Because He Died

Genesis 3:19 (NIV)
Ash Wednesday

¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow

you will eat your food

until you return to the ground,

since from it you were taken;

for dust you are

and to dust you will return.”  

Last year this time, Pastor Brodie wrote a devotion for Ash Wednesday. I am using part of that writing here for us to consider and take in as we begin this journey once again. This season is a time to examine ourselves, and our lives together in the Body of Christ. It is a time when many of us try to do something good. Some will give up a favorite food or drink in remembrance of Jesus giving up His life for us. Others will take on a new practice. Perhaps more prayer, improved family time, reading our Bible regularly, or serving others.

The key is to continue these practices after Lent. To carry on with the new behaviors we adopted and see how close we can draw to Jesus and to one another.

"Ash Wednesday is the day that we linger with the bad news instead of rushing to proclaim the Good News. The Good News is so good because the bad news is so bad. Sin will run its course, these human bodies will turn to dust one day, we were made from dust and to dust we will return.

Forty-six days from now we will proclaim the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection. Until then let us not forget…we were made from dust and to dust we shall return."  --  Pastor Brodie Taphorn

                                                            

Additional reading for today: Mark 9:33-37

Don't Hide, but Seek

Was there a time you were a slave to your life? Before you knew Jesus, did you feel trapped by your lifestyle? Sin will do that. If we are honest with ourselves, we can all admit this. I know that I was a prisoner to so many things because of my captivity; my unholy lifestyle. And, lest you begin guessing this lifestyle, anything not based on a faith in and love for Jesus, us unholy.

But, now that I believe and I love Jesus, I am free. This freedom comes at a price. Jesus' death was the ultimate price-tag. As I learn to accept my salvation and repent, I find freedom I never experienced before. Trusting Jesus and submitting my worries and fears to His care has provided indescribable freedom.

For instance, I had a business that failed and creditors were pursuing me day and night. I was afraid to go to the mailbox, to answer the phone. I lived in a perpetual state of worry. Until one day, I gave it all up to Jesus. I admitted I could not do anything about my situation and I begged for His help. Jesus did not make it go away, I had created the situation and needed to work through it. But, He showed me how to face up to it and quit hiding.  That was almost 30 years ago, but a lesson I never forgot.

You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
    therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
    by anointing you with the oil of joy.  Psalm 45:6-7

Holiness means sin has no place anymore.  Running and hiding from my problems was sin. In the message I heard at church today by Brodie Taphorn, he said, "To enter Jesus' kingdom isn't where we go to hide, but where we go to participate in taking ground from the enemy. I know the enemy was not happy when I submitted to Jesus' and His will. But I know I was ecstatic, and I still am today.

Hebrews 1:1-9

The Life Changing King

Mark 7:1-23

Religious people have predictable patterns. The whole identity of God’s people, in Jesus day, was, “we are not like other people…” It is predictable that God’s people will have a proclivity to draw clear lines of who is in and who is out so that they can feel good about their ‘in-ness’ and better than people who are on the ‘out list’.

There was plenty of Law to follow; Moses’ teaching was revered, and at different points, added to. Jesus pushes back against these ‘traditions’ and even voids part of the cherished Law of God’s people. It is not your traditions that make you ‘clean’, it is not even your rigorous adherence to the dietary Laws. It is not what goes in that makes you ‘clean’ it is what comes out that makes you ‘unclean’. 

Therein lies the problem…all the stuff that comes out of our lives…now what do we do?

Read this passage several times and then spend some time with the following questions, make this a time of prayerful examination and repent of anything that comes to mind: Lord, am I living in obedience or am I using traditions as a way to avoid following Your law? 

Am I thinking about the sins of others too much and too little about the sin that is within me? End your time with this prayer, “Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Amen.”

                                                                           Pastor Brodie Taphorn

Jesus’ death purifies us

ApriL  15

Read Zechariah 13:7-9 and reflect on the passage.

Holy Saturday is as dark as it gets. Jesus is dead, in the grave, all hope has evaporated. It does not get darker than Holy Saturday.

But it is “Holy” Saturday because it is not as if darkness, pain, or suffering has no value. As is the case with all kinds of suffering, on the other side of the pain is a holiness that would not be realized otherwise.

I cannot think of anything I have ever done that was worthwhile that did not have some kind of discomfort associated with it. The refining that is spoken of in this passage in Zechariah is no different. Only one third make it through the trial, and for them it is just the beginning. After the trial comes the refining, which although painful, makes things pure—or rather, holy.

On Holy Saturday, the disciples of Jesus probably felt as if all was lost. For them, the trial was over and the refining had just begun. The result: a holiness that could not have been attained apart from the trial and refining process.

Questions

1. What has the trial and refining process looked like in your life?

2. Are you willing to endure refinement to experience holiness on the other side?

Prayer

Father, help me endure trials and refinement so that I can be purified.

—Brodie Taphorn

Nebuchadnezzar destroys the temple

 March 30

Read 2 Kings 25:8-15 and reflect on the passage.

It hurts when our rebellion catches up to us. When the lies get exposed—no more wheeling and dealing to be done—all that is left is to endure the shame of our sins ripened and harvested. That was the case for the nation of Israel in this passage in 2 Kings. All is lost, King David’s dynasty came crashing down—the Temple, the palace, all the important buildings, the wall around Jerusalem—the sin of a nation had ripened and the Babylonians had come to harvest.

These are some of the darkest days—when our sin has caught up with us, and the consequences of our misdeeds can no longer be ignored. I can only imagine the despair the nation felt on that day.

But that is not the end of the story. God brings another descendant of David to sit on the throne. God’s redeeming character cannot be suppressed forever—not then, and not now. The Scriptures say, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Our God is a redeeming God—even when things seem the most dire, God has a plan to redeem those He loves.

Questions

1. If God rescues His people in their worst moment, is there any reason why He would withhold that same love from you?

2. When you feel like things could not get any worse, where do you put your hope?

Prayer

Father, in my darkest days, please do not let Your promises of redemption depart from me. Remind me of the hope I have in You.

—Brodie Taphorn

David does not see his own sin

March 14

Read 2 Samuel 12:1-10 and reflect on the passage.

It is tough when the average Joe Makes a Big Mistake; but when a leader falls the ramifications are felt all the more. That was the case with Israel’s “Golden Boy,” the man after God’s own heart—King David. We know from the text that things were turning down a dark path when David does not go with the army to fight in the spring. The idle time did him no good and he finds himself making huge compromises and breaking multiple commandments. David even has one of his dearest friends murdered to cover up his sin. This was not David’s best day.

But by God’s grace, he is confronted by one of the Lord’s prophets. Nathan tells David a story of a rich man who robs a poor man of a prized possession. Even in David’s sinful state he knows the gravity of the offense and pronounces capital punishment for the rich man. That is when Nathan turns the tables on the king—David is the rich man in the story, and he is the one who ought to “pay.”

If not for God’s forgiveness, this “man after God’s own heart” would have had to pay a debt he could not afford.

Questions

1. Have you done something that you know is wrong that needs to be confessed?

2. Will you ask God to search your heart and remove every unclean thing?

Prayer

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior: have mercy on me, a sinner. Amen.

—Brodie Taphorn

God is not dependent on our service to Him

January 3

Scripture Reading

Read Acts 17:24-28 and reflect on the passage.

Hard work is a value that my parents modeled and instilled in my brother and I. We look back on our childhoods and laugh at how my parents took their hard work values (sometimes) to the extreme. My brother and I remember many days, working outside with my dad, thinking we were making a real difference—I think I just made a bigger mess! 

I can remember when our kids were young and we used to let them “help” us; working side by side was a beautiful thing, even if their contribution meant more for us to clean up. As a parent I delight in seeing my children work hard even if their hard work does not affect my bottom line.

God does not need anything from us. He does not need us to build Him a temple or any other house. He is the Giver and we are the receivers. Not that our work does not matter, it does—it just does not supplant God as the Maker of all things.

Questions

Consider these statements as you reflect on the text today:

1.      “God help me to remember that You are the creator of all things.”

2.      “Help me to realize just how close You are to me.”

Prayer

God, You are our Father and we are Your children. Help us realize just how close You are… let us not miss anything You want to give us.

—Brodie Taphorn 

God is Powerful

 November 29

Scripture Reading

Read Joshua 3:14-17; 4:10-24 and reflect on the passages.

My family loves to go to new places. Whenever we go someplace new, we have made it our practice to find a magnet that we can put on our refrigerator so that every time we open the refrigerator door it reminds us of some family adventure. Many times when I was grabbing milk or filling up a water glass my eyes fell on one of our vacation-refrigerator-magnets and I smiled—remembering something particular about that special event in the life we are making together.

Our vacation-refrigerator-magnets are physical reminders of experiences we do not want to forget. In Joshua’s day the nation of Israel was not on some family vacation, rather they were locked into survival mode and they needed to daily rely on God’s provision for daily bread, provision, and direction.

Stopping the Jordan river during flood stage was the kind of God-sized miracle you would not want to forget. Piling up the 12 stones in Gilgal was the “vacation-refrigerator-magnet” that stood as a lasting memory of how God cares for His dear people.

Questions

1.     So what are the events in your life that demonstrate God’s power for you?

2.     What can you do to remind yourself of what God has done?

Prayer

Father, You have demonstrated Your power, provision, and love to me in many ways. Help me to always remember Your faithfulness.

—Brodie Taphorn