Devotional Thoughts for Today
Jeremiah 14:10
Thus says the LORD concerning this people: “They have loved to wander thus; they have not restrained their feet; therefore the LORD does not accept them; now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.”
In a 2015 Ted Talk called “A Simple Way to Break a Bad Habit,” psychiatrist Judson Brewer talks about the relationship between mindfulness and habit. Research shows that a habit is formed when a specific behavior makes us feel good and so our brains remember it. A habit, such as snacking or smoking, is reinforced when our brains realize we are feeling bad, so we use the behavior to feel good again. Think about the way we flip open our laptops as soon as we get home or eat junk food when we’re stressed. It isn’t surprising that research supports that we aren’t very mindful or aware of what we do, better yet, why we do them.
In today’s passage, God describes the people of Israel. Firstly, He says that they “have loved to wander…” Rather than worshipping God alone, the Israelites always ended up adopting other Canaanite gods and falling into idolatry. Perhaps the Israelites wanted the best of both worlds and reap the “blessings” of following two gods. Or maybe they genuinely thought God wouldn’t deliver them from current hardships, so they felt no choice but to turn to alternatives. Regardless, we see that their natural inclination was not to remain in God, but to wander for self-satisfaction and happiness.
Secondly, the Israelites “have not restrained their feet…” In other words, the Israelites, knowing their inclinations, did not set up restrictions to prevent themselves from wandering again. This pertains to wisdom and maturity. If we know we fall into the temptation of “X” sin, why do we not take practical and faithful measures to prevent us from falling the second, third, or fourth time? Just as research showed that we easily form mindless habits, a humble look into our past shows how we can mindlessly fall into the same patterns of sin. For example, if we know we are prone to be exclusive in friendships, are there any ways we have started being exclusive in community? Today, let’s humbly assess the patterns in our life and see how we can make them more God-centered.
Prayer: You are a good Father because You not only encourage us when we mature in faith, but You also discipline us when we sin against You. Today, we recognize that You do not ignore disobedience. Help us to remember that to love You is to obey You, so fill us with your Holy Spirit to do so. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Ezekiel 27
Lunch Break Study
Read Galatians 4:1-7: I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Questions to Consider
- In this passage, what happens when we receive adoption as sons of God?
- Sometimes we try to be better Christians merely by sinning less and doing more good things. However, the foundation of our identity is not in what we do but who we are—that is, we are already sons and daughters of God. How does that change our perspective on what it means to grow spiritually?
Notes
- We receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts and experience true and mature sonship to God. We no longer experience the distance that a child heir or slave would feel to the father of a household. Instead, our new hearts cry out “Abba! Father!” in our relationships to God.
- Personal reflection.
Evening Reflection
One area of our lives that we can be mindless with is our speech. James 3 talks about how our tongue can worship God but also stain or discourage the body of God. Are there any ways we talk to others (or talk about others) that have been compromising? Instead, let’s turn it around and use every opportunity to bless and build up others with our words.
Last November, I ran a half-marathon for the first (and probably last) time in my life. For training, I ran at least three times a week for about two months; so by the time the race came around, I felt confident enough—even excited. I’m an idealist at heart, so although my practice runs were never fun, I thought the actual race would be exhilarating. After running the 13.2 miles, I can safely say that long-distance runs are physically strenuous every time you do them.
In my Introductory Greek class, we learned the Greek alphabet during the first week of school. I remember quickly memorizing all 24 letters and then moving on to homework that was actually due. When exam time came along, our T.A. told us to make sure we knew the Greek alphabet, and I happily checked it off the list of things I didn’t need to study because I already knew them. We got our exams and, lo and behold, the last question wrote, “Spell out the entire Greek alphabet.” To no one’s surprise, I could not answer the question and lost out on ten very much needed extra credit points. I left the exam recalling my T.A.’s words and wondering why I just didn’t spend five extra minutes brushing up on the alphabet…
The other day I was at a playground with my five-year old twins. They had just received some bubbles as a goodbye present from their preschool teacher and were eager to take these puppies out for a ride. As they started blowing bubbles, a crowd of children began to gather around them hoping to pop some bubbles. (For the life of me, I don’t understand why children have this rabid love for bubbles.) Anyway, one of these kids was a girl who was probably about three years old and, not being satisfied with merely popping bubbles, she wanted to be the bubble maker—so she tried to take the bubble wand from my daughter’s hand. Now, this is where parenting gets kind of awkward, because my daughter Abbie is just looking at this girl like, “Back up, I’m bigger than you. You can’t have my bubbles, and if my dad weren’t right there, I’d hammer you.” Meanwhile, this other girl is kind of throwing a fit, and her dad seemed to not really know how to handle her when she gets this way. So I suggest, “Abbie, maybe you can let that little girl have a turn. Let her blow bubbles two times.” I kid you not, Abbie looks at me like I sold her to a band of gypsies or something; I could tell she was thinking something like, “Dad, I thought I was your daughter! Why are you being so nice to her?” For whatever reason my kindness to this other girl, felt like meanness to my daughter.
