Speaker: Dave Nelson
Theme: Transformers
Weekend Music links on iTunes: All Over the World - Matt Redman, Let the Praises Ring - Lincoln Brewster, Happy Day - Tim Hughes
Read: Romans 7:15; Romans 3:22-24
Think: This weekend we heard from guest speaker Dave Nelson as he continued the series “Insomnia; The things that keep us awake”. Dave talked about transformation and our fascination from childhood with seeing things change. As children being better meant being a superhero or princess and running around pretending; as adults it may mean buying the latest gadget or wearing a ‘Sunday face’ when we feel we should be a certain way.
When we are baptised we have a new beginning with God, a new start but it is still us in all our humanity and sinfulness which makes the decisions. There is no radical overnight change to the perfect ‘holy’ person who can quote scripture easier than ordering a coffee and seems to have a prayer hotline to God. We all want to be that person and see others we think are that person but there is a huge gap between who we are and who we want to be. We are always battling ourselves and our nature to change. As Paul said “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”
In judging ourselves against our conceived ‘perfect spiritual’ alter ego we put up standards too hard to achieve. One of my favorite quotes is from a news reporters’ biography, John Simpson, he said he had learned that “when we expect more from others than they are capable of achieving we condemn them to failure and ourselves to disappointment.” This can also be applied to ourselves. We need to remember that no one can be the perfect person; not others and not ourselves. Often it is harder to let our own failings pass than those of others but we need to remember that God helps us change at a pace we can cope with and that is rarely overnight as much as we might like it to be.
Do: Today is ‘Labor Day’ and a time when you may be spending time with your family or friends. This can be a joy or a challenge at times but as a friend recently reminded me my family are still only human too! Remember to allow yourself and those around to fail and still be loved but not judged, and pray that something is learned from any tough situation. If you are having a quiet day then perhaps it is a time to think about when you have set goals and standards too high to be achieved and decide what you will do about the outcome.
Pray: Father, I thank you that despite seeing our failings, even better than we or others see them, You love and guide us without harsh judgement. We ask for grace and forgiveness for ourselves and others when we fail and when we take it upon ourselves to judge those failings. Help us to be more understanding and see that we are all still human.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.
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