Missionary Renegade: May 2017

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

The Upper Room Daily Devotional in Nashville, Tennessee, United States "Loss or Launch?" for Thursday, 1 June 2017 - Read Isaiah 55:8-11

The Upper Room Daily Devotional in Nashville, Tennessee, United States "Loss or Launch?" for Thursday, 1 June 2017 - Read Isaiah 55:8-11

Isaiah 55:⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,and your ways are not my ways,” says Adonai.
⁹“As high as the sky is above the earth
are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰For just as rain and snow fall from the sky
and do not return there, but water the earth,
causing it to bud and produce,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
¹¹so is my word that goes out from my mouth —
it will not return to me unfulfilled;
but it will accomplish what I intend,
and cause to succeed what I sent it to do.”
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“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. [Isaiah 55:8 (NIV)]

“Kim, you’re a good employee and the residents love you, but due to budget cuts, your job is being eliminated.” I was shocked to hear these words from the director of the assisted-living community where I was working at the time. I was sad because I would miss the friends I had grown to love there. But I had been praying for a new adventure, and God used the loss of my job to launch me into full-time ministry with people in Romania who were elderly and homeless.
God’s ways are higher than mine, so although I didn’t realize it, my job at the assisted-living community had prepared me for my new work with at-risk elderly people in another country. God used the job I had just lost, which I had never expected to take in the first place, to prepare me for the next season of my life.
When something happens that we don’t understand, we can choose to trust God, who sees the big picture of our lives. In each experience of our lives and every challenging situation we face, we can trust that God is working for good.
Read more from the author, here.

The Author

Kim Jackson (North Carolina, USA)

Thought for the Day:

God is always working for my good.

Prayer:

Dear God, help us to trust you with whatever happens each day of our lives. Amen.

Prayer focus: Someone who has lost a job

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The Great Plains Conference of The United Methodist Church in Wichita, Kansas, United States Daily Devotional for Thursday, 01 June 2017

Today please be in prayer for

Jeanie Leeper

jleeper@greatplainsumc.org

Elba UMC

Prairie Rivers District

Ralph Gaines

rgaines@greatplainsumc.org

McCool Junction UMC

Prairie Rivers District

Kim Dunker

kdunker@greatplainsumc.org

Exeter UMC

Prairie Rivers District

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This Week's Lectionary
7th Sunday of Easter – White or Gold
Sunday, 28 May 2013
Acts 1:6-14
Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35
1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11
John 17:1-11-------
Today's Devotional
Isaiah 55:8-11
Isaiah 55:⁸“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,and your ways are not my ways,” says Adonai.
⁹“As high as the sky is above the earth
are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰For just as rain and snow fall from the sky
and do not return there, but water the earth,
causing it to bud and produce,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
¹¹so is my word that goes out from my mouth —
it will not return to me unfulfilled;
but it will accomplish what I intend,
and cause to succeed what I sent it to do.”
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Link to GBOD Devotional
Contact Information
Great Plains Episcopal Office
9440 East Boston, Suite 160
Wichita Kansas 67207, United States
316-686-0600
800-745-2350
info@greatplainsumc.org -------

My Utmost for His Highest for Thursday, 1 June 2017 - "The Staggering Question" by Oswald Chambers

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"The Staggering Question" by Oswald Chambers

Son of man, can these bones live? [Ezekiel 37:3]

Can that sinner be turned into a saint? Can that twisted life be put right? There is only one answer: “O Lord, Thou knowest, I don’t.” Never trample in with religious common sense and say — “Oh, yes, with a little more Bible reading and devotion and prayer, I see how it can be done.”

It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we mistake panic for inspiration. That is why there are so few fellow-workers with God and so many workers for Him. We would far rather work for God than believe in Him. Am I quite sure that God will do what I cannot do? I despair of men in the degree in which I have never realized that God has done anything for me. Is my experience such a wonderful realization of God’s power and might that I can never despair of anyone I see? Have I had any spiritual work done in me at all? The degree of panic is the degree of the lack of personal spiritual experience.

