Journal

I began using a journal this week to enhance my devotional time. I’m using “The Scribe Journal,” which has a very simple outline to guide the user through the process. However, before writing anything down, you need to start by reading. While the journal includes a two-year reading plan in the back, I have continued to use my own schedule. While I spend a good deal of my day doing in-depth Biblical study, I like to read through the entire Scriptures once a year. I’ve used a variety of plans, but I’ve found a 7-days-a-week plan that has me read in four places (Torah/History, Psalms, Prophets, New Testament) works best for me.

After completing my reading, I’m ready to write in the first entry for the day, which is “Scripture.” Here I record a verse of Scripture that particularly spoke to me during the reading. I’ve only used the journal for a short time, but I have already found that the need to choose a single verse causes me to read more deliberately. I read thinking, “If I needed to share an adhoc devotional today, what would I say?” The verses that I have recorded this week are:

• Train yourself for godliness – 1 Timothy 4:7b
• Keep yourself pure – 1 Timothy 5:22b
• The LORD roars from Zion – Joel 3:16
• But Jonah rose to flee – Jonah 1:3a

The second entry in the Journal is “Observation & Interpretation.” In this section, you simply take the verse from the first section and say what it means. I tend to fill this with other passages that the first passage brings to mind. For instance, I read the Jonah 1 passage on the same day I had read from Deuteronomy 1. Both of these passages record people rebelling against the clearly-revealed will of God. My entry in the Journal focused on that aspect of Jonah and while it isn’t a thorough exegesis of the passage, it is what the Holy Spirit emphasized to me. On other occasions I will address the original language, or theology.

The third section in the Journal is “Application.” Here you take the observation and interpretation and describe the lesson for you and how that truth integrates into your life and thinking. On the day I read the passage in Joel, our world was being torn apart by racial violence, politics, and COVID-19. I needed the joy and peace that only the Lion of the Tribe of Judah could bring. I used this section to remind myself that while the battle still rages, the war is won.

The fourth section in the Journal is “Prayer.” The sections are all self-explanatory and simple. However, the particular prayer that I record is what flows from the verse, interpretation, and application. On the day the Scripture was 1 Timothy 5:22b, I wrote: “Lord I come as a beggar seeking what you alone possess and can supply: wisdom, joy, peace, and holiness. Give me victory of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. Keep me from evil and the evil one.”

The final two sections are intended to be addressed in the evening. The fifth section is “Memory Verse.” The journal suggests a verse, but I chose to use one of my own selection. All that you do in this section is write out the verse, the same verse, every day of the week. The idea is that by the end of the week you will have this verse memorized. It’s a great practice to return your focus to the Scriptures at the close of day. The final record of the day is: “Today I’m thankful to God for . . . .” The entry here causes you to pause at the close of a day and “see the glass half full” in a world that wants to only see “the glass half empty.” I have written things such as: Grace, the love of my family, His Church and His church.

While the sections are simple and you could abscond with the outline without buying the Journal, the physical journal itself is very nice. Additionally, at the end of the week there is a separate section with another outline to promote a weekly reflection. If you want that weekly section, as well as all of the material at the beginning and the end of the Scribe Journal, then buy it. My advice is buy one, and buy a good pen. Make the experience something you look forward to. I find great benefit from writing slowly and deliberately. The computer is a great tool but it has adverse effects as well. I find that my hand-written thoughts come from a deeper reflection than those that flow so quickly from the keyboard. It is a good thing to unplug from the whirl of life and write what the Holy Spirit directs you to write, without distraction. Having the physical journal is a reminder. A reminder of your need to spend time with the Lord. A reminder of time well spent.

Imago dei

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. – Genesis 1:26,27 ESV

In the past several weeks, there have been at least two incidents in the news that related to the death of a black man. I condemn the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and the death of George Floyd in Minnesota with every moral fiber of my being. I also don’t believe that the racial profile of the one killed and the one doing the killing is a coincidence. Far too often our skin color predisposes our thinking and judgment in such circumstances. As Christians, we need to see past such fleshly (how ironic I use that term) filters. My plea is for wisdom—that we see this world from God’s perspective and act accordingly. That we acknowledge that God alone defines truth, goodness, and beauty.

God created man in His own image: male, female, white, black. Regardless of any other details, two humans created in the image of God have had their lives taken from them. The sixth commandment, Exodus 20:13, “Thou shalt not murder,” is rooted in the fact that man is made in God’s own image. Murder is a direct attack against His image (imago dei). I grieve for the individuals, but as with every sin, I grieve for God. Every sin is ultimately against Him. God loved the world, the whole world, and sent His Son to be a propitiation for their sin. Jesus’ life is the value God places on those made in His image, even while they were yet sinners. That is God’s wisdom. He calls for His disciples to go to all the world and declare that reality, for God intends those from every kindred, tongue, nation, and people to enter His kingdom.

Christians will fight for the right of the unborn, and rightfully so. Christians will fight to protect our elderly from euthanasia, and well we should. How hypocritical it would be for us to tolerate such deaths. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus takes this argument a step further. If any man is angry with his brother, Jesus affirms, that man is guilty of murder. Will we be so disingenuous as to propose that there is no culpability in the area of race?

