As some of you hardcore wordfeast fans may noticed (all two of you – thanks mom!) the daily devotional section has taken a bit of a dive in the last month.

I could try and wax lyrical about the direction in which God is leading me but the reality is that it died in the storm that is sometimes my life (ok that’s still waxing).

The idea seemed a much easier one in the beginning, back when I thought I would just post some older daily devo’s I had written for some friends. When I looked at them for posting they just did not seem relevant for the general public. Maybe they were just written for those few people.

Hence I started Luke, which were just some notes out of my own journey through that book. But it did mean I had to write them daily with no luxury of a buffer, which of course meant when the hurricane of June hit they were the first to go. I’ll miss them.

But I’ll still be writing sensational articles on nothing spectacular. So the fans can still have their day…This next one is for you mom and dad!

READ Lk 2:33-35

This is one of those drama scenes, like the ones from the soap Opera’s. I don’t watch soaps, but I watch some soaps masquerading as drama series. So I know how it would play out on a screen, with the changing soundtrack from happy to sad, the quick change of expression from wide smile to open gaped mouth with corresponding full eyes to frown. A pause in the sequence.

Mary and Joseph had been basking in all the wonder and glory that Simeon had prophesied about him. This on the back of Elizabeth’s prophecy and all the wonders and signs would make them pretty glowing parents. But then Simeon changes the tone: “Listen carefully“. That’s when you know you’re in trouble:

“This child is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected. Indeed, as a result of him the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul as well!”

Suddenly the child is not just a light-peace-and-joy bringer but obstacle bringer, one who will cause many to fall, and who himself will suffer rejection.  And the parents don’t even know yet whether the sword is metaphorical or whether they are to expect pain of their own. It’s a sobering statement. The party is kinda over and the guests are leaving. The sad music is in the background now. People are talking in muted tones. Someone’s sweeping a floor.

You see this gospel story has a serious side to it, it is not just some sweet fairy tale but good squaring up to evil over eternal stakes. I like that, because I can’t really imagine pouring my life into a happy bubble but I can see it lining up for meaningful engagement with reality.

One more thing: “As a result of him the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed“. I haven’t heard too many prophecies which zone in on the fact that Jesus would totally get himself into people’s hearts and heads. And we know for sure that one came true…

READ Lk 2:22-32

Simeon is one of those small-time heroes, you know, the ones that never make it into the newspaper or onto tv. There are plenty of them around, those people who do some pretty amazing things, but either there’s no crowd watching or they purposefully don’t pump themselves into the spotlight afterwards. Sometimes their moment of brilliance is so short and succinct that it just passes by, only to be fully realised much later. Kinda like when you were having that argument and only thought of the stinging retort three days later.

I had one of those moments with Simeon. We weren’t fighting or anything, cos he’s long dead, but I had a moment where I suddenly realised how amazing this guy was. He only enters scripture for a few verses, but someone noticed these pretty amazing features about him:

- He was devout. I know that may seem all fierce and stubborn, but it really means ‘totally committed to a cause or belief’.
- He was righteous. That also seems all concrete and cold but it meant he made good decisions with his life.
- He was waiting for ‘the consolation of Israel’. That escapes me for a bit,  but I think it means he was waiting for God to do something big. Which means he hoped God would, and knew that his hope would someday come true.
- The Holy Spirit was upon him. That’s clothing money cant buy.

Tha’ts quite an epitaph for the tombstone, a pretty impressive list of things for someone to say at your funeral. Or while you’re still living. But there’s one more thing that manages to eclipse even that fine list…

You see when Simeon realised that Mary’s baby was actually the Christ, he knew he could suddenly depart the world in peace. God had promised him that he would not die until he saw the messiah, and now he had. What I love about that whole story is the fact that he died in peace having seen the fulfillment of God’s plan in his life. Simeon died in peace not because of all his own achievements but because of what he had seen God accomplish.

