Day 18: Are You a Stumbling Block?

Opening Prayer:Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.”

Daily Scripture Reading:

  • Genesis 39:10-15
  • Romans 14:13-21
  • Philippians 2:3-4

Stumbling block: (noun) an obstacle or hindrance to progress, belief, or understanding

It isn’t a role we want to claim. We deny it. We defend against it. But in Christian community we have to address the places we may be causing others to fall. Hopefully we are not as bold and brash as Potiphar’s wife and her persistent pursuit of Joseph. We may not even be aware of the ways we are making spiritual growth difficult for our brothers and sisters. But if we are to be obedient to Philippians 2:2-4, and value others above ourselves, we have to get honest about the ways we may be tempting others to sin.

The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of grace. As Paul points out in Romans 14, there is an abundance of freedom on our journey – Not permission to sin, but ample room in choosing entertainment, clothing, food, drink, activities, and so much more. God is a good Father and the Holy Spirit will be faithful to direct you as you pray for discernment in each area. However, when the desire to exercise our freedom is more important than the good of others, it becomes an idol.

In his book “Invitation to a Journey,” Robert Mulholland defines spiritual formation as a process of being formed in the image of Christ for the sake of others. We forget this in a culture that elevates independence and privatized faith and morals. Dying to ourselves means that we are intentional about those on the faith journey with us, and we are aware how our choices affect them.

So, are your social media posts causing your sister to struggle with envy? Are your thoughts about food and health encouraging or are you heaping shame on your brother? Has your “venting” caused your friends to entertain anger and negativity about their own situations? Do you tempt others to complain or gossip with you? Are your choices in entertainment or clothing causing someone else to lust? Is your freedom with alcohol confusing to a new believer or hurtful to a friend with an addiction?

When Joesph fled Potiphar’s wife, she became enraged and falsely accused him of attempted rape. When other’s refuse to participate with us in some of these gray areas, what do we do? Are we convicted, or do we defend our “rights?” Do we repent or at least recognize where we have been a stumbling block, or do we roll our eyes at the “goody two shoes” or the “holier than though” rub? Your reaction may reveal an idol of your heart.

Today’s Big Questions: First think about a few of these examples and identify if others have either unknowingly or consciously been a stumbling block to you. Now, honestly assess your choices, your behavior, your words, or the image you may portray to others. Can you see any possible ways you are being a stumbling block?

Prayer Response: Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to continue to reveal any areas that you have put your freedom above the good of others, causing them to stumble. Confess and repent of any ways you have been a stumbling block to your brothers and sisters.

Optional Action Step: If you are feeling brave, ask your family and friends if you have ever caused or encouraged them to sin by your choices, behavior, or words. If so, ask for their forgiveness and give them permission to be honest with you in this area in the future.

Closing Prayer: “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Day 17: All Shapes and Sizes

Opening Prayer:Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.”

Daily Scripture Reading:

  • Genesis 39:10-12
  • Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28
  • Luke 22:40
  • I Corinthians 10:12-13
  • James 4:7

I love to garden but I hate to weed. Every spring, I’m discouraged by how overgrown the garden has become while unattended. Before the fun of buying the vegetable plants and digging in the dirt, the big, ugly weeds have to go. I don’t have to look hard to find them. They are obvious, and when they are gone, it makes a huge difference in the garden. Then there are those pesky little weeds that pop up overnight after the garden has been planted. Pulling those usually requires getting down on my hands and knees and plucking them up one by one until my fingers are sore. They aren’t as obvious and it wouldn’t make a huge if I ignored them for a few days. But eventually those little weeds can choke out the harvest and change the landscape of the garden as well.

Temptation comes in all shapes as sizes too. Joseph’s temptation was obvious. Potiphar’s wife was forward and relentless in asking him to come to bed with her. There was nothing subtle in the seduction and there wasn’t a subtle escape route either. We see Jospeh literally running out of the house as she clutched his coat.

Falling to the “big” temptations make a big difference in our lives. Adultery, addiction, murder, stealing- these transgressions are frowned on even in secular culture and can certainly change the landscape of our lives, our witness, our legacy. The longer we walk with Jesus, the farther away those “big” temptations usually become. We learn how to guard ourselves, we weed out the opportunities, and as Jesus directed His disciples in Luke 22:40, we pray not to fall into temptation.