“Behold, O my people, I will open your graves.” When God wants to show you what human nature is like apart from Himself, He has to show it you in yourself. If the Spirit of God has given you a vision of what you are apart from the grace of God (and He only does it when His Spirit is at work), you know there is no criminal who is half so bad in actuality as you know yourself to be in possibility. My “grave” has been opened by God and “I know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing.” God’s Spirit continually reveals what human nature is like apart from His grace.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus.[Facing Reality, 34 R]

Bible in One Year: 2 Chronicles 15-16; John 12:27-50

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2 Chronicles 15:1 The Spirit of God came on ‘Azaryah the son of ‘Oded; ²he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Y’hudah and Binyamin! Adonai is with you, as long as you are with him; if you seek him, you will find him; but if you abandon him, he will abandon you! ³For a long time Isra’el was without the true God, without a cohen who could teach, and without Torah. ⁴But when, in their distress, they turned to Adonai the God of Isra’el and sought him, they found him. ⁵In those times people going about their business were insecure, and great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands; ⁶so that they were shattered to pieces, nation against nation and city against city, as God troubled them with every kind of distress. ⁷But you, be strong, and don’t slack off; for your work will be rewarded.”⁸When Asa heard these words prophesied by ‘Oded the prophet, it gave him courage to throw the disgusting things out of the whole land of Y’hudah and Binyamin and out of the cities he had captured in the hills of Efrayim; he also renewed the altar of Adonai which was in front of the vestibule of Adonai. ⁹Then he gathered all Y’hudah and Binyamin, along with those from Efrayim, M’nasheh and Shim‘on who were staying with him (for they had defected to him in large numbers upon seeing that Adonai his God was with him). ¹⁰They assembled together at Yerushalayim in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. ¹¹That day they sacrificed to Adonai 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought; ¹²and they entered into a covenant to seek Adonai, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and with all their being; ¹³[they also agreed] that whoever refused to seek Adonai the God of Isra’el should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. ¹⁴They swore this to Adonai in a loud voice, with shouting and blowing of trumpets and shofars. ¹⁵All Y’hudah was full of joy at this oath; for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with all their will; and they found him, and Adonai gave them rest all around.
¹⁶Asa the king also deposed Ma‘akhah his [grand]mother from her position as queen mother, because she had made a disgusting image for an asherah. Asa cut down this image of hers, chopped it into tiny pieces and burned it in Vadi Kidron. ¹⁷But the high places were not removed from Isra’el. Nevertheless, Asa was wholehearted throughout his life. ¹⁸He brought into the house of God all the articles his father had consecrated, also the things he himself had consecrated — silver, gold and utensils.
¹⁹There was no more war through the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

16:1 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, Ba‘asha king of Isra’el attacked Y’hudah, and he fortified Ramah to prevent anyone’s leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Y’hudah. ²Then Asa removed silver and gold from the treasures of the house of Adonai and the royal palace; and sent this message to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who lived in Dammesek: ³“There is a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Here, I am sending you silver and gold; go, and break your covenant with Ba‘asha king of Isra’el, so that he will leave me alone.” ⁴Ben-Hadad did as King Asa had asked — he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Isra’el, attacking ‘Iyon, Dan, Avel-Mayim and all the storage-cities of Naftali. ⁵As soon as Ba‘asha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work. ⁶Asa the king took all Y’hudah and carried off the stones and timber which Ba‘asha had used to fortify Ramah. With them he fortified Geva and Mitzpah.

⁷It was around then that Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Y’hudah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Aram and didn’t rely on Adonai your God, the king of Aram’s army has escaped from your power. ⁸The army of the Ethiopians and Luvim was huge, wasn’t it? How many chariots and horsemen did they have? Yet because you relied on Adonai, he handed them over to you. ⁹For the eyes of Adonai move here and there throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf of those who are wholehearted toward him. You acted foolishly in this regard; for from now on, you will have war.” ¹⁰But Asa became angry at the seer; in fact, because of his rage at him over this matter he threw him in prison. Moreover, at the same time, he mistreated some of the people.
¹¹The activities of Asa from beginning to end are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y’hudah and Isra’el.
¹²In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa suffered from a disease in his legs. It was a very serious disease, yet even with this disease he did not seek out Adonai but turned to the physicians. ¹³Asa slept with his ancestors, dying in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴They buried him in his own burial cave, which he had ordered cut for himself in the City of David. They laid him in a bed filled with sweet spices of various kinds, expertly compounded; and a very great fire was kindled in his honor.

