Abide In Him
Abide in Him - Devotions for 9-28-22
1 John 1:28 “And now little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.”
Abide in Him. The phrase abide appears in other places in reference to remaining in Christ. In John 15 we are given the word picture of a branch abiding in the vine and that same call to abide in Jesus.
So, what does it mean to abide in Him? It means to remain faithful. It means to find refuge. It means to stay connected. It means to dwell or live. It means to do what you can to stay close to Jesus and strong in your faith.
What this could look like is to go to church, read your bible, pray, have fellowship with your Christian friends and relatives, and do what you can to be a good Christian. It can sound like a lot of work. Staying connected, or abiding in Jesus, could sound like something I need to work really hard at.
But it really shouldn’t be that hard. Why? Because there are two sides to our abiding in Him. There is our part, we do what we can to stay connected and there is God’s part. He does what He can to keep us connected. And He is way more powerful and fully capable of keeping us connected than we are.
When we look at abiding, or staying connected to Jesus, we need to remember another passage in the scriptures. Romans 8:38 – 38 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
He is able! When we feel like we are weak and prone to wander, He holds us tighter. When we are being pushed around by the tides of this world, He is our anchor. When we are being blown by the winds of this sinful world, He holds us firm. He is able, even when we are not. He is strong, even when we are weak.
When we remember that we are not in this abiding thing on our own, that God is with us, we can have confidence to stand firm. We can have confidence to draw near to Him again. We can take heart and know that He is able to keep us from drifting away, so long as we desire to stay in His tender loving care. He will fight for us, even when we cannot fight for ourselves.
This gives me hope. Hope that I can abide in Him and stay connected even through the difficulties and hardships of this life. I have hope that no matter what comes my way in terms of pain or other things that may lead me away from God’s presence, He is doing all He can to hold me close. I can rest in God’s grace and in His strong arms.
That is the definition of peace isn’t it. To know that I can rest in His care and not have to work so hard to stay connected. He is doing the work, I just need to rest in Him. That is inner peace, the peace that He gives.
So, another way to look at staying connected is to walk in the peace of God, knowing that He is in control. When I understand that more fully, I don’t worry about becoming estranged from God, I rest in His presence and care. The more I understand that He truly is in control and can do anything, the more I rest in His care and the more I rest in His care the more securely I abide in Him.
Pastor Gary
Tomorrow's joy
Tomorrow’s Joy - Devotions for 9-21-22
John 16:22 “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”
We live in a world that is very broken. You don’t have to look outside your window very far to see how broken our world is. There is crime and disease and all sorts of reminders of how far from perfect this world is. All that is the result of the fall that occurred with Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit.
As a result, we experience the pain of that brokenness. Sometimes that pain comes in the form of sickness. Covid 19 is one reminder of that pain. Sometimes it comes from an accident and someone, maybe you or a loved one, getting hurt or even dying. Sometimes that pain comes in the form of broken relationships, sometimes it comes from financial hardship. We all experience the pain of living in a broken world.
Jesus knew this. He experienced it too. He dealt with people dying, people who were sick, injured, demon possessed and poor. Jesus dealt with people going through any and all of life’s painful situations.
In one sense that is good because it means that Jesus knows and understands what you are going through whenever you experience hardship and pain in this life. He can help you and that can bring you joy in spite of your pain.
But there is another joy that Jesus talks about in John 16. Jesus talks about our ultimate joy, the joy of heaven, tomorrow’s joy. He says that right now you have sorrow. And we all do. We are always going through something, that if we focused on it, would expose the pain in our life. We all have some pain and sorrow, but Jesus points us to look toward heaven. He says that you have sorrow now, but that He will see us again and when He does, when we go to heaven, our hearts will be filled with joy. Then Jesus adds that the joy we experience then, will not be short lived, will not be fleeting, will not be taken away from us by the next hardship or pain that happens to us.
