The AMI QT devotionals from Feb. 6-12 are provided by Cami King. Cami, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania, recently completed her M.Div. at Gordon Conwell Seminary. She is currently serving as a staff at Journey Community Church in Raleigh.
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT FOR TODAY
Don’t Pity the “Fool!”
1 Corinthians 1:18
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Two preachers share embarrassing moments:
Hannah: I was preaching about Law vs. Grace and used Deuteronomy 23:12-14 as an example for crazy laws. One of the students generously volunteered before service to read the passage out loud…when it came time to read, he misunderstood what verse I said to begin with and just started at verse 1. I lost all attention for the rest of service.
Deuteronomy 23:1 definitely shouldn’t be read out loud in a youth group.
(“No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD” Deuteronomy 23:1.)
Robert: My most embarrassing preaching story was my 1st experience with a ‘lavalier’ mic! The choir sang and I got up to preach, but I was still getting over the stomach flu!
I felt some moving so I called the choir back to sing and ran out as they sang, “Let the Lord have His Way.” I barely made out of the auditorium. Suddenly, my wife ran into the men’s restroom and said, “Your mic is still on!”
Needless to say when I came back to the pulpit, we just dismissed!
Many moments in a life lived serving the Lord can leave us feeling silly, embarrassed, or even foolish. But unlike the funny stories above, for those who’ve positioned themselves long enough before God in a posture of surrender and obedience, the trajectory of life with Christ can manifest a more sobering foolishness. Promotions foregone in an effort to build a healthy family, shortcuts not taken in an effort to live with integrity, money given away in an effort to invest in the mission of God, relationships over working late, missions trip over summer internships, forgiveness over revenge, hope over despair – all these things look rather foolish to the world around us. But the humble life to which Jesus calls each of us is one He Himself lived perfectly and is one that will bear a profound witness to the goodness of the gospel if we are willing to walk it out.
Prayer: Lord, help me to walk humbly before You today in obedience and surrender. May the decisions I make be guided by the conviction of Your Holy Spirit and the truth of Your Word. Make me willing to be foolish in the eyes of the world for the sake of walking faithfully in the power of Your salvation. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Judges 19
LUNCH BREAK STUDY
Read Romans 1:18-23: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Questions to Consider:
- According to the passage, what are some ways God has made Himself known to us?
- One Bible translation titles this passage, “Unbelief and Its Consequences.” What are the consequences of unbelief?
- How have you experienced the truth of vv.21-22 in your life (perhaps in your thinking before you became a Christian, or more recently in some of your not-yet-sanctified thoughts)?
Notes:
- God has made himself known through His invisible attributes, power, and nature displayed in the world He has made. If we are careful to take note of the created world around us, we will be hard pressed to miss God’s self-revelation.
- Unbelief (suppressing the truth) results in foolishness that leads us to ungodliness and unrighteousness, which are both subjects to the wrath of God. When we turn away from God and shut our eyes to His self-revelation, refusing to acknowledge Him (honor Him/give Him thanks), we find ourselves thinking, believing, and doing all sorts of things utterly void of genuine wisdom.
- Spend time in personal reflection.
EVENING REFLECTION
In her song “Fool For You,” Nichole Nordeman reflects on the times in life when “faith and common sense do not align,” and she found it difficult to live a life that seemed foolish to those around her (and to her own doubting heart). She concludes her musings by calling to mind the life of Jesus who, “unaware of popularity and unconcerned with dignity,” came and made Himself a fool for all of us through His incarnation and crucifixion.
“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (I Cor. 1:18).
Spend sometime reflecting on the life of Jesus in light of our passage from this morning. How does this encourage you to make choices and live a life may seem foolish to those around you? (Feel free to listen to Nichole’s song during your time of reflection! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEpoBGJ9LlA)
Here is how you can turn a disagreement into a feud:
The AMI QT devotionals from Feb. 6-12 are provided by Cami King. Cami, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania, recently completed her M.Div. at Gordon Conwell Seminary. She is currently serving as a staff at Journey Community Church in Raleigh. 
