Do You Hear What I Hear?

SCRIPTURE

Acts 28:23-31 (NRSV)

After they had set a day to meet with him, they came to him at his lodgings in great numbers. From morning until evening he explained the matter to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets. Some were convinced by what he had said, while others refused to believe. So they disagreed with each other; and as they were leaving, Paul made one further statement: "The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah,
'Go to this people and say,
You will indeed listen, but never understand,
and you will indeed look, but never perceive.
For this people's heart has grown dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,and they have shut their eyes;
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and listen with their ears,
and understand with their heart and turn -—
and I would heal them.'
Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent
to the Gentiles; they will listen."

He lived there two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.


ADVENT DEVOTION

This season is about getting slowing down, getting still, and listening for the cries of a newborn baby and the shouts of a king descending in glory!

When we get too busy with the distractions of a commercial Christmas season, we can be accused of listening, but not understanding, looking but not perceiving. We get caught up in all of the judgment and condemnation of woulda, coulda, shouldas. We spend more money than we have and rack up debt we will pay the next 365 paying off. We worry, fuss, and cuss fighting in the malls with our neighbors, seeking material things that will pass away.

But, when the true spirit of CHRISTmas comes upon us, we remember that JESUS is the reason for the season, we keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas, we take the time to welcome all as Christ and to share the good news of His kingdom, and we bask in the love, joy, hope, and peace of LOVE come down from heaven.

We are loving, gentle, sweet, patient, and forgiving to ourselves and everyone around us. We embody the Spirit of CHRISTmas in our words, thoughts, and deeds and extend grace and mercy to all those with need of it!

Dear ones, our salvation is at hand, and is now come! Let us welcome Him with CHRISTmas joy! We can turn CHRISTmas upside down. We can do things differently. Let us begin today...


PRAYER

Dear Lord, please help me to listen and understand, see and perceive. Help me to slow down and show you my great love. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Remember Your Leaders

SCRIPTURE

Hebrews 13:7-17 (NRSV)

Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings; for it is well for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by regulations about food, which have not benefited those who observe them. We have an altar from which those who officiate in the tent have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood. Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls and will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with sighing — for that would be harmful to you.


ADVENT DEVOTION

Today, during evening devotions, my family prayed for every church open in the Name of Jesus and for every pastor and staff member who is serving during this CHRISTmas season.

For those of you who are not members of church staffs, you may not fully appreciate all that goes into the CHRISTmas church schedule. There are worships to plan, sermons to write, sanctuaries to decorate, children's programs to rehearse, poinsettias to order, sick and shut in to visit, people to greet and care for, etc.

CHRISTmas is wonderful and exciting for those of us who arrive on Sunday morning, but we rarely remember to thank the pastors and staff who make such beautiful worship services possible.

In today's scripture the author of Hebrews reminds us, "Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith."

I want to remind us to "remember your leaders..."

Seasons like Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter tend to be difficult for those of us who work in churches. We get weary and worn. We get frazzled and stressed out. We can even burn out if we are not attentive to spiritual disciple and self-care.

Today, I want to humbly ask you to pray for your pastor(s) and church staff. I want you to consider writing a thank you card, laying a gentle hand on their shoulder, looking them in the eyes, and offering them a word of thanks. I want you to try to think of a way to serve the one who serves you on a continual basis. And I want you to bless the man or woman of God who is used by God to offer care for your soul.

I'm sure that by  now you are well aware that there is nothing intrinsically special, holy, or perfect about pastors or church staff people. We are human beings, we sin and fall short, we need Jesus as much as anyone else. But, what is true, is that your pastor(s) and church staff have made the commitment to give their wholes lives in public service to God, the congregation, and the world for the sake of Jesus!

Let us lift them up in prayer and love them well at all times, and especially during the Holy Days Season.

PRAYER

Lord God, today I pray for my pastor(s) and church staff. I know that during this season they may be growing weary. Please uphold them with your strength and please use me to be a blessing. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Rejoice Always...

SCRIPTURE

3rd Sunday of Advent
Philippians 4:4-7 (NRSV)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.


ADVENT DEVOTION

Today's devotion gives us cause to pause. We are reminded to rejoice always.

I don't know about you, but that commandment sounds easier said than done. Just in the month of December we are inundated with stresses such as disobedient children, sick parents, unpaid bills, fractured relationships, increased work hours, and/or a school shooting to name just a few.

The truth is there is more than enough stress to go around for all of us! There is not one human being who escapes unscathed from the stresses that we face in body, mind, and spirit on the the planet Earth.

