Fwd: Devotions Q1 2013 FINAL

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jim Cox
Date: Sunday, February 3, 2013
Subject: Devotions Q1 2013 FINAL
To: "Walter @WTBC" <kay-walter@sbcglobal.net>, jcvtx1800@gmail.com


Here you go Walter.  Edit if you need to.  Thanks again for the honor of writing.
Jim...


Devotions Q1 2013 FINAL



Monday
Topic:  "Tradition, tradition.  TRADITION!"  (Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof)

Scripture: Mark 7. NKJV
1 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. 2 Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.
5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"

Devotion:
As I'm pretty sure I've said this here before:  I was Baptist 9 months before I was born. Sunday School, worship, big lunch, nap for grown ups, training union, and worship again on Sunday.  Youth meetings and visitation on Tuesday nights. Church dinner, RAs and prayer meeting on Wednesday nights before choir practice.

And on Sunday mornings, I could write the order of service for the bulletin.  You start with music to talk over.  Announcements and welcomes, call to worship, deacon prayer, hymns (very seldom to include the third verse), prayer, offering, special music, scripture, note passing (I mean sermon), invitation hymn (almost always Just As I Am), introduction of new members and rededications, closing prayer, and more music to talk over.

Then one summer I worked at a Baptist camp, and experienced worship differently. I felt the Holy Spirit and was moved by the lyrics and the music. I heard God speak to ME through a minister and learned to pray during the invitation - for the lost, the struggling, the leaders.  But one Sunday after camp, I was back at my home church when I made the mistake of putting my foot on the pew during the invitation while I was praying.  My conversation with my Lord was interrupted by the man sitting behind me shaking my shoulder and whispering loudly that I needed to get my foot off the pew NOW.

Now I'm the man in the pew seeing things going on around me in church that bother me. I see young parents allowing too young children to cry for several minutes as the minister tries to preach. I see youth make three or four trips in and out of the sanctuary during the church service and brining open soft drinks in with them.  I watch adults talking loudly and laughing during a call to worship that I know the choir has been rehearsing for six weeks. I see deacons wearing jeans and even shorts and sandals to church sometimes. And I wonder...  Where is the line between worship and disrespect?  Where is the balance between holy honor for Almighty God and his church and the need to attract peoples of all kinds to our Savior?  What if anything should I do?  I don't want to be the man someone uses 40 years from now as an example of an impediment to someone's worship.

I wish I could say "stick with me this week, and I'll tell you the answer", but I can't. I struggle with this today and all I can do is ask you to journey with me this week and let's listen together to Jesus.



Tuesday
Topic:  Keeping the kitchen clean.

Scripture:  Mark 7 NKJV
6 He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
'This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men —the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do."

Devotion:
Once upon a time, long long ago, in a church family far away, a husband got a phone call from his beloved wife.  It went something like this:

Him:  Hello?
Her:  This is not a call from me. (He recognized her voice - and her tone.)
Him:  Yes dear?
Her:  This call is from the church hostess to the chairman of the deacons.
Him:  Yes dear?
Her:  It's NOT my job to come in on Wednesdays and clean up the communion mess from last Sunday.
Him:  Yes dear.
Her:  It is YOUR job to make SURE the cups, bottles, and trays are cleaned promptly and put away the same night and before they ferment and mold.
Him:  Yes dear!
Her:  And you assure me this will NEVER happen again!
Him:  Yes dear!
Her:  You know I can't cook dinner for 200 people in a kitchen full of gross smelly dishes.
Him:  Yes dear.
Her:  So you will be at church tonight in time to help me finish up and serve, right?
Him:  Yes Dear!
Her:  Love me?
Him:  Yes dear!
Her:  See you soon.  Love you most! Click.  (She still never says "bye".)

Well, maybe it wasn't exactly like this, but you get the picture. It was funny to me when it happened, I mean the first time I heard it, and it's funny to me now.  But today, I think beyond the phone call to the communion service.  I love communion. It's a time to think about ourselves.  Our relationships with others. Our sins and the price of forgiveness and eternal life. And as important as clean kitchens are, my relationship with God is so much more important.  And I pray that you will join me in trying to remember the sacrifice God made through Jesus, and don't worry too much about what happens to the cups.

Wednesday.
Topic:  Fried shrimp and backlight posters.

Scripture:  Mark 7
9 He said to them, " All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. 10 For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.' 11 But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban"—' (that is, a gift to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, 13 making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do."

