Devotional 4-29-16

The Gift of the Holy Spirit

Lectionary Readings for this week:  Acts 16: 9-15; Psalm 67; Rev 21:10, 22-22:5; John 14:23-29

“I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you.  The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request will make everything plain to you.  He will remind you of all the things I have told you.  I’m leaving you well and whole.  That’s my parting gift to you.  Peace.  I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft.  So don’t be upset.  Don’t be distraught.”

John 14: 25-27 from The Message

It has been one month since the miracle of Easter.  Our Lord sacrificed his life on the cross, overcame death and rose victorious from the grave.  What a story!!! What a gift of matchless, overwhelming love!!

However, have you (like me) lost some of the joy related to the Easter events??? Have you returned to your usual daily activities, challenges and trials, without thinking again of the impact that Easter has made on your life??? What do our words and actions show?  Are we living as evidence of such a special love?? Have we made it a priority to include prayer, service, worship and praise in our daily walk? Do we regularly ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and direction??

Jesus tried to prepare his disciples for the aftermath of his leaving so that the disciples would not dissolve and scatter.  But even they had great difficulty in understanding and believing the Easter events in spite of their own first-hand accounts. Possibly one of the least believable concepts in his teaching was that of the Holy Spirit. Jesus tried to teach the disciples about this special friend long before the events of Holy Week.  Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come as a friend and would be his parting gift—Peace.  This Peace promises that we are not alone or abandoned.  We seem to have trouble understanding how our relationship with the Holy Spirit works and what we are to do about it.

I once read a story about a little boy who was trying to understand the Sunday school lesson about the Holy Spirit and decided to talk with his father:

 “Daddy, how can I believe in the Holy Spirit when I have never seen Him?” asked Jimmy. “I’ll show you how,” said his father, who was an electrician. Later Jimmy went with his father to the power plant where Jimmy was shown the generators. “This is where the power comes from to heat our stove and to give us light. We cannot see the power, but it is in that machine and in the power lines,” said the father. “I believe in electricity,” said Jimmy. “Of course you do,” said his father, “but you don’t believe in it because you see it. You believe in it because you see what it can do. Likewise, you can believe in the Holy Spirit because you can see what He does in people’s lives when they are surrendered to Christ and possess His power.”

This explanation makes the concept a little easier to understand but doesn’t guarantee that I make use of the Holy Spirit’s power. I have had the benefit of multiple repetitions of the Easter story and yet I am so guilty of plunging ahead with my own plans, of ignoring the urgings of the Holy Spirit and omitting acts that would be pleasing to God.  I do understand, but my words and actions do not always show the world that I am a believer.  The Holy Spirit is sent by God to bring us peace, but we have not made use of it to guide and change our lives. Would others know that I am a Christian just by my words and actions????

 Please join me in prayer to ask God to change both our hearts and our words and actions to implement His will in the world today:

Dear Loving God,  Forgive us for our sins and failings.  Search us, prune our unusable parts and remake us for the purpose of serving you more completely and with greater love. As the words of the hymn convey:   Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. Melt me, Mold me, Fill Me and Use Me. (Words and Music by Daniel Iverson #393 UM Hymnal)  Remind us to request the guidance that will help us follow your path and not our own. AMEN.

Chyrl Budd

Devotional 4-22-16

Simon Peter asked him, "Lord where are you going? Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later."

What am I striving to be as a Christian? Is it not an eternal perfect life?  Life without sorrow, pain, and suffering?

Right now I am anything but perfect.  I have faults and make bad judgments among other things.  I don't always say or do the things correctly.

But, even at my advanced age, I am working on being a better follower of Christ, a better Christian. So, I will keep reading God's word, sharing in fellowship to hear God's word, thinking of, listening to, and helping others, praying, and living a Christian life.  I will strive to be a better Christian here on earth, working towards that 'perfect' life with Christ our Lord.

Psalm 148

Kay Lewis

Devotional 4-10-16

A prayer for Easter Spring

Gracious, loving God we raise 
hearts and voices to adore
You who gave us springtime days 
and your mercy evermore. 
Thanks and praise we bring to you, 
Lord, for making all things new.

Crucifixion horrified 
those who shared the bread and wine.
Christ our Lord now glorified: 
resurrected gift divine.
Lord of all to you we raise
this our prayer of grateful praise.

Easter bears your promised word. 
Everlasting life you give.
One day we will see you, Lord. 
In your blessed arms we’ll live.
Thanks and praise to you again. 
In his name we pray.  Amen. 


Rev. Jack Lipphardt

Devotional 4-1-16

Forgiveness

A Service of Word and Table: Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were
yet sinners; that proves God’s love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are
forgiven! In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
Glory to God. Amen

When my mother began her battle with cancer in the late ‘90s, I had no doubt that she
would beat it. She could be very determined when she set her mind to something.
Unfortunately the breast cancer we thought she had defeated metastasized into a lung
cancer that took her life on Maundy Thursday of 1997. That was an irony that was lost on
me until now.

In her last month, I was with her every day. Those were rough days for Mom because
she was in so much pain and rough for me because I couldn’t save her.Those of you who
have been “the one at home” know that a hard part of being that person is that you are the
bearer of bad tidings to family members who call. Because I was in the nightmare, I
couldn’t see that they were struggling, too. I began to resent those who called.

After the funeral, it fell to my husband and me to settle the estate and sell the family
home.It was quite evident to everyone that I had not become the matriarch, but a martyr.
As time passed, I met others who had been “the one at home”, and I commiserated
with them, but the time came when I was forced to point out the other side. With the help
of my husband and my faith, I realized that I had been the lucky one. I had had the
privilege of sharing my mother’s last days. I also came to the conclusion that maybe my
family didn’t visit often because it was too hard to leave. And they hadn’t helped because
they wouldn’t have been able to do it to my standards. I guess that’s when I forgave them-
if there was anything to forgive.

Mom wasn’t what you’d call a religious person, but I know she expected my family
and me to love and forgive one another. With God’s help and in His time, we have done
just that. I pray that if you’re in a similar position, you’ll find it in your heart to forgive. I
hope it doesn’t take you ten years to do it.

Heavenly Father, You have told us to love and forgive one another, but You never said
it would be easy. Thank You for teaching us. Thank You for believing in us. Thank You
for loving us. In Your name we pray. Amen

Becky Warren