Saturday 1st November - Udobo

Weekend Blurb

The BDC is a weekday devotional aimed at anyone and everyone who struggles to keep up with the stressful demands of daily life.

This is why there are no weekend devotions prepared; however look out for your next update which will be this Monday.

Every weekend we will use this space to focus on a different mission project. This is an excellent opportunity to see how many people are striving to make a real difference in this country, and also how you might become involved.



The Udobo School is a pre-primary school that gives hope through love and education to children from poor and marginalized backgrounds in the urban area of Montwood Park, Durban, South Africa. Some of the children are orphans as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The name ‘Udobo’ is the Zulu word for ‘fishing rod’ and is based on the adage, “Give me a fish and I’ll eat for a day, teach me to fish and I’ll eat for a lifetime”. The school program provides for social, emotional, cognitive, intellectual, aesthetic and physical development of the children within a loving, caring, and safe environment. A Trust called ‘The Udobo Ed-U Foundation’ was established to receive funding on behalf of the school both locally and abroad.

The Udobo Ed-U Foundation
First National Bank of South Africa
Branch No. 221026
Branch Name : Mobeni
A/c : 62061351442
Forex SWIFT No. FIRNZAJJ762

Friday 31 October - Calling : Part 2

DAILY BYTE

Yesterday we started looking at God’s call as a source of hope and life for our world. The surprising but very good news is that when God’s call is heard and obeyed, when women and men give their lives to what God asks of them, there is truly a whole new creation that unfolds. The call of God taking root within ordinary people has the power to make all things new.

Tragically, God’s call is not always heard or obeyed. The pages of history and scripture are littered with the stories of those who have tried to turn aside from God’s call.

We think of people like Moses, Gideon, Jonah and Jeremiah who tried to duck and dive from God’s call staking a claim over their lives. The reasons that they gave for their reluctance and resistance sound strangely familiar. For they are the reasons we also use – I’m not equipped, I’m not sufficiently resourced, I’m not worthy, I’m too young, I’m too old, I don’t have the time, I don’t want to go.

Sometimes the resistance is expressed not all at once, but bit by bit, gradually over time, as people allow themselves to drift from God’s call until they find themselves living not out of the fiery passion of divine purpose, but out of the cold ash heap of mediocrity and irrelevance.

But I ask you, why would we settle for anything less than our highest calling?
Why would we not want to put these miraculous lives to magnificent purpose?
Why would we not risk everything to let our one chance at life be put to great and glorious good by an infinitely gracious God?

Maybe, like Jeremiah, we are just too aware of our own inadequacy. When he heard that God had appointed him a prophet to the nations, Jeremiah offers this somewhat panicked response, “But I don’t know how to speak, for I’m just a boy.”

Interestingly, God doesn’t even argue the point for it seems that Jeremiah is telling the truth. All that God says is, “Don’t SAY you’re just a boy. Because true though that may be, it is utterly irrelevant. It is irrelevant because you’ll go where I send you. You’ll speak whatever I command. So do not be afraid, for I am with you.

And then God touches Jeremiah’s mouth and declares that God’s very words, filled with endless creative and life-giving power, are now in him.

And so it is with us. In response to God’s call we offer our reasoned explanations as to why this is a bad idea, as if God is unaware of who we are in the first place and doesn’t really know what God’s doing. And many of our reasons are indeed accurate. But for one thing: in the eyes of God they are utterly irrelevant.

Let me say it as plainly as I can. If you’re seized by the call of God, of course you’ll feel inadequate, ill-equipped, unworthy. Get over it. Dare to believe that God is not limited by your limitations, and so neither should you. And remember that God’s call always always always comes with God’s gracious promise, “I will be with you.”

This is reason for great hope indeed.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord, tomorrow is All Saints’ Day, a day when we remember the lives of the countless women and men over the ages who have faithfully served you and poured out their lives to the glory of your name. May their example inspire us to heed your call and commit ourselves to your eternal purposes, for the sake of hope and healing for our world. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READING

Jeremiah 1:4-8

Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
Then I said, "Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy."

But the LORD said to me,
"Do not say, 'I am only a boy';
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the LORD."

Thursday 30 October - Calling : Part 1

DAILY BYTE

In the beginning, the Bible tells us, God SPOKE everything into existence. All God had to do was say the word, and the heavens and the earth burst into being. How incredible, that the words that come from the mouth of God are filled with the most awesome creative and life-giving power.

God spoke the words, and it was so. And God looked upon everything that God had made and saw that it was very good.

But we are all painfully aware that God’s good creation, spoken into existence, has gone sadly awry. We live in a world that is all too familiar with the realities of war, poverty, global warming, violence, rape, abuse, AIDS and greed. Ours is a world in chains longing for liberation. Ours is a world crying out to be made new.

So I ask you, “Don’t you think it’s past time for God to speak once again? To utter words of recreating and redeeming power over this broken world?” God did so in the beginning, and look what happened. Surely God could do it again. Surely it’s not too hard for God to say, “Let there be peace in the Middle East, and throughout the world for that matter,” and for it to be so.

Surely it’s not too hard for God to say, “Let there be an end to poverty and hunger and the indignities of human deprivation,” and for it to be so.

For God to say, “Let there be the resolving of all conflicts, the healing of all hurts, the binding up of all brokenness,” and for it to be so.

If only the voice of God could sound once again over the chaos all around us, as it did in the beginning, bringing order and harmony and light and life. Wouldn’t that be something? Wouldn’t that be reason for hope and rejoicing?

The good news is that God is speaking, right now. God’s voice is sounding over the chaos of our fallen human condition, right now. Words that are filled with creative and life-giving power, that come from the very mouth of God, are being uttered right now, bringing great hope to our world.

But here’s the thing: they take shape in a most surprising and unexpected way. Sometimes barely more than a whisper, the words that can bring hope alive for our world come to us in the form of a call.

“Come, and follow me.”
“Go into all the world in my name.”
“Live the life of purpose and significance I have prepared for you.”
“Embrace the work I have ordained for you.”
“Fulfil the destiny I have dreamed for you.”
“Be the hope for this world that I have created you to be.”

That’s God’s plan. It’s a simple strategy – to call women and men to be a part of a great purpose of bringing hope to the world.

We see this plan unfolding from the very beginning. No sooner were human beings created than God was enlisting them to share in the care of creation. We see this plan unfolding as God calls Israel to be God’s people, a light unto the nations. We see it in the life and ministry of Jesus. No sooner had he begun his work of announcing the coming of the kingdom, than Jesus starts calling disciples to join him in this great mission of love to the world.

Do you see the pattern? Do you get God’s plan? To call people like you and me to be a part of what God is doing. In fact, to depend upon people like you and me to be a part of what God is doing. This is completely unexpected. Altogether surprising It’s not the plan that we would have made. But this is what God has chosen.

