Devotional 5-4-12

I would like to share with you a recent experience of mine which confirmed to me once again that God is always with us and cares about everything we do or think or feel.

It was the evening before the first anniversary of my husband's death and I was feeling low in just about every possible way, emotionally, spiritually, physically. Each day in the week before the anniversary I had remembered the time one year ago when Keith was in hospital, in ICU, a time when we thought sure he would recover. Some days there were encouraging signs, a day when he was able to be off the ventilator, the day when he was able to use an IPad. But recovery was not to be.

Now, one year later, where to turn for comfort and strength. I felt devastated.

The Upper Room reading for this day had been from the Gospel of John,Chapter 14. I reread it and at first could not find the help and comfort I was seeking.Then I realized that what I needed was staring me in the face, in V.1, ."Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me" and again in V.27, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid".

I began to feel energized, to get up out of my chair, to stop feeling sorry for myself, to expect God's help. Help came in the form of an email with photos of the newest family member, little one-year-old Alison, a bright and smiling example of God's love. Help came in the form of a telephone call with an answer I had been seeking. Help came in the knowledge that He is always there to give physical strength to comfort both emotionally and spiritually.

How blessed that our great Got cares about each one of us so much that He is always there for us to give us strength and hope and comfort. We just have to seek Him."

Jean Dean

Devotional 4-27-12

Scars of His Love

He sat outside,

the heat of the day beating into his skin.
The wall at his back was rough
digging into his tunic.
The ground where he sat was hard
Parched.

As he had been
Eight days ago,
when he had left the other ten,
When he had struck out alone,
in desperation.
He had been empty,
scarred,
and he had sought emptiness.

Upon his return to the Upper Room
he had been told that his Master had returned
Risen from the dead.
That he had been alive and with them.

The news had been like
tales of rain in a drought,
thoughts of healing for a leper,
Unbelievable.
Unacceptable.
Unimaginable.
The scars of loss had been too parched
to admit any possibilities of grace.

He had held on to the loss.
It had been safer.
And he had been unwilling
to hear the sound of anything else.

Now, today, Thomas sat outside
having encountered the risen Lord.
He had seen the Rabbi’s scars,
Heard his voice.
And Thomas had believed.

He stared at his own hands,
remembering the look of the Master’s hands
where the nails had pierced the flesh.
The scars of the Master’s love
had left him breathless,
and finally,
he had opened his heart
To the flood of the grace offered.

He had believed.
“My Lord and my God.”

Inspiration from John 20:24-28 and from the line, "The scars of your love, they leave me breathless" from the song Rolling in the Deep by Adele.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 4-20-12

The Man I Never Knew

April 7^th, 2012 should have been a Saturday like any other -- hectic and full of the errands that didn’t get completed during the week. It should not have been a day for the news that was about to come. But come it did. The phone call said that my cousin had died the day before. My youngest cousin. My 43 year old cousin. What?? “This can’t be” was my first thought and most likely the first thing I also spoke out loud. John Matthew, dubbed Johnny Bugs by his Aunt Judy (my mom) when he was very nearly the size of a bug, was gone.

Society has a self imposed litmus test for success. Grow up, get married, have kids, retire, get a hobby. And there are ages that correspond to each stage. If an individual does not marry or works into his seventies or eighties we ask “What’s wrong with him?” The answer is simply this – absolutely nothing! Johnny was not married nor did he have children. Johnny chose a path that kept him in the hometown that he loved, allowed him to work in a place with immediate and extended family and gave him the freedom to travel and spend time with family and friends not living near.

The week approaching promised joy at seeing so many of the family and heartache at saying goodbye to one. I was not the first to arrive at the viewing nor the last to leave, but I did watch a three and a half hour steady line of people wait patiently to pay their respects to the family – the family that had just lost so much. I watched this family arranged in a horseshoe with Johnny’s casket closing the loop on one end. They graciously received each of the visitors. No member of the family, although each strong in their own way, could have single handedly borne the weight of that evening. But together drawing strength from each other, the stayed the course.

The celebration of life folder gave the agenda for the funeral service the following day. I read the list of speakers in disbelief; lifelong friends, his nieces and nephews, his sisters and his brother. I wondered how they would manage it, knowing full well that if I were placed in a similar situation I would crumble into a heap on the ground. But manage it they did with strength and composure. Classmates, teammates and friends spoke of friendships built so long ago. Nieces and nephews shared what Uncle Johnny meant to them. He was never too busy. One sister shared about Johnny’s “great laugh”. It was contagious. And his smile infectious – when Johnny smiled, the room smiled. And the eldest, his other sister, talked of acceptance. Johnny didn’t care about background or circumstance, Johnny took you just as you stood – baggage and all.

