Regenerative Power

This blog is designed to give people an inner look at a devotional life. Taking time each day to spend time with the Lord. The hope is if you travel on this journey with Rev. Jacob Shaw, you may be more inclined to spend time with the Lord as well. I encourage the use of a devotional, a scripture reading and prayer, then finally some form of artistic mark to tie it all together. 

Today's devotional is taken from: Zacharias, Ravi. The Logic of God: 52 Christian Essentials for the Heart and Mind. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2019. [E-Book] Chapter 40: Regenerative Power

Opening Thought: It seems that my week has a theme to it, since last Sunday the concept of truth has been bouncing around. Today’s reading puts the Christian worldview of truth juxtaposed to the secular-postmodern worldview where often truth is emasculated in service to the subjective. The reading got me thinking about my week, I was watching a television series recently, a new show which had come out in 2021. I noticed a new phrase had been interwoven into the script, “your truth”. I had heard this phrase thrown around back in my days in college, but it was merely a hypothetical concept of subjective truth verses objective truth. In the show, which this term was repeatedly used, even the villain of the story used this term again and again, it was as if the authors of the program were trying to make a subtle statement about personal truth or subjective truth, but I could not understand what their point was. Maybe it was just the authors found the word “truth” or “perspective” too controversial or too vague. I racked my brain trying to figure out why the writers would put so much emphasis on this phrase, then it hit me, how can one make a narrative for a general viewing audience, that speaks to a plot that is interesting, and is approachable for many with a subjective philosophy. Many of our storylines in books, movies and television are based on reoccurring architypes, architypes that speak to commonly faced dilemmas, which can be applied to a variety of situation. Many of the bible stories, often the more famous stories from the bible, carry these architypes too. Stories are interesting when relatable people meet the challenges of right or wrong, good versus evil, and must rise to the occasion to face these issues. But in a secular world of moral relativism, and subjective truth, what claim can you make, even within a struggle, that wouldn't be seen as a truth claim against how others may feel differently. At the lowest common denominator, the human struggle can be seen a relatable, but the outcome of the struggle cannot be praise as it could make a objective truth claim, so only the struggle itself can be praised. Thus, statements of truth, must be subjective, and highlighted as such, to avoid being seen as scripting a plight against the general secular approach.

This is nothing new, think back through the history of programs you watch on television, when did characters in the show you watch stop refereeing to God as an active figure, and switched it to the more commonly now used “the Universe”. I can’t count the number of times I have hear characters say, “I think the universe is trying to tell me something.” Sounds a little like divine revelation, without the moral compass attached to it.

The devotional begins with: 2 Peter 1:19-21

We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.  Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Second Thought: There are many things that society dictate as okay, which the biblical or some Christian traditions would say the opposite. Probably more often than not, Christians will fall to what society says over what the bible or their church denomination’s official doctrine says. I personally always strive to follow the bible the best I can, particularly if it is something Christ is noted as saying, however, I, like many, struggle with this. What I will say above all things is it seems Christ came to bring the Kingdom of God to us, which means that he brought what we are to seek through him by his life, death, resurrection and his teachings. Which to me, means that the big focus of the Bible is not what we are doing but what God is doing. When you come to terms with the idea that the ultimate  has come to bring the kingdom, it calls you to live righteously, it calls you to reflect upon the laws, the commands and more, but all those thing are also their to point us towards God and the kingdom. So, the hope I see, is that even if we don’t perfectly navigate the fine line between what God asks of us and what the world demands, if all we do is in effort toward the service of the Kingdom, then even if we fall short, we will still be living to serve the glory of God.      

Continual Work: Ask yourself, is there something that our current age is asking you to do or believe that you feel is at odds with the Biblical or Ecclesial tradition, and how does that make your feel? Do you pray on the issue? And how do you approach and serious conversation on the matter?

What Rev. Jacob is Working On: You need to sometimes play devil’s advocate to appreciate where others are coming from. If we all have a little devil in us, in manor of speaking, that means Christ is our advocate, and if He is willing to stand for us in our error, we should be willing to do that for others.  

Prayer for your day: God, come and pray with us, let our words be an excuse for us to come together, sit together and enjoy Your presence. We have some many things to navigate each day, help us take time for prayer and one on one it with you. May that time be a gift to highlight the value of your kingdom, Amen.

Artistic Close: When I was young, I heard the thought experiment, if a tree falls in the woods does it make a sound? I remember being quite into science when I heard this for the first time and I thought, well it will create vibrations including sound waves, so yes and no. Yes, because the physical reality of sound is still being created but it requires an eardrum for the waves to be appreciated. The subjective experience is a reflection of the objective, but one should never deny the objective to serve the subjective.

Bomen in de omgeving van Subiaco (trees in the Subiaco area) by Joseph August Knip (1777–1847). Original from The Rijksmuseum. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.​​​​​