Our church family lost a dear sister a couple of weeks ago. Massiel was 26 years old and had been coming to Remnant for several years before I got here. To my understanding, she had eaten a sandwich which contained a nut she was allergic to. While in the ambulance, she went into cardiac arrest and lost oxygen to her brain for several minutes. For over a week, Massiel was in a coma, until doctors determined her brain had sustained too much damage to sustain life. And so with family and loved ones by her side, support was withdrawn, and we said goodbye to our sister until that joyous day when we will meet her again in our Father’s house.
I generally don’t believe in the idea of “victimless crimes.” Wikipedia defines victimless crime as “an illegal act that typically either directly involves only the perpetrator, or occurs between consenting adults; because it is consensual in nature, there is arguably no true victim.” Examples typically include drug abuse, gambling, and prostitution. Yet, anyone who’s had a loved one involved in a drug, gambling, or sex addiction can tell you how damaging they are for the individuals directly involved. We also know that the further you go up the “food chains” of these crime syndicates, we start talking about truly sinister actions like human trafficking and murder.
I think I count as a relatively big sports fan. Unfortunately, my favorite team (da Bears) have been an absolute dumpster fire for the past five seasons. Since the 2012 season, we’re now on our fourth head coach (meaning, we’ve fired three in six years!). Now, while I generally hate seeing people lose their jobs, I knew it was time for the last two to go. In sports, you realize a coach has “lost the team” when the players stop playing hard or give effort: In football, players will miss tackles or won’t get up quickly after getting blocked; in basketball, defenders will get beat off the dribble or give up uncontested layups and jumpers; in baseball, base runners won’t run out ground balls, etc. In other words, the players just go through the motions of competing without actually putting their hearts into it.
When it comes to evangelism, there tends to be two approaches. One is the direct method, where you just ask anyone, “Do you know Jesus?” In its most extreme form, you’ll see street preachers telling passersby that they are doomed to an eternity of torture in hell. Perhaps in reaction to the aggression and negative perception of the stereotypical street preacher, the other method of “friendship evangelism” has gotten more and more popular and is how most Christians choose to “evangelize” today. Perhaps you’re familiar with this method; you basically try your best to be the most loving, most patient, most honest person on the planet (i.e. you try to be like Jesus), then you wait and pray for that eventual day when your friend will ask you why you’re so “different” from everybody else. Of course, your answer will be “Jesus,” which will open the door to a wonderful conversation about faith and the Gospel.
are times when my children get hurt, and instead of feeling sorrow, I get angry. A classic example of something that happens almost weekly in my home is when my five-year old starts jumping on the arms of our couch. Like a little monkey, he goes from one couch to another, having a grand old time, until boom! He slips and bangs his head against the floor. So he comes to me, and he’s crying, rubbing his head, seeking comfort. Now instead of giving him a hug or rubbing his dome, what do I do? Well, if I’m in an annoyed mood, I might give him a Korean timeout (one where he sits on his knees holding his arms in the air). It’s kind of cute seeing little kids try to do the Korean timeout.
The AMI QT Devotionals from June 11 to 17 are provided by Pastor Yohan Lee of Remnant Church, New York City. Yohan graduated from University of Pennsylvania and Cairn University, where he studied theology. He is married to Mandie, and they have four adorable children.
Several years ago, I watched a recording of a parenting seminar given at the Church of Southland by John Rosemond. One of Rosemond’s big things was that parents need to be firm—meaning, give directions only once, and punish severely and overwhelmingly when they aren’t obeyed. Rosemond, humorously, compares kids to degenerate gamblers—they’re willing to play “slots” with their obedience/punishment, even if they only win on rare occasions. So in practice, you tell your child once to clean up his toys, then you walk away; upon your return, if the toys aren’t cleaned up, you punish the child huge (example given was three weeks of going to bed right after supper, so you’d have to be willing to cancel all events that occur after dinner time—no sports games, music lessons, parties, etc.). The idea being that once a child has tasted such a torturous punishment, he will think twice about disobeying again.