However, when I was a child, I was taught that there is a difference between being happy and being joyful. Happiness is conditional upon our circumstances, whereas JOY is a condition of the soul!

No matter what is going on in our lives, we can still be full of the JOY of the Holy Spirit! This joy is as a result of the Advent Truth that the "Lord is near..."

He is near enough to have been born in a manger. Near enough to have visited the synagogues as a child. Near enough to have ministered upon the earth for three years. Near enough to have suffered, bled, and died, before being resurrected and ascending into heaven. And now his Spirit is as near as the breath in our lungs and beat of our hearts, available to us at all times.

Hallelujah! Why wouldn't we be full of joy? Why wouldn't we act out of spirit of gentleness? Why wouldn't we lift all of our concerns to our loving God in peace and in prayer, trusting that God is well able to supply all of our need according to God's riches in glory?

And even before we see the answer to our prayers, let us begin to offer up a shout of thanksgiving, knowing that God has a good plan for us, not to harm us, but to give us a future and a hope.

We are children of the King, dear ones! Just knowing that we are so unconditionally loved and experiencing such a amazing grace on a daily basis ought to fill us with a contagious JOY that impacts not only our lives, but the lives of those around us!

When you are a person filled with JOY, you share JOY with everyone whom you meet. Won't you be a joy sharer today?

Being joyful does not mean that you ignore your problems, it simply means that you trust that GOD is bigger than your problems, and well able to help you to overcome them.

Be at peace, my friends, and may JOY be yours this Advent Season.


PRAYER

With thanksgiving I lift all of my concerns to you, O Lord. Fill me with your peace and with your joy. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

What Will This Child Become?

SCRIPTURE

Luke 1:57-66 (NRSV)

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, "No; he is to be called John." They said to her, "None of your relatives has this name." Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said, "What then will this child become?" For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.


ADVENT DEVOTION

Like people around the world, yesterday I grieved as I watched the news coming in about the deadly school shooting that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Twenty eight lives lost in one day, most of them young children who had their whole lives before them.

It is at times like this that it is right and appropriate that we should lament. We should lift up our voices, hearts, and tears unto the Lord and cry out for grace, mercy, forgiveness, help, and wisdom.

Like the people of John's day, we ask, "What will this child become?" We never dream that they will  soon be in the company of the saints, standing before the throne of God.

So many parents will never know what their children could have become. We must hold these families in our prayers during their hour of greatest need. We must also pray for our nation. We must grieve these senseless tragedies. We must come together to mitigate violence everywhere it is found. And we must gently and sensitively share the hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ which gives us comfort in times like these...

Dear Friends, these precious lives are not lost, they are found in our God! And they are being tenderly held in the arms of our loving Jesus who has restored their joy and redeemed their futures...

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For those of you who follow my blog, you may know that on Saturdays I generally offer a psalm from my heart. But on today, I simply feel led to pray...


PRAYER

Dear Lord, you hear the cries of mamas, daddies, sisters, brothers, and others who have experienced unspeakable tragedy today in Ct. As they sojourn through this deep valley, be with them in this dark night of the soul. Awaken your children to sit with them in sack cloth and ashes as they grieve. Help us to bare gentle witness to your unconditional love and resurrection power. Teach us to forgive the one who perpetrated this heinous crime and cause all of us to seek your grace and mercy for ourselves. Please grant us wisdom in this nation that we may come together to end violence wherever it is found. And may the love, joy, hope, and peace of the advent season, manifested in Jesus Christ, wrap the mourning in the warm and heavy blanket of your comfort and as their tears fall, use us to hold them up to you. This we pray in the Strong Name of Jesus, Amen.

Brag on Him!

SCRIPTURE

Isaiah 12:2-6 (NRSV)

Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid,
for the Lord GOD is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day:
Give thanks to the LORD,
call on his name;
make known his deeds among the nations;
proclaim that his name is exalted.
Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;
let this be known in all the earth.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.


ADVENT DEVOTION

I have the best Daddy in the world! All of my life I have known that he loves me and takes pride in my accomplishments. I have never had to wonder if someone has my back, because I have always known that when push comes to shove, Daddy is always there.

You can't tell my father that I'm not the greatest thing since sliced bread. I seem to recall that at my very first band concert, my father stood up in the middle of the concert to shout, "THAT'S MY GIRL!! RIGHT THERE! THAT'S MY DAUGHTER!!"

My secret is that I'm just as proud of my Daddy, as he is of me. He's always been the cool dad. All my friends adore him and you can talk to him about anything without fear of judgment, or condemnation.

However, as great as my Daddy is, there is one greater!

Our GOD is the greatest! The strongest! The mightiest! The most glorious! Our God is the most able! The most creative! The most talented! The most awesome one! Our God is our salvation! Our help! Our waymaker! Our friend!

