Tag: spiritual practices

The Power of Deliverance (Exodus 14:10-31, 15:20-21)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
The Parting of the Sea, by Yoram Ranaan

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw that the Egyptians were coming after them. Terrified, the Israelites cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Did you bring us out into the desert to die because there were no graves in Egypt? Look what you’ve done by bringing us out of Egypt! Didn’t we tell you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone! Let us go on serving the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

Moses answered the people, “Don’t be afraid! Stand still, and see what the Lord will do to save you today. You will never see these Egyptians again. The Lord is fighting for you! So be still!”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to start moving. Raise your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide the water. Then the Israelites will go through the sea on dry ground. I am making the Egyptians so stubborn that they will follow the Israelites. I will receive honor because of what I will do to Pharaoh, his entire army, his chariots, and cavalry. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I am honored for what I did to Pharaoh, his chariots, and his cavalry.”

The Messenger of God, who had been in front of the Israelites, moved behind them. So the column of smoke moved from in front of the Israelites and stood behind them between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp. The column of smoke was there when darkness came, and it lit up the night. Neither side came near the other all night long.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. All that night the Lord pushed back the sea with a strong east wind and turned the sea into dry ground. The water divided, and the Israelites went through the middle of the sea on dry ground. The water stood like a wall on their right and on their left.

The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and cavalry followed them into the sea. Just before dawn, the Lord looked down from the column of fire and smoke and threw the Egyptian camp into a panic. He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they could hardly move. Then the Egyptians shouted, “Let’s get out of here! The Lord is fighting for Israel! He’s against us!”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the water will flow back over the Egyptians, their chariots, and their cavalry.”

Moses stretched his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the water returned to its usual place. The Egyptians tried to escape, but the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered Pharaoh’s entire army, as well as the chariots and the cavalry that had followed Israel into the sea. Not one of them survived.

Meanwhile, the Israelites had gone through the sea on dry ground while the water stood like a wall on their right and on their left. That day the Lord saved Israel from the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore. When the Israelites saw the great power the Lord had used against the Egyptians, they feared the Lord and believed in him and in his servant Moses….

Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand. All the women, dancing with tambourines, followed her. Miriam sang to them:

“Sing to the Lord.
He has won a glorious victory.
He has thrown horses and their riders into the sea.” (God’s Word Translation)

Things can change quickly.

One day, you’re living in slavery, and the next, you’re free. One minute, you’re celebrating freedom, then the next minute, you’re backed into a corner, and it looks like the end – only to be dramatically delivered from calamity.

One day (Holy Saturday) the disciples were lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon wheel rut; the next day (Easter Sunday) they’re wondrously slack-jawed with hopes higher than the sky.

Today’s Old Testament reading impresses on us the necessity of trusting God one day at a time, one minute at a time. Circumstances will change; God’s basic character will not change. Therefore, we have the continual opportunity of exercising our faith, and practicing trust in the Lord, by living into a new reality.

In this Christian season of Eastertide (spanning the next 50 days until the Day of Pentecost) we discover resurrection power in putting to death old unhealthy practices and adopting new healthy life-giving habits. Eastertide’s intentional focus is to recognize and celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and so, to exult in our own new life in him.

Revisiting both Christ’s resurrection, and the Red Sea deliverance, helps to remind us God’s invisible power to save is stronger and greater than any visible powers on this earth. Both of these deliverance stories keep us focused on the hope of individual renewal, corporate revitalization, and worldwide revival.

Eastertide is the season to engage in some renewal practices. The following are a few ideas for living into our deliverance from God:

  • Pray for revival of spirituality. Christ brings salvation and life, so praying to God for revival is a deliberate way of connecting with God.
  • Pay attention to words. Gossip, back-biting, slander, and other sins of the tongue kill people. Instead, consider how to use your speech for encouragement, love, mercy, forgiveness, and building up one another. This promotes growth, health, and life.
  • Proclaim resurrection. I believe the church is meant to be the hope of the world because Christ is the risen Lord. Graciously proclaim the resurrected Christ and how the spiritual life makes a difference in life.
  • Put yourself out there. Start the new ministry you always believed would make a difference. Take a risk. You’ve been given eternal life, so can you really fail?
  • Promote daily habits of spiritual health and life. Develop a realistic and workable plan for yourself when it comes to basic spiritual practices of Scripture reading, prayer, worship, etc. And stick to it by involving others.

