Category Archives: Obedience

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February 22, 2016

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Church & Worship, God's Grace & Love, Knowing Him, Obedience, Prayer, Salvation: A New You, Sharing Our Faith

GOD’S LOST CHILDREN

Listen, people of Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.  … Do what the Lord says is good and right so that things will go well for you. [Deuteronomy 6:4-5,18a (NCV)]

Lake Catamount, Steamboat Spgs., CORecently, we provided dinner for a local skateboard church ministry that serves teens and young adults. If church is a hospital for wretched souls, this one is a MASH unit for them! Most of the youth have troubled pasts and few come from faith-based homes or with any knowledge of the Bible. Many, however, have transformed their lives as they have come to know Jesus through this ministry.

During Bible study, I overheard a young man claim he was his own lord and master and had to be obedient to no one. He was his own god; in fact, he added, we are all our own gods. Clearly, the pastor has his work cut out for him. Earlier that evening, the same young man said he couldn’t pray because he didn’t feel God. Of course, he couldn’t. Just as there was no room in Bethlehem for Mary and Joseph, by thinking he’s god, there’s no room in this young man’s heart for Jesus. “How’s that working for you?” I wanted to ask. Since he’s unemployed, homeless, using drugs, and unwelcome in his family’s home, his god doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job.

What will it take for this fellow to finally see the truth? What will it take before he knows he is loved, forgiven and valuable? What will it take for him to cede control to a higher power? What will it take for him to embrace the concept of obedience to God rather than obedience to self? Will he have to be knocked to his knees before he sees what is right in front of him? I pondered Saul of Tarsus, another man with no room in his heart for Jesus. Determined to defeat Christianity, he went from house to house arresting believers and hauling them off to prison. On his way to Damascus, however, he was knocked to the ground, struck blind and confronted by Jesus in one of the most dramatic conversions in history. When Saul was down and blinded, he finally saw the truth; the persecutor became evangelist and Saul the Pharisee became Paul the Apostle, God’s chosen instrument.

The good news is that, somewhere deep inside, this young man knows his way isn’t working. He was at a SK8 church prayer meeting and Bible study. Granted, we were serving a delicious hot meal of ham and potatoes and skateboarding followed Bible study, but he didn’t have to arrive early for prayers or stay after dinner for Bible study. I offered a prayer for him, asking God to make Himself known to this young man. I know God has been knocking at his door (or he wouldn’t have been there that night) but maybe God needs to knock him to the ground as he did for Paul.

Heavenly Father, I offer this prayer for the many young men and women who are deaf to your voice, blind to your presence, and unwilling or afraid to make room in their hearts for you. Please keep knocking, even it if means you have to knock them to their knees. Make your presence known, your love sensed, and your forgiveness felt. Thank you for the pastors, mentors and sponsors who work with young people. Keep filling them with the incredible patience, self-control, wisdom and love they need to bring your lost children home.

Be careful. Don’t think these little children are worth nothing. I tell you that they have angels in heaven who are always with my Father in heaven. The Son of Man came to save lost people. If a man has a hundred sheep but one of the sheep gets lost, he will leave the other ninety-nine on the hill and go to look for the lost sheep. I tell you the truth, if he finds it he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that were never lost. In the same way, your Father in heaven does not want any of these little children to be lost. [Matthew 18:10-14 (NCV)]

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February 18, 2016

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Attitudes & Behavior, Money & Wealth, Obedience, Temptation & Sin, Today: Make it Count

TIME’S AWASTING

Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. [Romans 14:12 (NLT)]

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. [Ephesians 5:15-17 (NLT)]

Lately, we’ve heard several politicians talk about equalizing wealth. There is, however, one precious asset that is the same for both pauper and billionaire. It can’t be bought or sold nor can it be saved for a rainy day. Unlike money, once it is lost, it can never be regained. That asset, of course, is time and it is God’s gift to us. He’s given each of us a precise (but unknown) number of hours and they are not to be wasted. Any minute we don’t use is forfeited and never seen again.IMG_1923web4

As of today, we’ve had over 275 inches of snow in this mountain valley and dealing with all that snow uses several of those minutes each day. Every time we want to go anywhere, we have to allow an extra five to ten minutes to scrape the windshield and clean off the car. Snow can pile up, as evidenced by a car belonging to one of our neighbors. That snow makes for a whole lot of weight on one car’s roof and, as it compresses, it turns to ice. Maybe our neighbor plans on waiting until spring for the snow to melt. Spring, however, is a long ways away and, with an average snowfall of 352 inches, we can expect plenty more snow in the weeks to come. At this rate, chances are the car roof could collapse long before the crocuses peek through the snow.

