Devotions for week of September 1st
Day 1
Read Ephesians 4:1-7
Chapter 3 revealed to us the bombshell revelation that the church served as Jesus’ chosen example of God’s revealed wisdom to the world and even heavenly authority and rulers (see 3:10). The problem is that the churches that I have been around just don’t seem to do a good job of showing that sort of example and wisdom. I read this week about a church secretary that had stolen over $420,000 from a church that she “served†at for decades. How is that a good example, especially when you see that same thing played over and over again in history? Paul gives us the key by calling the church to unity. The church must be united. And he is not necessarily talking about total agreement in all things and all preferences of flavors, but rather he lays it out for us to understand. Unity will show up when we all “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called. That requires 4 things to be present in all of the people in the church: humility, gentleness, patience, and love that bears with others.
We will take each day this week to look at one of these things in more detail.
Before you get started, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, how would you grade yourself on each of these four things?
How have you seen opposite examples in the churches you have been a part of than these 4 things?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Chapter 3 revealed to us the bombshell revelation that the church served as Jesus’ chosen example of God’s revealed wisdom to the world and even heavenly authority and rulers (see 3:10). The problem is that the churches that I have been around just don’t seem to do a good job of showing that sort of example and wisdom. I read this week about a church secretary that had stolen over $420,000 from a church that she “served†at for decades. How is that a good example, especially when you see that same thing played over and over again in history? Paul gives us the key by calling the church to unity. The church must be united. And he is not necessarily talking about total agreement in all things and all preferences of flavors, but rather he lays it out for us to understand. Unity will show up when we all “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called. That requires 4 things to be present in all of the people in the church: humility, gentleness, patience, and love that bears with others.
We will take each day this week to look at one of these things in more detail.
Before you get started, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, how would you grade yourself on each of these four things?
How have you seen opposite examples in the churches you have been a part of than these 4 things?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 2
Read Philippians 2:1-11 Humility
I know, I know…we come to this passage SO much! But it is good. It is uncomfortable, if you are like me, but it is good. I need to be reminded and there is no greater passage in the Bible that I have found to give me the complete picture of what humility should look like. I tend to do quite well with it while I am looking at it, but then when I feel I am in good step with the ideas here and walk away for a while, when I return I find so much more that I need to adjust and pay attention to.
When it comes to church unity, which is the point we are discussing in our week’s focus, humility is probably the most weighty of needs. So much could be solved or worked through in our relationships all around us if we were just not thinking too highly of ourselves and counting others more significant than ourselves. Most of the time, we think of that idea in the context of reaching those around us, but I wonder how much it would help in the service of the daily life of the church and to those inside the church as well?
What does humility look like inside the church, to those that we go to church with each week?
How do you see the opposite of this played out in our world?
What is something that you could do today that would fall under the idea of “counting others more significant than yourselves?â€
How does today’s devotion inform your prayers?
I know, I know…we come to this passage SO much! But it is good. It is uncomfortable, if you are like me, but it is good. I need to be reminded and there is no greater passage in the Bible that I have found to give me the complete picture of what humility should look like. I tend to do quite well with it while I am looking at it, but then when I feel I am in good step with the ideas here and walk away for a while, when I return I find so much more that I need to adjust and pay attention to.
When it comes to church unity, which is the point we are discussing in our week’s focus, humility is probably the most weighty of needs. So much could be solved or worked through in our relationships all around us if we were just not thinking too highly of ourselves and counting others more significant than ourselves. Most of the time, we think of that idea in the context of reaching those around us, but I wonder how much it would help in the service of the daily life of the church and to those inside the church as well?
What does humility look like inside the church, to those that we go to church with each week?
How do you see the opposite of this played out in our world?
What is something that you could do today that would fall under the idea of “counting others more significant than yourselves?â€
How does today’s devotion inform your prayers?
Day 3
Read Numbers 12- Gentleness
This is a strange story to launch from without context, so if you are not familiar with the story of Moses, you may not fully follow along. The word translated in the ESV as “gentleness†in our passage in Ephesians 4, carries the same idea as the word “meekness.†If you trace that word through the New Testament, you will find it quite a few times. But this story gives us a picture of what it looks like. Moses was the leader of the people and he was facing a lot of backlash and struggle in his called adventure. This one was serious. This one the people began to declare that they had grown tired of just hearing the messages from God from Moses’ mouth when there were plenty of other people to share that word as well. This may have been true, but this was not how God was doing it. Moses was a meek man. In other words, he wasn’t loud, proud, and all those other things we use to define our version of leadership. So if the authority of someone that is meek is being questioned, isn’t it a weak leader to sit back and not squash, blow up, and destroy that opposition?
The bottom line is this, Moses was a meek person and he waited for God to exact the judgment. He let his reputation stand for itself and let God handle what needed to be handled. Remember, the text started out by telling us Moses was a meek man. So now the rest of the story after that detail is the storyteller showing us what that looked like. I bet we could all learn something from that.
How would you describe “meek†to someone wrapped up in our culture and not familiar with Moses?
Jesus said the meek shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). What does that mean and why is it this way?
