Devotional 10-29-10

Halfhearted Commitment
Please read Luke 19: 1-10. Jesus and Zacchaeus

Zacchaeus is a fairly obscure biblical character—he’s only mentioned in one chapter of one Gospel. He’s very familiar, though, because of the song so many of us learned as children—the one with the hand motions that is probably running through your head as you read this. Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he; he climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see…

If it wasn’t already running through your head, you can thank me that now it is!

I know there was more to the song, but what I took from it was just that Zacchaeus was short. So short, in fact, that he climbed a tree to see Jesus. It was much later that I learned there’s so much more to the story, and to Zacchaeus. The takeaway should be the last line of the song, after Zacchaeus had come down from the tree and hosted Jesus: A better man was he, yes, a better man was he! We are changed for the better when we accept Jesus’ invitation into relationship with him.

Zacchaeus, the tax collector—the chief tax collector, Luke says—would have been despised by his own people. Tax collectors are not popular today, but tax collectors in first-century Palestine were seen as in cahoots with Roman oppressors. They got to keep a percentage of whatever they collected, and what they forwarded on to Rome financed the brutal treatment of their own people—and God’s chosen ones. A short man, he would have been looked down upon in more ways than one.

Zacchaeus was unloved and probably saw himself as unlovable; he was searching for something else, something more, something that his riches could not give him when he climbed that sycamore tree. Zacchaeus wouldn’t have predicted that Jesus would want to have a relationship with the likes of him. Jesus’ loving and gracious invitation transformed Zacchaeus instantly. Immediately, he gave half of his riches away.

My dad really liked the story of Zacchaeus. He once (probably more than once) used the story as the basis of a devotional for a United Methodist Men meeting. Dad suggested that we, like Zacchaeus, might like to climb a tree to see Jesus and his disciples. We admire Jesus and what he and the disciples do; healing people, feeding multitudes, casting out demons—it’s all good stuff. But we want to watch—from a distance. Dad suggested that, contrary to the way Zacchaeus hurried down from his perch at Jesus’ invitation, we might be more apt to cling to the tree where we can observe in safety without the risks associated with committed, participatory discipleship. Dad ended the time of devotion by inviting his audience to examine their fingernails for sycamore bark.

We might ask ourselves: What is our sycamore tree? What is it that we cling to for comfort and safety? What separates us from active, hands-on discipleship?

What about Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus was a tax collector—the chief tax collector. He was very rich. He may have completely let go of the tree, but he held on to half his riches. As a planned giving fundraiser, I would like to have been invited to that meal with Jesus and Zacchaeus. I would have talked to Zacchaeus about the other half.

Jeff Taylor

Devotional 10-22-10

No Solitary Saints

I heard a preacher on the radio say that John Wesley had made the observation that the word saint never appears in the singular form anywhere in the Bible. I do not remember running across this in Wesley's writings, but I did check "Bible Gateway" on line. It is true that the word saint does not appear even once in the Bible. The word saints appears at least 69 times, however. There is no such thing as a solitary saint. We cannot be all that God calls us to be without the support of a caring Christian fellowship.

In the tenth chapter of Hebrews, we read, "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works; Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye can see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:234, 25 KJV).

We Christians need one another. We need to come together. As Hebrews tells us, we need to do more than look at the back of someone's head and listen to the preacher's sermon. We need to encourage each other and challenge each other. We need to share one another's burdens.

Exactly this sort of sharing was the centerpiece of Methodism in the beginning. Methodism was a renewal movement within the Church of England. It provided those who attended highly structured worship on Sunday another place to gather and share openly with other believers. Initially, Methodists gathered not as churches but as bands, classes, and societies.

If we are going to know the holiness and the power which the first Methodists knew, we are going to need to come together for study, fellowship and prayer. If we are going to live victorious lives, we are going to have to have one anothers' support. If we are going to bring the world to Christ, we are going to have to challenge one another to be witnesses.

Hebrews 10:24 and 25 is often quoted by people who tell us that we need to go to church on Sundays. If we look closely at what these verses are telling us, however, we will find that one hour of worship is not all that we need. We need the fellowship and support that we can find in a Disciple Bible Study or a covenant discipleship group. We need to gather in a setting in which we can share openly. If your church does not already offer such a setting, perhaps you could help to start group which will help its members to grow in Christlikeness. You need it, and so does everyone else.

Rev. Mark Flynn
Greenbrier District Superintendent
Used with Mark's permission from the Greenbrier Greetings
Newsletter of the Greenbrier District.

Devotional 10-15-10

Jeremiah 31:27-34 and Psalm 119:97-104 • Genesis 32:22-31 and Psalm 121 • 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 • Luke 18:1-8

Communicating with GOD

How do we communicate with each other? We would use direct forms of communications, such as; speech, one to one, in a group setting or by writing a letter, today e-mail.