When we don’t use our time wisely, things stack up just like the snow on that car. Life gets overwhelming when we put off until tomorrow what needs to be done today. Tomorrow comes, the task has grown, so we put it off for another day, and so it goes until life comes crashing in on us. We procrastinate for many reasons—exhaustion, fear, obsession with perfection, anger, indecision, lack of motivation, or simple laziness. Sometimes we even convince ourselves that we’re saving time by not doing something. Sure, the car’s owner hasn’t spent several minutes removing snow each morning but taking the bus around town takes much longer. If and when he tries to clean the car, it will take him hours to chip off the accumulated snow and ice. Moreover, if the roof collapses, he won’t have a car at all! Whatever the cause for our procrastination, the work we’re avoiding won’t disappear. In fact, in most cases, like the snow on the car, it will just pile higher and higher.

When we get diverted from the task at hand and waste God’s time, the enemy loves it. He’s provided us with all sorts of new ways to do it with binge watching on Netflix, computer games, email, Xboxes, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Snapchat and the like. In fact, there are several websites that will link you to the best sites for wasting time! When I look at some of hyperlinks and humor emailed to me, I wonder if anybody still works. We each have been given the same twenty-four hours this day, how will we spend it? Paul tells us in Romans that we will be accountable to God for the way we have used his gifts and those hours are one of God’s most precious gifts to us.

Time is like manna from heaven. God provides exactly what we need for each day and, like manna, what isn’t used today is gone tomorrow. Barring unforeseen circumstances, we have been gifted with 1440 minutes today. Will we tend to the business of the day or will we let things pile up until some future date? God willing, we will be blessed with 24 more hours tomorrow but, then again, maybe we won’t.

Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die leaving undone. [Pablo Picasso]

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. [Benjamin Franklin] 

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. [Psalm 90:12 (NLT)]

Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. [James 4:13-14 (NLT)]

Copyright ©2016 jsjdevotions. All rights reserved.
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January 11, 2016

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Attitudes & Behavior, Church & Worship, Family, Friends & Fellowship, God's Grace & Love, Joy, Love & Works, Obedience, Sharing Our Faith

RAINDROPS FALLING ON MY HEAD

Celebration community beach church
As you serve the Lord, work hard and don’t be lazy. Be excited about serving him! [Romans 12:11 (ERV)]

Do your best to be the kind of person God will accept, and give yourself to him. Be a worker who has no reason to be ashamed of his work, one who applies the true teaching in the right way. [2 Timothy 2:15 (ERV)] 

It rained in southwest Florida yesterday. While that is of little interest to most of you (especially if you are experiencing an Arctic blast in the north), it was of concern to our church. We have one of the most beautiful churches in the area—designed by God (with a little help from the park district)—but it has a leaky roof. Actually, since we meet outside in a city park, we have no roof at all! While God and the weatherman seem to cooperate most Sundays, every once in a while our sanctuary has mud puddles and the chairs are wet. Many find shelter in the nearby gazebo while the early birds crowd onto the band shell with the band and singers. The truly hardy (and latecomers) hunker under their umbrellas in the rain.

Pastor was asked if there would be an abbreviated service because of the weather. As long as we were without tornado warnings or lightning, the service would proceed as planned. If, in spite of the inclement weather, people came to our church, a full worship service is what they wanted and what they’d get. Without a doubt, I am sure there was a least someone there yesterday who desperately needed the entire service, not just a Reader’s Digest version that had been condensed because of the weather. I’m sure there was at least one person whose heart was moved by the words of Amazing Grace and more than one who needed to hear every word of Pastor’s message about truthfulness. There probably were many more who craved laughter and truly needed to hear each one of his jokes. There were many who were there, not just for music and message, but also for Christian fellowship. Along with worship, they needed the welcome, kind words, smiles, handshakes, and hugs that came with the service.

Yes, we are saved by faith alone. All the work in the world does not mean salvation and even our grandest efforts will not get us into heaven. That doesn’t mean, however, that we are not to put our best effort into everything we do for the Lord and His church. God expects a first-class effort, not a half-hearted attempt, even when it’s raining.