John 12:²⁷“Now I am in turmoil. What can I say — ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour. I will say this: ²⁸‘Father, glorify your name!’” At this a bat-kol came out of heaven, “I have glorified it before, and I will glorify it again!” ²⁹The crowd standing there and hearing it said that it had thundered; others said, “An angel spoke to him.” ³⁰Yeshua answered, “This bat-kol did not come for my sake but for yours. ³¹Now is the time for this world to be judged, now the ruler of this world will be expelled. ³²As for me, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” ³³He said this to indicate what kind of death he would die.

³⁴The crowd answered, “We have learned from the Torah that the Messiah remains forever. How is it that you say the Son of Man has to be ‘lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?” ³⁵Yeshua said to them, “The light will be with you only a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, or the dark will overtake you; he who walks in the dark doesn’t know where he’s going. ³⁶While you have the light, put your trust in the light, so that you may become people of light.” Yeshua said these things, then went off and kept himself hidden from them.

³⁷Even though he had performed so many miracles in their presence, they still did not put their trust in him, ³⁸in order that what Yesha‘yahu the prophet had said might be fulfilled,

“Adonai, who has believed our report?
To whom has the arm of Adonai been revealed?”[John 12:38 Isaiah 53:1]

³⁹The reason they could not believe was — as Yesha‘yahu said elsewhere —

⁴⁰“He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their hearts,
so that they do not see with their eyes,
understand with their hearts,
and do t’shuvah,

so that I could heal them.”[John 12:40 Isaiah 6:10]

⁴¹(Yesha‘yahu said these things because he saw the Sh’khinah of Yeshua and spoke about him.) ⁴²Nevertheless, many of the leaders did trust in him; but because of the P’rushim they did not say so openly, out of fear of being banned from the synagogue; ⁴³for they loved praise from other people more than praise from God.

⁴⁴Yeshua declared publicly, “Those who put their trust in me are trusting not merely in me, but in the One who sent me. ⁴⁵Also those who see me see the One who sent me. ⁴⁶I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who trusts in me might not remain in the dark. ⁴⁷If anyone hears what I am saying and does not observe it, I don’t judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸Those who reject me and don’t accept what I say have a judge — the word which I have spoken will judge them on the Last Day. ⁴⁹For I have not spoken on my own initiative, but the Father who sent me has given me a command, namely, what to say and how to say it. ⁵⁰And I know that his command is eternal life. So what I say is simply what the Father has told me to say.”

My Utmost for His Highest © 1927 in the U.K. by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. © 1935 by Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. All rights reserved. United States publication rights are held by Discovery House, which is affiliated with Our Daily Bread Ministries.

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The Lutheran Hour Ministries in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States Daily Devotion by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour - Thursday, June 1, 2017 "Victory"

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Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour

"Victory"

Thursday, June 1, 2017

1 Corinthians 15:57 - But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Five gold medals, 12 bronze and silver medals: that was the medal count prophecy made by a North Korean official at the Summer Olympics in Rio. Putting the prognostication in Christian terms, that official had made a "blind leap of faith." After all, at the London Olympics, his country had picked up a total of six medals.
Now there were a number of reasons he was sure they would increase their medal count:
1. The nation's leader had promised the winners they would receive new cars, new TVs, and better apartments.
2. He knew if South Korea defeated them it would be a great national and personal disgrace.
3. Most importantly, the North Korean Olympians knew their national leader had a bit of a temper. After the previous Olympics, the nation's leaders had given all those perks to the winners, but the losers, ah, the losers were a different matter.
In most countries, when a local athlete doesn't bring home any hardware they are still applauded. True, they may not sign a multi-million dollar endorsement with a sports equipment company, but they are still acknowledged as having competed with the world's greatest athletes.
Yes, that's what happens in most countries. In North Korea, things are different. How different? After the last Olympics, North Korea's President Kim Jong-un took away the nice apartments, cut the rations, and cut down the athlete's gym time -- and that's what he did to the lucky ones.
The unlucky ones were sentenced to two years of hard labor in North Korea's coal mines. Really! While there two of the Winter Olympians died; others suffered respiratory failure.
Now I can't tell you what happened after this last Olympics. I can tell you that the medal count prophecy quoted above fell flat. North Korea came home with two golds, three silvers, and two bronze medals. In contrast, South Korea won nine gold, three silver, and nine bronze.
I doubt if the President was amused by his athlete's failures and shortcomings.
Writing this devotion, I cannot tell you how thankful I am that our Triune God doesn't act like North Korea's diminutive Dictator. God could have done just that, you know. In the creation He had given us everything we needed to succeed: a perfect home, a perfect everything.
It was a perfection we tossed to the side as we listened to the serpent's sly suggestions. Again and again, God provided the means and method for His people to be winners, and every time they managed to pull defeat from the jaws of victory.
We were hopeless, spiritual losers.
This is why the Father sent His perfect Son into this world. Everywhere we had lost, Jesus won. He fulfilled the Law perfectly. He bested Satan completely, and He even conquered the grave. Now, because of what Jesus has done, all who are given faith in Him are cleansed of their sins and are made winners.THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks for the victory the Savior has won for me on the cross and at the empty tomb. May I live as if that victory mattered -- because it does. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Jamie Butler for Weird Asia News. Those who wish to reference that article may do so at the following link which was fully functional at the time this devotion was written. Please click here.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries

Today's Bible in a Year Reading: Psalms 39-41; John 12:27-50

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Psalms 39:1 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. Set in the style of Y’dutun. A psalm of David:

²⁽¹⁾I said, “I will watch how I behave,
so that I won’t sin with my tongue;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
whenever the wicked confront me.”

³⁽²⁾I was silent, said nothing, not even good;
but my pain kept being stirred up.
⁴⁽³⁾My heart grew hot within me;
whenever I thought of it, the fire burned.
Then, [at last,] I let my tongue speak:

⁵⁽⁴⁾“Make me grasp, Adonai, what my end must be,
what it means that my days are numbered;
let me know what a transient creature I am.
⁶⁽⁵⁾You have made my days like handbreadths;
for you, the length of my life is like nothing.”

Yes, everyone, no matter how firmly he stands,
is merely a puff of wind. (Selah)
⁷⁽⁶⁾Humans go about like shadows;
their turmoil is all for nothing.
They accumulate wealth, not knowing
who will enjoy its benefits.

⁸⁽⁷⁾Now, Adonai, what am I waiting for?
You are my only hope.
⁹⁽⁸⁾Rescue me from all my transgressions;
don’t make me the butt of fools.
¹⁰⁽⁹⁾I am silent, I keep my mouth shut,
because it is you who have done it.

¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾Stop raining blows on me;
the pounding of your fist is wearing me down.
¹²⁽¹¹⁾With rebukes you discipline people for their guilt;
like a moth, you destroy what makes them attractive;
yes, everyone is merely a puff of wind. (Selah)

¹³⁽¹²⁾Hear my prayer, Adonai, listen to my cry,
don’t be deaf to my weeping;
for with you, I am just a traveler
passing through, like all my ancestors.
¹⁴⁽¹³⁾Turn your gaze from me, so I can smile again
before I depart and cease to exist.

40:1 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. A psalm of David:

²⁽¹⁾I waited patiently for Adonai,
till he turned toward me and heard my cry.
³⁽²⁾He brought me up from the roaring pit,
up from the muddy ooze,
and set my feet on a rock,
making my footing firm.
⁴⁽³⁾He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will look on in awe
and put their trust in Adonai.

⁵⁽⁴⁾How blessed the man who trusts in Adonai
and does not look to the arrogant
or to those who rely on things that are false.

⁶⁽⁵⁾How much you have done, Adonai my God!
Your wonders and your thoughts toward us —
none can compare with you!
I would proclaim them, I would speak about them;
but there’s too much to tell!

⁷⁽⁶⁾Sacrifices and grain offerings you don’t want;
burnt offerings and sin offerings you don’t demand.
Instead, you have given me open ears;
⁸⁽⁷⁾so then I said, “Here I am! I’m coming!
In the scroll of a book it is written about me.
⁹⁽⁸⁾Doing your will, my God, is my joy;
your Torah is in my inmost being.
¹⁰⁽⁹⁾I have proclaimed what is right in the great assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, Adonai, as you know.
¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾I did not hide your righteousness in my heart
but declared your faithfulness and salvation;
I did not conceal your grace and truth
from the great assembly.”

