FINDING OUR VALUE

FINDING OUR VALUE
CAN ONLY COME FROM GOD – not from the world. There are many ways that the world gives us feedback of how we are doing. As children there are many who are all too willing to give us opinions of what and who we should be. As we grow, we will have ideas from within ourselves to add to the voices around us. It gets confusing and we can even become depressed as we try to figure out who we are and who we are meant to be. I recently heard about a young man who believes he is bad within himself, because this is what he hears from the community. He is African American and Muslim, which puts him in the cross hairs of discrimination and cruel criticisms. He has made mistakes and has learned from them. He works diligently in the community and contributes his gifts and talents in his job and to those in need. Yet he is prevented from seeing himself in a positive light because of the predominant message from loud voices that would denounce him on the basis of his color and religion. This attitude erodes the principles of the Constitution, and yet these discriminatory voices think they are upholding some sense of protecting the “American way.” These are not voices of love or compassion for others. So why listen to them?

Some of us have been taught to accept the loudest voices, or the ones that keep up the same message. Others of us have been coerced into believing we do not deserve anything except the criticism we hear. We may even believe in the inevitability of our lives not working out for our benefit. This is not God’s plan for any of us. It has never been and it will never be what God wants for us. It comes down to what we choose to listen to. It will not be easy to hear God in the midst of all the other noise around us until we pray for help. If we know God’s love, it is our job to speak about it to everyone we know. For the voice of God in the world is our voice. We are the voice in someone else’s wilderness. We may never know if we have saved a life by telling others about God’s love. By this same principle, we need only listen to God within us to know our own worth. The world is never a reliable source. Only God can show us if we are going in the direction we need to go. If we rely on God to give us the feedback we need, we will not stumble off our path.   Loving and merciful God, guide us in sharing God’s love to ALL whom we encounter. Let our lives be a beacon of your light in a world that struggles to be assured of your unconditional love. May we be instruments of that love for all those in need of knowing what it feels like. May we be your light in the darkness.     Amen.         PEACE     

LIFE IS SCARY AND THEN

LIFE IS SCARY AND THEN
THERE IS GOD – offering us a path to salvation. Jesus began his earthly ministry by facing down the evil one. Then he went out to the seaside and began recruiting disciples, for a life like nothing they had ever known. They left all they had – family and work, a place to call home and all their possessions, a very scary thing to do. Jesus must have made them a compelling offer, a call they could not refuse. Have you ever felt compelled by God’s call, or has it been more subtle?

All my life I have been concerned for those who have cobbled together a life they think of as Christian. It is a hybrid of the culturally dominant lives that unbelievers live, with varying amounts of beliefs and practices they think are the best they can come up with, so that it resembles a life with God, but is not. This is what my husband has called a cut flower faith. It has no roots in a relationship with God and a community of faith. It has been cut and pasted together, and at the slightest trial in life, it withers and dies, as cut flowers do. It becomes of no use to them, just when they need God’s support. I am being somewhat provocative here, without being judgmental. They have tried, and not gotten much help from the institutional church. We all will fail without God helping us to grow. There is a difference in those who have a faith that is growing, and those I describe here. I am making no judgment of them, because only God knows which is which. I am expressing concern and caution. Whatever we have as a faith is doomed to fail us if it is not grounded in a relationship to God, as honest and human and messy as that might be. In John 15, we hear Jesus describing this relationship.  7 “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.  9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.”   Please join me today in praying for all those who believe they can have a religion of their own making, without coming to God in repentance, that God may touch their hearts and minds. As we read in Micah, “and what does the Lord require, but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.” May we all find a way into a journey with God.  Steadfast and abiding God, we are humbled by your constant love for us, and the invitation to live with you and to bear fruit, with you as our guide. Help us grow in relationship and understanding of how you need us to live and use the resources you make available, for your work of love.    Amen.        PEACE

A COMPELLING VOICE

A COMPELLING VOICE
CALLING IN THE NIGHT – After being woken many times out of his sleep by a voice, the young boy Samuel finally says, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”  In First Samuel, Chapter 3 we hear that “the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.”  So it is not surprising that Eli the priest didn’t realize at first, the voice in the night calling to the boy, was God speaking to the young Samuel. We can be grateful that God showed us about being called, through this story of Samuel’s call. This story makes real the idea that God does speak to people, calling us to become part of God’s plan. Have you heard when God has called to you?