And when God’s call is heard and obeyed. When we place our very lives under the authority of God’s life-giving word, then quite wondrously and miraculously we become channels of hope and healing for a needy world.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord God you have a plan and purpose for my life that will bring hope to this world. Thank you. Help me to hear and obey whatever it is that you are calling me to do today. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READING

Mark 1:16-18

Jesus saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Wednesday 29 October - Community

DAILY BYTE

Yesterday we reflected on our own families as a place where God’s glory and grace can be seen. Today, we expand that thought by thinking about the wider family of faith, and how the formation of diverse and inclusive community is a source of such rich hope for our world.

Of course, not all communities are hope-filled. Many communities offer very little that is truly life-giving and transformational. This usually happens when they become little more than closed groupings of people that have an inward rather than outward focus.

Interestingly, the early church in Acts struggled with this very same thing. They were a new community of faith grappling with what it meant to be faithful and obedient followers of Christ. This new faith movement had emerged out of their Jewish heritage, and so for some believers their Jewishness was an essential part of their identity.

But God had much bigger and broader intentions for the church, and there was a seismic shift that happened in the church’s self-identity when those intentions were expressed. The Spirit was poured out on Gentiles, and Peter immediately recognized that the old criterion of Jewishness that the church had been holding onto was redundant. And so these Gentiles were baptized and incorporated into the church.

In explaining his actions to the Jewish Christians back in Jerusalem, Peter describes a vision he had of a sheet descending from heaven, laden with all sorts of food that any self-respecting Jew would never touch. Strict dietary observance was, of course, one of the essential aspects of the Jewish way. But in the vision Peter is commanded to eat. He protests. He says it will make him impure and will diminish who he is. God says, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about. Now get up and eat.’

I’d like to think that in the vision, before the sheet was pulled back to heaven, Peter got to sink his teeth into a succulent pork chop for the first time in his life, or maybe a crayfish tail, and realized, ‘God’s right. This is good. This is not diminishing, but enriching.’

Do you get the picture of what this is saying about our understanding of community? The common fear is that in opening up the doors in radical hospitality and inclusive embrace we will lose our identity and be diminished as a result. But according to God, exactly the opposite is true. And whenever you see communities growing more diverse, be it in your neighborhood, at work, your child’s school, or your church, give thanks to God. Because hope is being born again.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Our prayer today is taken from a contemporary hymn:

Your love O God is broad like beach and meadow
Wide as the wind and our eternal home
You leave us free to seek you or reject you
You give us room to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’

Your love O God is broad like beach and meadow
Wide as the wind and our eternal home

We long for freedom where our truest being
Is given hope and courage to unfold
We seek in freedom space and scope for dreaming
And look for ground where trees and plants can grow

Your love O God is broad like beach and meadow
Wide as the wind and our eternal home

But there are walls that keep us all divided
We fence each other in with hate and war
Fear is the bricks and mortar of our prison
Our pride of self the prison coat we wear

Your love O God is broad like beach and meadow
Wide as the wind and our eternal home

SCRIPTURE READING

Acts 10:44

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Tuesday 28 October - Family

DAILY BYTE

This week we’re considering the ways in which the presence and activity of a loving and gracious God can be seen in the ordinary, everyday circumstances and experiences of our lives. Because the great truth is that the irrepressible hope of God springs up right before our eyes, but often in surprising and unexpected ways.

Sometimes we over complicate things. We assume that God is a difficult concept to grasp, and that it’s hard to find God. When, in fact, all that is needed is to look in a new way.

There’s a great story that illustrates this about a group of travelers on a scientific expedition who stop at a remote rural village. They see a boy sitting in the shade of a tree with a copy of one of the Gospels in his hand. The leader of the expedition, somewhat cynically, said to the boy that he would give him an orange if he could tell them where God could be found. The boy stood up and said, “And I’ll give you two oranges if you can tell me where God is not to be found.”

And of course the boy was right. That’s the hope that is ours in what often feels like a hopeless world. God is here, with us, present and active in our midst. All that is needed is for us to open our eyes in a new way to recognise the beauty of the Lord all around us. As the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins put it so famously, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”

As we seek to do just that, today I’d invite you to think about the different people that are a part of your family. Think about your parents and grandparents, whether they are still alive or dead, and what they share(d) in common and the ways in which they are / were wholly unique individuals. Think about your siblings. Think about your spouse, your children and your grandchildren. Think about uncles and aunts, cousins, nephews and nieces, and any other relatives that come to mind.

If your family is anything like mine there will be an immense cross-section of different personalities, beliefs, preferences, personal circumstances, socio-economic situations, political convictions, career paths and life experience represented within your own family. And yet, through all this diversity there is something that connects you to one another, a connection that is more than just the blood coursing through your veins and the DNA in your cells. A connection that touches us at the deeper level of our souls.

Could it be that in the very experience of being part of a family, which I know can be messy and complicated and painfully conflicted at times, the grandeur of God can be seen? And in spite of the hurts and disappointments that we inflict on loved ones or are inflicted on us by them, there is nevertheless something else that can be seen in our families if we choose to see it. Something that can bring us great hope and joy, and a deep sense of gratitude that the family to which we belong is indeed ours.

Take a moment to thank God for the evidence of grace in the midst of your family, and the gift of belonging, and the hope that this speaks into your life.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Thank you gracious God for the often surprising ways in which your grace is known in the midst of the messiness of family. Help me today to cherish all my loved ones, to commit them to you in trust, and to be the kind of person who would enable family members around me to be rooted and grounded in love. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READING

Ephesians 3:14-17

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.

Monday 27 October - Serendipity

DAILY BYTE

Years back, a mate and I did a 6 week backpacking trip through Europe. About 4 weeks into the trip we had a classic travellers’ tiff that actually turned quite nasty, and so we spent a 10 hour train trip to Berlin giving each other the hairy eyeball silent treatment.

Upon arriving we checked into a youth hostel, and then took a tube into East Berlin to see what it was like. We emerged from the subway and found ourselves right outside this magnificent old concert hall.

Just then a chap right in front of us held up two tickets for a performance that was about to start. My mate and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders as if to say, ‘What the heck?’ and bought the tickets, even though we had absolutely no idea what kind of concert it was. For all we knew it could have been alpine yodeling that we were about to hear.

It was only when we got inside and got hold of a programme that we discovered that we’d bought tickets for a performance of Handel’s Messiah in German. And we soon realized that this wasn’t a Mickey Mouse event either, but that some of the finest soloists in Europe were singing, including the critically acclaimed bass, Thomas Quasthoff.

The fact that the singing was all in a language we didn’t understand didn’t matter in the slightest. For one thing we were both familiar with most of the English words. But more importantly, something happened that night that was beyond language. Because as we listened to magnificent music about a magnificent Messiah, so the majesty and mystery and mercy of this Messiah touched us in a profound way. The fight we were having evaporated into thin air, and as we listened together, my friend and I were wondrously reconciled.