Is it important to communicate with each other? Of course it is, communicating with others, answers questions, it prevents conflicts, it is necessary for our own intimate needs and psychological health.

But how do we speak and learn from our heavenly Father? We know the answer, prayer and reading his Word.

In each of the readings for the week, an underlying theme is communicating with God. God wants us to have to have a relationship with him. He wants us to speak with him, learn from him and listen for his guidance. He wants this just the same way we speak with one another about our; concerns, needs, desires, joys, sorrows, failures, etc.

So take time each day to read his Word and mediate on what God is saying to you. Pray with him without ceasing, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray continually”. And listen for him to speak to you. His answer may not come at that moment but when you least expect it. So be ready all the time to hear him.

Recently, I have been listening for his guidance in my life as my seasons change. And one day, while speaking with a friend she a made comment to me that I quickly answered. But then just as suddenly, as my answer, I realized that her comment was an answer from God that I had been praying about. So his answers are not given to you like you think they might. Always LISTEN! Always Learn! Always speak with GOD!!

Prayer; Our Heavenly Father, you are our great teacher; you are always there to listen to us and guide us. Thank you for being there for me and help me to listen for you. Father today I ……………… (fill in here whatever you need to discuss with GOD today.) Through Jesus your son and the Power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Grace and Peace
Fred Herr

Devotional 10-8-10

How Do I Praise Him?
Italicized stanzas inspired by Psalm 66.

How do I praise him?
How do I sing joy
to a God I cannot imagine?
Cannot comprehend?
How do I sing his praises?

Worship God joyfully!
Sing of him to all the earth.
Sing hymns to his glory
And write symphonies to his majesty.
Give the God who created you
Unending praise.

How do I praise him?
How can I speak of a God
who spoke me into being?
What words can I use?
How do I sing his praises?

Shout it from the mountaintop
Whisper it in God’s ear,
Praise his amazing works.
Marvel at his power.
The entire earth stands
As a testament to his presence.
Open your eyes and see.

How do I praise him?
How can I command words
to sing of a God
whose hand has formed the earth?
How do I sing his praises?

See what God has done.
He has saved us!
He carries us through the storm,
Turning sea into sand,
Keeping watch on the nations,
Guiding our steps.
Let the sound of his praise be heard!

How do I praise him?
How can my feeble song
witness to a God
who has removed my sin with his grace?
Died in my place?
How do I sing his praises?

Kim Matthews

Devotional 10-01-10

One Size Fits All
I am, I admit it, a satellite radio junkie. Despite the 150+ channels offered, it’s not the variety that attracts me – it’s the consistency. Since my job takes me in and around the geography of four states, I am delighted to be able to drive from Huntington to Roanoke without a single spec of effort being expended on seek, search or find tasks. The only knob twiddling necessary is an occasional adjustment to the volume. CD’s in the car aren’t my thing and keeping the iPod connected to the AUX port, well – ok, sometimes I do that, but I am a satellite radio kind of guy. My palette includes a wee bit of national news (too many commercials), a jazz channel called Watercolors and the channel that I am almost always, probably, certainly, maybe, for sure, usually tuned into, number 66, The Message. It is tagged with the genre Christian and given the description Christian Pop and Rock. They play songs by artists such as Mercy Me, Casting Crowns, Steven Curtis Chapman, and our own Michael W. Smith.

On a day in late August of this year, the station was ‘taken over’ by singer, song writer Natalie Grant. She was promoting the release of her new record (see, I’m old school) - her new album. She took on the role of DJ. (Do we still call them DJ’s? We have come full circle from record discs, to 8 tracks, to cassettes to compact discs and now to Digital – DJ’s). Natalie would tell about the making of the album, highlighting interesting factoids about an individual song as it would begin to play. She shared a particular story that reached into my mind as much as my heart. While traveling to the airport from her home in Nashville, she saw ahead a group of people working on the side of the road. They were all wearing orange vests. Her assumption was that they were simply a road crew, possibly picking up trash. As the car drew closer she said she noticed that the individuals seemed to be stooped over (almost as if weighted down or hiding) and were making a conscious effort NOT to make eye contact with the passersby. As the car was now even closer, she saw that on each vest were the words “I AM A DRUNK DRIVER”. Her point; what if we were all given a vest with our sins spelled out and forced to wear it in shame for all to see?

As I reflected on this story I wondered what the officials must have been thinking as they issued the vests. Did they lift up a silent prayer, “Thank you Lord that I’m not like THOSE people?” I, too often, am willing to play that role. ‘You don’t know what your sin is? Well, here friend, let me tell you.” I’ll even go the closet and find you the perfect vest with the sin written in the perfect font so that no one will have to squint. But wait, what’s this? Oh, it is my side of the closet; a hundred times wider, a hundred times higher and a million times deeper. My past, my present, my future – my sins. Vest after vest as far as the eye can see.

