Devotional 10-11-20

 A few weeks ago, I accidentally broke off a leaf of the little African Violet plant I had been tenderly caring for.  I put the leaf in some soil and kept it watered, not wanting to throw it away.  It turned a little brown around the edges; nothing happened. But surprisingly one day four tiny leaves began to appear! I hope to have another African violet plant someday!  Recently I read in a devotional book that to develop another plant, dip the stem in honey before putting it in the soil!

 
Some things such as our faith may grow slowly. Faith needs nurturing and “honey."  I believe my faith still is maturing after all this time. I feel more deeply the love of God.  This knowledge is life-changing. Jesus taught a great deal about love.  In the gospel of John, he said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34, RSV).
 
The 13th-century English Bishop Saint Richard of Chichester wrote:
May I know Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly.
 
Godspell follows the wording in Hymn 429 of the 1940  Methodist Hymnal:
Day by day,
Dear Lord, of thee three things I pray:
To see thee more clearly,
Love thee more dearly,
Follow thee more nearly,
Day by day.
 
Let us all  rejoice in the knowledge of the love of God.  Pray that we all may love well and live with a blessing to all, including all God’s creation.
 
Dear God, fill our hearts with kindness, our actions with caring, our spirits with gentleness, so that we may become more of what we ought to be, through Christ our Lord.                          
Amen
                             
Martha Casey

Devotional 9-28-19

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”   Romans12:12
"Continue earnestly in prayer. Being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.”  Colossians 4:2

Recently, I was reading The Secret of the Abiding Presence by Andrew Murray.  He has a chapter,  “The Power of Intercession” in which he writes about the value of united intercessory prayer. Never had I thought of prayer in quite that way.  One prayer adds to another and the effects are great.  Murray writes about the “superhuman energy” of such prayer.

Today I am thinking about our beloved country with its deep divisions, a country that needs badly united intercessory prayer. Our prayers might include ones for the healing of our nation, for those suffering at our border looking for asylum, Puerto Ricans seeking better government, members and friends in our church who grieve over the death of a loved one, those who are ill, jobless, and missionaries abroad and at home.

I believe that I am part of a congregation that prays, and I am thankful.  May we always “be one in the spirit” and, although we go different ways, let us pray united in the spirit, abounding in love.  Jesus has promised, “Surely I will be with you always.”
"Bless be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love
The fellowship of kindred minds.
Is like to that above.” 

Martha Casey

Devotional 7-28-18

“DO  NOT BE AFRAID TO PROFESS FORGIVENESS”

This month I read another book in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith, Precious and Grace.  The setting is in Botswana, Africa.  Mma Ramotswe, our chief lady detective, is attending church.  She looks up at the ceiling high above her in the new cathedral where the electric fans stir the air so ineffectively.  Her attention is drawn down immediately when she hears the bishop say the word “forgiveness”.

The bishop speaks:  (abbreviated) “Somebody asked me the other day when we should start teaching our children about forgiveness.  I was surprised by the question because I think that forgiveness is one on the first things.  Forgiveness is at the heart of the way we live our lives—or should be.  So when we teach our children about the things they need to know about the world--about how not to touch fire, about how to wash their hands or put on their shoes, about where Africa is or Botswana---all these things, we should also remember to teach them about forgiveness.  When another person wrongs us, be ready to forgive. If we do not forgive them, we run the risk of being eaten up alive with hatred inside, hatred is like acid……..

The bishop continues.  “Yet who talks about forgiveness these days other than the people who come to this place, or to places like this? What politician, what public person, do we hear standing up and saying that we must forgive?  The message is more likely to be one of blame, holding this person or that person to account.  It is a message of retribution, sometimes dressed up in concern about victims and public  safety.  But if you do not forgive, what are you achieving?  When we punish somebody, we are often just punishing ourselves.  Locking people away is simply increasing the amount of suffering in the world. Sometimes you have to do it to protect people from harm, but you should remember there are other ways of changing a man’s ways.

“My brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to profess forgiveness.   Do not be embarrassed to say that you believe in love, and that you believe that water can wash away the sins of the world, and that you are prepared to put this message right at the heart of your world. Love and forgiveness are more powerful than those cynical, mocking words and will always be so.  Always.”

Thinking about forgiveness has reminded me of Jesus’ last words on the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”  This statement is given as the first of the seven reported last words on the cross.  I pray that we may all love more and therefore forgive.

John Greenleaf Whittier wrote, “Dear Lord and Father of mankind, forgive our foolish ways, reclothe us in our rightful minds, in purer lives thy service find, in deeper reverence, praise.“

Amen

Martha Casey

Devotional 3-31-17

To Follow Christ

              

Here, O Christ, our sins we see,
Learn Thy love while gazing thus;
Sin, which laid the cross on Thee,
Love, which bore the cross for us.

Here we learn to serve and give,
And rejoicing, self-deny;
Here we gather love to live,
Here we gather faith to die.”

--Elizabeth Charles

When I read these words from an old Methodist hymnal recently, I felt that it expressed what I am thinking about during these days of Lent:  to look at Christ and his purity and his sacrifice, to see my sins, my lack of love, to learn of Him and to seek and follow Him more closely as long as I live.

Lent is a time to reexamine our lives, to seek to follow in Christ’s steps.  However, I know we need others to encourage us and to hold us in love.  May all of us who read our Lenten devotions, open our hearts, seek God’s presence, think about Jesus, and share his love in all the ways we can.

Please think on these verses:

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  1 John 1:8-9

“Jesus said, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.”  Mark 8:34

Martha Casey 

Devotional 4-11-13

"He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." John 14:21

Several years ago I found the following poem in a Church Women United newsletter. I cut it out and it has haunted me since. I have posted it, typed it in Works on my computer and have found it in a file I keep with quotations. I guess I do not want to lose it! All Christians desire to be Christlike, but how do we achieve it? What a challenge! As I reflect on this poem, I hope as I live day by day, others "can see God's love expressed" and that God will lead me to do his work.

I am thankful that in this church and in others of which I have been apart, I have seen seen "God's love expressed" many times over.

I BEHOLD THE CHRIST IN YOU

I behold the Christ in you.
Here the life of God I see.
I can see this as you walk.
I can see this in all you do.
I can see this as you talk.

I behold God’s love expressed.
I can see you ever blessed.
See Christ in you hour by hour.

I behold the Christ in you.
I can see that perfect one
Led by God in all you do.
I can see God’s work is done.
L. Z. Cole

Dear Christ, help us to embody you in our lives and in the world. Help us to listen and find what you are calling us to be and do.

Martha Casey