That evening remains one of the most cherished memories of my life, of the altogether surprising and totally unexpected activity of a loving and gracious God. It was an experience of serendipity – making an unexpected, surprising and joyous discovery of something that is really really good.

In one sense my example is quite dramatic. Overseas trip. East Berlin. Handel’s Messiah. These aren’t ordinary, everyday experiences. But don’t let that confuse the issue, because the truth is that experiences of serendipity happen all the time in the ordinary, everyday things of life. Or maybe, to be more accurate I should say that the potential for serendipitous experiences is all around us all the time.

That may seem like a strange claim to make in a world where there is so much bad news pressing in from every side, where the chaos and mayhem of fractured lives and shattered dreams is so easy to see. But I make this claim with conviction, because there is a good and gracious God at large within our midst, who continues doing the things that God does, like bringing life and hope and healing and wholeness to our world.

A woman by the name of Pearl Bailey put it like this: “People see God everyday, they just don’t recognize him.” I think that’s true. We’ve somehow developed blind spots in our vision when it comes to recognizing the presence and activity of God in our midst. Our ability to see what’s really going on has somehow been compromised. Our capacity for deeper insight has somehow been lost. Our faith imaginations have somehow been dulled. And we think that God is somehow absent.

But of course God is not absent. In our devotions this week we’ll be looking at some of the surprising and unexpected places and circumstances where God’s presence can be seen, a presence that brings great hope to our lives.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Gracious God, thank you for the constancy of your presence in our lives. Open our eyes that we might come to see you more and more, and so draw strength, comfort and immense joy from knowing that we are not alone. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READING

Psalm 139:7 & 8

Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there.
If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

Sunday 26 October - Makabongwe

Weekend Blurb

The BDC is a weekday devotional aimed at anyone and everyone who struggles to keep up with the stressful demands of daily life.

This is why there are no weekend devotions prepared; however look out for your next update which will be this Monday.

Every weekend we will use this space to focus on a different mission project. This is an excellent opportunity to see how many people are striving to make a real difference in this country, and also how you might become involved.



Makabongwe Methodist Pre-School had small beginnings with children sitting on cardboard in Grey Street, Durban. It was the initiative of a group of Christian women who felt that no child should be illiterate.

Today that initiative has grown into a bright, sunny pre-school with premises in Alice Street. Seventy children drawn primarily from the street vendors in the area now have a safe environment to learn play and grow as God intended. These disadvantaged children are given a good grade R education following the National Education Syllabus.

Makabongwe means “Let Him be praised” and we do praise Him for He has indeed blessed this little school.

You can help make a difference by sponsoring a child monthly or a once off donation, thus ensuring a brighter future for the children.

Contact:
Colleen 084209409.
Manning Road Methodist Church 031 202 8262.
Bank details:
Makabongwe Methodist Pre-School
FNB
Account - 50710017936
Branch - 223526

Saturday 25 October - Makabongwe

Weekend Blurb

The BDC is a weekday devotional aimed at anyone and everyone who struggles to keep up with the stressful demands of daily life.

This is why there are no weekend devotions prepared; however look out for your next update which will be this Monday.

Every weekend we will use this space to focus on a different mission project. This is an excellent opportunity to see how many people are striving to make a real difference in this country, and also how you might become involved.



Makabongwe Methodist Pre-School had small beginnings with children sitting on cardboard in Grey Street, Durban. It was the initiative of a group of Christian women who felt that no child should be illiterate.

Today that initiative has grown into a bright, sunny pre-school with premises in Alice Street. Seventy children drawn primarily from the street vendors in the area now have a safe environment to learn play and grow as God intended. These disadvantaged children are given a good grade R education following the National Education Syllabus.

Makabongwe means “Let Him be praised” and we do praise Him for He has indeed blessed this little school.

You can help make a difference by sponsoring a child monthly or a once off donation, thus ensuring a brighter future for the children.

Contact:
Colleen 084209409.
Manning Road Methodist Church 031 202 8262.
Bank details:
Makabongwe Methodist Pre-School
FNB
Account - 50710017936
Branch - 223526

Friday 24th October - Who Are You Becoming?

DAILY BYTE

So what we can learn from this Samson story? What can we learn from the gradual breaking of his vows that eventually resulted in the disintegration of his life? Well, I think we learn that every choice we make really does count. Not just the big, major life choices that we agonise over, but also the small, mundane ones that we often make without even realising. The small ones we make everyday.

They all really count!

Not because God is watching and waiting, ready to pounce on us as soon as we step out of line, but rather because every choice we make ultimately effects WHO we are becoming. For example, if we choose greed in a certain situation, it may not have a huge effect on our character straight away, but it might weaken us so that we too easily choose greed again the next time round.

And if we keep choosing that way, well, we eventually we become what we choose.

C.S. Lewis, in rather raw language in order to make his point, says that everyday through the choices we make we are either becoming a little more of a heavenly creature or a hellish creature. Remember that Samson made his poor choices over a twenty year period before his eventual fall!

Like Samson, we sometimes tend to make our choices based on instant gratification, based on what we lust after or envy in others, based on issues that arise because we have given giftedness undue importance.

In keeping with the generally graphic violence of this story, Samson’s eyes were gouged out when he told Delilah his secret and broke his final vow. Ironically, that which kept causing him to stumble (the power of sight, remember the story repetition: he ‘saw’ and wanted), was eventually lost to him altogether.

Centuries later, there was another miraculous birth of a young leader of Israel named Jesus who stands in stark contrast to Samson. When prophesying about this leader, Isaiah said that he had ‘no beauty or majesty to attract us, nothing in appearance that we should desire him.’ There was not much to envy Jesus about, no obvious good looks or incredible strength. In fact, while on the cross, Jesus was mocked for his lack of strength, he was mocked for the apparent weakness of the cross. The cross is sheer foolishness to some Paul later mused.

Well, the paradox of Jesus is that while he may have been seen as weak and foolish to some, he is actually the strongest and wisest man to ever live. Jesus left us the incredible gift of his character! You know, Jesus once spoke about plucking out our eyes rather than sinning over what we ‘see’ (remember Samson’s fate), but he was not talking about self-mutilation. Instead he was saying that we should be absolutely radical about how we shape our inner worlds with our daily choices. Jesus is saying that our character is more important than any outer body part, so guard your soul at all costs.

For you see, strength is not just the glamour and glory of doing things wonderfully in the public eye. Rather strength is making difficult decisions when there is no one to see or applaud our efforts. Even more than that, strength is making small choices every day, again and again and again, that guards our hearts for Jesus.

And that really is the message of Samson: that what is within is more important that what is without, and that the choices we make everyday is what forms our characters and builds our souls.