How are you meek or how do you need to work on being more meek?
How does meekness lead to unity?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
This is a strange story to launch from without context, so if you are not familiar with the story of Moses, you may not fully follow along. The word translated in the ESV as “gentleness†in our passage in Ephesians 4, carries the same idea as the word “meekness.†If you trace that word through the New Testament, you will find it quite a few times. But this story gives us a picture of what it looks like. Moses was the leader of the people and he was facing a lot of backlash and struggle in his called adventure. This one was serious. This one the people began to declare that they had grown tired of just hearing the messages from God from Moses’ mouth when there were plenty of other people to share that word as well. This may have been true, but this was not how God was doing it. Moses was a meek man. In other words, he wasn’t loud, proud, and all those other things we use to define our version of leadership. So if the authority of someone that is meek is being questioned, isn’t it a weak leader to sit back and not squash, blow up, and destroy that opposition?
The bottom line is this, Moses was a meek person and he waited for God to exact the judgment. He let his reputation stand for itself and let God handle what needed to be handled. Remember, the text started out by telling us Moses was a meek man. So now the rest of the story after that detail is the storyteller showing us what that looked like. I bet we could all learn something from that.
How would you describe “meek†to someone wrapped up in our culture and not familiar with Moses?
Jesus said the meek shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). What does that mean and why is it this way?
How are you meek or how do you need to work on being more meek?
How does meekness lead to unity?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 4
Read James 5:7-12- Patience
Patience is one of those things that can have many meanings or ideas depending on where you are using it. Well, the basic meaning is the same, “to be long of spirit.†It’s the idea of delayed satisfaction versus the draw and appeal to immediate satisfaction. In relationships it is the same idea, enduring for a long process with people. It is the opposite of reacting out of the immediate feelings or emotions and holding back for more information and context…for more time for things to work out. In a family's context, it is easy to find the need for it. In the church context, it should be easy to see the need for it as well. This week we are talking about unity in the church.
Patience is tougher in a community. The idea that a group of people does not operate at the same speed or even process things at the same speed as individuals is an easy idea to understand. The problem is not understanding why patience would be needed, but rather acting it out in the moment. Let’s think through why we struggle so much with patience.
Do you think of yourself as a patient person?
What area of your life is it the easiest to have patience toward others? What area is it the most difficult? Why are these like this?
How does Jesus model patience?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Patience is one of those things that can have many meanings or ideas depending on where you are using it. Well, the basic meaning is the same, “to be long of spirit.†It’s the idea of delayed satisfaction versus the draw and appeal to immediate satisfaction. In relationships it is the same idea, enduring for a long process with people. It is the opposite of reacting out of the immediate feelings or emotions and holding back for more information and context…for more time for things to work out. In a family's context, it is easy to find the need for it. In the church context, it should be easy to see the need for it as well. This week we are talking about unity in the church.
Patience is tougher in a community. The idea that a group of people does not operate at the same speed or even process things at the same speed as individuals is an easy idea to understand. The problem is not understanding why patience would be needed, but rather acting it out in the moment. Let’s think through why we struggle so much with patience.
Do you think of yourself as a patient person?
What area of your life is it the easiest to have patience toward others? What area is it the most difficult? Why are these like this?
How does Jesus model patience?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 5
Read 1 John 4:7-21- Bear with one another in love
While there is another section in the book of 1 John that talks about loving one another (1 John 2), I chose this one for the devotions on unity because of the extreme examples of what love looks like that are contained in it. The heading for the passage you just read is that we are to love one another because love is from God. John then outlines a great description of what God’s love looks like. The reason he doesn’t give us a practical guide of what we are supposed to do to love people is because we would just turn that into a checklist. The argument could go like this:
John: Here is what I want you to do, Love one another.
Us: Great. We will do that. What exactly is it that you want us to do?
(Then John should give us a list to check off)
The problem with that is we end up only checking the boxes we need to check. We are not changed, we just do what we have to do. Jesus is not interested in us just doing what we can, but rather changing to be who He created us to be. Therefore, the example of Himself is given, because He was the fullest example of who we are supposed to be.
What does the gospel teach you about how to bear with one another in love?
What can you do today that shows this type of love to someone around you?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
While there is another section in the book of 1 John that talks about loving one another (1 John 2), I chose this one for the devotions on unity because of the extreme examples of what love looks like that are contained in it. The heading for the passage you just read is that we are to love one another because love is from God. John then outlines a great description of what God’s love looks like. The reason he doesn’t give us a practical guide of what we are supposed to do to love people is because we would just turn that into a checklist. The argument could go like this:
John: Here is what I want you to do, Love one another.
Us: Great. We will do that. What exactly is it that you want us to do?
(Then John should give us a list to check off)
The problem with that is we end up only checking the boxes we need to check. We are not changed, we just do what we have to do. Jesus is not interested in us just doing what we can, but rather changing to be who He created us to be. Therefore, the example of Himself is given, because He was the fullest example of who we are supposed to be.
What does the gospel teach you about how to bear with one another in love?
What can you do today that shows this type of love to someone around you?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
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