God has a funny way of getting our attention (or he does with me anyway). Music is a primary tool. On an August day in 2009 as we drove to the funeral home for Mom’s service, a song popped on the radio that almost stopped me in my tracks. Mom had battled Alzheimer’s for several years. Alzheimer’s is a disease that robs its victims of memory and cognitive thought – at first. Then it deprives them of remembering how to eat, how to breath and how to live. It had been months since I had seen her awake. She had withered into a wisp of herself and now the battle was over. The song was sung by Jeremy Camp and the particular section of lyrics that spoke to me was this:

There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face.
A relief to think of no more burdens for her.

On this April Friday as I steered into the same driveway of the same funeral home, this time for Johnny, these words came over the radio.

To everyone who's lost someone they love
Long before it was their time
You feel like the days you had were not enough
when you said goodbye
There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary…
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus.
Many cries going out this week. Comforting words.

God also puts people in our path who teach us things. When Jesus walked the earth, he preached and taught – by word and by example. Scholars can only point to one or two instances where Jesus actually wrote. They kind of agree that it was with his finger or the point of a stick and that it was in the dirt. He didn’t keep a journal. Fortunately those that were around Him found it important enough to document what went on. Today those words and actions are bound into a single volume and are our blueprint for life. They require study and reflection, but there they are. What if there was a person, now, 2000 years later, living those actions of caring and accepting and helping? Wouldn’t we try or at least want to try, to be like that? We may even tag them with the title of role model. That was Johnny. Never flashy or boastful but always there when needed. We find ourselves muttering, “I wish I could be more like that”, or “I would like to be like him”.

No one that spoke on Friday ever mentioned anger, malice or hatefulness. That wasn’t Johnny. The relationships they described are the kind forged in a fire of trust and respect. The kind that weather all that time imposes upon them. I have more respect for Dave than I can say in these paragraphs. He is a gentleman and the epitome of class. He used the words ‘best friend’ to describe his brother. I feel confident that those are not words he attaches to a person easily and they are not words I take lightly. David and Johnny were brothers by birth – not much choice in the matter. They were friends because they wanted to be. That was ALL a matter of choice.

To say that Johnny touched lives would be to dilute the true power he had on this planet. He impacted lives. To be helped, cared for or befriended by Johnny was to be changed forever. Johnny was six years my junior yet I can only hope that someday I grow into the man he was.

Godspeed Johnny Bugs. You will never know all that you did here on earth. Those of us that remain, that knew you and loved you, will do our meager best to pay forward your legacy.

Steve Matthews

Devotional 4-13-12

Siamese Fighting Fish

Several months ago I went to Wal Mart to get dog treats for our spoiled dogs. While I was there I passed by the fish area and saw the Siamese fighting fish. I had had one a long time ago and knew they were aggressive fish that could not tolerate being with other fish especially their own kind. There was one fish that I saw that day that was in a plastic cup with very little water. He was lying on his side just trying to get enough water to live. I felt sorry for him so I bought him home with the food to take care of him. I put him in a tall container and he began to thrive. I went online to learn about Siamese fighting fish and learned their behavior. They are really mean. They will kill each other for no reason at all as that is their nature. They really do not require all that much care, just some water and some food, but they do like a safe place to hide from harm. I did learn that the male fish make a bubble nest and take care of the eggs from the female and stay with those eggs until they are hatched. I did not provide a safe place for my fish to hide, and he was always flitting around in his container. He was always hungry and searching for safety.

It finally occurred to me that he needed a safe place to be. I put a conch shell in his container that was just the right size for him to hide and seek safety. It took him awhile to learn that the conch shell was there for him to be safe. He finally figured it out. He will now come out to eat occasionally and flits only so often, he then immediately returns to the safety of his conch shell.

Wow, I learned a lot from this fish (I named him Napoleon because he is red and Napoleon always had on a red jacket in his pictures and was a mean fighter, too.). What I learned is that we all need the basic things (food and water), but we still have to have a safe place to really be content in our lives. We may be like that fish and fighting for life with just enough water to get by the best we can, but we need to know that Jesus is our conch shell. Once we realize this, we too can feel safe in His haven that he provided for us. He gave it to us on the cross. We need to thank him everyday for his great gift to us.

Jean Ramsey

Devotional 2-17-12

Our Prayer

Our creator God, hear our prayer.
Holy, holy, holy, we lift our prayer to you.
You live in heaven,
you live among us.
We pray for the change that will bring
heaven to earth.
We pray for reality to be shaped by your will,
instead of our own.

The hope of our church
is that you will come among us.
Heal our families.
Surround our friends with your grace.
Tune our ears to your word
so that we will hear you,
and follow you.
Walk with us, so that justice will flow
and rightousness will stream like living water
in your world.
We pray that your church
will be brought together in unity.
Hear our prayers.

We pray that you will give us
what we need to live.
To live this life, alive.
Hear our cries for forgiveness
and for the ability to forgive.
Give us the strength to resist the
lure of sin.
Give us the courage to repent,
and to turn back to you.

Hear our secret hopes
Our unspoken worries
that move silently
through the crevices of our souls.
Hear these breathless, silent prayers,
unheard by others,
sometimes ignored by our hearts,
sometimes our hearts' deepest desires,
sometimes silenced by our pain or shame.
The echoes of these silent prayers
can be deafening in our lives.
Hear our groaning of our souls.

For the universe is yours,
the power is yours,
and we live our lives,
in your glory.
Amen.

Kim Matthews

Devotional 2-10-12

A woman came out of her house and saw three old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said “Oh dear, what are you doing in my yard, can I help you, are you hungry? Please come in and have something to eat.”

“Is everyone home that lives here?” they asked. “No,” she replied. “My husband is out.” “Then we cannot come in”, they replied. In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened. “Go tell them I am home and invite them in!” The woman went out and invited the men in. “We do not go into a house together,” they replied. “Why is that?” she asked.
One of the old men explained: “His name is Wealth,” he said pointing to one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, “He is Success, and I am Love.” Then he added, “Now go in and discuss with everyone you live with which one of us you want in your home.”

Which Would You Choose?
The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. “How nice!!” he said. “Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!”

His wife disagreed. “My dear, why don’t we invite Success?” Their daughter jumped in with her own suggestion: “Would it not be better to invite Love in? Our home will then be filled with love!” “Let us heed her advice,” said the husband to his wife. “Let’s invite Love to be our guest.”

The woman went out and asked the three old men, “Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest.” Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other two also got up and followed him.

Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: “I only invited Love, why are you coming in?”

The old men replied together: “If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would’ve stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!!!!!!”

The moral of the story… if you have love in your life all else will follow.

Gracious God,
May my life, home, family, friends, and coworkers have love in our lives as we enter this new year. AMEN

Rev. David Johnson

Devotional 2-3-12

New Year's Resolutions

As I was watching the Rose Bowl Parade January 2, 2012, they were taking a survey asking people how they were doing on keeping their New Year’s Resolutions. It was reported that 32% had already broken a resolution they had made for 2012. I began to wonder which one of the top 13 New Year’s resolutions they had failed to keep: drink less alcohol, eat healthy food, get a better education, get a better job, get fit, lose weight, manage debt, manage stress, quit smoking, save money, take a trip, volunteer to help others, or follow the three R- Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Well as I looked at that list, I could see how 32% could have already broken a resolution with one cigarette, an extra piece of pie, too many drinks, or buying that new car with 0% interest for 60 months.

But even the most well-intended resolutions tend to fall to pieces soon after the Time Square ball drops. Niall O'Dowd of New York City resolved to lose 30 pounds one year but fell off the exercise bike the first day in and fractured his leg. "No more weight loss," O'Dowd told ABCNews.com.

Do you have a list of New Year’s Resolutions? What is driving you to better your life? What is on your list of resolutions? Does it include some of the top 13? Or does your list include none of the top 13? As I thought about the top 13, this devotion I am writing, and what might be on my list, I was forced to ask myself the question, “What would Jesus want me to put on my resolutions list?”

In other words ask yourself: What is Jesus calling me to change? What is Jesus asking me to do? Where is Jesus calling me to serve? How can I be a better Disciple for Jesus?

If I were to make a list I believe these would be the top 13 Christian resolutions:

1. I will spend no less than 15 minutes a day reading my Bible.
2. I will be in personal prayer at least three times a day.
3. I will be in prayer with my family at every meal, and strive to also be in prayer with family members at other times regularly.
4. I will find a place where I can be alone for 10 minutes every day to think of nothing else other than my walk with God.
5. I will not only be at worship every Sunday but I will pray for the service and prepare myself for worship each week.
6. I will strive to be involved in a Bible Study opportunity at least twice this year.
7. I will begin asking God where he wants to use me in His church and watch diligently for that to be revealed to me by June of this year.
8. I will look for opportunities to share with others how I see Jesus working in my life and in the world.
9. I will strive to accept God’s forgiveness both in my life and in the lives of others.
10. I will ask God for help in changing those things in my life that are hurting me physically and spiritually and to replace them with positive actions.
11. I will turn over to God those things that are hard for me to do and wait for Him to show me what to do.
12. I will ask God to help me to be more loving and caring of others.
13. I will ask God to show me where he wants to use me in my community to help others in need

Rev. Sam Wachter