And at the end of the day that is what being strong is all about. That’s strength.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord God, it can be very difficult sometimes to make those daily choices that keep us faithful to you and to who you created us to be. However, we know that it is when we recognise our utter dependence on you and acknowledge our own weakness; that your strength can be realised fully within us. And so we pray that you would give us strength to faithfully follow you at all times and in all places. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Philippians 4. 13 NIV

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Thursday 23rd October - Vows

DAILY BYTE

So the story of Samson wasn’t just this darn, good action yarn (which it is by the way), but also had these undercurrents that prompt us to learn from the paradox of the strongest man in the world who actually wasn’t.

Samson was a miracle baby born to a sterile woman. When announcing his birth, an angel declared that Samson must be raised a Nazirite. This meant he should be set apart to God from birth and must keep 3 vows his whole life long. Vow no 1 was that he should never touch a dead body; vow no 2 was that he should drink no wine (and just in case he should eat no grapes or anything else off a vine); and vow no 3 was that he would never cut his hair.

There is nothing especially moral about these promises, but they are important symbols; concrete reminders that someone has devoted themselves to doing something for God.

But for Samson there was a particular reason for these vows. It was as if God was saying, ‘This is to be a way of life for Samson. He is going to need a very strong internal sense of his devotion to me to match his outer strength.’

Perhaps it was exactly because of his incredible giftedness, that Samson more than most, needed the discipline of those vows. They would be part and parcel of building his character, and character of course is what sustains and holds together giftedness.

However, we read that one by one Samson broke these vows. Firstly, by eating honey out of a dead lion (vow 1), secondly by participating fully in a Philistine wedding ceremony (which involved drinking and breaking vow 2), and finally by revealing to Delilah the secret of his hair (vow 3).

Little by little Samson broke his life vows, and almost always in the search for instant gratification. In fact, instant gratification is another big part of this story. Samson had this weakness for good looking women who were inwardly compromised and brought great trouble into his life as a result.

His story has 3 examples of these ‘fatal attractions’ and each time a certain phrase is repeated as if to make a point. Samson is mentioned as having seen a certain woman and then wanting her. For example, he ‘saw’ the Philistine woman and then demanded his parents arrange a marriage. Later he ‘saw’ a prostitute and went to spend the night with her.

Interestingly enough, Samson’s final fall lay in a woman named Delilah whose very name means ‘weakness’! Also, she lived in a valley called ‘Sorek’ which means ‘Grapes’ (remember his second vow).

What kind of a role does instant gratification play in your life? Do you have a problem with ‘seeing and wanting’ things that may not be entirely healthy for you? What kind of role do spiritual disciplines play in your life? Are there any ‘vows’ that you have made to God? Why are these types of vows necessary for you?

PRAY AS YOU GO

Loving God, we want to commit ourselves to following you wholeheartedly. We ask that you would help us to see the importance of spiritual discipline, and the vital role that such discipline plays in the formation of our characters. Help us to see if there are any ‘vows’ that we particularly need to make. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Judges 13. 2-5 MSG

At that time there was a man named Manoah from Zorah from the tribe of Dan. His wife was barren and childless. The angel of God appeared to her and told her, "I know that you are barren and childless, but you're going to become pregnant and bear a son. But take much care: Drink no wine or beer; eat nothing ritually unclean. You are, in fact, pregnant right now, carrying a son. No razor will touch his head—the boy will be God's Nazirite from the moment of his birth. He will launch the deliverance from Philistine oppression."

Wednesday 22nd October - What We Can Truly Admire

DAILY BYTE

Since our culture idolises giftedness to the extent it does, we seem to end up pouring a lot of time and effort into improving our giftedness. But there is one big problem with that … your giftedness is not the most important part about you.

Gifts are good but they are not the greatest good. After all, giftedness is NOT what will sustain us through difficult choices and complex, demanding times.

But character will.

I know that word sounds old-fashioned – character was the kind of quality that our dads or granddads always encouraged us to have. Normally when they were trying to get us to do something we didn’t want to do, ‘don’t worry about having to walk 5 miles through the snow barefoot, it’ll build character!’

But maybe those dads and granddads knew a thing or two. That is, because as we have already said, gifts are not the most important part of us, rather character is. Interestingly enough, the dictionary defines character as ’moral and ethical strength’.

I would want to broaden that definition somewhat but think it important, in the context of these devotions, that the word ‘strength’ is used. Important because it helps remind us of what the story of Samson is trying to say - that the source of true strength lies in areas other than just giftedness.

Character is an almost un-definable mixture of emotional and spiritual solidity, grit and common sense. Character is a word used to describe our habitual tendencies – the way we think, and feel, and intend, and choose. Character is the very core of WHO we are. Character determines our ability to healthily and vibrantly love God, love ourselves, and love others. Character determines how we relate.

Ortberg makes the very interesting observation that as much as we tend to envy giftedness in others, when we meet someone of outstanding character we naturally tend to more admire than envy them.

It is significant that the desire for good character leads more to admiration than envy!

Furthermore, it seems that God’s highest plans for each of us are centred on our character and its development. God’s plan is that we would all be filled with his Spirit, and that we would know the fruits of that filling. If you look at each of the fruits of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; you will notice that they are all character-based qualities.

God’s plan is that we would over a process of time, become more like Jesus, that we would have his character formed in us.

This is God’s highest plan for each of us! God is deeply concerned with WHO we are and with WHO we are becoming; much more concerned than he is with what we can do.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Holy God, we do pray that you would form and shape our characters. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and work freely in our lives so that we may know the fruit of that filling. Make us more like Jesus everyday of our lives. Amen.

FOCUS VERSE

Galatians 5. 22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Tuesday 21st October - True Strength

DAILY BYTE

Yesterday, we learnt that although an initial reading of the story of Samson reads like a fast-paced 80’s action movie, a more careful reading encourages us to learn from the paradox contained in this story: Samson, the strongest man in the world was actually one of the weakest. Samson’s inner world was puny in comparison with his outer, and this led to his eventual collapse.

The story questions our understandings of what it means to be strong and of what strength truly is. And in this, the story challenges us to carefully consider the rather vital difference between character and giftedness. To consider what we ourselves prize and value, emphasise and work on in our own lives.

By giftedness, I mean talents, what we would normally call our ‘strengths’. Examples would be high IQ, business savvy, good looks, artistic talent, good voice, charisma and athletic ability. These gifts all come from God. The bible says that God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. We should be thankful for them when they come our way.

However, in many ways our culture seems to idolise gifts. Giftedness is what gets you famous and onto magazine covers or into movies. Giftedness is what gets you ahead, recognised, noticed. It’s what makes others go ‘wow’!

Like Samson, so many of today’s hero’s are applauded for their giftedness, yet often they don’t seem to have anything of any real, inner substance to offer us.

As we read Samson’s story, we learn a lot about his incredible giftedness. Yet we must never forget that despite these undoubted gifts, Samson’s life was still plunged into turmoil because he did not have enough character (inner strength) to sustain and hold together his gifts.

Gifts are good but they are not the most important part of us!

