Dear Friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk. You are welcome to share this and include it in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
Psalm 1 (NRSV)
1 Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Devotional Thought:
How do we befriend, love, and minister to “unbelievers” while not being negatively influenced by them? This is the dilemma of the church. Christ has shown us the way of compassion and justice, but we would often rather separate ourselves from unbelievers and justify our indifference towards them. Nevertheless, this is not what God has called us to; instead, God has called us to be his hands and feet in this world. As we know, ministry, like life, is difficult and messy and as we love and serve others, we will also likely get messy. But this doesn’t mean we will inevitably go down the “path that sinners tread” or “sit in the seat of scoffers.” The key to being like Christ is found in verses 2 & 3 of our passage. We need to be in the Word (Scripture) regularly and meditating upon it throughout the day. When we do this, we are like “trees planted by streams of water.” In other words, we are connected to God and being constantly nourished, which then enables us to “prosper” in all we do. We cannot take this prosperity as an invitation for selfish living. We do not preach a worldly prosperity gospel. Instead, the kind of prosperity God invites us to is “relational prosperity” where we grow closer to God and in turn are able to minister to others out of this connection. As holiness people, we must never give up ministry for the sake of purity. Instead, we must embrace a messier purity that comes through genuine relational ministry.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, help us to stay connected to you through your Word and through the Holy Spirit. Transform our hearts and minds so that we are able to embrace the same mission that Christ lived out on earth. God, as we are firmly planted in your abundant stream of love and grace, may your love and grace flow through us to others. Thank you for using us to transform your world. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Rob A. Fringer
NTC Principal