Judah Smith - Life Is _____ Forty-Day Experience: A Devotional Journey Through Gods Illogical Love

2015 by Judah Smith

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

ISBN 978-0-7180-3267-8 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Smith, Judah.

Life is -- forty-day experience : a devotional journey through God's illogical love / Judah Smith.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-7180-3266-1

1. Bible--Meditations. I. Title.

BS491.5.S657 2015

242'.5--dc23

2015010662

15 16 17 18 19 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Welcome to the Life Is ______ Forty-Day Experience. Im excited to share the next few weeks with you! This devotional consists of forty inspirational thoughts and Bible verses. They all relate to the main concept of the Life Is ______ book: that God is the central theme of life and that when we follow him, we find true fulfillment.

I hope these devotional thoughts and Scripture readings inspire you to live the fullest, most complete life possible. Thats what God wants for you, and I believe he will show you how to do that as you learn to focus on him.

Ive used a lot of real-life examples and a bit of over-the-top humor for two reasons. First, I get bored easily. I need practical and preferably entertaining things to keep me focused. Second, there is nothing more down-to-earth than God and the Bible, which is his revelation of himself to us. Spirituality was meant for the masses, not for an elite few who happen to have the willpower and moral fabric to live extra-holy lives.

If you havent read Life Is ______, you might wonder why there is a blank in the title. Its because Im not here to tell you answers. Im not going to give you seven slick steps to success or fourteen fantastic philosophies to draw close to God. Frankly, Im not smart enough or organized enough for that.

Im here to point you to a person: Jesus. Im here to show you that what you know and believe about God can give you the life you long to have. Not on just an external levelalthough that could happen toobut where it really matters. In your soul. In your mind, your will, your emotions, and your spiritual walk with God.

At the beginning of each devotional there is a Bible passage listed. You are welcome to read that before jumping into the devotional, or you can read it after you finish. Usually I quote some or all of it in the text.

At the end of each devotional there are several questions. You can use these however works best for you. Id recommend writing the answers down in a journal, but you could also just answer them mentally. There are no right or wrong answers.

You are amazing, gifted, and unique. I truly believe that. And Im not the only oneGod does too. He has great things in mind for you over the next few days, or weeks, or months, or however long it takes you to read this. It would probably take me years, so no pressure.

The more you walk with God and get to know his love for you, the better life gets. So lets get started.

Have you ever been tempted to use sarcasm when responding to your kids? Im thinking in particular of confrontational situations, where you need to correct something and youd like to inject a bit of humor. Preferably at their expense. In hindsight, that is not a good motivation.

It never works, either. At least with kids under age twelve, which is the limit of my firsthand knowledge. Usually what you say goes over their heads, and they look at you like youre from an alternate universe. The rest of the time they take what you say literally, and consequently they feel hurtwhich makes you loser dad of the year.

One of the phrases that Ive found myself tempted to use is this one: What part of no do you not understand? For example, were at the store, and Ive just told them for the sixty-seventh time we are not going to buy candy. Ive explained the reasons why: Its unhealthy. It will torpedo their immune systems. And their mom is watching. Logical reasons. Spoken with love and patience and longsuffering.

But childhood amnesia strikes, conveniently and repeatedly. So they ask, with eyes wide in angelic and totally fraudulent innocence: Can we buy candy, Dad? Please?

And thats when the sarcasm tries to creep out. What part of no do you not understand?

Believe it or not, there are a few instances of divine sarcasm in the Bible, especially in the prophetic books of the Old Testament. So I feel slightly justified. But I still wouldnt recommend it as a discipline technique with literal-minded children.

Sometimes I suspect God gets just a little frustrated with our ongoing resistance. Our recurrent amnesia. Our hesitancy to believe what he has said. And if I were God, Id probably resort to sarcasm. Im not talking about our refusal to accept his requests and commands (although we do that sometimes too). Im referring to the tough time we have believing the good news of the gospel and of Gods love for us.

That sounds odd, I know. You would think that we would easily embrace and believe his love, and that we would wrestle against his holiness and demands. But in my experience as a pastor, most people struggle more to comprehend the love of God than the commands of God.

As humans we find it easier to believe that God wants something from me than believe that he wants something for me. We would rather believe that he has a list of complaints than that he has a list of compliments. Yet God tells us time after timeafter timethat he loves us. I cant even begin to list all the verses and stories that reveal Gods love.

The entire Bible is a love story. God dealt with Adam, Abraham, and Moses in love. He led Israel in love. Jesus years on earth were a tangible demonstration of Gods love. And Jesus death and resurrection proved beyond question Gods unconditional love. But we keep getting amnesia. Selective amnesia.

We remember we are sinners, but we forget weve been set free. We remember we were guilty, but we forget weve been forgiven. We remember weve fallen, but we forget that God picked us up. And I think God is up in heaven saying, What part of love dont you understand?

I want to respond, Um, all of it?