Devotion:
My family once spent Thanksgiving holidays at the beach in Guaruja, Brazil.  Since that is not a Brazilian holiday, and a little early in the spring there to bring out local sun seekers, we had the beach pretty much to ourselves. There was a little kiosk just up from the chairs the concierge at our hotel had set up for us in the sand, and all you had to do was raise your hand and wave, and a young waiter would run down and take your order.  While sitting there, I called home and talked to my brother.  We missed family, even though we were with our good friends Ken and Mary.  My brother shared the challenges of hosting three generations of family. As I remember, he was dealing with cold rainy weather, food logistics, meshing schedules, and maybe a head cold thrown in.  As we talked, the waiter ran up with my fried shrimp basket and a cold drink and I watched my son and daughter building castles in the sand with Ken as Tracy sat by me with a book in her lap chatting with Mary.  And I realized, although I missed the fellowship of extended family, and the traditional meal, my simple beach chair made it easier for me to be thankful for the immensity that God was blessing me with. And after all, isn't Thanksgiving supposed to be more than a turkey dinner?

Sunday school in suits with ties, dresses with hose, the King James Version, hymn books with shape notes, choir robes with a piano and a pipe organ.

Cut off jeans, tie died tee shirts, earth shoes or sandals either outside or in Saturday night coffee houses with black light posters, the Living Bible, and guitars.

Business casual, projected praise choruses and NIV verses, full orchestras, or a praise band, and small groups with lattes.

Is one method really any better for worshipping our Lord and creator?  Or is it all in the heart of the worshipper?



Thursday.
Topic:  External things change.

Scripture:  Mark 7 NKJV
14 When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand: 15 There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"
17 When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. 18 So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"

Devotion:
So many of the traditions I have grown up have changed over the years.  Some maybe for good, but some, not so good.  For example:
*  Opening all Christmas presents on Christmas morning?  We open all but Santa on Christmas Eve, and if anyone wants to know how to slow it down so you actually see what everyone gets, just email me.
*  Sitting together in church as a family?  Seems like today the youth are together and children's church take the short attention span out of the sanctuary.  And if one of the adults sing, or usher, or do media, or...  Then even the adults sit alone.
*  Everyone used to bring their own bible to church, but now there are pew bibles and projected verses.
*  Churches used to have a visitation night, but our privacy based society combined with fear of strangers has shut that down in favor of cards, emails, and fellowship meals.
*  Even Good Friday as a business holiday has been taken away and replaced by a floating holiday to avoid offending people.

But I think in most cases, it's more important how we respond to the things around us.  We usually open packages Christmas Eve after attending church services.  We sit as a family most of the time, and try to have the sermon as a topic of discussion at lunch after church.  I still choose to bring my bible to church with me, but usually now it's an iPad with several versions to choose from, and I'm much more able to read typed notes compared to my handwriting (even with "autocorrect"). I've found email and even Facebook to be a good way to touch guests and new friends, and I use a floating holiday on Good Friday.

It's not about what happens to us and around us, it's about what we choose to do in response.

Be aware of the influences and changes going on around you.  Determine to respond in a positive way instead of ignoring or reacting.


Friday.
Topic:  What's inside?

Scripture:  Mark 7 NKJV
20 And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

Devotion:
This scripture has always been, and continues to be a difficult one for me.  Not to understand, because I think that's pretty clear, but because no matter how many times I read it, I see my failures.  No matter how many times I try and claim it in my life.  No matter how hard I try to fill my life with good things.  I fall so very short.  I'm prideful.  I get angry without proper reason. I run from my problems instead of praying and confronting them.  I waste the many blessings God has given me.  I allow many things to cross my mind and even to dwell there that don't glorify my Lord.  They remind me of the evil nature that is now, has always been, and will always be inside me on this earth.

And when I am reminded, I stop and ask again for forgiveness; I thank God for the sacrifice of His son Jesus on the cross to pay the price for me.  I renew my commitment to try everyday to focus more on the heavenly realm, and less on this world. To fill my life with the things of God and not with the carnal things of the earth.  And I realize - again - that it doesn't matter whether we read the KJV or the NIV or the MSG version.  Or whether the music is a hymn, an anthem, or a praise song.  Whether I have on a suit or jeans.  Whether the carpet is gold or green. Whether the broom handles are red or blue.  It only matters that we are trying daily to be more like Jesus.

Traditions of themselves are neither good or bad. It's what is behind the tradition, and what we do with them. How we use them to reinforce the good without allowing them to limit God's ability to teach us how to be closer to him.

Can you join me in trying to be more like Jesus.









Sent from Jim's iPad.


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