¹²⁽¹¹⁾Adonai, don’t withhold your mercy from me.
Let your grace and truth preserve me always.
¹³⁽¹²⁾For numberless evils surround me;
my iniquities engulf me — I can’t even see;
there are more of them than hairs on my head,
so that my courage fails me.
¹⁴⁽¹³⁾Be pleased, Adonai, to rescue me!
Adonai, hurry and help me!
¹⁵⁽¹⁴⁾May those who seek to sweep me away
be disgraced and humiliated together.
May those who take pleasure in doing me harm
be turned back and put to confusion.
¹⁶⁽¹⁵⁾May those who jeer at me, “Aha! Aha!”
be aghast because of their shame.

¹⁷⁽¹⁶⁾But may all those who seek you
be glad and take joy in you.
May those who love your salvation say always,
“Adonai is great and glorious!”

¹⁸⁽¹⁷⁾But I am poor and needy;
may Adonai think of me.
You are my helper and rescuer;
my God, don’t delay!

41:1 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. A psalm of David:

²⁽¹⁾How blessed are those who care for the poor!
When calamity comes, Adonai will save them.
³⁽²⁾Adonai will preserve them, keep them alive,
and make them happy in the land.
You will not hand them over
to the whims of their enemies.
⁴⁽³⁾Adonai sustains them on their sickbed;
when they lie ill, you make them recover.
⁵⁽⁴⁾I said, “Adonai, have pity on me!
Heal me, for I have sinned against you!”
⁶⁽⁵⁾My enemies say the worst about me:
“When will he die and his name disappear?”
⁷⁽⁶⁾When they come to see me they speak insincerely,
their hearts meanwhile gathering falsehoods;
then they go out and spread bad reports.
⁸⁽⁷⁾All who hate me whisper together against me,
imagining the worst about me.
⁹⁽⁸⁾“A fatal disease has attached itself to him;
now that he lies ill, he will never get up.”
¹⁰⁽⁹⁾Even my close friend, on whom I relied,
who shared my table, has turned against me.

¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾But you, Adonai, have pity on me,
put me on my feet, so I can pay them back.
¹²⁽¹¹⁾I will know you are pleased with me
if my enemy doesn’t defeat me.
¹³⁽¹²⁾You uphold me because of my innocence
you establish me in your presence forever.

¹⁴⁽¹³⁾Blessed be Adonai the God of Isra’el
from eternity past to eternity future.

Amen. Amen.

John 12:²⁷“Now I am in turmoil. What can I say — ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour. I will say this: ²⁸‘Father, glorify your name!’” At this a bat-kol came out of heaven, “I have glorified it before, and I will glorify it again!” ²⁹The crowd standing there and hearing it said that it had thundered; others said, “An angel spoke to him.” ³⁰Yeshua answered, “This bat-kol did not come for my sake but for yours. ³¹Now is the time for this world to be judged, now the ruler of this world will be expelled. ³²As for me, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” ³³He said this to indicate what kind of death he would die.

³⁴The crowd answered, “We have learned from the Torah that the Messiah remains forever. How is it that you say the Son of Man has to be ‘lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?” ³⁵Yeshua said to them, “The light will be with you only a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, or the dark will overtake you; he who walks in the dark doesn’t know where he’s going. ³⁶While you have the light, put your trust in the light, so that you may become people of light.” Yeshua said these things, then went off and kept himself hidden from them.

³⁷Even though he had performed so many miracles in their presence, they still did not put their trust in him, ³⁸in order that what Yesha‘yahu the prophet had said might be fulfilled,

“Adonai, who has believed our report?
To whom has the arm of Adonai been revealed?”[John 12:38 Isaiah 53:1]

³⁹The reason they could not believe was — as Yesha‘yahu said elsewhere —

⁴⁰“He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their hearts,
so that they do not see with their eyes,
understand with their hearts,
and do t’shuvah,

so that I could heal them.”[John 12:40 Isaiah 6:10]

⁴¹(Yesha‘yahu said these things because he saw the Sh’khinah of Yeshua and spoke about him.) ⁴²Nevertheless, many of the leaders did trust in him; but because of the P’rushim they did not say so openly, out of fear of being banned from the synagogue; ⁴³for they loved praise from other people more than praise from God.

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