice to love God and our choice to love God is demonstrated by our choice to obey; in either case we are exercising free will. “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands” (1 John 5:3a).

What is wisdom? Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines wisdom as “knowledge, and the capacity to make due use of it.” I think that boils down to using what we know to make good choices.

“Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe” (Proverbs 2:11).

In Christ,

Judy

Chaplain’s Corner – Why Wisdom?

Feb5

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6)

The concept of wisdom and the desirability of being wise is found early on in the Bible. The serpent used this desire to lure Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. So, does that mean that it’s evil to be wise, or to want to be wise? Of course not. There are so many scriptures that point out the wisdom of being wise. Joseph was highly favored because of his wisdom, as was Solomon. There’s an entire section of the Bible devoted to wisdom: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes are considered Wisdom Literature.

A clue to why this strategy identified in Genesis 3:6 worked to deceive Eve is found in Isaiah 7:12-14. Here we see that the reason for Satan’s fall was his desire to make himself “like the Most High.” Satan used this same reasoning with Eve when he offered her the forbidden fruit. He told her “’You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” Genesis 3:4-5.

The thing is that even though Satan has some power, he is still a created being. He can never be like the Most High God. He will never have the characteristics and attributes of God. He cannot ever be all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present. Any statement that he makes about himself otherwise is a lie, and every promise he makes to us otherwise is deception. Satan will always ultimately be subject to God.  No matter what we say, think, or do, we can never be God, and we will always be subject to God.

So, what’s the point of being wise? Why should gaining wisdom be a motivation for us? Solomon, who unlike Eve was known for his wisdom, also asked for wisdom. The difference is that he asked the right person, God, rather than Satan. And he desired wisdom not for self-gain, but instead to be able to distinguish between right and wrong (good and evil) in order to have an understanding mind “to govern your people.”

Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”  The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.  (1 Kings 3:8-12)

Why might I want to be wise? So that I will be highly favored by my friends, family, and coworkers? Because I perceive that power or wealth goes along with wisdom? Maybe so; but clearly, these are not a God-honoring motivations.  We should want to be wise because the desire for wisdom is evidence of our ongoing growth in our relationship with Jesus.

Paul tells us that Jesus is God’s wisdom. “God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin” (1 Corinthians 1:30).  Paul urges us as follows: “And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). This should be our “why”—not to be God, but to be more like Jesus in order to do His will.

In Christ,

Judy