That is good news! When we get to heaven, which all believers in Jesus will, then we will experience joy that never ends. Today’s joy is good for the moment, but tomorrow’s joy will last forever.
Whenever the pains and sorrows of this life start to overwhelm us, we can look toward heaven and find help to get through the problems of today. We should always keep one eye looking upward, because in this life we will always find something to take away our joy. But the joy of heaven, can carry us through the sorrows of today.
What is giving you cause to worry, or have pain or sorrow today? Pray to God for help in getting through it and then look toward the eternal joy of heaven. Remember that the sorrow or pain you experience today, will not follow you to heaven. You will leave it behind the moment you step foot on heaven’s ground.
Keep your eyes focused upward, where Jesus is. That can help you get through and overcome the pains and sorrows of today. Put a little smile on your face, even as you walk through hardships in this world. The smile that comes from knowing tomorrow’s joy is just around the bend.
Pastor Gary
Praise
Praise - Devotions for 9-15-22
Psalm 148:1 & 9 “Praise the Lord!... Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!”
Praise. According to the dictionary it means to show approval or admiration of. For those showing praise to God it means to show that in worship. We worship God with praise as we show that we appreciate Him and all that He has given us and all that He does for us.
We have much to praise God for.
At this time of the year, we enjoy the fall. Fall is my favorite time of the year. As the heat of summer cools off all sorts of things happen in God’s creation.
Right now, the elk are bugling in the high country. Just a few days ago Debra and I went to watch the fall rituals in Rocky Mountain National Park. We saw the elk gathering in herds with a large bull elk keeping watch over his harem. We listened as they made their beautiful bugling sounds. That is something I never get enough of, watching and listening to the elk in the fall. I have always felt that animals doing their thing was their way of praising God.
Another fall event that many people enjoy is going into the forest in the fall and looking at the fall colors as the leaves change. Around here people head out to watch the aspen turn colors, and when they aspen are changing colors, as they stand among the green spruce, pine and fir trees, it is beautiful. I remember growing up in Minnesota where we had maple and oak trees that would turn colors and if the weather was right, it would be awesome with bright orange and red colors for miles. I love the changing of the seasons.
As I read this, and other Psalms like it that call for giving praise to God, I am awed by how much we have to give praise for. God could have made the world dull. We could all see in black and white, which is the way we are told most animals see. But God, in His greatness and in His love for mankind, has given us beauty in sight and sound. So, we have much to give Him thanks for and to praise Him about and with.
And we praise Him with our sights and sounds. Whenever we sing a song of praise, we are somewhat like those elk, using our voices to lift up beautiful music to God in praise. Well, some do, whenever I sing it is not so beautiful, but I enjoy the beauty of music. Whenever someone plays an instrument, it is much the same way, a way of giving God praise through the beautiful sounds we make with whatever instrument we are using.
The same is true of beautiful sights. We have people who grow flowers in some pots at our church. Today, when I walked into my office, I was blessed with the beautiful sight of those pretty flowers. And we have people who make the church look good by the way they decorate it.
These are all ways we can show God our delight in Him and what He has given us. We can use these things to praise God. We can use sounds and sights to praise Him.
But the core of praise comes from within. We praise Him from our hearts. When we come to God, we should come to Him with praise from deep within in our hearts. We should have hearts overflowing with gratitude for all that He has given us. Let us give Him praise. Let us sing and play instruments and make beautiful artwork to show our gratitude and let us do that in worship. This Sunday, sing, or play or make something beautiful and praise God.
Use what God has given you, music, art, or whatever, to praise God.
Pastor Gary
God Hears
God Hears - Devotions for 9-7-22
Psalm 61:1 Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer;”
Prayer. Prayer is a very important thing for all believers. Sometimes prayer is even important for people who are not Christians. Prayer is turning to God and calling on Him for help in some situation. Prayer can be much more than that too, sometimes it is just having a conversation with God about nothing and everything. But often, when we think of praying, we think of calling on God for help in some specific area of our life. That is the kind of prayer King David was thinking of here when he calls out, “Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer.”
