Devotions

Happy Valentine’s Day!  This is the day when romantic love is king in our society with flowers, candy, wine, dinners out or special dinners at home. Companies love this holiday. The stores have been packed with heart-adorned items of every kind.  “I LUV U” in every form is printed on everything. I like romance, it’s a nice treat.

Tomorrow when you visit the store, Valentine’s Day items will be on the discount racks and clerks will be restocking the stores with Easter items. Easter baskets, stuffed animals and chocolate bunnies will be the new thing. The Cadbury Easter Bunny will be laying his chocolate eggs everywhere.

Between these two holidays, the true meaning of love and sacrifice has been trivialized. Love is so much more than romance. It’s facing the menial tasks and the momentous times with patience and giving. I’ve been married almost 52 years. Bob has been faithful. He has worked hard to support his family. I remember when our first child would suffer a kidney infection (10 in her first year) and run high fevers. I would be exhausted. Even though he worked a tough day, he’d get up in the middle of the night so I could get some sleep. He would walk the floor with her, sponging her with a cool cloth to help reduce the fever. He’s been there always. Not always good with romance, but always good at love.

The greatest display of love and sacrifice is seen in the life and death of our Savior.  “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” [Eph 5:1-2]

God sent His Only Son, Jesus, to overcome every obstacle that separated us … sin, punishment, and death were His so that we might experience holiness, freedom and life. Resurrection Sunday is so much more than Easter baskets and the Cadbury Bunny. It is the greatest expression of love and sacrifice ever given.  Let’s not lose sight of what true love is. Let’s imitate the life of love and sacrifice of our Father and His Son.

Memories are a good thing, unless you can’t forget. 

I have memories, good memories, of people I love who are no longer with me. They have gone before me into the presence of our LORD. I remember my Aunt Julie and her kind and compassionate way of drawing me toward salvation. I remember my friend, Nella, who would pat my cheeks and call me “Sweetie.” I remember my pastor and mentor who taught me about the love of God. Good memories. They make me smile, sometimes bring tears, but always refresh my soul.

Then there are other kinds of memories, memories I should forget, but often can’t. These are the memories of hurts, disappointments, pain inflicted by others. These are the memories, when they are resurrected, that once again try to bind me to the pain and anger.

I was reading an interview by a young woman whose father—that she adored—was disrespected by someone. Her pain over his death was palpable, but even more her anger was vivid and alive. She commented that she would never forgive the wrong committed.  I felt such sorrow for her because I understand that if you can’t forgive, you will be bound to that wrong and its pain forever.

Paul reminds us that, as Christians, we are to “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” [Eph 4:32]

Forgiveness releases us and sets us free from the bondage of bitterness and hurts, but, the one thing I’ve also learned is that the enemy of our soul doesn’t want us free.  He brings back those memories, the difficult ones, of betrayal, rejection, offenses, to entrap us once again in unforgiveness.  Forgiveness is a life-long process. We must learn to reject the memories that seek to return us to bitterness. We must forgive the offender, even if we need to do it again and again. It’s the only way to maintain our liberty.

“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.’” [Matt 18:21-22]

At one point in Jesus’ ministry, he took 72 disciples and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. When they completed their assignment, they came back to Jesus to report. They were extremely excited, as we all would be, that even the demons had “to submit to us in [Jesus’] name.”

Jesus’ response was that He had given them all power to trample the power of the enemy, but if they were going to rejoice it should be rejoicing that their names were written in heaven. [Luke 10:1-20]

Then Luke reports Jesus began to pray.  “At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.’” [v21]

Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, praised His Father. That Greek word for “full of joy” means “to jump for joy, be exceedingly glad, and rejoice greatly.”