There will always be people in our lives who try and pull us from what’s most important, even persons who want to keep the status quo to the point of seeking to destroy us. Be ready. Keep Eastertide in front of you; God has raised us to new life.

Allow Christ’s resurrection take root in your heart to such an extent that life itself informs all your thinking, speaking, feeling, and acting. The victory is won. So, sing to the Lord!

Spiritual Dementia (Deuteronomy 30:1-9)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Now, once all these things happen to you, the blessing and the curse that I’m setting before you, you must call them to mind as you sit among the various nations where the Lord your God has driven you; and you must return to the Lord your God, obeying his voice, in line with all that I’m commanding you right now—you and your children—with all your mind and with all your being. 

Then the Lord your God will restore you as you were before and will have compassion on you, gathering you up from all the peoples where the Lord your God scattered you. Even if he has driven you to the far end of heaven, the Lord your God will gather you up from there; he will take you back from there. 

The Lord your God will bring you home to the land that your ancestors possessed; you will possess it again. And he will do good things for you and multiply you—making you more numerous even than your ancestors!

Then the Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants so that you love the Lord your God with all your mind and with all your being in order that you may live. 

The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you and chase you. But you will change and obey the Lord’s voice and do all his commandments that I’m commanding you right now. 

The Lord your God will help you succeed in everything you do—in your own fertility, your livestock’s offspring, and your land’s produce—everything will be great! Because the Lord will once again enjoy doing good things for you just as he enjoyed doing them for your ancestors. (Common English Bible)

The mind is a vast, glorious, and (un)explored territory. Although there is much we know about it, there’s even more we don’t know about the human mind.

The mind can be both a blessing and a curse. Anyone with depression, anxiety, or other mental disorders and diseases can tell you that, especially family members who have loved ones with dementia.

Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. Professionally, I visit patients with dementia nearly every day. Personally, I watched my own mother’s faculties slowly erode and decline in the last few years of her life. In her final months, my Mom rarely remembered my name, only knew me once in a while, and never recalled the conversation we had thirty seconds ago. It was difficult to watch, this woman who once cared for me, needing to be cared for.

The biblical book of Deuteronomy is the retelling of Israel’s story as they were about to enter the Promised Land. It’s a book completely dedicated to memory care. If the people were to forget who they are, they would not know what they’re supposed to be doing. The Israelites strayed from the blessings into the curses of God’s covenant life because their collective mind slowly slipped into spiritual dementia.

The mind’s need to remember is not a new issue; it’s endemic to the human condition. The constant refrain of the author of Deuteronomy is to recall and to remember where the people came from, where they are going, and why. 

Moses reiterated the covenant and the law for the people before they entered the land. It was a fresh re-hashing, nothing really new, of what God had already communicated to them. God’s people were to remember that they were once slaves in Egypt and that God had delivered to be a people for his name. They were not to forget that they had provoked the Lord in the desert – with the result of an entire generation of people being lost because they had neglected and forgotten what God told them.

Memory issues continue into the Gospels. Jesus miraculously fed a great crowd of people not once, but twice. The second time, he called his disciples to remember what had happened the first time in order to understand the second. 

In the New Testament Epistles, Paul kept reminding the Jews in the churches that they should remember the ancient covenant, and called the Gentiles to remember that they were once estranged from that very same covenant. Both Jew and Gentile together needed to collectively remember the death of Christ that united them into a new covenant community. Like them, we are to “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.” (2 Timothy 2:8)

Like the ancient Israelites, Christians are to remember who they are and what they are about: blood-bought people of God, belonging to Christ, and given a mission to make disciples and participate with God in the redemption of all creation through remembering the poor, seeking justice, and being peacemakers in the church and the world. 

Think about where you have fallen from, and then turn back and do as you did at first. (Revelation 2:5, CEV)

There’s a difference between the disease of dementia and the church’s spiritual dementia. Folks inflicted with dementia will not recover but only worsen, whereas the church can recover its collective memory by listening again to the ancient Word of God and being constantly refreshed with the promises and covenant of God.

  • Why do you and the church exist? 
  • How do God’s words inform and influence your identity? 
  • Does the mission and practice of your church intentionally remember the risen and ascended Christ? 
  • Are disciples being formed around collective remembering of God’s covenant and promises? 
  • Are ministries, spiritual practices, and policies being established based on Christ and his commission, or on something else? 