David was calling on God for help in some specific areas of his life. He needed God’s help. As you read the rest of the Psalm you can hear David cry to God for help from enemies, for shelter in God’s care, and for extending his life. David had many areas of his life where he needed God’s help. And he knew where to turn to. He turned to God.
We all have many areas where we need help in our lives. Maybe you need help with family issues, or with work or lack of a job. Maybe you need help with finances or finding peace in your daily life or with some health issue. Whatever it is, God is there and He is waiting to hear you call out to Him for help in whatever area it is you need help in today.
Call out to Him today. It doesn’t matter if you are new to prayer, or a life-long prayer warrior. God is there for all who call out to Him in whatever time of trouble it is. He is even there to hear you when there is no trouble in your life. Maybe He likes that best, a prayer just to say Hi and that you love Him. I know parents like that kind of conversation with their children better than another call to mom or dad for some need of the moment. Debra and I love it when our children or grandchildren just call to say hi. We cherish the moments of intimate family life. I’m sure God does too because He loves each and every one of us.
What is your prayer life like? No, I am not trying to guilt you. It would be easy to say that you need to pray more and prayer longer, that you need to rise up earlier every morning to pray more than you have been. But prayer is much more than formal times on our knees. Prayer is something we can do anytime and all the time. We are called to pray without ceasing which is something we could never do if we had to stay on our knees to pray.
I pray a lot when I’m driving. I pray when I’m just sitting down relaxing. No, I’m not the most devout person of prayer, far from that. Just ask Debra, I’m not known for my deep prayer life. But I pray. And my point in this devotional is that we all can pray. Everyone is invited by the Lord to turn to Him and talk with Him about anything and everything. You are invited by the creator of all things, to have a conversation with Him, to call upon Him. And when you do, He will hear your cry and He will listen to your prayer.
Do you have something eating at you? Tell God. Do you have some crisis you are going through? Tell God. Do you have a lonely ache in your heart? Tell God. Are you rejoicing over something good in your life? Tell God. Are you glad just to be alive? Tell God.
Prayer is an important part of life; it is our way to connecting with the God who created us and knows us. So, take a moment, or an hour, and visit with God. Get on your knees, or talk with Him while you sit or walk. Tell Him your needs and wants, and tell Him all about your day. He’s there. He will listen.
Pastor Gary
Time
Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart…”
God’s word speaks to me when it says that God has made everything beautiful in its time.
Why? Because I struggle with time. I want to manage it, control it and make it fit into my life. Debra knows I struggle with time trying to make everything in life fit into my schedule and my time frame. But God’s time frame isn’t mine and God says that when things are done in His time, not mine, it is beautiful.
Recently Debra and I have had things come up that we had not scheduled and things happen to make things we had scheduled get changed or cancelled. I don’t like that. I don’t like changes to my plans and schedule. I don’t like anything messing with my time and the plans I have for my time.
But, like always, things worked out anyway. Indeed, things work out better if I get out of the way. When God steps in and rearranges things for me, they always turn out better than if I had kept to my plans, my time. I wish I could learn that lesson once-for-all but it is a lesson I seem to need to keep re-learning over and over. I still get impatient and nervous when something happens to reschedule my plans, when something disrupts my time.
In this great book of Ecclesiastes there is this section on time. Chapter three, verses 1-8 is a listing of things happening in their time. There is a time for everything we are told from God’s word. After saying many things that there is a time for, we read in verse 11 that God makes everything beautiful in its time.
Even the things we don’t like. There is a time for peace, but it says there is a time for war too. There is a time for be born and a time to die. We like one part of those verses, but often we don’t like the other part. We love new babies. We don’t like to watch someone die. We love to dance, but do not enjoy mourning. But still, it says that God causes all those things to be beautiful in their time.