What made Jesus jump for joy? His Father’s pleasure in revealing great spiritual truths to those who come to Him as little children. It was not the wise, the religious counsellors, the kings, the rulers or the priests who saw the power of the enemy submitting to the name of Jesus, it was the common, every-day people who came to Jesus and trusted Him when He sent them out “like lambs among wolves.”  [vs 3]

Beloved, it may seem like we are “lambs among the wolves” and that the wolves have all the power, but when Jesus sends His lambs into the battlefield, He gives them all the power they need to trample the works of the enemy. And while we rejoice in that, our greatest rejoicing – our jumping for joy – comes because our names are written in heaven.

One of the first things I do every morning is go to my kitchen and get the coffee started. It’s all set up the night before, so I simply pour the water into my Bunn coffeemaker, shut the lid and in about two minutes I have a pot of steaming hot coffee. The second thing I do (during that two minutes while I’m waiting for the coffee to brew) is to take the prior day’s kitchen towels and wash cloths and toss them in the laundry basket.

I like to begin the new day with fresh towels. (My husband, on the other hand, could use the same towel for a decade without it ever seeing the laundry basket.) I’m very careful in my kitchen. I scrub the sink regularly, sanitize the disposer, make sure the counter tops are clean. I use a separate cutting board for raw meat. I wash my hands frequently when handling anything I think might contaminate.  We rarely get any type of stomach bug and I think my efforts in the kitchen contribute to our health.

As I took fresh towels and cloths out of the drawer this morning, I was reminded of God’s promise to us. “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope in Him!’” [Lam 3:22-24 NKJV]

The LORD’s compassions and mercies are fresh every morning. No matter how used and soiled we may get by life, when we wake each morning God is there to be our “portion.” His is a “portion” that never runs out, enough for each day and refreshed again each morning.  We can be assured when we place our trust in Him that He will never disappoint, never disappear, never fail us.

“Great is Your faithfulness, O God!”

I am wearing a brace on my left hand. It’s a black, bulky and quite visible. I’m doing it because some arthritis at the base of my thumb is pressing on a tendon so that I developed tendonitis in both my thumb and elbow.  I have what is usually referred to as “tennis elbow” without any of the benefits of playing tennis.

The visibility of the brace often causes people to ask, “What did you do?” When I first started getting those questions I explained, arthritis … tendonitis … thumb … elbow, etc., all the while watching their eyes glaze over as they wondered why they ever asked that question in the first place.

Now when they ask, I simply say, “sport’s injury.”  That usually brings up a quick question as they look at my 72-year-old body and wonder what possible sport I play that would cause my injury.  My response, “Extreme Crocheting.”

I love to crochet. Crocheting, along with reading, are my favorite things. I can sit for hours following a pattern or designing my own. I’ve even won awards for Best of Show for all crocheted items of any type at the State Fair multiple years. But now, I can barely do a minute before everything starts to ache. So, I wear the brace and I hope that one day I’ll be able to return to my yarn.

I’m not sure what I am supposed to learn from this or if there is even a lesson here to be learned. Maybe it is simply that I need to make room in my life for more of God. There’s nothing wrong with crocheting, as habits go, it’s a good one. But maybe, just maybe, the Good needs to step aside now for the Best.  Father God, I need more of You!

Matthew 6:33:  “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

More of You Hymn link:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?view=detail&mid=A3D9BC2F9AE1B85F7D2FA3D9BC2F9AE1B85F7D2F&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dmore%2bof%2byou%2bmore%2bof%2byou%2bi%2527ve%2bhad%2ball%26qs%3dAS%26pq%3dmore%2bof%2byou%252c%2bmore%2bof%2byou%26sk%3dAS1%26sc%3d8-24%26cvid%3d75F3BEE84EED41109E6456F6739883FB%26FORM%3dQBRE%26sp%3d2

Last Sunday in church we tackled a rough topic found in Galatians 5 … Paul’s phrase “fallen from grace” in verse 4. Paul had been discussing what the believer loses when he abandons grace and goes back to the law. False teachers had invaded the church and were telling them that they were missing something that would make them more spiritual and that was to “add” the law (circumcision in this case) to “grace.”  Paul concluded that to do so means we lose our liberty in Christ Jesus, we lose our wealth in Christ Jesus, and we lose our way, concluding that adding legalism to liberty is to “fall from grace.”

