Read Romans 12:9-21
Love our enemies
There are so many different types of love, each with many sides and aspects to it. It is one of the many flaws of the English language that we have a single word to describe them all, so we often fail to distinguish between that which we feel for our spouses, and that which compels us to feed the poor. Where this linguistic limitation has the most impact is where it tricks us to believing that love is a feeling, and worse, one over what we have no control.
It’s probably true that we cannot choose whom we love romantically. We fall in love and out of love at the whim of our emotions. Since this is the kind of love with which we are the most familiar (and perhaps the most comfortable), we struggle when we hear Jesus speak of “loving our enemies.” A contradiction forms in our mind as we think, “How can I love them? I don’t feel a shred of sympathetic emotion for them at all!”
The love of which Jesus speaks is not a feeling in any sense of the word. It is a decision resulting in action. It is a choice you make that has nothing whatsoever to do with how you feel, and quite often, occurs in spite of a feeling to the contrary. This kind of love judges the needs of a person but never the person themselves, and responds according to the gravity of the need, never the character of the person.
Understand that you must absolutely ignore whatever you feel for a person and treat them with as much compassion and kindness as you would show your own mother or child. This is the kind of love that Christ demands --not a feeling, but rather a spirit of service, selflessness and humility. It is the ability to give to others with no regard to what they can do to repay you, what they feel for you or what you feel for them.
This kind of love is extremely hard. Unlike romantic love, which naturally drives us to do wonderful things for our spouse, loving our enemies goes against what our sinful nature drives us to do. It is far from effortless. Very often, when we stand at the brink of loving our enemies, our sinful nature cries out, “I don’t want to do this!” And stand poised to halt our progress. We have to push through it. We have to resist the notion that something so difficult and so contrary to our natural desire could be called “love.” It is, in fact the greatest kind of love. It is the kind of love that God demonstrated when he saved us while we were his enemies (Romans 5:10).
There are opportunities for each of us to put this kind of love into practice every day, but it takes extraordinary courage and faith to even recognize these opportunities, let alone act on them. Imagine a coworker that you simply cannot get along with who is on the verge of making a huge mistake that will get her fired. Our sinful nature revels in this, and tells us that it serves her right. Let her get fired! Yet, if we are to love as God loves, we cannot let this situation unfold. We must intervene and prevent her from making that mistake despite all objections from our emotions. This is not at all what we will “feel” like doing, and that is why it requires such courage and faith. And what reward will we get? Perhaps she will thank us, or perhaps she will tell us to mind our own business. Yet, our love does not expect her appreciation and our motives are simple and pure-- love her as God loves her.
Remember that this kind of love is not about emotion, it is about action. Never stop looking for these opportunities to act in your life, and don’t give in to the nagging voice which insists that love is always easy and always rewarding. Don’t stop when you’re on the brink of kindness because it doesn’t feel right, for it often doesn’t. This kind of love can be hard and uncomfortable, but it is the most important of all, for it is by this kind of love that others will know that Christ lives in you.
If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother who he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. (I John 4:20)
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with action and in truth. (I John 3:18)
From “Delve into Jesus: Devotionals: Love our Enemies”
Dear Lord,
Be with us as we go through out our daily tasks and remind us that you are there for us to call on when we get into a situation that we should love our enemies, or someone that needs the love of God reveled to them through us. Even when we say, “I can’t do this,” give us the strength to love the children of God. For it is by your strength that we depend on to get us through the day. Thank you for all the blessings you have given to all of us, and let us share the blessing of your love to our enemies, by showing them that “Jesus loves you” through our actions.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Submitted by Melanie Herr
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Devotional 8-29-08
A PERSONAL SAVIOUR
In 1954 Dr. Billy Graham arrived in London, England to conduct an evangelistic crusade at the Earls Court Arena which had a seating capacity close to 20,000. Not particularly large for an arena but to Londoners such as I who had never been to a religious event of this nature it was remarkable. Although I don't recall the text he spoke on I do remember that the meeting ended with his plea to listeners to come forward and accept Christ as personal Savior. Many people surged forward as the huge choir sang "Just as I am, without one plea".
Looking back to 1954 it is the words "personal Savior" that I find to be so important. Most of us like to personalize things, give them our own personal touch, a monogram on a shirt, our home decor, the choices we make. What is so important about our relationship with our Savior that it is described as personal? Because each one of us has to make a "personal" decision to accept Jesus and His salvation, no one else can do it for us. Because He knows everything there is to know about us, more than we may know or care to admit about ourselves. Because it exemplifies the most loving and caring relationship we can ever enjoy.
Every day this Personal Savior reminds us that His love enfolds us (Rom.8:39), His light surrounds us (Eph.5:8), His power protects us (1Pet.1:5) and His presence watches over us, wherever we are He is there (Ps.139:7)
Hallelujah!
All scripture from the King James Version
Jean Dean
In 1954 Dr. Billy Graham arrived in London, England to conduct an evangelistic crusade at the Earls Court Arena which had a seating capacity close to 20,000. Not particularly large for an arena but to Londoners such as I who had never been to a religious event of this nature it was remarkable. Although I don't recall the text he spoke on I do remember that the meeting ended with his plea to listeners to come forward and accept Christ as personal Savior. Many people surged forward as the huge choir sang "Just as I am, without one plea".
Looking back to 1954 it is the words "personal Savior" that I find to be so important. Most of us like to personalize things, give them our own personal touch, a monogram on a shirt, our home decor, the choices we make. What is so important about our relationship with our Savior that it is described as personal? Because each one of us has to make a "personal" decision to accept Jesus and His salvation, no one else can do it for us. Because He knows everything there is to know about us, more than we may know or care to admit about ourselves. Because it exemplifies the most loving and caring relationship we can ever enjoy.
Every day this Personal Savior reminds us that His love enfolds us (Rom.8:39), His light surrounds us (Eph.5:8), His power protects us (1Pet.1:5) and His presence watches over us, wherever we are He is there (Ps.139:7)
Hallelujah!
All scripture from the King James Version
Jean Dean
Friday, August 22, 2008
Devotional 8-21-08
Lamentations 3:22
Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.
Leader: When our medical machines can no longer keep us alive or solve our problems we ask --- Why God!!!!
Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.
Leader: When we keep our taxes low and our profits based on a short-term focus while our societal safety net crumbles we ask ---- Where is God?
Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.
Leader: When we invest in pleasure and self-indulgence only thinking of ourselves and not others in our world by the burning of forest, global warming, unsafe environmental practices and our lifestyle implodes we ask --- Who is God?
Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.
Leader: When business lay low-income workers off and give bonuses to management based on those decisions – We wonder about justice?
Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.
Leader: When our government official’s former companies make billions from a war that they promote while our children are killed and maimed in that war which was uncertain to begin with -- It angers us.
Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.
Leader: When we continue to eat, live, and act unhealthy and find ourselves dying from diseases and causes that are related to the way we have lived, eaten, and acted. We want God to fix our problems. When He doesn’t we say it is God’s will.
Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.
Leader: When and oil company Exec makes $ 50 million in salary and bonuses a year and responds to a questions about the price of gas by saying he is only charging what the “free Market” will bear and that it is his “right” to make a profit, we have to wonder where profit becomes greed. We ask does only that which is limited have value?
Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.
Leader: When a society can produce financial crisis’s such as the junk bond collapse, the saving and loan bailout, the disintegration of the tech stock market, the real estate balloon burst and foreclosure, Enron’s debacle, the Bears and Sterns implosion and still believe to not be motivated by self centered desires – We wonder when God?
Response: But the steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases.
Rev. David Johnson
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Devotional 8-15-08
Matthew 15:1-28
I always enjoy reading about the interactions that Jesus had with the women of his day. Jesus ministered to a wide variety of people. I truly believe that his approach to people was revolutionary. He talked not only to women, but foreigners, people who were sick, social outcasts of all kinds, wealthy people who were important socially, lepers, you name it. He treated everyone with respect and dignity because his understanding of what constituted righteous behavior was not how well they followed a ritual. The Law in the book of Leviticus talked about who and what was unclean and how the Hebrew people were to conduct themselves on every occasion. But those laws had little to say about why they should practice good behavior, in other words, what motivated people to please God. Jesus wanted people to "behave;” to make choices that were pleasing to God because they wanted to, not because they felt they had to. He wanted them to understand that following God meant much more than eating the right foods, or staying away from this person or that situation. He looked at the reasons why people behaved the way that they did. He wanted people to be pure of heart
So, with that concept of Jesus' openness and acceptance in mind, I have to admit that I become a little angry with him in this Scripture from this week's lectionary. Here was a pagan woman, certainly someone considered ritually unclean, but who, in my opinion, was at the end of her rope as she sought healing for her daughter. Jesus ignored her request. His disciples told him to send her away. I am not absolutely positive about this, but I think this is the only place in Scripture where Jesus refused, at least at first, to help someone. This woman was persistent. She kept asking until finally Jesus healed her daughter and commended her for her faith. Perhaps her tenaciousness and love for her daughter made him respect her. Perhaps he was impressed with the fact that she did have faith that He could heal her, when apparently no one else had been able to. She did not give up.
We're all tempted to give up on something that is important to us. Sometimes we wonder if God hears our prayers or why they seem to go unanswered. Probably all of us have had times when we prayed for loved ones to be cured from illnesses such as cancer, and the person died, in spite of our fervent, faith filled prayers. Many of us have had incidents take place in our family that were so difficult to deal with, that we wondered where God could possibly be. I have no easy answer to that question, other than to share that I have asked it a few times myself. However, I have learned over the years that God works in ways that we don't see, that God has the bigger picture in mind, and sees every situation in ways we cannot.
As a pastor, I tell people that from the worst situation God can and will and does bring something good, although we often have to discipline ourselves spiritually to see it.
This challenging scripture reminds me that maybe the answer to our prayers is "No" or "Not now". Prayer is not a way for us to somehow gain control of God and thus control of our lives. It is not a way of piling up things that we simply would like to have, of having our every whim catered to and every desire fulfilled. It can be a remarkable resource for sustenance and support. I have to trust that God acts in God's own time, not mine.
This story of a remarkable, feisty woman reminds me of that. She never gave up. The cynical part of me thinks that maybe she just nagged and wore Jesus down. (Obviously, that's not something I recommend for the best inter-personal relationships!) But we can use her as an example of prayer. She exhibited clarity about what she wanted, the ability to go to the Source that she was sure could help her and a determination to make herself understood and heard. Maybe that's what a healthy prayer really is, seeking with determination while trusting that some sort of answer will be forthcoming, and an awareness that sometimes God does indeed say "No" or "Not yet."
Rev. Dorcas Conrad
Dillon Chapel UMC
I always enjoy reading about the interactions that Jesus had with the women of his day. Jesus ministered to a wide variety of people. I truly believe that his approach to people was revolutionary. He talked not only to women, but foreigners, people who were sick, social outcasts of all kinds, wealthy people who were important socially, lepers, you name it. He treated everyone with respect and dignity because his understanding of what constituted righteous behavior was not how well they followed a ritual. The Law in the book of Leviticus talked about who and what was unclean and how the Hebrew people were to conduct themselves on every occasion. But those laws had little to say about why they should practice good behavior, in other words, what motivated people to please God. Jesus wanted people to "behave;” to make choices that were pleasing to God because they wanted to, not because they felt they had to. He wanted them to understand that following God meant much more than eating the right foods, or staying away from this person or that situation. He looked at the reasons why people behaved the way that they did. He wanted people to be pure of heart
So, with that concept of Jesus' openness and acceptance in mind, I have to admit that I become a little angry with him in this Scripture from this week's lectionary. Here was a pagan woman, certainly someone considered ritually unclean, but who, in my opinion, was at the end of her rope as she sought healing for her daughter. Jesus ignored her request. His disciples told him to send her away. I am not absolutely positive about this, but I think this is the only place in Scripture where Jesus refused, at least at first, to help someone. This woman was persistent. She kept asking until finally Jesus healed her daughter and commended her for her faith. Perhaps her tenaciousness and love for her daughter made him respect her. Perhaps he was impressed with the fact that she did have faith that He could heal her, when apparently no one else had been able to. She did not give up.
We're all tempted to give up on something that is important to us. Sometimes we wonder if God hears our prayers or why they seem to go unanswered. Probably all of us have had times when we prayed for loved ones to be cured from illnesses such as cancer, and the person died, in spite of our fervent, faith filled prayers. Many of us have had incidents take place in our family that were so difficult to deal with, that we wondered where God could possibly be. I have no easy answer to that question, other than to share that I have asked it a few times myself. However, I have learned over the years that God works in ways that we don't see, that God has the bigger picture in mind, and sees every situation in ways we cannot.
As a pastor, I tell people that from the worst situation God can and will and does bring something good, although we often have to discipline ourselves spiritually to see it.
This challenging scripture reminds me that maybe the answer to our prayers is "No" or "Not now". Prayer is not a way for us to somehow gain control of God and thus control of our lives. It is not a way of piling up things that we simply would like to have, of having our every whim catered to and every desire fulfilled. It can be a remarkable resource for sustenance and support. I have to trust that God acts in God's own time, not mine.
This story of a remarkable, feisty woman reminds me of that. She never gave up. The cynical part of me thinks that maybe she just nagged and wore Jesus down. (Obviously, that's not something I recommend for the best inter-personal relationships!) But we can use her as an example of prayer. She exhibited clarity about what she wanted, the ability to go to the Source that she was sure could help her and a determination to make herself understood and heard. Maybe that's what a healthy prayer really is, seeking with determination while trusting that some sort of answer will be forthcoming, and an awareness that sometimes God does indeed say "No" or "Not yet."
Rev. Dorcas Conrad
Dillon Chapel UMC
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Devotional 8-8-08
Read: Psalm 105:1-6, Matt 14:22-33 and Romans 5:1-15
Faith is defined in Webster’s as:
1 a: allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty b (1): fidelity to one's promises (2): sincerity of intentions2 a (1): belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2): belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1): firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2): complete trust3: something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs
As a Christian we are to place all of our Faith in God through his son, our savior, Jesus. Let all of our life be guided in everything we do by his hands. We are to do this every day of our life. WOW, can we really do this??? Well, if you read the above passags you’ll see that this is exactly what our God of the Old Testament and of the new Covenant, through his son Jesus wants us to do.
Now I don't suggest that we do not have to make certain informed choices in our lives. (Don't try driving a car on Faith alone. You do have to place your hands on the wheel.) We are to talk with God and listen for his guidance when we need to make a choice, or when we need to take a leap of faith.
Twenty-four years ago I was looking to make a career change decision. As I investigated what I would have to do to make this change I needed Gods help to lead me to see if this was the path I was to take. I prayed about it, I counseled with our Senior Pastor F. Emerson Wood. Because one thing was certain I would have to leave Huntington for a school I would need to attend. What that meant was leaving my job, loss of income, and my family. We had three small children, a home, expenses, etc. Well, after all the prayers and counseling, a school was found, and I was accepted. Funds to help defray the loss of income were made available. (And much appreciated) I left Huntington and commuted on weekends from Cincinnati to maintain our family connection. A year later I returned to Huntington with a new career.
None of this would have happened with having the faith I needed in our God. As my dear mother, Frances Herr, often said, "everything always works out for the best." She had great faith in God. Since then has my faith wavered? I have had not had enough faith at times. But I always find out that when I place all of my worrys, decisions and concerns in God's hands, "everything does work out."
When we have this faith in God we are not to keep it to ourselves, but we are to use it to bring other to Christ and God. It is through our example of living a life in Christ and faith in God that will help others see the light.
The refrain in the lyrics from the song below have a special place in my heart, as it was a part of the music used during my "Walk to Emmaus" weekend. I have just seen the rest of the lyrics as I was writing this devotion, and I was taken aback by how much they followed parts of the scriptures above. (Divine intervention!!) (For those able to be at church this past week Patricia Green's music during the Offering was a beautiful arrangement of this song).
Now that I have rambled too long, one last word "KEEP the FAITH" is more than just a saying it is something we all should live by daily.
God Bless ALL
Fred HerrTURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS
Words and Music by Helen H. Lemmel
1922
O soul are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Saviour,
And life more abundant and free.
Refrain
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His Glory and Grace.
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion -
For more than conquerors we are!
Refrain
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His Glory and Grace.
His Word shall not fail you - He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well;
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell.
Refrain
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His Glory and Grace
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Devotional 8-1-08
Please read Matthew 14:13-21
The story of the miraculous feeding of the 5000 has always been one of my favorite bible stories. I learned about it in Bible School . In the version I first learned, a boy about my age was the hero. I could imagine myself handing over my lunch to Jesus' disciples and watching as Jesus used it to feed the multitudes. It wasn't until I was much older that I discovered the little boy is only in one of the four gospel accounts of the miracle. Matthew, Mark, and Luke do not mention a little boy.
This is the only miracle that occurs in each of the four gospels, so it must be pretty important. What does it mean for us today?
Today's passage starts out in verse 13 with "[w]hen Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself..." This was the murder of John the Baptist. Imagine that you are one of the twelve, and you have given up everything to follow Jesus. I imagine the disciples were afraid; if John the Baptist had been killed, maybe Jesus (and they) would be next.
Even though Jesus wanted to get away to be by himself, he put himself in the place of the crowds. Verse 14 tells us he had compassion for the crowds that followed. He felt for them, and put their needs first before his own need to be by himself. The disciples wanted to get rid of the crowds, to send them home; they wanted to be left alone. They wanted to eat, and they only had enough for themselves.
It doesn't seem that unreasonable to me that the disciples would want to get rid of the crowds. They needed time to regroup, to relax, to refresh. They didn't have food enough for the large crowd.
Jesus gave a harsh command. "You give them something to eat."
The disciples offered their defenses, but Jesus wouldn't hear them. They protested that they only had a few loaves of bread and a couple fish. "Bring them to me."
The disciples obeyed, and the results were miraculous. Jesus took what was offered, gave thanks, and then distributed it. Not only was everyone fed, but also there were plenty of leftovers.
We view the world through eyes of scarcity in the midst of abundance. There's not enough time; not enough money; not enough resources; not enough help; not enough people. When we offer what we have to Jesus, miracles happen. There is more than enough, if we are willing to obey Jesus' command.
"You give them something..."
Jeff Taylor
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Devotional 7-25-08
My business is light. Not lite beer, lite bread, lite
bagels or lite blueberry pie -- nothing really advantageous to the waist line but just light. The kind of light you use to see to read a book, build a shelf, cook a meal, change the oil from underneath your car, and the kind of light you block with your Foster Grants while on the beach or by a saluting hand when you step from a dark place (like a movie matinee) into the sun. I have spent many hours over the past 17 years learning about light. We can all probably remember meeting Roy G. Biv when we were kids in science class. Red -- Orange -- Yellow -- Green -- Blue -- Indigo -- Violet. Roy' s namesake lines up perfectly when sunlight is passed through a prism onto a surface such as the sidewalk or a wall. Red to violet represents what is called the visible spectrum. This radiant energy is measured in nanometers and this particular, visible range is from 380nm to 780nm. On one end of the spectrum is infrared and on the other, ultraviolet. I know what you're thinking, "Get to the point, man, I didn't like this stuff then, and I don't especially like it now." Stay with me. Who hasn't smiled at little Trixie of Hi and Lois fame as she sat near the window and talked to her sunbeam? As a child I used to like seeing the particles floating in the wedge of light as the beam pierced its way into the living room. As an adult (and probably with the same chagrin my parents felt then) I know what all that floatie stuff is -- it's "not often enough vacuuming." Ok, ok, here is the point. You can not SEE light. The evidence of light is seen by our eyes only when it is reflected off of something else. Reflected off the road, the neighbor's car, the puddle of rain on the front stoop, the kitchen counter, a magazine page, a friend's face and yes, the dust floating in the sunbeam that visits through your window. 
As recorded in John chapter 8 verse 12, Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." In order for many in this world, in this town, in this church to see Jesus He is going to have to be reflected off of something -- US. As we are kept out of the darkness by the light of Christ, we must reflect that warmth and love to all around us. Could there be a better job than to have a brother or sister see and know God because He was reflected through your life?
Steve Matthews
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