Pentecostal Devotions

An Obedience of the Heart

by Neil Castro

What is obedience? Is it to simply do what God’s word commands, or could there be more to it? I would say the latter. Doing God’s will involves more than just the physical action of obedience but includes an interior desire and will to do so. In one of the pre-readings for Personal and Public Ethics, Spohn mentions that Jesus doesn’t call for a behavioural change but for a change of heart and identity. He goes on to say that external obedience to commands was not enough but that specific dispositions of the heart that produces a more profound obedience.

Matthew 7:16 says that “you can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit.” The fruit we bear depends on the roots. Put it this way, if I wanted to get apples in my backyard, I can’t get them from my lemon trees, as they only produce lemons. If I wanted to change the fruit, then I would need to get to the roots.

Like fruit, our actions and lives cannot be changed by trying to change our behaviours. What needs to change is the roots, in other words, what goes on in the inside of our hearts. If all we did was try to change what we do or hope that the Holy Spirit would change the way we act, then we would probably end up frustrated and find ourselves failing in the long run. What matters is a desire to change the motives, intentions and attitudes of our hearts. If we get these roots right, then we will bear fruit that is according to the nourishment and growth of those roots. Understand the reasons why God wants us to be a certain way or do certain things.  Our obedience should not be grounded on the external outcome of our lives, but the internal happenings of our hearts. If we really want our lives to change with what we do and how we live, then we need to have that change occur on the inside first by the grace of God and the power of his Spirit. We would do well to not think that we just need to do the right thing according to God’s word, but to have His word work in our hearts and minds first. Maybe it would be better to not just ask ourselves “what would Jesus do?” in order to simply imitate him by his life and actions, but to seek his very heart in our decisions and lifestyle. 

Turning from Wickedness, Turning to God

by Rowena Giunta

‘If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves,

and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways,

then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.’ (2 Chronicles 7:14)

The history of God’s people is beautifully portrayed by the Chronicler. As he attends to the details and ensures factuality he concurrently exhorts and encourages, reminding the exiles of the surety of Gods faithfulness. God had not forgotten them, the promises given to David were still valid and the future was brimming with hope and possibility.

These ancient words and their overall message are equally as pertinent for our current generation as they were for Ezra and his kinsmen. God longs for us to be reassured regarding his faithfulness and the integrity of that which he has pledged, He longs for us to humbly draw near to Him, to seek His face and call upon His name. Moreover, toward that end, he has afforded us salvation through the incredible sacrifice of his one and only son, through whom we receive forgiveness and limitless grace, an open door that leads to bountiful blessing. His entreaty resounds, beckoning us to come; the promises of God, the hope, the possibilities…..all await our response.

But there is more to this timeless passage of scripture. There is a catch. Although God beseeches the reader to turn toward Him He simultaneously reminds us that there also needs to be a turning away. In doing so it appears He has placed a caveat on the relationship.

God implores us to turn from our wicked ways. 

To avail ourselves of the blessings and safety intrinsic in this relationship with God we must turn away from the sin that so pitifully encumbers us. It is non-negotiable. Yes, God’s faithfulness is unchanging and His promises are sure, but our sin, our iniquitous ways, divorce us from these possibilities. What makes this entreaty all the more riveting is the fact that it is directed toward those who know God. These verses in the second book of Chronicles follow a brilliant description of the extraordinary ‘revival’ that unfolded as Solomon opened the doors of the newly built temple. These people had just spent more than twenty days in the temple worshipping God 24/7 and still God beseeches them regarding their actions! Attending church and calling upon God was not adequate, they still needed to change their habitual behaviours, to let go of the wickedness that littered their lives. We too must do likewise.