Of course, there are many views on what “fallen from grace” means. If you believe as the Calvinists do in eternal security, “fallen from grace” takes on the idea of abandoning grace as your day-to-day experience. If you believe as the Arminians do, it means you forfeit Christ’s work completely and lose salvation.

So, what does “fallen from grace” mean? Well, unfortunately – or maybe fortunately – our little church and my finite understanding of the infinite was unable to settle that question to the satisfaction of the world-wide church.  And my personal opinion matters not.

What I do believe – and I think this does matter – is that we stop trying to see how close we can get to the world without losing our salvation (if that’s possible) or without losing the strides we have made in spiritual maturity. I want to stay as close to the center of God’s love and His will for my life as I can. It’s like having an umbrella. When it’s raining, we stay close to the center of that umbrella so that we don’t get dampened by the storms. We certainly don’t hold that umbrella at arm’s length so that it only shelters a part of us.

I used that illustration (see the picture) as a reminder.  Stay as close to God as possible – don’t hold Him at arm’s length.  “…love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”  [Mark 12:30; Matthew 22:37; Luke 10:27]

Anger is on the rise on our roadways, in our politics, in the lyrics of our music, on social media, and sadly, even in our homes. One of the fastest growing segments of homeless populations is women and children escaping domestic violence.

I grew up in an angry household. My dad had a quick temper and my mother had a temper with a long memory. I had, or should I say, I have a temper also. I have learned to a certain extent to curb that temper, although it will still flare when I’m stressed or tired.

“Spiritual Growth is Deliberate.” That’s our current theme out of Ephesians 4. Amid Paul’s exhortation on spiritual maturing are his thoughts on anger. And they tell us three things.  “’In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” [Eph 4:26-28]

First thing Paul reminds us “In your anger do not sin.” Anger is an emotion, yes, but anger itself is not a sin. It is what we do with our anger. There is a righteous anger … like what I see beginning to stir in the abortion debate. Jesus was described as angry at the hardness of people’s hearts, yet He was without sin.  Anger, however, left unchecked or expressed the wrong way can become sin.

That’s Paul second thought. “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.” In other words, deal with your anger immediately.  Find healthy, spiritual ways of dispelling it. If you don’t, anger will begin to take root, which leads us to Paul’s third warning … anger left unchecked gives “the devil a foothold” in your life.

I don’t want to give one inch of my spiritual life to the devil, so I’ve learned, and am continuing to learn, to allow the Holy Spirit to show me how in my anger not to sin.

Pseudo: not genuine; spurious or sham. That’s an English word and its definition. Pseudos: a falsehood. That’s a Greek word and its definition.

In Ephesians 4:25, the NIV translates pseudos as falsehood.  “Therefore [since you are a new creation] each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.” [NIV]

The King James is blunter, it translates pseudos as lying. “Therefore, putting away lying….” [NKJV]

We are surrounded by falsehoods. Lies fly at us from all directions. Most of the time the lies are merely annoying, but occasionally falsehoods are extremely dangerous. I recently read an article by a nationally known physician who said it is often difficult to get his patients to follow established, and well-documented, medical protocols because they’ve read something on the internet that contradicts them.

I have grown to expect politicians to lie to me. I don’t much trust the news media (any of them). I will usually investigate a claim on social media before I pass it on. I don’t trust ads for products either. And I’m certain that not everything I read on the internet is true.

The one place I do expect truth, however, is in the body of Christ. I expect pastors to speak the truth in love. I expect my own messages to be based on the truth of the Word of God to the best of my ability. I also expect other believers to put off the falsehood we often bring with us from the world and speak truthfully.

Let’s remember how often Jesus began His teachings with “I tell you the truth….” Let’s also remember His words,

 “I am the way and the truth and the life.” [emphasis mine John 14:6]

If we want to be like our Savior and LORD, we need to “put off falsehood and speak truthfully to our neighbor.”