While those who passed by the park may have seen a rather bedraggled group of church-goers gathered together and trying to stay dry, I think God looked down from his heavenly throne and saw a grand cathedral filled with joyful worshippers. He didn’t hear just a few voices raised in praise, he heard a choir much grander than that famed one in Utah! He saw people expressing love—for one another and for Him. Yesterday, God was just pouring a little of his goodness down on us and I pray that His goodness continues to grow because everyone did his or her best during worship service. After all, “Into each life some rain must fall.”

Be still, sad heart, and cease repining; Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all, Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary. [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]

May the clouds in the skies above pour goodness on the earth like rain. May the earth open up to let salvation grow. And may goodness grow with that salvation, which I, the Lord, created. [Isaiah 45:8 (ERV)]

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December 31, 2015

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Attitudes & Behavior, Faith & Hope, Holy Spirit, Knowing Him, Obedience, Salvation: A New You, Today: Make it Count, Wisdom & Guidance

I AM WHAT?

This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I have been sent out to tell others about the life he has promised through faith in Christ Jesus. [2 Timothy 1:1 (NLT)]

This letter is from Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives. [Titus 1:1 (NLT)]

julia butterfly- NBG2122aweb“I am….” How would you finish that statement? I recently came across an Internet article by Mark Papadas in which he posits, “How a person finishes that statement defines who they are, their beliefs about themselves and the world, and the standards they live by.” While we commonly say that people will live up or down to our expectations, Papadas writes that, in reality, they will live up or down to their own expectations and adds that people rarely give conscious thought to what it is they expect from themselves.

The Apostle Paul certainly knew who he was and what he expected of himself. I wonder if the rest of us are that clear about our identity and purpose. Who am I? Am I a wife, mother, grandmother, homemaker, writer, volunteer, photographer, retiree, senior citizen, or friend? Yes to all but, while those words may describe me, none of them define me. We’re not our roles, resumes, paychecks, pasts or pedigrees and we mustn’t let those define us. We’re human beings and not human doings.

Who am I? I am a child a God and a follower of Christ. As such, I know He expects me to love Him completely and my neighbor as myself. As a child of God, what do I expect of myself? I should love God and man, repent and forgive, study God’s word and pray, be part of the church and spread the gospel, live an upright life and do God’s will. I want to be as much like Christ as humanly possible. Can I live up to my expectations? Probably not completely but, with the power of the Holy Spirit, I can sure try. Why? Because I am a child of God.

What you are is God’s gift to you, what you become is your gift to God. [Hans Urs von Balthasar]

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. [Galatians 3:26-27 (NLT)]

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December 22, 2015

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Attitudes & Behavior, Family, Friends & Fellowship, Holidays & Holy Days, Love & Works, Obedience, Sharing Our Faith

THE ALONE

Take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her. [1 Timothy 5:3 (NLT)]

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. [Isaiah 1:17 (NLT)]

great blue heron
In Netflix’s The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, there is a funny scene in which Jacqueline, a recently divorced out-of-touch wealthy socialite, complains that her husband got their maid in the divorce. “I’ve been in this dress for two days because there’s no one here to unzip it. I took a shower in it and now it’s rusted shut.” I thought of her grievance as I struggled to get dressed last night. Needing my husband’s assistance, I joked that I’ll have to keep him around since we don’t have a maid.

I then thought about the widows and divorcees on our street who have no one to zip and unzip or hook and unhook all of those closures on the back of their clothing. How do they cope? Do they discard a major part of their wardrobe when they lose their spouse? Do they arrive at work or parties partially dressed? While that’s a possibility, what about when they get home? Do they wake their neighbors at midnight or, like Jacqueline, sleep in their attire? Dogs and cats are a great comfort but, without opposable thumbs, they aren’t much good at zippers or buttons.

The Bible is very clear about caring for widows. Granted, the plight of a widow thousands of years ago was far worse than today. It was a man-ruled world, women had minimal inheritance rights, and honorable employment wasn‘t readily available. Yet, today one in three women still live in poverty or at the brink of it, so there are economic issues to address. It is more than just a person’s economic status, however, that should concern us when we think of people who’ve lost a spouse, whether through death or divorce.