Allowing God’s Love to Change the Dispositions of Our Heart

by Priscilla Richardson

Reflecting on the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), we can draw out the focus of virtue ethics on the inner disposition and motivation of the heart. It is very easy to see the prodigal son’s disposition of heart – he wanted the rights of his inheritance and took off with it with selfish ambition. But we know he came to the end of this disposition and as he remembers his home experience of the Father’s care even for his servants, he comes to his senses and is prepared to confess his sins and return home as hired help, giving up sonship in the light of his father’s kindness towards others.

But the father’s identity was consistent as a virtuous man of kindness and showed even deeper levels of virtue beyond the son’s expectation of compassion and grace, unmerited favour in restoring his son as a full heir.

This example of virtue transformed the son outwardly, and one hopes that this revelation of the father’s love would change the son’s inner disposition of heart to become a compassionate son with gratitude, that the son would become like his father.

The challenge for the prodigal son now would be to show compassion towards a bitter, jealous brother who is in need of knowing the state of his own heart.

The challenge for us all is to know the state of our own hearts and in light of knowing our Father through Jesus’ love and compassion, to go deeper in our heart response to live and reflect this disposition of grace towards ourselves and others.

Ethics and the God of Peace

by Joshua Ballard

In the study of ethical systems, and moral qualities of actions and consequences, it is easy to forget the reality of the nature of the Holy and the Evil. It sounds contradictory that in the very study of ethics we could lose sight of the realities being displayed through our discussions.

In reflection on a moral issue presented as a type of benchmark concept for measuring ethical systems, we seem to forget that issues of right or wrongness tend to presuppose that something is in fact wrong. Controversially, I find semina verbi in Lao Tzu’s statements on ethical constructs:

When the people of the world all know beauty as beauty,

There arises the recognition of ugliness.

When they all know good as good,

There arises the recognition of evil.

Lao-Tzu taught that only when righteousness is lost, the doctrines of propriety arose. The fact that we need to ask the questions of ethics should be a solemn reminder that we are in fact living within a lost-righteousness state. Indeed, even the ethical dilemmas that the villagers of Le Chambon-sur-lignon faced would not even have to be made. In this Chinese philosopher’s teaching, we can see a clue to understanding and answering the questions of right and wrong; and biblically it is found in Philippians 4:8-9:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me--practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Meditation on ethics as a key to peace? Yes. If something is wrong, then there is an implication of an “ought to rightness”. If there is an ought to rightness, then there is ultimately a God who defines what that rightness is. If this God is…then we can have hope in a God who is working towards restoration of the intended order. We don’t necessarily need to know all the details of what that intended order is, but simply that God is moving us towards it. This results in the God of peace being with us.

The Sum of Habit?

by Nick Mogensen

I encountered an interesting concept whilst reading an article on Virtue Ethics by William Spohn (Virtues, Practices and Discipleship, New York, Continuum Press) – the idea that heart virtue is formed by good habits. As we deliberately commit regular time to an activity – such as study of the Bible, Christian service or prayer – that activity becomes an instituted habit. These very habits in our lives contain power to transform the essence of our character in a kind of “outside-in” process.

Take the spiritual practice of prayer. The process of building habitual prayer into our lives is not automatic. Prayer may begin formal and mechanical, the time we devote to it burdensome. Our motivation to pray, at least to some degree, is selfish. But, as time progresses, gradually prayer ceases to be a forced activity and grows into an unquestioned habit that is part of the matrix of our life. It is at that point that heart transformation occurs. As we learn to talk intimately with God in the language of friendship, we experience God’s response to us through His word, people, the miraculous. Our life is reoriented and focused wholeheartedly on Him. It is not that we pray to become humble, loving, joy-filled or patient (Galatians 5:22-24), but these virtues and much else besides are fashioned in our hearts due to a practice of dedicated focus on God.

This is fascinating, because from our hearts we respond to the world around us (Luke 6:43-45). Our hearts are the basis of activity, such as moral decision and action. And by our actions we are known to be Christian (James 2:18).