We could go on and on about our God, however, the psalmist said it well, "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel."

My Daddy loves to brag on me and I love to brag on him. But, I love to brag on my God, my Jesus, my Savior, even more...

During this advent season, are you bragging on God? Are you proclaiming the good news message? Are you boldly sharing your testimony with others?

There is somebody who needs to know that God is Love! God is Good! And God has never--and will never--fail!

Who will share your TEST-imony with today, dear ones? Someone is waiting...


PRAYER

O God, it is my good pleasure to brag on you. Help me to share your story (my story, our story) with someone who needs to hear it today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Blessed to Be a Blessing

SCRIPTURE

2 Corinthians 8:1-15 (NRSV)

We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints — and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking among you. Now as you excel in everything -- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you -- so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.

I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something -- now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has — not according to what one does not have. I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. As it is written,

"The one who had much did not have too much,
and the one who had little did not have too little."


ADVENT DEVOTION

During this CHRISTmas season, many of us are tempted to make our christmas lists. We write down all of the things that we want, or we encourage our children to do the same.

On the one hand, CHRISTmas is about giving. It is about God unselfishly giving us the very best gift God had--His one and only son--as a Love offering for our atonement.

So, when we give during the CHRISTmas season, we are following the example of God and that is a good thing!

But, as we write our lists and check them twice, let us not forget to give to the one who gave so unselfishly to us. What will we "get" God this season?

What does God want? Well, today's devotion reminds us that what God wants is for us to be able to say, "The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little."

What can we do to make God's wish come true? Will you give water to a child dying of thirst (www.charitywater.org)? Will you give food and an education to a child without the same (www.worldvision.com)? Will you offer a loan to a widow and her children so that they can start a business, change their lives, and bless their community (www.kiva.org)? Will you provide a chick or pig to a family so they can become self sustaining (www.heifer.org)? Will you offer an orphan a home (www.adoptuskids.org)?

How will you fulfill God's CHRISTmas list? Will you love somebody unloveable, forgive an unforgiveable offense, or right a wrong?

There are as many ways to bless God on CHRISTmas as there are human beings. What is important is that each of us give a gift from the heart that will bless our King and His Kingdom of Love.

And let us not give begrudgingly, my friends, but with gladness, generousity, and eagerness! After all, toys, clothes, and music, wear, go out of style, get loss, or become too small, but the gift of LOVE shared by providing enough food, water, clothes, shelter, health care, education, security, love, hope, joy, forgiveness, and/or peace to a child of God, lasts forever.

We are so blessed! And as the old ladies in the church I grew up in used to say, "Child! You are blessed to be a blessing...You can't beat God giving, no matter how hard you try!"

Be encouraged, my friends! You can give a meaningful gift this CHRISTmas that will touch the very heart of our King! Be exceedingly glad!

MERRY CHRISTmas!


PRAYER

Lord, please help me to generously and gladly use the resources you have entrusted into my care to bless someone with less than me. Amen...

Shouts of Joy!

SCRIPTURE

Psalm 126 (NRSV)

When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The LORD has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.

DEVOTION

Someone once said, "It is always darkest before the dawn."

It sounds like some sweet colloquialism meant to offer us false hope in times of sorrow, grief, or despair. But, having lived through some dark, dark nights of the soul, I can bare witness to the fact that this statement is very, very true.

I can only imagine what the world was like after so many years of silence regarding Messiah. Was it dark? Had people lost hope? Were they fumbling through life hoping, but not really believing that he would come?

And then one glad day a baby's cries rang out from a barn in Bethlehem and everything changed! The dawn broke for all of humanity. Angels, shepherds, and wise ones heralded the birth of a new king, one who would "restore the fortunes of Zion, fill our mouths with laughter, and our tongues with shouts of joy!"

Advent is all about the transition from the darkest of night, to the bright light of the dawn.

No matter what you may be going through, you must remember that God has not forgotten you. No matter how long you have been waiting "on a word from the Lord," you are not forsaken. No matter how alone you may feel at this moment, God is as near to you as the beat of your heart or the breath in your lungs.

God loves you. God is for you. God has a good plan for you. It may be dark right now, but the dawn is coming!

Soon your tears will turn to laughter and your weeping become shouts of joy! Soon the same folks who comforted you when you were afflicted, will rejoice as you share your good news testimony, "The Lord has done great things for me!"

Be encouraged beloved ones. The dawn is coming. The dawn has come. The dawn is coming once again...

PRAYER

Dear Lord, please help me to hold out believing that my change will come! Amen...