It is with a grateful heart I say “Come friend, let us go arm in arm, together, to get our new vests. They are here at the foot of the cross. They are one size fits all, and they bear only one word -- FORGIVEN.

Luke 6:39-41 41Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 42Or how can you say to your neighbor,* “Friend,* let me take out the speck in your eye”, when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

Steve Matthews

Devotional 9-24-10

Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16

There are many people who argue that we are living in the end days. Hate and tragedy seem almost to multiply from one year to the next. When there is so much pain throughout the world, it is sometimes difficult to find a reason to smile. I’m hoping I can help you with that today.

Our daughter Devon is a shining example of the ability to endure and thrive despite adversity. From her twenty week ultrasound through her first six months of life, we went through many potential diagnoses. What began as a fear that she might not survive birth, to assuming she would possibly not see her second birthday, to thinking she would only make it to her adolescent years, turned into a prognosis much like anyone else’s. Devon has been hospitalized more in her three years than many of us have in three or more decades. You might be wondering where the reason to smile comes into the picture. Have you met this child? Through so many challenges, she continues to live with faith in others and joy in her surroundings. This angel spontaneously sings multiple times each day. It is not uncommon for her to hug and kiss a toy when she puts it down, to give it a fond farewell.

Much like others, today’s Psalm is a reminder that the faithful and godly will be saved. Stand without fear in the midst of personal, national, and even global tribulation. Have faith that the Lord’s arms will embrace us when we fall. While we should put forth effort to make a positive difference, we need to remember to hand over our burdens to God and live with joy.

Though it seems there are so many reasons to live in fear or anger, there really are so many more reasons to live with love and happiness. We should all see the world the way that Devon does. I challenge you to find a blessing in everything you see. God’s gifts are absolutely everywhere.

Natalie Wray

Devotional 9-17-10

This was a devotional that my sister sent to me from her church in Alabama. It's not only timely but it made me think about the Convocation Sunday we are having at church this Sunday. I think the only thing that could actually spoil the joy of heaven would be to be there and not have the people you love with you. To me, that would be more like the alternative.
Please think about....

l

It was one of the most compelling television documentaries I'd seen in a long time. It aired on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The stories of rescuers and of survivors, told first-person, took the viewer into what that day really felt like for the people who lived it. One story I just can't shake was told by a British young woman who worked in a brokerage firm high up in Tower Two. She recalled with remarkable composure the confusion in her office on whether or not to evacuate the building. She's alive today because she made the right decision. But many of her coworkers never made it out. She broke down for the first time as she talked about her good friend in the office. All she could say was, "I keep thinking, 'I should have asked him to go with me.' I can't get that out of my mind."

Okay, change the scene. You're in heaven, and you're looking for a coworker you cared about...a fellow student or a teammate, a family member, or a neighbor, maybe a friend. You ask Jesus, "Lord, is (there's the name) here? Is he here? Is she here?" What if He says, "Oh, did you bring her? Did you bring him?" "You never asked him. You never asked her to go with you." Another scene: I've been to funerals where I looked at someone I'd been close to and I realized I had talked with them about everything except one thing - Jesus. And now I couldn't.

We can't have back any of those missed opportunities, but the future is yet to be written. I want to turn my regrets for the past mistakes of not telling someone about Jesus into a passion to be sure I don't make that mistake again. You and I have been placed in the lives of some people who are not ready for eternity, who have never been to Jesus to have their sins erased. God put us here to be their spiritual rescuer - to be their link to Jesus. To help them be in heaven with us.
Our assignment comes crystal clear in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 5, beginning with verse 11. "Since we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men...for Christ's love compels us...God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." No doubt about it. You're the one God is counting on to deliver His life-saving message to the people who are within your reach.

You can't just depend on your life to rescue them. They won't guess Jesus died on the cross for them. You have to tell them that. Start by loving them in their language of love. Pray with them when they share a burden. You'll be showing them your personal relationship with God as you pray with them. Share the difference Jesus is making in your life at a point where the conversation allows you a natural opportunity. In fact, each day pray for...look for opportunities. They're all around you. Let your hope story open the door for you to ask, "Has anyone ever shown you what the Bible says about how to have a personal love relationship with God and how to go to heaven?" And, in some cases, you might want to put your love for them and God's love for them in a letter where they can receive it without distraction and without debating.

You only have to be God's glove; Him inside you helping you to do and say what you could never do without Him. But silence? That's just not an option. Not if you want them to be in heaven with you. You know what they must know to get there. You're safe. You got out. They're still in the collapsing building. Life's biggest regret would be having to say, "I should have asked them to go with me." You still can. There's still time.

From "Ronald P. Hutchcraft"

May we never be afraid to ask someone to church or share our joy in Christ because we don't want to look silly or pushy or worse yet, judgmental. Would that be worth the risk of now inviting some to heaven ?

Debbie McGinnis