Sometimes life places demands on us. These days I have fewer external demands, but writing has its own way of expecting things from me. My writing didn’t really start until the early 90’s. One night I was trying to go to sleep and I was flooded by ideas that came flying at me. They were finally so compelling, I just had to get up and write them down. It was a full-blown plot for an historical mystery about Christian families and the underground railroad. When I got up to write, it was to honor the idea and the source that gave it.

This is one of many ways that God has entered my conscious mind and given me help for living. What ways have you experienced God in your life? Begin expecting to see what is just a little out of the ordinary, and unexpected. Thoughts we know we didn’t have or words we are given we know we didn’t think are coming to us from God, as support for our lives. God wants us to succeed in life and make a better life for all of us. It is what God’s new creation is like.   Unexpected God, you surprise us with the things you introduce into our lives, and we are grateful. Help us look for these serendipitous events, and feel the joy they bring. Keep us in your abiding love, and show us new ways you need us to serve you and pass on your love.    Amen.         PEACE

OPENNESS TO GOD

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO
WITH PRAYER? – As a small child, I had an experience of having the sense of a comforting presence close to me. I now know that it was God, and I believe a lot of us have similar experiences, but we don’t know what to call it and discount that this could happen. My parents were older, and perhaps not cut out to be parents. Looking back, I know they did the best they could on their own, without God’s help. They were highly frustrated with normal childhood behavior, and were emotionally abusive. Strangely it was a blessing that I couldn’t depend on my parents, because I learned to depend on God instead. This seems to have naturally led me to see God as very close to me, and I developed a more conversational relationship with God, as a result. In this atmosphere, it seemed foreign to me to keep God at arm’s length and pray with formal prayers. Add to that the fact that I have always been creative, so it was uncomfortable and felt insincere to use other people’s words for personal prayer.

This style of encountering God eventually led to the practice of 24/7 prayer. How does this work, in a practical sense? There are times when I am deliberately praying for specific people or situations. The rest of the time, I live in the state of being open to God, knowing God is guiding my decisions, helping to keep me on the path that I am committed to living out, as a part of God’s plan for my life. To establish this practice, I first made the decision that I wanted to live my life in this way, acknowledging that God is there already and I wanted to live out the intention of doing God’s will, all day, every day. I could not have done this in my own strength, but with God’s guidance and support through grace, it began to happen. There were times when it fell apart because I lost focus, so through prayer, God’s grace began to help change the way my mind worked, and it became easier to keep the openness to God. We are worthy of this kind of presence. Listen to what Jesus taught us in John 15:  3 “You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.  4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.  5 I am the vine, you are the branches.”    My prayer today is that you might at least consider working toward this kind of relationship with God for yourself.   Abiding God, who is present with us all day, every day, we thank you for this constancy and love. Help us believe you are with us, whether we can understand how or not. Guide us as we let your love and mercy inhabit our thoughts and actions all the time. Let us know we have the blessings of your support and love all day long.    Amen.         PEACE

WHAT JESUS FACED

EVIL, TEMPTATION
AND TESTING – is what Jesus faced in the wilderness. Then soon afterward John the Baptist was put in prison. This was a signal to Jesus that evil forces were at work in the region, stirring up the Hebrew authorities. He chose not to take up that fight then, but to go to Galilee, a place where Gentiles lived in darkness. The prophet Isaiah, 9: 2 had foretold this event,  “16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” This is repeated in Matthew 4. We pick up the path of Jesus’ ministry here.

It is an important point that Jesus knew Satan had not given up, after tempting him in the wilderness. It is important for us and our desire to follow Jesus in the path he set for us, to know the ways evil uses to push us off the path. Prayer, in the sense of keeping an open line between us and the Holy Spirit, helps us see what ways demons have of distracting us from keeping our focus on Christ’s way of life. Making us feel bad about ourselves, losing patience, getting angry, talking badly about others and ourselves are just some of the ways that evil has of getting between us and God. In the strength we are given through God’s grace, we do not need to let this happen. We can specifically pray for God to bring us out of evil’s influence, and banish the evil from our lives. This is an excellent way to begin the day, right after we express our thankfulness for each new morning. Praying for deliverance from evil is even in the Lord’s prayer. It is unfortunately a prayer we will need to keep in our arsenal of defenses, because evil is determined to stop God’s plan, and all those who are working with God to accomplish it. Become aware of evil thoughts, and know it is not us, but evil working in us to push us into sin. God does not want this for our lives. Let’s not blame ourselves, but turn to the Holy Spirit for relief from this onslaught. God will bring us peace and strength for the journey.   Protector God, whose love can be our defense against evil influences, help us develop our habits of prayer, whenever we feel threatened. Guide us in the ways we can pray to protect us from evil, and help us learn to call on the name of our God and Savior as a weapon to reject and banish evil. Give us the insight to know when we are facing evil, so we may call on your protection, to successfully defeat evil and aid the work you need us to do.  Amen.   PEACE