Let’s continually work through answers to those questions so that we are not cursed but blessed, and continually built up in the faith.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord show you his kindness
    and have mercy on you.
May the Lord watch over you
    and give you peace. Amen.

There’s a Price to Pay (Leviticus 26:34-46)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

At that time, while it is devastated and you are in enemy territory, the land will enjoy its sabbaths. At that time, the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. During the whole time it is devastated, it will have the rest it didn’t have during the sabbaths you lived in it.

I will bring despair into the hearts of those of you who survive in enemy territory. Just the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to running, and they will run scared as if running from a sword! They will fall even when no one is chasing them! They will stumble over each other as they would before a sword, even though no one is chasing them!

You will have no power to stand before your enemies. You will disappear among the nations—the land of your enemies will devour you. Any of you who do survive will rot in enemy territory on account of their guilty deeds. And they will rot too on account of their ancestors’ guilty deeds.

But if they confess their and their ancestors’ guilt for the wrongdoing they did to me, and for their continued opposition to me—which made me oppose them, so I took them into enemy territory—or if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they make up for their guilt, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob. I will also remember my covenant with Isaac. And my covenant with Abraham.

And I will remember the land. The land will be absent of them and will be enjoying its sabbaths while it lies devastated, free of them. They will be making up for their guilty deeds for no other reason than the fact that they rejected my regulations and despised my rules. 

But despite all that, when they are in enemy territory, I will not reject them or despise them to the point of totally destroying them, breaking my covenant with them by doing so, because I am the Lord their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant with the first generation, the ones I brought out of Egypt’s land in the sight of all the nations, in order to be their God; I am the Lord.

These are the rules, regulations, and instructions between the Lord and the Israelites that he gave through Moses on Mount Sinai. (Common English Bible)

Disobedience has a price. Within God’s household, the Lord isn’t some geriatric or decrepit deity who let’s the kids run around and do whatever the heck they want. Instead, God has certain rules so that the children can grow and thrive within loving boundaries. The fences aren’t there in order to be a divine killjoy; rather, the rules and boundaries exist for the flourishing and enjoying of life.

The price of disobedience is brokenness and devastation. To continually buck our basic design as humans will eventually catch up to us. If we eat with impunity, spending copious amounts of time consuming food, we’ll one day collect a host of heart-related issues and diseases. If we drive the car and never maintain it through regular oil changes and inspections, someday it will break down, perhaps permanently.

And if we live our lives without punctuating our weeks with needed rest – and use the land as if it were an infinite resource – then everything will eventually go awry and not work or produce like it should. That’s not God being mean, as if the Lord is to blame; it’s us being stupid, not practicing our God-given wisdom.

“Because we do not rest, we lose our way.”

Wayne Muller

Everything and everyone needs rest. It’s vital to us, just as much as water to drink and air to breathe. So, if we ignore it, we’ll pay the price of our neglect.

Sabbath was built into the universal scheme of things because it’s necessary. Our bodies neither work right nor live right without regular sabbath rests. It’s not optional. Try telling your body that you’re too busy to go to the bathroom and see how that works out for you. Sooner than later, you’re going to have to submit, or there will be a hefty price to pay.

If we stray from wise ways of living, or even stubbornly refuse to obey, there’s hope; we won’t be left to wallow in our own foolishness. Grace is too big and strong for any of our puny human backsliding. The Lord is always ready and willing to receive the humble and penitent heart.

God’s expertise is in restoration; the Lord gives a new lease on life to people who could never do it themselves. In fact, from a New Testament perspective, God even goes so far as to pay the price of human waywardness with his own Son.

A loving God ensures that all of creation will have what it needs to survive and thrive. An unloving god turns a blind eye to it all. If we don’t learn to play well with the creation around us, we’ll be called into the house and not be allowed to be outside for quite some time.

We are meant to practice good self-care, be good caregivers for others, and concern ourselves with caring for all creation.

So, pay the price of caring for self, others, and the land. Accept and submit to the rhythms of life which are required to live well. You’ll be glad you did because the alternative may be something a whole lot harder.

