Devotions

 “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called.”

My, oh my, that’s an interesting request. What were we when we first heard God’s invitation of salvation? I know what I was, and it isn’t a very pretty picture. If we can’t remember, Paul goes on in his letter to tell us what we were when we were called … and I find that I fit very well into his description.

“Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” [1 Cor 1:26-30]

Not many wise, not many influential, not many of high social standing. Instead God looked to the foolish, the weak and the lowly and despised.  He did it for a particular purpose, of course, so that “no one may boast before Him.”

I often remind people (and myself) that just because I wasn’t wise nor influential nor strong when I heard God’s call, does not mean I am to stay that way. We are to acquire the wisdom of God. We are to learn to speak with the knowledge of God. We are to become strong through the Spirit of God. In other words, we are to become conformed to the image of God’s True Son, Jesus.

The world may still consider us foolish, but they aren’t looking through the lens of God’s Spirit. They are looking at us through eyes that have been blinded by the god of this world.

No one wants to look foolish, at least I think no one wants to appear foolish.  I looked up foolish in the dictionary and there were three definitions. One, having or showing a lack of good sense, judgment, or discretion. Two, being absurd or ridiculous, Three, being insignificant or trifling.

I would not think anyone yearns to fit into one of those three definitions. Yet there are times when we do appear foolish. As Christians, often the world slots us into one of those definitions.  Paul said it this way, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” [1 Cor 1:18]

People who do not know our Lord and Savior listen to the message of the cross … how God sent His Son to earth, born of a virgin. This Son of God lived his life as an itinerant preacher, was rejected by His own people, and condemned to die on a Roman cross. In His death He took the punishment for our sins. He was raised to newness of life on the third day, and ascended into heaven, opening the path through Him for all to come to God.

To those standing outside looking in we seem to lack good sense and judgment. We have a message that is pure foolishness to the world’s way of thinking.

But to those standing inside and looking at the cross, we see the power of God. We see power to become children of God. We see power to become holy, conformed to the image of His Dear Son. We see the power of God’s Spirit at work in our lives. We see in the cross and resurrection, our all in all.

To the world we may appear foolish, but to our God, we are known as His children.

I am entering 2019 with many thoughts. I believe this will be a pivotal year for the nation, the economy and the church around the world. My thoughts also center in particular on our little church. We have 80 nice comfortable seats and room for about 20 folding chairs. They have never all been called into use. Why?

That’s one of my basic questions before God, why would you tell me to get 80 chairs if we are never going to use more than 30. Is the church growing? Yes, and no. The church, the people are growing in their faith and walk with the LORD. Are we growing numerically, unfortunately that answer is no. So why? I’m back to that same question, LORD, why tell me to get 80 chairs if we are never going to see them filled?

Maybe it’s because I’m old for a pastor and not drawing in lots of younger people. Someone said it’s because I preach out of the Bible and people don’t want to hear that “Old Stuff” any more. Others says I challenge people to grow and sacrifice and live for the LORD, and that’s too hard. Maybe it is a combination of all those things, and more.

But when did serving God, being a Christian, become easy?  When did we start giving people what they want, instead of what God wants? When did we begin focusing on our desires, rather than our needs?

There is a wonderful passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. There Paul talks about the wisdom of God and how it seems foolish to man.  One sentence caught my eye: “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel-not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” [v17]

When we preach human wisdom, we drain the power from the cross of Christ! That may be one of the most amazing thoughts in Scripture. Think on that today!  I am.

Rom 6:4: “…just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” [NKJV]

Even so, we should walk in newness of life, Paul reminds us, but do we? Do we walk in the newness of life that is ours in Christ Jesus?

Walk in Scripture is often a reference to how we live our lives, the choices we make, the motivations we have, the connection we have with our Father God. Are we walking a life that honors Christ Jesus?

As I look back, and yes, I know it is the new year, but I still on occasion look back. As I look back, I have a few regrets. No one gets into their later years without a few. I can reduce those regrets to just two. I regret having to leave our youngest son in California to finish his senior year when we moved to Idaho. I can play out all the reasons, mainly economic, that necessitated that move. I can tell myself that we left him in godly and good hands. Still, leaving, and not being a part of his senior year, plays heavy on my heart even today.