COMFORT, COMFORT

COMFORT, COMFORT
TO YOU, MY PEOPLE – is what God offers us, and is testified to in Isaiah 40. We have inherited the promise that Isaiah spoke long ago to the Israelites. This promise of comfort is more than just a warm hug. It is an assurance of our sins paid for, forgiven. This is such a great act by God that the very landscape will be changed. God comes into our lives with power, and still gathers us into the flock like a shepherd. Add to this the concept we heard from the creation story, that God made everything from love and considers all of creation good, including us.

21 “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning?  Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?  22 It is God who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in;  23 who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.”  Isaiah reminds us how this is the God who brought about creation of everything, but will still remember each of us.  God will never grow weary of hearing our prayers. We will not be ignored. God’s understanding of us is not anything we can fathom. Know that because God created us, we are listened to, and taken seriously. Pray with an open heart, for God already knows what our struggles are and will still comfort and forgive us.   O God of creation, we are in awe of your presence in our lives. We are grateful for your love, and the ability it gives us to look past the ugliness created by others who do not love, and instead see the beauty and joy that is always there. Help us live each day in the love you created, and share it joyfully with others.    Amen.       PEACE

OUR PRIMARY INSTRUCTION

OUR PRIMARY INSTRUCTION
IS TO LOVE – God, ourselves and others, all others. This is so important that Jesus says the first and greatest commandment is “to love God, with our whole hearts, mind and body.” The second is almost the same – we are “to love each other as we love ourselves.”   But then the crunch comes – it is much easier to say it than to actually do it. Some of us are easy to love and others may seem hard or even impossible. So how can we do what Jesus tells us we must do?

Well the answer is we can’t do it, not in our own strength. We need to listen to the Holy Spirit in us, teaching us how to look at others through God’s eyes. When we allow it to happen, we begin to see others in a different way, without judgment or jealousy. Try this method and see how it works. Before going into a situation where there are some difficult to love people, we can begin praying for God to help us see them as God does. Ask for ways of dealing with them in creative and different ways than we have used in the past. I know the experience will be different, because I know when we ask for God’s help, and are sincere, help comes, and it will be powerful. Watch for unexpected ways or sources of help, too. In this way we are likely to find people who will be supporting, that we never were open to before. We are a light in the wilderness to others, so that when we act out of God’s love, it is a signal to others who are also in tune with living this way. Acting for God always holds hidden blessings.  Loving and powerful God, whose vision is for us all to live together in love, we are grateful that you come to us and act in us to help us do better. Guide us in seeking ways to love others, as you love them. Help this become a part of who we are as your children.    Amen.       PEACE

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MOVING

DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED
BECAUSE THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MOVING – creating and renewing the church of Jesus Christ. I feel this happening, in spite of all the bad and discouraging things we hear out there. More than one person has lately given voice to this same hope come to life, that they feel it too. The Holy Spirit is always creating and renewing, but we are not always ready to know about it. The Spirit is not just working “out there”, in other people and in other places. The Spirit is moving in each of us, renewing us from within, and creating new possibilities in our hearts and minds. Are we paying attention, or are we too afraid to know? Long ago, the Apostle Paul laid out for us, in 2 Corinthians 4, why we do not need to lose heart, and the results when we do not.   “Therefore, since God in mercy has given us this new way, we never give up.  2 We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this.”  This is what God will accomplish in us, the work of God In our lives.  “7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”

Why should we be afraid? God is within us and God loves us. God has always been in us, from the time we were born, so nothing is a secret to God. Everything we have ever thought or done is known to God, and will be forgiven, guaranteed !!!  God is not like people who are mad at us for what we have done or those who may not like our life choices. God understands who we are, with no barriers. God is ready to guide us in the direction our lives were meant to go. Our gifts are there to enable us to do great things with our lives. We are each given unique abilities to do well. All we have to do is take the step toward that life God has for each of us, by asking forgiveness for ways we have been selfish and stubborn. The rewards that come after that are way too many to list. Near the top though are happiness and joy, calmness of spirit and the ability to focus on what we were created to do. Long ago a Congregational preacher said, “Our bad things turn out for good. Our good things can never be lost. And the best things are yet to come” ~ Jonathan Edwards  May each of us know the bond that comes from saying “yes” to the blessed life God offers us. Then pass on the love. WHAT are we waiting for?  Loving and forgiving God, who accepts us as we are, we are grateful for the unlimited forgiveness you offer us. Help us transform through your love into the person you have created us to be. Banish our fears and reluctance to begin so we may be energized with the power of your unconditional love. Guide us in our faltering steps to begin our new lives of love and service.    Amen.        PEACE