Spend some time now thinking about your own gifts. Everyone has them – try to make a list of some of them. Ask others to help you if need be. Give thanks to God for them and try to think of ways that you could use your gifts to serve God – remember they have been given to you for a reason!

Also, think about whether or not you confer undue importance onto giftedness? Do you spend a lot of time and energy envying the gifts of others? What does this tell you about yourself?

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord, we know that you are the giver of all good gifts and talents, and so we give thanks to you for them. We ask that you would help us to appreciate our gifts but not to give undue importance to them. Amen.

FOCUS VERSE

Judges 13:24-25 NIV

The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him, and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Monday 20th October - Samson the Weak

DAILY BYTE

I grew up on a non-too healthy diet of 80’s B grade action movies. You know the type I mean ... they were filled with muscle-bound men, co-dependant women and weak plots. The names of these action heroes still just roll off my lips … Seagal, van Damme, Norris, Stallone and of course the king of all action heroes, the main man of main men, the Terminator ... Arnold Schwarzenegger ... now better known as the Governator.

I bring this up because recently I re-read the story of Samson and it brought up powerful feelings of nostalgia for me. Judges 13-16 tells the rather sad tale of this young Judge (leader) of Israel. The plot reads just like one of those 80’s action flicks as it is filled with violence, sex, revenge and at the centre of it all is this larger than life figure who possesses tremendous physical strength and who can take on whole armies single-handedly!

At one point, Samson even rips out his enemy’s city gates from the ground and carries them to the top of a hill 38 miles away! Presumably, he just felt that he needed a bit of a work-out. Clearly, Samson was the kind of guy who could not only kick sand into your face at the beach, but could kick whole beaches into your face!

Yet, a more careful reading of Samson’s story reveals something else to us. Something that may surprise us; especially if the last we remember of Samson is our Sunday school stories. Because if we read this story very carefully, if we look at the way certain ideas are repeated, or at why names with certain meanings are used, then we will see that Samson has actually been portrayed more as an anti-hero than anything else. By this I mean we are meant to learn more from his mistakes then we do from his victories.

Of course Samson is listed in Hebrews 11 as a ‘hero of the faith’ but he is a figure draped in tragedy, and we are meant to learn from this tragedy. So while in an initial reading we may be mesmerised by Samson’s strength and charisma, he was the man women loved and other men wanted to be like, a second, more careful reading, teaches us that Samson is actually one big paradox. He was a man who was so very strong, but was really very weak.

Samson was a man possessing so much physical power that the world was at his feet, yet his core, his inner world, was fragile, leading him to make silly choice after silly choice. He had rippling biceps but a puny soul. And so eventually, Samson’s world collapsed like a pack of cards because he had no inner strength to support him.

The strongest man to ever live … was actually one of the weakest.

Spend some time thinking about this paradox. Can you think of any modern examples of this? What about your own inner life? Do you present a ‘strong outer image’ to the world, and yet really struggle with something within? Spend some time praying about this.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord, we pray that you would help us to learn from the story of Samson this week. Help us to understand his paradox, and in so doing learn for ourselves what strength truly is. Through this week, we pray that you would give us insight into our own inner struggles. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Read the whole story of Samson (Judges 13-16) to help prepare you for the rest of this week’s devotions.

Sunday 19th October - Sizanani

Weekend Blurb

The BDC is a weekday devotional aimed at anyone and everyone who struggles to keep up with the stressful demands of daily life.

This is why there are no weekend devotions prepared; however look out for your next update which will be this Monday.

Every weekend we will use this space to focus on a different mission project. This is an excellent opportunity to see how many people are striving to make a real difference in this country, and also how you might become involved.



Sizanani is the Zulu word for ‘help one another’. This project offers 22 weeks of basic sewing and pattern drafting training to people who are unskilled and unemployed, to enable them to become self employed. The growth of personal dignity, self esteem and spiritual well-being is also encouraged.

The basic course syllabus concentrates on skills like seams, gathering, putting in collars, sewing in zips, buttonholes and facings. The pattern drafting syllabus teaches students how to draft a basic skirt and shirt pattern; how to do variations like flares, pleats, puffed sleeves, etc. The students then design an outfit for themselves, which is modeled at their graduation.

Course costs R1 100.00 and students are provided with everything they need to complete the course. Training is in Zulu.

Sponsorship of a student or a group of students is welcomed.

Enquiries – sizanani@ptnmeth.org.za; Tel 031 7027357

Bank details:

Account Name: PMCMA – Sizanani
Account Number: 133 947 6681
Bank Name: Nedbank
Bank code: 133 926

Saturday 18th October - Sizanani

Weekend Blurb

The BDC is a weekday devotional aimed at anyone and everyone who struggles to keep up with the stressful demands of daily life.

This is why there are no weekend devotions prepared; however look out for your next update which will be this Monday.

Every weekend we will use this space to focus on a different mission project. This is an excellent opportunity to see how many people are striving to make a real difference in this country, and also how you might become involved.



Sizanani is the Zulu word for ‘help one another’. This project offers 22 weeks of basic sewing and pattern drafting training to people who are unskilled and unemployed, to enable them to become self employed. The growth of personal dignity, self esteem and spiritual well-being is also encouraged.

The basic course syllabus concentrates on skills like seams, gathering, putting in collars, sewing in zips, buttonholes and facings. The pattern drafting syllabus teaches students how to draft a basic skirt and shirt pattern; how to do variations like flares, pleats, puffed sleeves, etc. The students then design an outfit for themselves, which is modeled at their graduation.

Course costs R1 100.00 and students are provided with everything they need to complete the course. Training is in Zulu.

Sponsorship of a student or a group of students is welcomed.

Enquiries – sizanani@ptnmeth.org.za; Tel 031 7027357

Bank details:

Account Name: PMCMA – Sizanani
Account Number: 133 947 6681
Bank Name: Nedbank
Bank code: 133 926

Friday 17th October - Summing Up

DAILY BYTE

We could sum up the message of this parable in the following way: If you act like you own the vineyard, if you impose your rules about who shares in it and try to control how it all should be, and if you become greedy and selfish, then your whole world will shrink down into a little patch of land that will almost certainly become blood-stained.

Blood-stained because death will occur – death in relationships, death in community, and death in certain parts of you as well.

So let me ask you a personal question. How are you living right now?

For example, how are you responding to some of the crises that the world and our country are presently facing? Power struggles, corruption charges, economic turmoil, stock market plunges, and the seemingly never-ending spiral of crime and pain and fear.

If you are anything like me then your temptation is to hunch down into your particular patch of vineyard, into the parts of life you feel you can still control. To put up walls and to refuse to reach out in any way. It’s hard enough to keep yourself going most of the time, never mind worrying about others.

But the unrelenting challenge of this parable, repeated in 3 different gospels, is that to do this is actually the worst response we could possibly have. That kind of response only shrivels us up, leaving us angry and desperate, impoverished by our selfishness and fear.