What things would you like to see God accomplish in your lifetime? Simeon inspired me to make a list like this. It’s not filled with crazy things I have to do before I die, but rather some big God movements that I hope come to pass someday. That’s a pretty big bucket to fill…

READ Luke 2:1-14

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people…”

The gospel was first announced as something that would bring great joy. It seems kinda obvious (for why else would it be called good?), but somehow I think we miss this. We so easily get stuck in the difficulties of living a God-honoring life, and sometimes even fall into the trap and obligation and legalism to the point where it all just becomes a burden.

But it shouldn’t be. It’s GOOD news. The kind of news you’d want to throw a party after hearing. The kinda news you’d want to shout from rooftops. If you’re that kind of extrovert. Or write a song about. Or make you whistle. Or sing aloud. If you’re that kind of extrovert. Or put as your Facebook status. Or send socially awkward bulk sms’s about. Or blow your vuvuzela continuously to.

It is that good.

I thought since we’ve just finished Luke chapter 1 it may be a good time to reflect on the whole daily devotional idea.

As I mentioned in the introduction to this series, these devotionals are not commentaries on the verse per se, but more a highlighted tour of some of the things that could add meaning to our daily spirituality, or to put it plainly, our relationship with God. It’s not so much meant to feed the brain then but the soul. More than that, it is hoped that through the process the relationship with God will grow.

I’ve been working through daily devotionals for years now, and have found a way of using them that has been helpful in achieving this. So allow me to share this method with you:

1. Perhaps say a short prayer before starting out that God would speak to you directly through the scripture. That is after all the first prize: Direct communication from the man above…

2. Read the verse yourself. In the devotional you can just click on the verse and it will take you to a new page. Spend some time here and take it easy. You can’t get a good look at the sights when the tour bus is doing 200km/hr through the scenery. If you feel like it read ahead, or if you have one of those cross-reference bibles allow yourself to take some scenic detours. You never know what you might find on that lonely little farm road…

3. Listen out for meaning yourself. Chew on the words, dwell on some of the concepts, perhaps look up some of it in a commentary (if you have a study bible then it’s right there for you. If you don’t just go to www.blueletterbible.org and look up some help there). The time came where I found I wasn’t even reading the author’s commentary in the devotional, because I was getting all the meaning from the scriptures. This is by far the best place to be. Give yourself the chance for God to communicate directly to you. After all, whats meaningful to me at this point in time will most probably not be the exact words you need to hear…

4. Then read the commentary. After all of that, if you still want to, read my comments on the verse. I hope they’re helpful in some way. But if you’re getting a direct line from God yourself then you dont really need it. And I’m totally happy with that. Cos I’m just having fun writing it myself

Peace, Rich

READ Luke 1:67-80

We all have our own personal theological preferences. Maybe sometimes it’s not theology really, but just different strands in this complex web of spirituality that make better sense than others, or which just seem to hold a little more weight. Whatever form it may take it’s sometimes unsettling how we take such hard stands on issues within this complex web, sometimes fighting a little too aggressively over territory that we don’t completely own in the first place.

I guess the subject of God and how he interacts with man is such an overwhelming subject on it’s own, that when it merges with the complexity of humanity we actually do well to find at least one facet of the diamond that we find shines brighter than the others. Maybe we hang onto our strands so tightly because it gives some assurance of stability.

One of the tensions battled over is the degree to which God interacts with humanity. In the one corner are those who believe that Jesus was primarily concerned with accomplishing our salvation from our sinfulness, and thus that God is mostly concerned with our eternal well-being. In the opposing corner are those who believe Jesus was more concerned with social justice and reforming the lives of the poor and marginalized, and thus that God is mostly concerned with our life here on earth.

As I have found with most of these debates, the truth lies in the tension between the two. We see this pretty clearly in Zechariah’s song in today’s verse. Notice how he weaves the lofty theologies of salvation and redemption and forgiveness of sin, with the daily needs of freedom from oppression and justice for the marginalised. What makes the song beautiful is not just the inclusion of two concepts, but the complex weaving of the two ideas, such that it becomes quite hard to disentangle them.

