Your COMPASS for the Journey…on the PATH of Discipleship | Jan 16-22, 2011
Posted by Isaac Butterworth | Filed under Discipleship, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation
Your COMPASS for the Journey on the PATH of Discipleship is a daily resource designed to help you find direction in your walk with Christ. It includes a ‘Compass’ (a daily reading), a ‘Map’ (a brief comment to aid your understanding of the reading), and an application section called ‘Journey.’
Saturday, January 22, 2011 YOU ARE MINE —————————————-
Compass :
Isaiah 43:1-3a ‘Fear not, for…you are mine.’
1 But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior….’
Map :
God compares our adversity in this life to passing through deep, rushing waters and through blazing fire — not bad analogies! But God says, in the midst of all such threats, ‘I will be with you.’
Journey :
When we feel overwhelmed by the events of life (as in a flood) or circumstances seem to consume us (as in a fire), God says he will be with us. We cannot always feel him near; it’s then that we have to take him at his word. Faith is believing even when we cannot see.
Tomorrow: Presentable to Christ
Friday, January 21, 2011 ALL FOR THE GOOD —————————————-
Compass :
Romans 8:28-30 ‘…In all things God works for the good….’
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Map :
God has already charted our destiny: we are ‘to be conformed to the likeness of his Son’ (v. 29). This is not only a ‘good’ thing; it is the best thing! And God will use every experience to make it happen.
Journey :
What are you going through right now that makes you wonder whether even God can bring any ‘good’ out of it? How would you experience it differently if you believed God was using it to make you like Jesus?
Tomorrow: You Are Mine
Thursday, January 20, 2011 PEACE DESPITE TROUBLE —————————————-
Compass :
John 16:31-33 ‘…Take heart! I have overcome the world.’
31 “You believe at last!” Jesus answered. 32 “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Map :
As Jesus is saying his last farewell to his disciples before his death the next day, he alerts them to a coming time of ‘trouble’ (v. 33). But, ‘in me,’ he says, ‘you may have peace.’ The world may against you, he says, ‘but take heart! I have overcome the world.’
Journey :
How would your life be different if you chose not to be surprised by trouble in all its forms, but, rather, chose to see each setback as an opportunity to witness Christ’s power to keep you in his peace? Write out your answer to this question. Then ask God to help you make that choice.
Tomorrow: All for the Good
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 A FIRM STAND —————————————-
Compass :
1 Corinthians 15:50-58 ‘…Your labor in the Lord is not in vain.’
50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Map :
The Apostle Paul points us to the ultimate future, when ‘the trumpet will sound…and we will be changed’ (v. 52). At that time, ‘the saying [in Isaiah 25:8] will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory”’ (v. 54). With this assurance, we can ‘stand firm’ and ‘give [ourselves] fully to the work of the Lord’ because we know our ‘labor in the Lord is not in vain’ (v. 58).
Journey :
Pause to imagine that day when you will ‘be changed,’ your mortal body clothed with immortality. How can your vision of that future motivate you in the present to avoid feeling that your efforts are futile and, instead, ‘stand firm’?
Tomorrow: Peace Despite Trouble
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 THE LONG HAUL —————————————-
Compass :
Hebrews 12:1-3 ‘…Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.’
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Map :
‘We are surrounded by…a great cloud of witnesses’ — people who have gone before us and cheer us on. So, as we run the race, we are to ‘throw off everything that hinders,’ including entangling sin, and run with perseverance.
Journey :
To ‘persevere’ means to ‘remain under’ the pressures of living a faithful life. Jesus also ‘endured’ under pressure (the same Greek word — to ‘remain under’ — is used for ‘perseverance’ and ‘endurance’), and he is not only ‘the author’ but also ‘the perfecter of our faith.’ He will help us to ‘remain under’ our trying circumstances until he uses them to perfect our faith.
Tomorrow: A Firm Stand
Monday, January 17, 2011 UNJUST SUFFERING ————————————
Compass :
1 Peter 2:19-24 ‘…He entrusted himself to him who judges justly.’
19 For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
22 “He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
Map :
Like Peter’s first readers, we often experience unjust treatment — sometimes when we’re doing the right thing. Peter reminds us how Jesus also suffered unjustly. But, instead of retaliating, he ‘entrusted himself to him who judges justly’ (v. 23).
Journey :
Take thought this week of those times when you are wrongly accused or treated unfairly. Ask for grace not to retaliate but to endure each instance with a forgiving spirit. Do this not to let the other person ‘get away’ with anything but so that your endurance may be ‘commendable before God’ (v. 20).
Tomorrow: The Long Haul
Sunday, January 16, 2011 GRACE SUFFICIENT —————————————
Compass :
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 ‘…When I am weak, then I am strong.‘
7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Map :
What attitude do we take toward our weaknesses? What do we do when we experience hardship or when people insult us? Paul said that he delighted in such things! Was he out of his mind? No, he was putting his trust in God, who told him, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’
Journey :
This week, pay attention to how you react to bad experiences, especially when you have no control over the situation. Then, in your weakness, practice relying on God’s grace and power to sustain you.
Tomorrow: Unjust Suffering
Photo Credit: ‘Morro Strand State Beach’ by Mike Baird