FOOD FOR THE SOUL

JOY IS FOOD
FOR THE SOUL – and a gift from God. Yesterday we talked about expressing joy by smiling. But we need to back up from there to actually seek out joy, by opening ourselves to see it around us, in its many forms. We need joy in us, because it feeds our souls, the essence of who we are. I read a quote from C. S. Lewis that says, “We do not have a soul. We are a soul. We have a body.” This alludes to the truth of who we are – an eternal soul with a temporary body. Just as our bodies need to have food to survive, our souls also need to be fed. God has provided more opportunities than we can name to nourish our souls. We were created to seek out more than just survival. We have been created to thrive and grow into the person God had in mind when we were put on the earth. In God’s plan, loving grace helps us seek love and joy, and even fun, in order that we can flourish and prosper spiritually. It is God’s work in us that actually feeds us. It is our job to be open to the process when the occasions happen. That may mean that in any given day, we will be fed many times. Have we given God the chance to feed us today?

In Psalm 92, we are given this gift of joy for our souls.  “You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me!     I sing for joy because of what you have done.  5 O Lord, what great works you do!  And how deep are your thoughts.”  If we begin our day with remembering what has God has already done in our lives, it continues the process of connecting to God in a relationship, founded in gratitude, and open to the unconditional love and grace God pours out on us. This sets us on the path of being open to God as we go through our day. Then grace will remind us to spread love, feel the joy and have some fun. Choose to do things that bring us joy and love, not frustration and anger. When we let God help us make better choices in how we live out each day, we will eventually find ourselves on a different path, without anger and fear, now filled with the joy that comes from serving God and spreading love. Our hearts and souls will grow and flourish, so when we face troubled times, we will have the tools and resources from God, that will get us through the storm. Every day do things that feed the soul – love and spread love, sing and dance with joy, and most of all laugh, express the joy.  O God who gives to us so abundantly, help us receive the joy and show us how to drink it in. Nourish us to overflowing, help us learn how to release the joy in us to others around us. Teach us to dance and sing and laugh without fear.     Amen.         PEACE

SMILES AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

SMILES AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
ARE GIFTS OF JOY FROM GOD – to all of us. Where do you find your joy? For me, it is God, people, nature and music. I have been in singing groups since I was seven years old. I know it is a gift from God to get such joy from singing. It can also be a source of emotional release. As a new pastor’s wife, I used to sing at the top of my lungs by myself in the car. It was better than screaming, and turned a negative emotion from great frustration to pure joy. I sing to express praise and joy, and I know it is an expression of a direct connection to God. I usually smile too, just can’t help it. Smiling actually changes the tone of your singing voice for the better, something I learned back in high school Glee Club. It takes effort to smile – 22 muscles come into play, and yet when a smile expresses joy it seems effortless. How do we feel when someone smiles at us? Does it make us want to smile too? Does it turn a bad day into a day worth living? It fills my heart with joy to see others smile. I especially love to see how faces are literally transformed when they smile. Their whole being seems to light up when a smile comes from their heart.

I like to think that since God created our faces to smile, that we should, whenever we have the slightest reason.  We only have to consider the gift of forgiveness God gave us all or all the magnificent beauty in creation and the joy swells in me.   16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”  If that doesn’t give us enough reason to smile, consider what life would be like without it.  When I consider this gift and the gift of my own life, I cannot help but smile. Those who regularly smile make me wonder how God has touched their lives and what they are doing to live a joy- filled life. It can be reflective of the love of God, available to each of us. God loves us without reservation, so smile if you feel it.  I’m reminded of the old children’s song – “If you’re happy and you know it, say AMEN!”  Loving and merciful God, who has given us the potential for lives full of love and joy, help us see creation and its beauty as a reason to know joy and to share it with others. Guide us in learning how to forget our own worries sometimes, in order to feel the joy and share a smile with others who need to know what joy looks like. Guide us to sense when others need the touch you bring through a smile. Thank you for the great unconditional you give us, that we feel through joy.    Amen.       PEACE