Furthermore, we don’t know the spiritual condition of either of these men. Let me hypothetically suggest that neither of these men had been confronted with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me hypothetically suggest that neither of them had been reborn into the family of God. I pray that this isn’t true, and that even now these men are in God’s presence and enjoying paradise. If not, then their killing has cast them out into a Christ-less eternity in hell. Certainly that isn’t an implication that was likely considered in the heat of the moment. The implications of taking the life of another are eternal and profound.

I’m writing because I’m outraged, as every human being should be. I’m writing for Christians to confess their sin. I’m writing for Christians to repent. I’m writing for Christians to have wisdom in how they respond to others who were made in the imago dei.

Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book presents a very sobering view of the implications of technology on our culture. While the author may present a bit of a one-sided view, it is one that few others reveal. In a world that is so pro-technology, a voice saying “Hey wait, have you really considered what effect this has?” is vital. The corporate world, educators, parents, and the Church (and anyone using technology) should read and consider the arguments that Ms. Turkle shares. This book should be distributed with every new cell phone sale. While some might disagree with her, her perspective is worthy of full consideration.

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Some timely wisdom from R. Kent Hughes that is particularly relevant to our current national situation and the response of freedom loving Christians:

Furthermore, praying “Your kingdom come” involves a commitment to do God’s will. Matthew’s record of the Lord’s Prayer expands this phrase: “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (6:10). To pray “Your kingdom come” is to pray for the bending of our wills in profound obedience to his. It is a commitment to consciously submit everything to his authority.

This is not a prayer for people who want to stay the way they are. When we pray like this, we hand ourselves over to the grace of God so that he may do as he pleases in our lives—“Your kingdom come in my life. Use me in your kingdom!”
While it is easy to pray for the future, eschatological kingdom and rule of Christ, it is quite another thing to pray for his present kingdom rule in our hearts. This is especially difficult for us moderns, for our culture has fostered a rebellious “submit to no one” spirit. Marriages fall apart because spouses have never submitted to anything or anyone unless they wanted to. Children are taught to question authority. Students reject teachers’ authority. Employees chafe under the authority of employers. And so it goes with citizens in regard to laws and government, and with believers in regard to the church.

Add to this the modern anti-authority malaise, the uniquely American worship of independence and individualism, the “Don’t tread on me,” “Security by Smith and Wesson” attitude, and we have a potent recipe for a profound inability to truly submit to any authority, even that of Christ himself. This is why so many moderns have no kingdom power. You cannot enjoy a kingdom unless you are submitted to the king.

Let us pray — “Your kingdom come, your will be done. . . “

What perspective governs your life?

Continue Steadfastly in Prayer

Perhaps there is no more challenging portion of the Christian’s devotional life than regular personal-devotional prayer. Recently while preaching through Luke 4 and considering Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness, I was reminded of why. Jesus’ first temptation was to turn stones into bread. Later in Jesus’ ministry, he would create bread from far less than stones. Certainly the act in and of itself wasn’t the issue. The issue was for Jesus to take this action independently from the Father’s direction and apart from the Spirit’s authority. In short, Jesus was tempted to “do it his own way.” It is this same temptation that unravels our prayer life.

Jesus was able through the Spirit and by the Word to repulse this temptation. While empowered as a child of God for this victory, we often fail because we succumb to this temptation. It isn’t a predetermined choice (i.e., “I refuse to pray”). Instead, life just gets away from us, and we roll along doing our thing our own way. We know that we are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes 5:17); we know we are to “continue steadfastly in prayer” (Col 4:2). But it just isn’t a priority. It escapes us. As we forgo prayer, our perspective of life, ourselves, and our God is shaped into an increasingly un-Biblical form.

In Colossians 4:2, Paul writes, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” While the admonition in this verse is clear and convicting, the subsequent instruction is key to prayer success. First, we are to be “watchful”—vigilant, alert. We fail to pray because we fail to recognize the danger that we face. Men in a foxhole in war are given to prayer; it isn’t something they easily forget. Why? Because they recognize that their lives are threatened. We forget that every day of our lives is a battle of far more significance than those fought with guns and bombs. Our enemy is more severe, his weapons more deadly, and the consequences personally and corporately much further reaching. Yet we prayerlessly wander blindly across the battle field. Jesus calls us to be alert, sober-minded in the face of this danger. Failure in prayer comes from a failure to be watchful.

Secondly, Paul tells us that this is to be “watchful in [prayer] with thanksgiving.” Not only do we fail in the watchfulness; we also fail in the thanksgiving. The watchfulness places us in a proper perspective as to our present situation. The thankfulness places us in a proper perspective as to our past. Let us not forget that our God reigns and that we have proof, as manifest in his ongoing grace. Our flesh is not only blind to the present danger but also forgetful of that past grace. Viewing his past, man thinks, “Look how well I’ve done to this point,” and fails to see the sovereign hand of a gracious God that has superintended each step. Thanksgiving reminds us that it is not of ourselves but of God that we have made this journey along the straight and narrow way. Failure to pray comes from a failure to be thankful.

Fellow sojourner, “continue steadfastly in prayer.” Recognize your own impotence and the power that is ours in Christ Jesus. Prayerfully recognize your present plight and powerful Deliverer. Rejoice in his grace with thanksgiving. Proceed forward with hope.