Creator God, you made the goodness of the land, the riches of the sea and the rhythm of the seasons; as we thank you for your gracious providing may we cherish and respect this planet and its peoples, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

How To Get Through Difficulty (Psalm 119:105-112)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Your word is a lamp
that gives light
    wherever I walk.
Your laws are fair,
and I have given my word
    to respect them all.
I am in terrible pain!
Save me, Lord,
    as you have promised.
Accept my offerings of praise
    and teach me your laws.
I never forget your teachings,
although my life is always
    in danger.
Some merciless people
    are trying to trap me,
but I never turn my back
    on your teachings.
They will always be
my most prized possession
    and my source of joy.
I have made up my mind
to obey your laws forever,
    no matter what. (Contemporary English Version)

Attitude. Affection. These are the two qualities that stand out to me in today’s Psalm lesson. The psalmist is a person who is determined to hold onto God’s Law because it is his heart’s delight.

Our attitudes and our affections are meant to fit together like a hand in a glove. Our attitudes help us push through suffering to realize better days. And our affections drive us forward, allowing us to experience joy in the present moment as we await our hope of ultimate deliverance.

Commitments are fluid, always moving – so they need to be continually rehearsed and refreshed. We are constantly either fulfilling our promises or reneging on them. There is really no such thing as a one-time vow.

Vows need reinforcement from our attitudes and our affections. Otherwise, they languish on the trash heap of good intentions. This is one reason why the Psalms are designed for constant use.

Spiritually healthy habits must be embedded in our lives, well before any suffering and hard times roll in.

If our normal daily routines involve regular sustenance of God’s Word, then we have a breadth and a depth of robust theology to draw upon when the going gets rough. Furthermore, the sheer force of habit brings us back again and again to the treasure chest of divine instruction, informing our decisions and illuminating the treacherous road ahead.

The psalter is designed to reframe our difficult situations. Especially when a person’s life hangs in the balance, we can view hard and awkward circumstances through the window of the Psalms. Although circumstances change, and we never quite know what to expect, God’s Law remains our ballast and our rock.

Circumstances may change but divine love and morality are unchanging. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Spirit is always with us, through each wave of hardship.

Life is a journey, an exploration into the unknown of the future. The path is shadowy and unclear. We are unsure of what is around the bend. God’s instructions and promises are like a forever energized flashlight, helping us navigate forward. Maybe Jesus had today’s Psalm in mind when he said:

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12, NRSV)

In Christianity, the Word is embodied in Jesus Christ; he is both the example and fulfillment of all God’s good promises.

A sequence of four metaphors runs through our verses for today:

  1. My feet. With Jesus as Word and Light, we have a constant companion walking alongside us for the journey.
  2. My mouth. There is an intercessor who takes our wordy or malformed prayers and presents them before our heavenly Father
  3. My hands. We do God’s will, despite adverse circumstances, by observing the Master who washed the feet of others.
  4. My heart. In desiring God’s decrees and commands, our hearts find their rest in the One who loved us and gave himself for us.

Our attitudes and affections are transformed into sustainable faith for the long journey.

Our hope is made sure through the promises of God.

Our love finds a resting place in the person of Jesus.

Faith, hope, and love are the shoes enabling us to walk the long uphill road, as well as absorbing the shock as we run with abandon downhill – into the loving arms of God.

I encourage you to find what works best for you in developing helpful spiritual habits. In reading the Bible, I often take the following approach using the acronym S.O.A.P:

Scripture

• Open your Bible and slowly, meditatively, read the portion of Scripture in your reading plan for today.

• Write the reference of what you read in a journal along with the date.

• As you read, ask God’s Spirit to highlight the verse(s) that speak to your life and write it in your journal.

Observation

• Make observations about what you just read and write them in your journal.

• Think about: What is going on? What is the context?  Who are the people being spoken to? What is the background or setting for this verse?

• Paraphrase and write this scripture down in your journal, in your own words.

• What do you think God is saying to you in this scripture?

Application

• Personalize what you have read by asking yourself how it relates to your life right now.

• Ask yourself how you can apply what you just read to your own life and write it in your journal.

• Ask yourself how your life will be different or changed as a result of God speaking to you in this Scripture.

Prayer

• Write out a prayer to God in your journal.

• Your prayer should relate to the verse that you highlighted. It could be asking for help, thanking God, etc. Write down what your heart desires to say to God in response to his Word.

May the words of your mouth, the meditations of your heart, the work of your hands, and the movement of your feet be to the glory of Jesus Christ. Amen.