The Practice of the Presence of God is a collection of the writings and philosophies of Brother Lawrence (a 17th century monk) that teaches Christ-followers how to be constantly aware of God’s presence. I recently revisited this volume, hungering for a greater sense of the presence of God in my own life. David Santistevan, a Christian blogger, summarizes what he learned from the book as follows, “Practicing the presence of God is about turning all of your life experience into a prayer. Nothing you face in life is exempt from surrender to Jesus. Every victory, every trial, every annoyance, every disagreement. Turn it around. Bring it into the presence of God.”
The AMI QT devotionals from Feb. 6-12 are provided by Cami King. Cami, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania, recently completed her M.Div. at Gordon Conwell Seminary. She is currently serving as a staff at Journey Community Church in Raleigh. 
I never skip an opportunity to draw attention to the salutations in Paul’s letters. They are some of my favorite parts in all his writings, because they are usually so loaded with theological significance and remind us of the importance of identity. Our identity is the source and foundation for all we say and do. And as believers, remembering who we are in Christ is imperative to not only living as Kingdom People but also to doing Kingdom work. In today’s passage, Paul reminds us that we are sanctified by the blood of Jesus, knitted together as one family, and given a calling (as saints, and more specifically for Paul, as an apostle)! Being called God’s own people gives us a glorious identity and purpose.
The AMI QT Devotionals for February 4-5 are provided Jasmin Izumikawa. She is a member of the Church of Southland and is currently a high school teacher. She has lived the miracle of healing through the prayers of her AMI church family through her battle with lymphoma.
Recently, our drought in California had been broken for a few gloriously rainy days. As nice as it was to have the rain, driving on the road was dangerous. Roads were flooded and my windshield wipers were not doing much to clear my view from the penetrating rain. Larger vehicles would splash waves of water onto my windshield, blocking my vision for a few seconds at a time. It felt like being in a carwash but at 45 miles an hour! It occurred to me that the most frightening thing about driving in the rain was not so much sliding around but the lack of peripheral vision around me.
The AMI QT Devotionals for February 4-5 are provided Jasmin Izumikawa. She is a member of the Church of Southland and is currently a high school teacher. She has lived the miracle of healing through the prayers of her AMI church family through her battle with lymphoma.
Waking up in the mornings was easy to do when I was home recovering from chemo, because I barely slept at all. Those days of silence were spent in countless sleepless hours late into the night and into the early morning. Although I was finally finished with treatments, I had little to celebrate in my heart. Sorrow had silenced me for many months. So in the days and weeks to come, I spent my sleepless nights staring at the ceiling and watching the light from passing cars sweep across my dark room until it was morning again.
The AMI QT Devotionals from February 2-3 are provided by Pastor Mark Chun of Radiance Christian Church in S. F. Mark, a graduate of University of California, San Diego, and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.), has been married to Mira for 20 years; they have two children, Jeremiah and Carissa. 
This philosophy stems from the ideas of Margaret Sanger, who was the original founder of Planned Parenthood. Sanger wrote that women are enslaved through their reproductive powers by men who dictate and control the standards of sex and morality. “No woman” she said, “can call herself free who does not own and control her own body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.” This seems eerily close to the reasoning that Ahaz must of have had when deciding to sacrifice his own son. For power and control, there was no price he was not willing to pay.
While I squirmed over having to present a morning devotional based on a passage dealing with infanticide, we, as followers of a holy God, need to deal with the horrifying nature of sin head on.
When “Jorge”—originally from Puerto Rico—saw me jogging in Chester Park this December, he was happy to see me, since we hadn’t seen each other for over three years—I had moved away from that neighborhood. As we were chatting, my ears perked up when Jorge, a naturalized citizen who has long retired, said that he voted for Trump, since only a quarter of Hispanics voted for Trump. Seeing my surprised reaction, he added, “I was going to vote for Clinton, until the third debate made me realize that her position could make any abortion legal at any point during a pregnancy.” Then it dawned on me that most foreign-born Hispanics (i.e., immigrants), certainly more religious than the general population, are socially more conservative. About 60 percent of them (PEW Research Center 2014), perhaps still bearing the influence of Catholicism, continue to hold that what’s inside the womb is life.
One can be tempted to think that justice is synonymous with “social justice,” that it is all about maintaining fair social and political relations. But in Christianity, the primary aspect of justice is about how the individual relates to God; the word “justification,” which is at the heart of salvation, is just another form of the Greek word for “justice.” Christian justice is mainly about how a person can be made right before God, which is through faith in divine grace and exemplified by good works.