And the other regret? That I didn’t always walk in this newness of life that was mine. I didn’t always walk worthy of the one who called me into His kingdom.

I can’t change either of those things now. All I can do is try with God’s help, to live the remainder of my days in His newness of life.

Rom 6:4: “…just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” [NKJV]

These few days after the new year begins, I hear a lot about newness. New diets (or a return to old ones), new exercise programs, new clothes, new toys, new books, new computer games, new, new, new. In another couple months those things will be old, old, old, if they even still exist.

Yet Paul is clear. Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. He left that tomb and walked among His own for 40 days. 40 days! He was not an apparition, it was not group hysteria, it was not a hoax. He was dead. He now was raised to newness of life. He walked and talked and ate with more than 500. He never returned to the dead, instead He ascended alive into heaven and the presence of His Father.

Christ has conquered death by the power of the glory of the Father. Through that same power, we also walk in newness of life. We were dead in trespasses and sins and now we are alive. [Colossians 2]

We are to continually walk in this newness of life, this God-given, eternal, life of Christ. One day we are even going to walk right through death and into the presence of the Father and all who have been made alive by His glory!

WOW!

I have this urge to toss out stuff. I keep telling myself to have a garage sale and make some money from it, but that is a springtime venture and I’m ready now to get rid of things that are cluttering up the place—especially the garage! In the past we moved so frequently, we didn’t keep things the way we have since we moved into this house in 2007. I get unsettled when I have too much clutter around.

Taking down the Christmas decorations always helps a bit, but just not enough. I don’t do well with disorder. And that’s an amazing change because growing up I was the Queen of Disorder. My room was always a mess. Even after I first got married, I wasn’t neat and tidy. I wonder what prompted the change?

I try to keep my soul, (my mind, will and emotions) uncluttered as well. I find spending time with the LORD in the early morning hours helps. I used to handwrite my thoughts in a journal, now I type them into a computer. The process, however, remains the same. I think about the LORD and praise Him for His gracious love for me. I think about the previous day – and confess what I need to. I thank Him for what He’s done and doing in my life. I try to do those things before I ask anything. This process unclutters my soul.

There is one last step to my early morning routine. I listen. I remember when Samuel was a young boy and living in the temple with Eli. When he first heard the LORD call to him, he didn’t recognize the LORD’s voice. Finally, Eli realized what was happening and told the boy to respond, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” [1 Sam 3]

And God did speak, and Samuel did learn to recognize God’s voice. Amid our cluttered world, and often cluttered lives, we too need to recognize the LORD’s voice when He speaks to us.  I have also learned that God is gracious and that when I don’t quite understand what He is saying, if I ask Him to repeat it, He will. He wants me to hear Him even more than I want to hear!

I have eight more work days left on my temporary assignment which ends on Friday next week. I am not as young as I once was and I’m tired from working a 40-hour week and pastoring and writing and being a wife and …. Well, you get my drift.

I probably won’t be able to keep up this pace much longer. I’m slowing down. I’ve noticed old Miss Molly Magee the cat is also slowing down a bit. She likes to get up early in the morning; by 4:15 AM she’s letting us know she’s done with her bed in the laundry room, she wants out, out NOW!  She eats her snack, drinks some milk and then is ready to curl up next to me while I write and pray. She’s happy just being next to me. She has her favorite blanket and before long she’s asleep again. That’s her pattern during the rest of the day. Sleep. Eat. Drink. And Sleep some more.

She doesn’t tolerate change as well as she used to do. She’s cranky some days and happy others. She likes sunny locations as if her old bones need to be warmed. Yep, a lot like me.

Probably the hardest thing for me when I work a full schedule like I’ve been doing, is to not have enough time in the morning before my day begins to spend with the LORD. It seems I barely get started and then I’m off getting ready to leave for my commute.  The day never stops after that and the moments with the LORD are just snatches here and there.  I know not everyone is a morning person, but I am … and apparently so was the LORD Jesus. I am really looking forward to being able to spend more time with Him again!

