Wednesday’s Devotion: Nothing to Wear?

Galatians 3:27 (CEV)  And when you were baptized, it was as though you had put on Christ in the same way you put on new clothes.
Romans 13:14  Let the Lord Jesus Christ be as near to you as the clothes you wear. Then you won't try to satisfy your selfish desires.

Monday was my day to make the semi-annual great closet swap.  Turtlenecks, sweaters, and winter suits got packed away or moved to the guestroom closet.  Shorts, tees and summer dresses replaced them. Since I no longer wear a size “large” I have a big pile of clothes to donate to charity.  I’m sure more will be added as I try on summer outfits.  The upshot is that I feel like I don’t have anything to wear!  I see a shopping trip in my future.  I have always liked these scriptures that talk about putting on Christ.  It doesn’t how fancy our clothes or jewelry is if our attitude is not also beautiful. I’m going to try for the next few days as I get dressed to first consciously ask Christ to come and be my guide and inspiration for the day.  Putting on Christ first might make my clothes fit better, but it will certainly make my day fit better and make me a better person to those around me.

Thank you God for providing for our needs today.  Bless us and be with us as we make our way through the hours. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Tuesday’s Devotion: Like a Magnet

John 6:44 (CEB)  No one can come to me unless they are drawn to me by the Father who sent me.

Joe and I ate at Après Diem last week on his birthday. During the meal we got tickled because when we would place our knife on our plate it would start moving. We finally figured out that the silverware was magnetic and the knives and forks were being drawn together. Magnetic silverware was a first for us.  If anyone knows more about this, please fill us in!  In John, Jesus says that God draws people toward him. We call this divine grace that draws us even before we know God, prevenient grace.  Not everyone I know was blessed to have been raised in the church and they may not still know the blessings that come from being part of a great church family. Yet that doesn’t mean they don’t have God in their lives. It may not be to the fullest, but it is a start. We don’t have to introduce people to God.  God is already there.  We just need to help them recognize the value of developing that relationship. 

Thank you Lord for drawing us to you even before we ourselves know you.  Help us to sense your presence in our lives and in the lives of others.  We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Monday’s Devotion: The Story Continues

Hebrews 1:3 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

Wow!  Holy Week is finally over.  I feel like I’ve run a week-long marathon. I love Holy Week, it’s such a special time for Christians but experiencing Holy Week as a pastor is a whole different ball game than experiencing it as a church member.  This year I was so blessed to be able to work my recent experiences in the Holy Land into my Good Friday and Easter Sunday sermons.  Those sermons were meaningful to me and I think to those who heard them because of that eye-witness account.  Last night on top of all the normal Holy Week activities, we launched our new Hispanic worship service.  Efrain Diaz,  our assistant pastor for Hispanic ministries preached on Thomas and on seeing and believing vs. believing without seeing.  It helped me to see the places Jesus had been.  I didn’t see Jesus like the disciples did either pre or post resurrection.  However I see Jesus in the lives of other people as I see them living out their role as the Body of Christ – the risen and glorified Christ.  Yesterday I approached the Easter story and the story of Christ’s life as the “Never-Ending Story.”  We are participants in that story. And because of Christ, our story will be never-ending, too.  Praise God.

Thank you Lord, for eternal life and for offering us a Kingdom life.  We ask that you be with us during this week and especially be with pastors and church staffs as they move forward from this meaningful and busy time.  We ask in the name of the one who sits at your right hand. Amen.