Obedience forms godly habits in our lives (Psalm 119:1-3). These habits affect the disposition of our hearts, changing us under the power and direction of His Spirit. The challenge is for us to be disciplined, instilling in our lives and hearts the habits that will help us be transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29).

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

by Shane Clifton

I have held the hand of a devil

It was warm in the night

I was cold as a stone

But I still haven't found

What I'm looking for

But I still haven't found

What I'm looking for

I believe in the Kingdom Come

Then all the colors will bleed into one

bleed into one

But yes I'm still running.

You broke the bonds

And you loosened the chains

Carried the cross

And my shame

And my shame

You know I believed it

But I still haven't found

What I'm looking for

But I still haven't found

What I'm looking for

I have climbed the highest mountains

I have run through the fields

Only to be with you

The above lyrics are from U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”  One of my most annoying experiences as a young Christian was, after being informed of the evil’s of rock music, being encouraged to burn my U2 records (and later in life having to repurchase them).  At issue was not only the supposedly evil beat of rock music, but the fact that U2 had not found what they were looking for, even in the cross.

Two decades later, I confess I resonate with the spirit of U2’s song more than I do with the certainty of dogmatic and fundamentalist Christianity.  Like U2, I have spoken in tongues and held hands with the devil, and I know he has carried the cross of my shame.  Yet I am equally certain that I have not found all that I am looking for - there is more that God has to do in my life, and more have him yet to be discovered. 

Bono’s words resonate with the much earlier prayer of St Paul, who wanted the church to be able to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know the love that surpasses knowledge.  There is an inherent contradiction here - St Paul desires that we seek to know that which is beyond knowledge.  It is this tension that stands at the ground of all study of theology and Christian ethics (the two disciplines I am teaching this semester).  In theology we confront the tension that we are studying to learn about the one who is beyond description.  In ethics we confront the problem that we are called to make right choices in the face of sometimes conflicting ethical norms.  In each case we can say that in the gospel we have discovered the Kingdom of God but, at the same time, there is so much more to know.

The same is true of spiritual disciplines.  We pray to the God we have come to know and seek his wisdom for daily living, confident of His ability to reveal Himself to us through His Word in the power of the Spirit.  At the same time we come before him humbly, knowing that we only catch a glimpse of God (dimly, as in a mirror).  Since this is the case, we are reminded to remain humble (in our theology and our morality), and are encouraged to continue seeking, knowing that the search for God yields limitless fruit - there is always more to know and receive.

Lawfulness and Love

by Deborah Taggart

Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shrivelled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shrivelled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone."

Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent.

He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus (Mark 3:1-6).

As we discussed in our class scenarios last week, often in life we will have to face a conflict of two (or more) values. It is then our system of ethics that should help us decide what to do next.

In this passage, Jesus is confronted with a decision on how to apply the principle of ‘honouring the Sabbath’. He could choose to ‘honour the Sabbath’ the Pharisees’ way - by keeping to strict laws about outward behaviour. Or he can ‘honour the Sabbath’ with a heart after God’s - by feeling God’s compassion for this man with a shrivelled hand and doing what is in his power to help, bringing healing and restoration.

I’m glad Jesus chose to heal - and I bet the man with the shrivelled hand was also thrilled!! But sometimes in our lives it’s tempting to ‘go with the flow’; to unreflectively take the opportunity to fit in and impress the ‘important people’ (as the Pharisees were seen in their day) - rather than stop to consider what choice is consistent with God’s heartbeat. The Pharisees’ obsession with their laws blinded them to God’s love and caused Jesus to "look around at them in anger, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts". May we be people with soft hearts, whose laws and lives flow out of a revelation of God’s wondrous love!

Father, thank you for your love, and that you chose to make a way to offer me grace, healing and salvation…they are such marvelous gifts! I pray that my ethics and lifestyle would be formed out of a desire to serve and please you alone. Holy Spirit, soften my heart and set me free from stubbornness and legalism; and instead, may I follow Christ in desiring above all to bring grace, healing and your life into every situation.