Acts 8:26:

As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

Henri Nouwen was an expert in psychology and religion; he spent many years teaching at Harvard and Yale. But then in the spring of 1985, he wrote these words in his journal:

I want to cry out loudly to my colleagues and students: “Do not serve Harvard, but God and His beloved, Jesus Christ, and speak words of hope to those who suffer from loneliness, depression, and spiritual poverty. But I myself have come to the painful discovery that when I am chained by ambition, it is hard for me to see those who are chained by poverty. Therefore this is not a time to play the prophet, but a time to listen more carefully to the voice of God calling within me.” (excerpt taken from "The Daily Devotional Bible")

In response to the voice of God, Henri left Harvard for Toronto to care for mentally retarded persons in a household connected with the I’Arche federation. Later, in a moving speech at Harvard, Henri reported that the apparent demotion of working with a severely handicapped young man had given him “a whole new understanding of God’s love.”

In a recent trip to Mexicali, Mexico, a group of seniors answered God’s call to go south. The mission trip was our fourth year serving a senior citizen orphanage in Mexicali. The facility housed and cared for 12 elderly orphans, the oldest of whom is 102 years old. In some of the most moving acts of humble service, God showed up in the hands and feet of the team. The team spent a little less than a week serving the orphans, washing their feet and giving pedicures, assisting with physical therapy, and a renovation of their poor sleeping quarters. Additionally, they supported and ministered to the couple who serve selflessly and tirelessly at the orphanage.

Possibly, Philip thought it was a demotion when the Lord told him to head for Gaza. After all, Philip had been leading a wildly successful ministry in the Samaria area. Now God wanted him to talk to a single foreigner standing in the desert. I'm sure he thought to himself, "Are you sure Lord?" But he obeyed the Lord and ended up sending an enthusiastic new believer back to Ethiopia (Nubia), extending the reach of the Gospel!

As with Henri Nouwen -- and our missions team to Mexicali -- God’s call on our lives may not meet our expectations. Whether prestigious or obscure, publically successful or personally humbling, God will direct us. The truth is we are His to direct. Faithfulness is what matters most to Him. Banishing your pride, ask God to confirm that you are doing all He wants you to be doing. Then sit with your palms of your hands facing upward, in the receiving position, and listen for God to speak.

A prayer for the day:
I want to help build your kingdom, Lord; that’s all. Send me where you will. Assign me the task of your choice. I will do it.

Proverbs 3:7:

Matthew Henry’s concise commentary states, “There is not a greater enemy to the fear of the Lord in the heart, than self-conceit of our own wisdom.”

The first half of Proverbs 3:7 says, “Do not be wise is your own eyes.” This statement is brief and to the point and one would think it would be simple to adhere to. But so many times, our human arrogance convinces us that we are knowledgeable too and because we have deemed ourselves wise, we replace God’s wisdom with our own.

The problem is that we begin to rely on our own understanding. We act independently from God and conduct our lives as we see fit. But we are human, fallible by nature and our wisdom is finite. Inevitably we will fail in our attempt to live life on our own. We cannot possibly understand or know everything as the omniscient God does and therefore, as believers, we are called to live by faith rather than understanding. This is difficult because faith seems contrary to our idea of wisdom.

Our response then is found in the second half of the verse, “fear the Lord and shun evil.” We must reject our own “self-conceit” and acknowledge God’s superiority. We must trust that He is sovereign, just as He promises. Fearing the Lord leads to a reverent dependency upon Him and trust in His way. We must deny the evil desire within us to rely on our own wisdom and adhere to His word as the final authority.

Job 28:28 states “...behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding.”

We must continually examine our lives and find those areas where we have decided that we are wiser than God and in a true display of wisdom, humbly surrender to Him.

v1. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. v2. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.

John 1:17:

In the devotional I posted a few weeks ago (Grace & Truth Part 1), I discussed Jesus’ principle of balancing grace with truth, and I focused primarily on grace. We learned that grace is intended to point people to Christ, not to blindly dismiss behaviors, actions, or attitudes. Therefore, Godly truth is essential to extending grace that points to Christ.

Truth is not a warmly welcomed element in our current culture. We live in a world that tends to shy away from absolute truth, because inevitably it will mean that something, or someone, is wrong- and that creates a perception of arrogance and superiority that no one wants to be accused of. However, God created a world of order and precision, and to adhere to that order means some things are concretely true, while others are not. Our society has a tendency uphold fairness above truth; however, God did not put that standard in place. We did. Is it fair that God sent Jesus to die for us? No. Is it fair that God proclaims that Jesus is the only way to the Father? Some would argue no, but it does not negate the truth. Truth is not always popular, but it is necessary.

As we head into the celebration of Easter, let us open up God’s Word, and open the minds that He gave us, and begin to separate worldly opinions of “fairness” from absolute truth. The truth is that Christ died for our sins. The truth is that Christ rose again, conquering death and sin. The truth is that Christ offers salvation to anyone who confesses his/her sins, and calls upon the Lord to be saved. The truth is that Christ is the only way to salvation. We see these truths laid out time and time again for us in Scripture.

Easter represents the perfect blending of grace and truth. The grace that He gave us by dying for our sins becomes the truth we must accept for our salvation. Hopefully, the more we grasp this balance of grace and truth, the more we will realize our mission to administer grace and loving truth to others- all in the name of bringing others to Christ.

posted by:
Kevin Goldstein
Director of Worship