Which makes me think that the heart of God so cares for the soul of man that he did whatever it took to release us from all of our burdens, whether they come now or later. What I love most about this song is how clearly it shows the care that God has for my daily as well as eternal struggles. Perhaps meditate on those last few lines again:

“…because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

May your way lead you into peace, for today and forever…

READ Luke 1:57-66

The birth of John the Baptist was such a spectacular miracle that it naturally gained a wide audience. In this verse we read how these people knew that this child would be special, due to the strange circumstances surrounding his birth.

The situation was so abnormal that even the relatives started acting strange, ‘making signs’ to Zechariah, even though he was just mute and not deaf. Funny stuff.

The point is that everyone knew this child would be special: ”What then will this child be?’ For the hand of the Lord was with him‘.

But as is the case throughout the gospels, the people’s memories fail fast. As soon as John starts pointing to Jesus as Messiah, people quickly start assuming he’s mad.

They forgot the circumstances surrounding his birth, and they forgot ‘the hand of the Lord was with him’.

I wonder if we suffer from similar memory loss, where our God-encounter moment has faded into a meaningless distant memory and we devolve into our previous unbelieving state.

Maybe it’s time to remember the reality of our date with the divine, and let that past event feed our future with further hope.

READ Luke 1:46-56

This is the first recorded hymn in the New testament, a magnificent song where Mary gushes lavish praise on God. It is easy to understand Mary’s own excitement and it seems pretty normal for that to bubble over into an extravagant form of thanks. But the focus of her praise lies beyond her own good fortune.

Sure, she does start out by purely rejoicing and thanking God for her own unique blessing from God (v48-49), but she doesn’t dwell on that for too long.

After only two verses Mary immediately shifts her focus, and spends most of her time (v50-55) praising God for the effect that her unique blessing will have on other people, including the fulfillment of an age-old promise for all the earth.

I guess personal blessings are always given for a reason that is greater than our own personal fulfillment. Which is a win-win situation really, for we still get the joy but the blessing extends throughout the kingdom. Our only role is to acknowledge that and not have the praise party on our own…

READ Luke 1:39-45

“And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord”

Personal promises of God are difficult to assimilate these days. The physical appearance of angels bringing verbal promises from above doesn’t seem to happen much anymore, at least not for me. It would be nice to hear audible promises from flashy flying creatures.

I do believe though, that God still gives us these gifts of personal promise, perhaps in times of difficulty, or in seasons of drought or even at the precipice of something new and large. He is still alive. He still cares. He still speaks. He still gives promises.

But because they are difficult to hear, they become doubly difficult to believe, for we often doubt what we hear along with what was promised in the first place. But blessed are those who believe there will be fulfillment of what was spoken to them from the Lord.

I don’t know what promises you are holding onto today, but carry on believing. Perhaps you are waiting for God to speak in some way in a certain situation. He knows. He’s there. He cares. Carry on believing…

READ Luke 1:34-38

I used to think that the angel Gabriel was a bit of a feminist. In the opening narratives of Luke’s gospel he appears twice, once to Zechariah and once to Mary. On both occasions he makes fantastic promises, both of them involving miracles of birth.

But I found it strange that Zechariah gets punished for his unbelief, while Mary gets away scot free, with the same unbelief. Well at least it appears the same. Lets play spot the difference:

Zechariah’s response: “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”
Mary’s response: “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

It seems that the essential difference was that the doubt of Zechariah was in the promise itself, whereas with Mary it was merely in accepting the mechanics of the promise. Zechariah doubts that it will happen, while Mary accepts that it will happen, but is confused as to how it will come to pass. She is after all a virgin, and although young would still have known that a stork would not drop by..

Gabriel even indulges her curiosity with an explanation: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you…“. I think that answer would lead me to a whole new set of questions, but Mary is satisfied: “…let it be to me according to your word.”

Its kind of reassuring then, that doubt is embraced and indulged, at least in the area of childish mystery and bewilderment. It’s also reassuring that the big angel has no gender bias after all.