No, keep remembering that all is God’s. As hard as it is to do sometimes, we need to keep trusting that reaching out in Jesus-like love is needed NOW more than ever.

Keep reminding yourself that the vineyard is God’s, and that the greatest way we can express that truth is in radically sharing God’s love with everyone – not just some, and not just those like us who we find easy to love, but even our enemies and those we fear or dislike. If we do that then we will know the fruit of the Kingdom because we will be sharing the fruit of the Kingdom.

And if we do this, then our little corners, our hearts, lives and being, will expand and it will be as if the whole world is our vineyard. Of course it will be shared with many others, but it will be wide and free and full.

Almost always, the message of this parable leaves us feeling angry and challenged. Certainly it caused me to sulk more than a little, and it may well affect you in the same way. With Jesus’ original audience it seemed to have caused enough anger for people to begin plotting his violent death.

But here’s hoping that for all of us who hears its message today, that it becomes for us a source of life.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Loving God, we ask that you would expand our hearts and our lives. Even in these troubled and difficult times, help us to continue reaching out with the very same love you have reached us with. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Matthew 21. 42 NRSV

Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes”?

Thursday 16th October - Let Go and let God

DAILY BYTE

I don’t like hearing the challenge of this parable anymore than you do.

I have resisted and even grown angry over its teaching because it challenges my own selfishness and pride, my fear of what it means to truly love those that I struggle to even like.

I want to sit on the throne of my life, to control it all! I want the fruit of my life and work all for myself, and for those I choose to share it with! There are some people that I just plain don’t want even to try to love, it makes me angry and afraid to even think about having to!

Yet Jesus seemed willing to face any amount of anger or resentment over this challenging message. In fact, he felt so strongly about it that he was willing to die for proclaiming it.

Let me give you an example of just why this is so important. Not so long ago, my wife felt it necessary to have a little talk with me. Many husbands out there would instantly recognise the sheer depth of meaning conveyed in the term ‘a little talk’.

She gently told me that I had, of late, been allowing my stress to pile up, making me grumpy and snappy with her and our children. It was very much like I was allowing myself to shrink down into my little corner of vineyard, getting all selfish and defensive and obsessive. I was never truly giving of myself to my family – even when I was home I was not really present because my mind and attention were constantly on other matters.

In this ‘little talk,’ my wife reminded me that I was worth so much more than that. Not in these exact words but something very like them. She told me that she missed the man she knew me to be – someone usually quick to laugh and slow to stress, someone who was normally much more open and alive to joy and life and love.

It actually took me a couple of days to process our talk because sulking is kind of my spiritual gift. I might even have got a little irritable about it all, I might have snapped something like ‘What do you mean I am easily angered and overly defensive lately?!’ as I stomped out of the room.

In this case, I angrily ignored a messenger graciously sent to me by God.

But as I thought about what she had said, the truth of it all struck me. Humbled me even.

I could no longer be offended over something so true, because there was so much more to me than how I had been living. There was so much more out there for me if I could just begin to open myself up again. If I would just stop frantically trying to control my patch of vineyard.

If I would let go and let God.

PRAY AS YOU GO

God of Hope, we ask that you would constantly send your messengers of grace into our lives, even if their message is challenging enough to make us angry. Keep us from trying to control those parts of life that we really should not be. Once again, we place our lives into your loving hands. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Matthew 21:45-46 NRSV

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

Wednesday 15th October - Silencing the Messengers 2

DAILY BYTE

The reason Jesus told this particular parable is because his authority had been vehemently questioned by opposing religious leaders. Immediately we are given insight that this parable is rooted in authority issues like power and control. Or should I say the illusions that we have regarding power and control.

‘By what authority are you doing these things?’

This parable is about the universal human struggle over ‘who is in charge – of me, of life?’

Who sits on the throne of your life?

Jesus ended his story with a question: ‘What then will the vineyard owner do?’ His audience answered that the owner would take away the vineyard from his tenants and give it to others.

Jesus’ point here is that when we live like this, as if everything is ours, and full of pride and selfishness, then it actually makes God angry. For that’s not how God made us to be; the vineyard, life, faith, everything is NOT ours but Gods!

When we live with this type of attitude, we inevitably begin to mistreat other human beings, we violate community and that is what makes God mad.

For the fruit of God’s Kingdom (or vineyard) is ultimately expressed in loving actions – how we treat others – and this is a challenge or message from God that in all honesty, we often savage, sabotage, stone and violate, both at a personal and community level.

We beat it up and toss it out of our lives because its message is hard to hear and obey.

We ignore both God’s messengers and his Son when we ignore God’s way of being – his love, grace, peace, non-violence and forgiveness – everything that is to do with his Kingdom.

When we fail today to show God’s love to Jews, Muslims, homosexuals, blacks, whites or whoever – then we are ignoring God’s messengers.

When we fail to care for the poor in our midst, or maintain a blissful ignorance of the cries of the oppressed around the world, we are rejecting Jesus.

When we will not embrace our neighbours or our enemies, we are throwing Jesus out of our vineyards in the mistaken belief that it is our right to do so.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Almighty God, show me exactly how I may be violating your call to love. Help me to embrace and love those that I find especially difficult to include and care about. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Matthew 21:23-27

Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you this authority?"
Jesus replied, "I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John's baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?"
They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?' But if we say, 'From men'—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet."
So they answered Jesus, "We don't know."
Then he said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

Tuesday 14th October - Silencing the Messengers 1

DAILY BYTE

Whereas many of Jesus’ parables are difficult to understand – with many different layers and levels of meaning – this one seems so blatantly obvious. The Landowner is God, the messengers are various prophets through the ages, the Son is Jesus, and the wicked tenants are the religious leaders and other power authorities of the day.

Except to settle on such an overtly simplistic understanding misses a very important point. Parables always, I repeat ALWAYS, apply to whoever may be listening to them.

Yes, that includes us thousands of years later. So sure, this parable definitely applied to the religious leaders making up Jesus’ audience – that is how they heard it and they were so angered they began intensifying their plots to kill him. But that does not mean the parable’s meaning is somehow locked up in time and its message no longer applies.

One of the greatest mistakes we make with parables is to listen to them on behalf of others – a friend or family member – never thinking that their hard truth may apply to us in some way. It’s almost like we are not meant to question parables, rather they question us. We don’t get answers from parables but they get answers from us. We don’t interpret parables rather they interpret us.

If we carefully listen to what this parable may be saying to us, its message can become as clear as it was thousands of years ago:

That all too often, we the people of God, SILENCE the messengers of God in order that we may lives our lives the way we want to; in order to pretend that the vineyard is ours to run as we wish.

So often we silence God’s messengers, including the voice of his Son, in order to maintain the lie that it is MY vineyard and that MY vineyard belongs to me.

Above all, this parable calls us to remember who and whose we are!