But then there are those painstakingly “small” temptations. We are tempted to worry, to become envious, to yell at the kids, to hold a small grudge, to exaggerate a bit, to tell a “little white lie,” to watch that questionable show everyone is talking about, to have another glass. Just like those little weeds in the garden, the small temptations leading to subtle sins can choke out God’s purposes and a life of integrity over time as well. In God’s economy, all sin is missing the mark of holiness. There is no “big” and “little,” just right and wrong.

Escape routes comes in all shapes and sized also. We may not find ourselves losing our coats as we run out of a room, but we are told to flee the devil. It may be as simple as taking a deep breath before speaking, walking away from a conversation, turning the TV off, refusing to have that conversation in your head. Dramatic or subtle, big or little, God will provide a way out!

Today’s Big Questions: What are the temptations coming at you today? Have you wrongly made a distinction between “big” and “little” temptations? Are you making excuses for ignoring small sins? Can you identify the escape routes God is providing?

Prayer Response: Today take a moment to ask God to deliver you from each temptation you identified by name. Ask your Heavenly Father to make your escape route abundantly clear. If you are willing, speak to a trusted friend and ask for accountability with the temptations you are facing in this season.

Optional Action Step: Go outside and pull a few weeds in the garden, yard, or flower bed. Think about the intentionality and persistence it takes to keep weeds out. Think about how you can be more intentional in recognizing temptation in your life before it becomes sin.

Closing Prayer:Now to Him who is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”  – Ephesians 3:20-21

Day 16: Faithful From Pit to Prosperity

Opening Prayer:Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.”

Daily Scripture Reading:

  • Genesis 39:6-10
  • Matthew 16:26
  • Romans 12:1-2
  • I John 2:15-17

Being in the world but not of the world is simple to say but difficult to live.

Suddenly, it seems, Joseph finds himself with the world at his fingertips. He has honor, power, and success. He even looks the part, well-built and handsome! When Potiphar’s wife took notice of him, I wonder if for a moment he felt entitled to that pleasure. After all, his road had been rocky. He had known betrayal- why not betray? He had been rejected by those that were supposed to love him- why not enjoy being cherished by someone off limits. I wonder if for a moment he felt numb? After all, what did it matter? Underneath the trappings of success, he was still just a slave. I wonder if for a moment he felt lulled by the glitter of the culture all around him. I’m sure he didn’t have to look far to use the justification “everyone is doing it.”

Prosperity has it’s own set of difficulties. We cling to God in the pit, but are we as faithful in Potiphar’s house? In the pit we feel our need for Him, but in Potiphar’s house of prosperity, we can become more self-reliant. In the pit, we have nowhere to look but up, but in Potiphar’s house of prosperity we can become hypnotized by culture. In the pit it is life or death, but in Potiphar’s house of prosperity the rules seem to change and “did God really say…(Gen. 3:1)?”

I think about another young, handsome, displaced Israelite named Daniel. In Daniel 1:8 it says, “but Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself…” In the palace of the King of Babylon, Daniel too had the world at his fingertips. He resolved not to defile himself with the rich fare offered to him in prosperity, and remained faithful to God.

Joseph chose well. Though the transgression would have probably disappeared into the river of cultural acceptance and moral majority, Joseph too was determined to remain faithful and not “do such a wicked thing and sin against God” (Gen. 39:9).  He did not succumb to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life, heeding the warning of I John 2. He didn’t offer his body up to sin, but offered it up as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God (Rom. 12:1).

Being “in the world” speaks to our location. We will in fact be in the world until our time on earth is finished. “Of the world” speaks more to our integrity and identity and what we have resolved in our own hearts. Is it the same in the pit and in prosperity?

Today’s Big Questions: Where do you find yourself today, in a pit or in prosperity? Have you found that your character and your choices change based on your circumstances? Are there areas you have “conformed to the patters of this world?”

Prayer Response: Confess if there are any parts “of the world” or anything in the world that you love (I John 2:17-17). Ask the Holy Spirit to renew your mind today in the midst of the entitlement, moral numbness, and slippery compromise of our culture.

Optional Action Step: Who do you purpose in your heart to be, both in the pit and in Potiphar’s house? What are you determined not to be defiled by? Write a mission statement for your life or make a list of those things that are off limits for you no matter where you find yourself.

Closing Prayer:Now to Him who is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”  – Ephesians 3:20-21