Devotional 5-9-14

Feeling Sheepish

A Psalm of David
23 The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell[a] in the house of the LORD
Forever.

I have gone to way too many funerals this year. A few were for the parents of childhood friends, some were for friends from church, one was for a classmate, and the saddest was for the child of a couple I have known since we were teenagers.

It is no surprise that Psalm 23 was part of almost every service. Sometimes we recited it together. Sometimes it was read to those gathered. Always I dreaded it. That statement may shock you, but to me it was a signal that a life was over. All I heard was that someone was taking a walk through the valley of the shadow of death. What could be worse? How was that comforting?

You can imagine my dismay when David’s psalm came up as a scripture for the devotion for this week. I tried to write about one of the other lectionary readings, but God would not hear it. He decided that I needed to study this poem until I understood what it was about.

As a middle school teacher, I have spent my life trying to convince teens that they should not act like mindless sheep, following the loudest voice into who knows what. But in this psalm, David reminds me that God is not saying that I am mindless. He is taking care of me because I do not know what lies ahead. When bad things happen – and bad things will happen – He will find me and guide me through the tough times.

What does the table have to do with the sheep? Probably nothing. God knows that I am a visual learner, so He gives me one more picture.  I am sitting at His table, my feet are washed, my hair is anointed with fragrant oil, my wine glass is full, and God, my host, treats me with goodness and mercy because I belong to Him.

I am not looking forward to another funeral. But when I attend another one – and I will attend another – I will be ready, willing, and able to recite Psalm 23 with hope and love. You see, I finally understand that this psalm is not about dying. It is about living a life that takes the fear out of dying. It is about the shepherd taking care of His sheep - me.

Prayer - Heavenly Father, I am so relieved to know that when this sheep is too lost to find You, You will come looking for me. My cup truly does run over. Amen

Becky Warren

Devotional 5-2-14

How could he do it?
Sitting before him
preparing to go to the Jesus leaders
and betray him
to his death,
to tremendous suffering and pain,
to crucifixion,
was Judas.

Jesus knelt near his feet,
dirty from the travels on the road,
and washed away the grime.
For Jesus, it was about love.

How could he do it?
How could he keep loving this man
who would betray him?

Did he think
that one more expression of love
would change Judas' mind?
I don't think so.

Did he think
that one more expression of love
would lead Judas to self-forgiveness
once it was done?
I don't know.

Did he think
that one more expression of love
would change this man's heart?
Only God knows.

What I know is this.
Jesus could be no other way.
Jesus could not fail
to love one more time.
He could not fail
to wash the feet of Judas.

How could he do it?
How could he not do it?

Thanks to Rev. Joe Hill whose sermon thought inspired this poem

Kim Matthews

Devotional 4-25-14

Risen, He Lives Again
 

Come, all ye faith-ful, joy-ful and tri-um-phant.
Fold-ed the grave clothes; an-gels stand ex-ul-tant.
Come and a-dore him!   Christ the Lord is ri-sen!
Ri-sen, he lives a-gain.

Ba-nish the doubts, di-spel the cloud of ter-ror.
They, dis-il-lu-sioned, now con-fess the er-ror
of dis-ap-point-ment and their fear-ful hi-ding.
Ri-sen, he lives a-gain.

Sing choirs of an-gels, sing in ex-ul-ta-tion.
Run with the wo-men's glad ex-hil-a-ra-tion.
Run with th' a-pos-tles' new ex-hu-be-ra-tion.
Ri-sen, he lives a-gain.

Yea, Lord, we greet thee, ris'n this hap-py mor-ning.
Death can-not hold him!  Come, be-hold his glo-ry.
Come and a-dore him!  Christ The Lord is ri-sen!
Ri-sen, he lives a-gain.

jwl 2014
quoting John F. Wade "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (1743),
            translated by Frederick Oakeley (1841)
tune:  SHADES MOUNTAIN, K. Lee Scott (1987)

Rev. Jack Lipphardt

Devotional 2-21-14

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.

I don't think I spend a lot of time thinking about how God created me in his image. That's probably a good thing, because it's after Christmas and there is more of me than I'm happy with.  That's something I have to work o , and it's certainly not God's fault.