Friday’s Devotion: The Flesh is Weak

Matthew 26:40-41 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour?  Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  

I’ve heard the last part of this scripture quoted before and for some reason I associated it with Paul instead of Jesus.  I guess because Paul wrote about his struggles with the flesh and I don’t associate weakness with Jesus.  After all, Jesus resisted the temptation in the wilderness.  Yet in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed that if possible the cup that he was facing would be taken from him.  This endears Jesus to me even more.  It helps me realize that even the Holy Son of God really did struggle with those very human emotions.  I know that many times we resolve to behave in a way that we know would be pleasing to God, but somehow even though we truly want to do that, we feel we may have failed to do so.  We let unkind words or resentments slip in.  We refuse to forgive, or avoid people who could use our help.  We don’t share our resources and miss opportunities to introduce people to God.  Jesus died on Good Friday not so that we could continue to be selfish, unkind, bitter, resentful or downright sinful.  Jesus died so we could find strength not just in the knowledge that forgiveness and salvation would be possible but in the power of the Holy Spirit to help us turn around and do better.  Yet Jesus still understands, the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Lord God, help us each day to be kinder, more giving and less resentful of our circumstances or of others.  May the great love poured out in the blood of Jesus on the cross inhabit our very beings and bring us closer to you.  We ask in His precious name. Amen.

Wednesday’s Devotion: Precious yet Fragile

Matthew 20:17-19  Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”

During the season of Lent we removed the brass cross and candlesticks from the altar table and replaced them with wooden ones. Unlike our oil-filled candles the wax ones burned down.  Sunday a member who was preparing the altar for Holy Communion told me she didn’t put new candles in because she felt the burned down candles represented the shortening of Jesus’ time left on earth. I am so happy when people make connections like that.  It means that they are finding a real link between the bible and what is going on in this day and in their life.  On Good Friday we will try to imagine what it would have been like for Jesus to face the knowledge that his death was near.  Today a friend and neighbor is in ICU in critical condition.  A few days ago no one would have ever thought it would be this way.  Life is fragile, our candles are always burning down and although we can slow or speed the course, we know the final outcome.  Thanks be to our creator God that because of his Son, when these flames go out, a new bright one will shine in heaven. 

Blessed Lord, we ask your comfort as we pray for a loved one.  Help us to see the frailty of our own life and make the most of all the time we have, both for our own enjoyment and the growth of the Kingdom.  We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Tuesday’s Devotion: Voices of the Heart

Luke 2:33-35  The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.

One day last week as I walked around the ball fields I noticed the bark was partially off a tree, exposing the inner part of the trunk. It brought me back to Simeon’s prophesy about the thoughts of hearts being revealed and Matthew 15:18 …”But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.”  I try hard to continue to move towards Christian perfection but sometimes it seems like I take two steps forward and one step back. I work to speak kindly to people but controlling one’s tongue is different than controlling one’s heart.  I think that only comes when we live in Christ and Christ lives in us.  I don’t know about others but I measure myself, not by my words or actions but by where I sense my heart is.  To quote one of my good friends, “Progress, not perfection.”  I am making progress.

Come into our hearts, Lord Jesus, we need you every hour. Amen.

Monday’s Devotion: Changing Reactions

Psalm 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.

Yesterday after the Jeans and Jazz service many who filed out the door shook my hand and said, “I enjoyed your message.”  That seems to be a common response.  Pastors often wonder if they really did or are just offering empty platitudes.  As I walked up front to collect my things our Jazz drummer’s girlfriend approached me.  She also said, “I really enjoyed your sermon.” Then she said, “Here’s what I got out of it.” I love to hear those words!

I had talked about God wanting us to know that all our concerns were important, that God really did understand and could relate to our sense of powerlessness over things that sometime face us.  I said that we can’t make ourselves well, we can’t make our loved ones well, we can’t make someone love us or hire us or treat us fairly. We have no control sometimes over events, only our reaction to them.  The young woman said that she was really trying to work on controlling her reactions to circumstances.  I thought a moment and shared that as I have become closer to God, my natural reactions to trying circumstances have changed. I am more at peace and feel the help of the Holy Spirit when I face challenges. I can’t always expect God to solve my problems, but I do trust him to love me through them.

Thank you Lord, for being with us when we cannot change our circumstances.  Please continue to uplift and comfort and guide us in all things.  We ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen.