Devotional 1-30-15

NOW IT BEGINS

 From the Gospel of Mark 1:21-28

(The Living Bible) 23 A man possessed by a demon was present and began shouting,
24”Why are you bothering us, Jesus of Nazareth—have you come to destroy us demons?
I know who you are—the holy Son of God!” 25 Jesus curtly commanded the demon to say no more and to come out of the man.   26 At that the evil spirit screamed and convulsed the man violently and left him.

 In this scripture, Jesus comes to the synagogue to begin his first public ministry, and what happens? He’s confronted by a demon (an unclean spirit) and proceeds with exorcism. This won’t be the only time Jesus perform this task.  Throughout the Gospels Jesus is empowered by God to heal and perform miracles never seen before.

Exorcism ?

With the help of Google I was eager to learn more.  As a new student of the Scriptures, I was not aware that Jesus had performed exorcism in his ministry.   www.religioustolerance.org offered this for thought:

“Exorcism is a major theme of the Christian Scriptures, recorded in dozens of passages as performed by both Jesus and his disciples.  Most Fundamental and Evangelical Christians, as well as Roman Catholics, believe God inspired authors of the Bible to write free of error, so if it is written that Jesus performed exorcism, it is true, and it happened.  
Most Christians who are religiously more liberal may be skeptical about the need for exorcism. They generally believe that behavioral changes are not caused by demons, but by familiar diseases such as epilepsy, mental illness, and substance abuse, and should be treated with modern science techniques.”

The important message from this scripture lesson, however, is that Jesus brings knowledge of the Kingdom of God to all people; God is his source of power in what he does; and as his public ministry begins, he is regarded as an authority, bringing a new approach to teaching, totally different than that of the scribes.  And those who hear him speak are in awe of him.

The message is as important for us today as it was for the disciples long ago. As disciples of Christ ourselves, we need only to acknowledge that with the power given to him by God, Jesus did amazing and miraculous things throughout his ministry. With the Holy Spirit, individually and as a church community, we can accomplish some pretty amazing things ourselves. We just need to try.

Holy and awesome God, your Son’s authority is found in integrity and living truth,

not the assertion of power over others. Open our imaginations to new dimensions

of your love, and heal us of all that severs us from you and one another, that we may

grow into the vision you unfold before us.  Amen----Taylor Burton-Edwards

Diane Feaganes

Devotional 1-23-15

My husband Steve and I are walkers. We walk 3-4 miles every day at a pretty fast pace. People often comment on our walking. One day, as we passed a friend we don’t see very often, we got a different comment. She said we inspired her to walk. I was glad we inspired her.. Every Doctor that we see--even our Dentist and Optometrist--tell us that it makes a major difference in our health. Then I started thinking. The way I would really like to inspire people is with my faith. Does the way I lead my life inspire anyone? What do I need to change?

I thought about this all through the Christmas season. Then I noticed a magnet (many of you probably have the same one) on my refrigerator. It says, “Be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet.”  I’m not finished. I still have lots of growing to do. I can’t get complacent. Going to church, praying, and reading the Bible aren’t enough. I need to be open to new ideas, new ways to open my heart to God. I need to practice not letting anger and insensitivity cloud Gods light. Most of all I need to live with a thankful, joyous heart so that Gods light can shine through me.

God is never finished with us. If I can manage not to get complacent. If I can use the dedication that keeps me walking every day to keep growing. Then someday, maybe I can inspire someone with my faith.

Margaret Williams

Devotional 1-16-15

Never Borrow Sorrow From Tomorrow

Deal only with the present,
Never step into tomorrow,
For God asks us just to trust Him
And to never be,
So let us live and give our best
And give it lavishly-------
For to meet tomorrow's troubles
Before they are even ours
Is to anticipate the Saviour
And to doubt His all-wise powers---
So let us be content to solve
Our problems one by one,
Asking nothing of tomorrow

Excerpt from "THY WILL BE DONE." by Helen Steiner Rice

Submitted by
Kay Lewis

Devotional 1-9-15

When I read the lectionary reading in Disciplines this morning (based on Psalm 29), I was reminded of this poem.  I was hoping I hadn't sent it out as a devotional before, but I did - in 2009.  I decided to send it to you today anyway, with apologies for the rerun.  I still like it, though, because there are times when our awe is so big and our words are so small, that we must rely on the angels to sing God's praises.

Be My Voice

Inspired by Psalm 29

I depend on you, God’s many angels.
I count on you, His heavenly creations,
To praise his name,
When my lips fall silent,
When I stand here, a creature of dust,
Made silent in amazement at his glory.
Fill the heavens with His praises,
Glorify his name with your sweet songs,
For there are times when my throat closes,
And my tongue falls silent.
There are times when his majesty is too great
For my feeble songs and my useless words.

His voice is never silent.
It echoes across the waters
Lifting waves in its wake.
His voice is powerful,
Thunderous,
Mighty and glorious.
His voice is majesty.

The bass of his voice makes mighty trees tremble.
Even the most towering,
Even the ones which seem to reach all the way to heaven.
The tenor strains lift me to my feet,
And give me wings to skip like a child.

His voice has the heat and flash of fire,
It shakes the wilderness,
It thunders across empty land,
Land not seen by anyone.
His voice even reaches to the wilderness of my heart,
His breath warms my coldness.

His mighty voice,
His powerful exhalation,
Stirs the leaves of the trees
Whips them around as if a mighty storm were passing.
His exhaled breath,
Strips away the leaves,
Strips away my pretenses.
Leaves us all bare,
Until all that we have left
Is to glorify his name.

Our mighty God sits high in heaven,
Enthroned as a king
A reassurance for all of eternity.
He gives me strength.
He gives us strength.
He creates in us a mighty and powerful ability
To do His work in the world.
He rules from heaven,
And he gives us the wonderful blessing of peace.

Praise His name and His mighty works,
Be my voice, all you angels,
For when I stand here speechless.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 1-2-15

The story has been told again. The beautiful music has been sung, the cards have been sent, the gifts have been  opened. Like most of us, the family have left and now we can get our lives back to normal. Did we really hear the story? Did we just do what we had to do  to get through Christmas one more time and dread putting away the decorations? We most likely sighed with the relief and said thank God that is over.

We have been inundated since before Halloween and Thanksgiving with the reminder that Christmas is only so many days away. We have been plagued with appeals for money to help feed and give gifts to the less fortunate constantly. We then have to sit back and dread the awaiting of the credit card bills that will arrive in January. Christmas is over. Now what?

I would ask that we would carry the joy of song, that gift that was given, and that feeling of family together be embedded in your heart and minds. God's most wonderful gift and example for us to live by was born at Christmas. Carry it in our hearts all year long. Thank you for those that have given  to the less fortunate at Christmas.{They are only hungry at Christmas not the rest of the year}.Thank you for those that came to church to hear the Christmas music, {The choir sings all year long praising our Lord}.Thank you to those who took gift bags to the shut ins,{they are lonely all the time}.

Christ was born to show us how to live and love not only at Christmas but always. He taught us only two things that matter really, { I learned this from Scott Ramsey}. Love me and love your neighbor. Makes sense to me now that Christmas over.

Jean Ramsey