On Wednesday I was invited to see my next grandchild.  What a wonderful experience.  You can actually see the bones in the hands, arms, feet and legs.  You can watch and hear the heartbeat. You can tell if you need to buy pink or blue; it's blue for this one.  It is such a miracle to be able to see all of these wonders right in front of me.

One of my favorite new Christmas songs is "Mary Did You Know?".  It is so beautiful and a little sad, but one of my favorite lines is "when you kiss your little baby, you kiss the Face of God." What a wonderful thought.  I don't think I'd really thought that before, I've just enjoyed kissing the sweet faces of the innocents.

The next time you kiss someone, partner, child, parent, friend, remember that you are kissing the Face of God.  Remember that how you treat this person or any other person you meet during the day is a reflection of how you treat God.

Think about this with every person you deal with and see if how you treat others doesn't improve your day, week, and your year.

I can't wait to kiss the face of our little grandson when he gets here.  He will be so fresh from God that I'm sure some of that grace will rub off on us.

May your days be blessed.

Debbie McGinnis

Devotional 2-14-14

What if?
"Our attitude towards others reflects our relationship with God."  1 John 4:20 (NRS)
 

When I was a little girl, my mother’s mantra was always, “Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing, worry about what you are doing.” The implication was that that that would give me more than enough to do. In John 21:22 (NRS) when Peter asks about John, Jesus tells him, ”If I want him to stay alive until I return, what is it to you? You must follow me.” We aren’t supposed to compare our lives to others. We are to use the talents that we have been given to live the best life that we possibly can. We are to follow Him.

 

Jesus taught us to forgive others and not to judge them. Most of all he taught us to love. It doesn’t seem very hard when you first think about it. The devil (literally in this case) is in the details. Forgiving can be very hard. Sometimes it is an on going process that we struggle with for years. And we aren’t just to forgive, we are supposed to ‘turn the other cheek’ and pray for them. It seems to be human nature to judge others. It makes us feel better about ourselves. But Jesus (and my mother) said that we were not to compare ourselves to others. We are not to judge. Why do people behave the way they do? Only God knows, and that’s the point! Loving is Jesus’s greatest command. We are to love God--above all else. We are to love our neighbors--as we love ourselves. We are to love our enemies--and pray for them. Oh those pesky details!

 

What if we actually managed to live a life where love, forgiveness, and compassion are more important than judging and revenge? How would we be different? How would the world be different? What if everyone lived this way?

 

Margaret WIlliams

Devotional 2-8-14

A Good Man
Read Psalm 112:1-10

A good man is hard to find these days. At least that’s the impression you might get from a society that is having a tough time finding heroes.

Too often, though, we look in the wrong places when we’re searching for role models. We look for someone who is a good athlete or who makes a lot of money or who commands respect because of leadership skills.

When we look only in these situations for good men, we fail to see that most of the godly men are not in the spotlight. They are just quietly and faithfully serving their families, their friends, and God.

In Psalm 112 we see a clear set of guidelines for what makes a man good. According to the psalmist, a good man fears the Lord (v.1), delights in God’s commands (v.1), and is gracious, compassionate, and righteous (v.4). He is generous and exercises discretion (v.5). He is unshakable in his faith, and he has no fear because his trust is in God (vv.6-8).

Looking for a good man? In a society where so many are anything but godly, how can we set the right example? Look at Psalm 112. It’s a pattern (All Christian Men and Women) need to follow if they want to make a difference in their world.

The model of a man is he
Whose life is strong and true,
Who loves the Lord with all his heart
And seeks His will to do. —DJD

To make a difference in the world, let Jesus make a difference in you.

Yours In Christ Jesus:
Jim Perry

Devotional 1-31-14

Blessed Am I !!

Blessed: (bles-ed or blest) adj., 1. Holy  2. Beatified  3. Delightful.

Lately, I have been telling Facebook Friends, 'have a blessed birthday' or commenting on a post, 'what a blessing'.  The comments are indicative of great joy or bliss.

In scripture, Matthew 5:3-11 and Luke 6:20-23, Jesus gives us the Beatitudes, words and thoughts for Christians to follow in faith and hope.

I feel blessed!  I am blessed!  I have faith, hope, and joy in my life.  I will follow what God has asked of me and live my life accordingly.  Read the Beatitudes and take care of yourself and others.

Have a blessed day!  Have a blessed life!
See you in church.

Kay Lewis