PRAY AS YOU GO

Gracious God, forgive me for how I may silence your messengers in my life. Give me ears to hear, and humility of heart to obey. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Matthew 21. 34-36 NRSV

When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way.

Monday 13th October - Grapes of Wrath

DAILY BYTE

Matthew 21:33-43 NRSV
‘Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watch-tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’

Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;*this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes”? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.’

This whole week we will be focussing on the above parable, told by Jesus right near the end of his ministry. This is neither a very well known parable, nor is it one that many of us would count as a personal favourite.

Perhaps, it is because the parable is harsh on our ears – it is difficult to hear. Jesus pulls no punches in its telling, and it is far removed from our popular image of Jesus as ‘meek and mild’. So it is not surprising that this vineyard parable ends in anger and judgement (hence the ‘Grapes of Wrath’ title).

Did you know, however, that this parable is only one of 3 that appears in all the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke)? Curiously, some of Jesus best known parables such as that of the Good Samaritan occur only in one Gospel and nowhere else. Only the parables of the Sower, the Mustard Seed, and this one – the Tenants – get repeated in triplicate. It seems the writers of the Gospels felt that no account of Jesus’ life and ministry would be complete without this particular parable being included.

So to ignore it because it leaves us feeling somewhat uneasy would be foolish. God parks it on our doorsteps so insistently for a reason and he will not have us let it go!

This is why we will be spending a whole week wrestling with this unpopular parable. In so doing we may well find that the reason for its unpopularity is because its message is challenging enough to profoundly unsettle us.
Read the parable again, and question exactly how it may challenge your life.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Gracious God, fill us with your Spirit as we wrestle with this parable and open our hearts to humbly hear its powerful challenge. Amen.

Sunday - 12 October - Ethelbert Children's Home

Weekend Blurb

The BDC is a weekday devotional aimed at anyone and everyone who struggles to keep up with the stressful demands of daily life.

This is why there are no weekend devotions prepared; however look out for your next update which will be this Monday.

Every weekend we will use this space to focus on a different mission project. This is an excellent opportunity to see how many people are striving to make a real difference in this country, and also how you might become involved.



Ethelbert Children's Home cares for 60 abused, abandoned and neglected children from various backgrounds and cultures. They come to us frightened and hurting, not knowing who to trust or what security is. We gather them in and start the process of healing, helping them to trust again and to feel secure and cared for. Our aim is to nurture them so that one day they may leave here able to cope with society and become worthwhile citizens, capable of contributing to the world around them.

A donation can be sent to:
Ethelbert Children's Home, PO Box 28119, Malvern, Kwa-Zulu Natal, 4055.
www.ethelbert.co.za

Thank you for caring.

Saturday - 11 October - Ethelbert Children's Home

Weekend Blurb

The BDC is a weekday devotional aimed at anyone and everyone who struggles to keep up with the stressful demands of daily life.

This is why there are no weekend devotions prepared; however look out for your next update which will be this Monday.

Every weekend we will use this space to focus on a different mission project. This is an excellent opportunity to see how many people are striving to make a real difference in this country, and also how you might become involved.



Ethelbert Children's Home cares for 60 abused, abandoned and neglected children from various backgrounds and cultures. They come to us frightened and hurting, not knowing who to trust or what security is. We gather them in and start the process of healing, helping them to trust again and to feel secure and cared for. Our aim is to nurture them so that one day they may leave here able to cope with society and become worthwhile citizens, capable of contributing to the world around them.

A donation can be sent to:
Ethelbert Children's Home, PO Box 28119, Malvern, Kwa-Zulu Natal, 4055.
www.ethelbert.co.za

Thank you for caring.

Friday 10th October - Renew your minds

DAILY BYTE

So what do we do now, in the in-between-times, as we wait for God’s reign of peace? Like Isaiah, as Christians we have, perhaps foolishly, accepted the charge to speak about God’s peace during a time of war. Isaiah never saw God’s peaceable kingdom on earth, and though we proclaim that Christ already reigns, we may never see the culmination of that reign during our lifetime.

Sometimes speaking and living God’s good news will be easy, and sometimes we will minister in what seems to be hell on earth. But Christ has called us to not believe what our eyes have seen or our ears heard. The moment we put our faith in Christ our lives were transformed. Reality has been turned upside down. Everything is backwards. The entire paradigm has shifted; the rules of the game have changed. God is with us! When we witness and experience desperate pain and suffering we don’t just have to cope. We have the far more arduous task of believing that pain will eventually be transformed, that bodies and minds broken by addiction and disease will be healed, even if, like Isaiah, we won’t see it in our lifetimes. It is the belief that death was truly defeated that allows us to work for affordable housing and good preschools, even when we don’t see the results. We don’t know when and we don’t know how and we don’t know why change takes so long. Perhaps the hardest thing we will ever have to do is to watch a lion devour a lamb and to keep the hope alive that God is still with us, that God’s heart is breaking, that what God desires is different, and that peace will come.

In the aftermath of WWII, a scrap of paper was found in the Warsaw Ghetto with these words written on it by an unknown Jew, “I believe I believe I believe with a perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah; in the coming of the Messiah I believe. And even though he tarry, I nevertheless believe. Even though he tarry, Yet, I believe in him, I believe I believe I believe.”

We who believe hope for things yet unseen. We believe that the Messiah has come and we long for his return. We might be hoping and waiting for a long time. We come together as the body of Christ and remember that this mess isn’t the whole story. Addiction and disease and death have not won. The righteous King has come, and He will return.

So let’s renew our minds and our imaginations. Let’s remember that there was a birth that changed everything. The birth that signals that God’s kingdom has come, that death no longer reigns. The birth that is our reality. This is a time of hope! God is with us.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord, open our eyes to your kingdom on earth. Fill us with peace and hope and thanksgiving for your Son Jesus Christ’s birth, life, and death.

SCRIPTURE
Isaiah 11. 9-10

They will not hurt or destroy on my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Thursday 9th October - On the Mount

Daily Byte

My recent trip up Table Mountain in Cape Town was STUNNING—what a beautiful view. We were lucky enough to have a perfectly clear day and we could see for miles and miles. Table Mountain is the “face” of South Africa for many people. Foreigners may not necessarily recognize the Durban beachfront (unfortunately) but a lot of them will recognize Table Mountain.

The Lord’s Holy Mount, though it often seems as elusive as Table Mountain in the winter, is right here among us. Isaiah prophesied that a king would emerge from Jesse’s family and would “stand as signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.” In Romans 15:7-13, Paul explains that Jesus, the ‘stump of Jesse’, is truly that signal of life and hope for all peoples. Early Christians understood that the crucified man Jesus was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Jesus invited all people into the covenant that existed between God and Israel.

Through his life, death and resurrection, Jesus Christ has already fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy. He has called all nations to God. With righteousness he judged the poor and with equity he decided for the meek.

Isaiah’s words have been fulfilled; we know that on the cross Jesus conquered death once and for all. Through that act, we can have faith that the Holy Mount, where there is no hurt or destruction, is our reality. While we wait for the complete renewal of the heavens and the earth we are charged to live life as a signal and a witness of what the Lord has done.

PRAY AS YOU GO
Romans 15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

SCRIPTURE
Isaiah 11:7-8

The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.

Wednesday 8th October - A Backwards Day

Daily Byte

As kids, my brother and I used to have “backwards” day. We would wear our clothes backwards, walk backwards, sit backwards in the car, try to talk backwards - you can imagine how much this pleased our parents!

Backwardness is what Christians are called to. Plain and simple. God chose the weak to shame the strong. God chose the stupid to shame the wise. We have the ultimate example of backwardness in Christ, who, in the face of temptation said no to comfort, security, and power (Matthew 4).

The vision offered by Isaiah is a vision of backwardness. In the midst of war and injustice Isaiah shows the Israelites what God plans for God’s people—a glorious and peaceful future. The order that we think is simply ‘natural’ (fill in what “natural” means for you - predator eats prey, rich are smarter than poor, God helps those who help themselves, etc.) is totally disrupted. On this beautiful, holy mount there is a totally new order. The leopard and the lamb live together in harmony. The lion becomes a vegetarian. Any of us who have been to a game reserve know the backwardness — the absurdity — of that! Life, creation, the world, is what it is - why try to change it? But, Isaiah tells us that this — life as we know —isn’t God’s plan for us.

Isaiah tells us that in God’s plan creation itself will be re-ordered. Everything will be backward. The wolf and lamb will lie down in harmony. There will be no more hunger, no more war, no more hurt. And a little child will lead us all. In chapter 65, Isaiah tells Israel that God will create a new heaven and new earth, where even the most vulnerable — children and helpless animals — will be safe. How very backward.

What would a backwards day look like for you? Would you be on top of the world? Would someone else?

PRAY AS YOU GO

Jesus, help us to see the world and our neighbors as you see them. Thank you for the care you take of the most vulnerable. Teach to share your care and respect.

SCRIPTURE
Isaiah 11:5-6

Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.

Tuesday 7th October - Knowing What's Best

DAILY BYTE

Sometimes we know exactly what’s best for us. For instance, I was certain that seminary was the wrong—absolutely, unequivocally wrong—choice for me about one week after I began classes. But a good dose of stubbornness and an unwillingness to lose already paid tuition made me hang in there. And, ill-fitting though it sometimes seems, the discomfort has turned out to be exactly what I needed.

Have you ever tried to tell someone what was best for them? It’s the worst when you can really see that they are going to make a bad choice. It can be such a frustrating situation.

The prophet Isaiah understood our plight. Most of us know the song, “Here I am, Lord”. It’s a beautiful song relating Isaiah’s response to God’s call. Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And Isaiah said, “Here am I; send me!” What a courageous response! Isaiah, like all of the other prophets in the Hebrew Bible, had a hard job ahead of him. In chapter 6, God instructs Isaiah to prophesy to a people who’s ears would be stopped and who’s eyes would be shut—they wouldn’t know where salvation was if it was standing right in front of them. God’s people would be deaf and blind until their cities were wasted and their land completely desolate. Talk about preaching to a tough crowd!

At the time Isaiah was prophesying, the Assyrian invasion had devastated Israel, destroying everything but Jerusalem. Israel had pestered God for a king so that they might feel safe and be like the other nations, but with a king they found themselves dominated by one foreign power after another. The glory days of David were over and there was no wise Solomon to be found. The poor and needy were the most vulnerable. Isaiah chapter 10 tells us that the ruling elite were issuing iniquitous decrees, writing oppressive statutes, denying the needy justice, robbing the poor and taking advantage of the widows and orphans. Resources were in the hands of a few and housing and medical care were not available to those that most needed it. Sound familiar?

The poem we looked at yesterday about the peaceable kingdom might have been composed around the time of King Hezekiah’s coronation. Many of the visions promise domestic bliss—things that we all hope will come to our country, and which we often have renewed hopes for when a new leader is inaugurated. Israel was just like any other people. They wanted a good king who would have their best interests in mind.
This king, however, was different… Israel thought they knew what was best when they demanded safety through power and military force. God, who really knows what’s best, promised them safety through a king who feared the Lord and protected the meek and lowly.

How might our legitimate and good desires get in the way of what God has in store for us? How might our ears and eyes be shut to the salvation that is being offered?

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord, help us to be open to Your will and Your desires for us. Grant us the ability to see your blessing in the places we least except them. Help us not to get in the way of Your good work.

SCRIPTURE
Isaiah 11:3-4

His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Monday 6th October - Say What?

DAILY BYTE

This week’s devotions have been written by Anne Wagoner, an American seminary student who has also trained as a social worker. Anne recently spent 2 months in South Africa working for a local church during the refugee crisis.

Isaiah 11:1-10
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

The first time I read this passage I thought, WHAT? The wolf will live with the lamb! The lion will lie down with the calf and it will eat straw like the ox! Little children, not even weaned, will play around a cobra’s nest and not be harmed! There will be no more hurting, no more destruction. How wonderful! How lovely! How very far from any reality I’ve ever seen! Where is this Holy Mount?

One of the first things that I learned working as a social worker was that we live in a world absolutely full of hurt and destruction. Our world is a place where human lions do sometimes lie down with human lambs, but forcibly; and where little children do sometimes play around cobra nests, but that’s because they live in sub-standard housing and they are more often than not devastatingly harmed. Do you ever get to the point where you don’t even want to open your newspaper in the morning because you don’t want to see more bad news? Or when you want to limit your children’s freedom and adventure so that you can be sure they are safe? I watched someone be severely beaten over a 25 dollar debt. Two weeks later I watched a police officer physically assault a homeless man. Isaiah’s Holy Mount doesn’t appear to be anywhere nearby. Peace and safety is not our reality.

Or is it?

I recently toured the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. I marveled at the sheer tenacity and - dare I say — foolishness of the opponents of apartheid that were determined to resist non-violently. What kind of hope in peace and God must have existed in those hearts and minds for them to persevere with a mantra of equality and love? To preach love, forgiveness and reconciliation in the face of blind discrimination is either an act of sheer will power or tremendous God-given grace. How do you look at the reality of poverty, abuse, etc, and believe in love?

Christians are called to do just that. We are called apart; to a new way and to a new life. We are called to be in the world but not of it. Like the strong branch that Isaiah tells us rose from the stump of Jesse, we are to judge not as our eyes see or as our ears hear, but to judge and decide with righteousness and equity. God asks us to act with righteousness in a deeply unrighteous world. As Christians, imitators of Christ, we are called to live into a reality that we might not yet see or hear.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord, we know that Christ’s resurrection and triumph over death is our true reality. Through your tremendous grace, teach us to live into that reality even as we live in a deeply broken world.