Mark 1:35: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”

2019 began at 12:01 AM. The clock has reset. We are back to Day 1. Week 52 has given way to Week 1. The old year has gone, the new one has begun.

This is the time of year when people look back on the old and decide what they want to do differently in the new. It’s the time of year when we think about change. Lots of new diets and exercise programs are begun in the new year. Municipalities and many businesses take a holiday today. People watch football or go to movies or visit with friends and family. Or they might do what I do on New Year’s Day, take down the Christmas decorations while watching football!

And yet for some this day is like any other. First responders show up for their shifts, as do nurses and other medical personnel in hospitals and facilities. Stores are open and hoping that the Christmas buying spree will continue for a few more days.

Things are new and yet things are still the same.  I’m not much into the celebration of New Year’s Eve or Day. Oh, I’ll probably try to return to eating right (which always recedes a bit during the holidays) and I’ll get back to walking more, but celebrate? No, not much.

I celebrate in August. Yep, August. In August 1973, I had a new beginning—an eternal one. That’s when in a small non-denominational prayer meeting, I gave my life to the LORD Christ Jesus. I haven’t always walked worthy of that, but I’ve never looked back nor regretted my decision to submit to Him. August, that’s when I’ll celebrate the anniversary of my New Eternity!

2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 

I wrote this last year, but I read it again and thought I’d re-post it for today.

I am thinking about the wonder of Christ’s birth.  Merriam-Webster defines wonder as the quality of exciting amazed admiration. We’ve heard the Christmas story so many times, perhaps we’ve lost a bit of that exciting amazed admiration.

God orchestrated through a heathen kingdom (Rome) the arrival of Joseph and Mary to the insignificant village of Bethlehem where 700 years earlier Micah had prophesied the Messiah would be born (Micah 5:2)

It would have been a miserable journey, 80 miles, with Mary full term. It ended up in a place that was more than likely filthy and smelly. Inns in those days were mainly just a series of partially enclosed stalls that opened into a shared area where the animals were kept.  When Luke said there was no room for them in the inn, he meant there was no room for them in those stalls.  They probably ended up in the yard where travelers secured their animals.

Mary had traveled all this way, far from her family, far from the female support system she would have had at home. She was likely around 14 years old. She was alone, except for Joseph. She had no back massages, no birthing coach, no classes, no meds, no clean sheets, no soft music playing, no attendants – just Joseph.  His hands would have been calloused and rough from his work. He was good at working wood, probably not so good at birthing babies.

And into this miserable, wretched, dishonorable scene, the Son of God was born. “She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”  [Luke 2:7]

If that doesn’t take our breath away in exciting amazed admiration, I’m not sure anything will. The King became a pauper. God became a babe, completely dependent upon a young teenager for sustenance and a rough carpenter for protection. Wonder of wonders! 

This is from “Monday Matters and Ron Nelson.” I love this story and wanted to share it with you with his permission.

Once upon a time, there was a man who worked very hard just to keep food on the table for his family. This particular year a few days before Christmas, he punished his little five-year-old daughter after learning that she had used up the family’s only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper.

As money was tight, he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve he saw that the child had used all of the expensive gold paper to decorate one shoebox she had put under the Christmas tree. He also was concerned about where she had gotten money to buy what was in the shoebox.

Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, “This is for you, Daddy!”

As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her. But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. “Don’t you know, young lady,” he said harshly, “when you give someone a present, there’s supposed to be something inside the package!”

The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered: “Daddy, it’s not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full.”

The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.

An accident took the life of the child only a short time later. It is told that the father kept this little gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of this beautiful child who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each of us has been given an invisible golden box filled with unconditional love.  The real reason for this season is because God sent His Son, Jesus, as a gift of love for each and every one of us.  If you have not received this gift yet, why not do it this Christmas.  He wants you to have His gift of love.

Author Unknown