As I walk through the park each Sunday taking photos before church, I am struck by the number of people (both men and women) who used to be part of a pair and now are alone. I am painfully aware that one half of every couple eventually will be widowed. There are many men whose experience in the kitchen consists of making a PB&J or opening a bag of chips and a tub of dip. There are some men who ran corporations but never ran the dishwasher, washing machine, dryer or vacuum. There are women whose husbands did all the driving, who’ve never handled the finances or done the taxes, and never eaten out alone or taken a trip by themselves. There are many who will sit alone at their table tonight, who have no one to complain to when customer service doesn’t serve, who have no one to laugh with at the funny YouTube video, who have no one with whom to share their deepest secrets, and have no one with whom to walk while holding hands. I’ve been part of a couple for nearly half a century. Believe me, if my husband goes before me, I will miss him for far more than his assistance with zippers and hooks.

God’s tender concern for the bereaved is declared through all of Scripture. While today’s widowed may not necessarily need our legal and economic protection the way they did in days of old, they still need our love and compassion. The command to care for the widowed is as valid today as it was centuries ago. As we gather with family over the holidays, let us not forget those without family, whether men or women, single, widowed or divorced. May we keep them in our prayers but, more important, let’s reach out our hands in friendship and love (and maybe with an offer to help with difficult zippers!)

This is a time to celebrate before the Lord your God at the designated place of worship he will choose for his name to be honored. Celebrate with your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites from your towns, and the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live among you. [Deuteronomy 16:11 (NLT)]

Sing praises to God and to his name! Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the Lord—rejoice in his presence! Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. [Psalm 68:4-6 (NLT)]

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November 24, 2015

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Challenges & Difficulty, God's Plan, Obedience, Trusting God

A CHANGE IN PLANS

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.” … Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. [Genesis 12:1, Romans 4:20-21 (NLT)]

laughing gull - VB780webThis morning’ s news reported a federal grand jury’s indictment of a Utah man for making a bomb threat against a hospital last September. The false threat led to the hospital being evacuated and locked down for several hours. The man had nothing to do with ISIS or any terrorist group; he just made the threat to disrupt the hospital’s operations enough to cause the postponement of his wife’s scheduled C-section that day. He was in Idaho at the time and wanted the procedure delayed so that he could be present for the baby’s birth. Now, facing up to ten years in prison, it may be quite a while before he gets to enjoy that child.

While life rarely goes according to our plans, most of us don’t resort to bomb threats. Consider Mary—she was a carefree young girl busy with wedding plans when an angel interrupted her life with the message that, in spite of her virginity, she would have a baby. That certainly put a damper on the wedding plans and her relationship with Joseph. What about Noah—the farmer turned shipbuilder? Constructing an arc on the back forty and gathering a boatload of animals certainly interrupted his family’s comfortable life. Things were going well in Ur when Abraham and Sarah were told by God to pull up stakes and move miles away to an unknown place. Certainly Hosea wouldn’t have deliberately chosen a wife knowing she would be unfaithful to him, but that’s what God told him to do. Elizabeth and Zechariah had resigned themselves to being childless when she became pregnant. While a blessing, it had to be a challenge for the elderly couple—diapers and midnight feedings instead of quiet afternoons in the sun. Elisha was a farmer with a team of oxen, Isaiah a scribe, and Amos a shepherd; they hadn’t attended prophet school, but that’s what God called them to be. Andrew, Peter, James and John were fisherman and Matthew collected taxes; they all had careers when Jesus interrupted their lives and turned them into disciples. Paul, the Pharisee tent-maker, was on a mission when blinded on the road to Damascus and the persecutor of Christians became a preacher for Christ. None of these people asked God for a life change; it was God who called to them and God never asked any of them if it was a convenient time.

The Utah man who made the bomb threat apparently missed the important life lesson that the world does not revolve around us. But then again, while our behavior isn’t as extreme as his, we all have difficulty accepting that fact at times. God, however, has an uncanny way of reminding us who’s really in charge. One look at the lives of family and friends tells me that God continues his holy interruptions. Blessings, difficulties, challenges and assignments do not arrive according to our time schedules. God’s plan is not written for our convenience and we can’t call in a bomb threat whenever we don’t like His timing. Instead of God accommodating us, we are to accommodate Him and follow His plan, not ours. It may not be convenient or even what we wanted and we may feel ill-prepared or overwhelmed but, like those faithful people before us, we have to trust God and say, “Here I am, Lord!”

Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” [Isaiah 6:8 (NLT)]

Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” Luke 1:38 (NLT)]

So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him. [Genesis 6:22 (NLT)]