We need to rest in God’s time and allow God to make everything beautiful by leaving them in His very capable hands. When we try and run things, we make a mess, but if we let God work in our lives, He will make everything beautiful, in its time.
Then, in the same verse, God adds that He puts eternity in our heart.
Eternity changes everything. We struggle to understand eternity. We are so bound by life lived according to minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years that we cannot imagine life outside of that. Eternity is perhaps best defined as life outside the bounds of time. God is outside the bounds of time. He is eternal. He lives forever in eternity, outside of time.
Imagine what life would be like outside of time. We would see things so differently if we could see beyond the confines of time. And I believe, if we could see that way, see like God sees, everything would be beautiful in its time.
When we understand eternity, we see beauty in death. When we understand eternity, we better understand all of life’s joys and struggles. When we see through the eyes of God, everything is indeed, beautiful.
Let us strive to keep our eyes on Jesus, on heaven, on eternity. Eternity helps us see beyond the pain and struggles of life, to see the beauty we usually miss.
Pastor Gary
The Ascent
The Ascent - Devotions for 8-3-22
Psalm 1201:1-2 “I will lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
This Psalm is one of several that are titled, “A Song of Ascent.” Way back when it was written and then sung by the people of Israel it was usually sung when the people were heading to the temple of God to worship Him there. Because Jerusalem is at the top of the mountain range instead of in the valley, that meant climbing up the mountain. For others it was sung as they climbed the stairs to the temple and for others it would be sung as they climbed Mt. Zion. Either way, it was usually sung as the people were climbing up and so they would have been looking higher up. Their eyes and faces would have been looking up.
We are told in the New Testament to keep our eyes on Jesus, who is above us. We are also told to press on toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, in Philippians 3:14. These suggest we keep looking up. Just like the Psalm, we look up to the hills or mountains where God is supposed to be. We do that especially when we are climbing them. The people of Israel did that when they were going to worship God in the temple, they would have been looking up as they went to worship Him.
Add to these things that call us to look up that Jesus would often climb a mountain to be alone with the Father and pray. He also called His disciples up on what is called the Mt. of Transfiguration where He and His Father had a very intimate time together with James, John and Peter watching.
So, what is with all this looking or climbing up? From an earthly perspective, up is where God is. Down is where the devil, our tempter, is. Maybe that makes everything on the level with us where man is and where our troubles are. So, the help from all our troubles and temptations comes from above, where God is. As it says in this Psalm, “our help comes from the Lord.” And from an earthly perspective, the Lord is up.
Are the struggles of this life getting you down? Are you becoming downcast in your heart and soul? Are you feeling down and discouraged? Then look up. Don’t look up at things that cannot help, look to Jesus, look to God.
There are a lot of things that are physically up for us that cannot help. The bible isn’t telling us to go or look there. The bible is telling us to look up to heaven where God is for our help. Turn to the Lord when you are down and He will lift you up. James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up.”
I am happy to live in a place where there are mountains. I love going to the mountains, I love hiking in them, I love just looking at them. Maybe that is because God has ingrained in us to look up for help, to look to Him for help. I love this verse about lifting my eyes to the hills, or mountains, because they are where I have often found peace from the Lord and comfort for my soul. Where do you go to find peace for your soul?
Come this Sunday to church. Whether it is up on a hill as ours is, or down in the valley. Look up as you go to church and humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. He will lift you up. Keep looking up. Keep your eyes on the things above.
Pastor Gary
A Wise Son
A Wise Son - Devotions for 7-27-22
Proverbs 13:1 “A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.”
A wise son, or daughter as the case may be, hears their father’s instruction. Sounds good, doesn’t it. Don’t we wish all our children listened to this proverb! Or, maybe, don’t we wish we listened to this proverb when we were younger. Think of all the hardship and trouble young people would safely avoid if only they would listen to the wise counsel of their elders, and usually that means their parents.
There are people I know who are really smart. They have gone on to get more schooling than I have and have seen success because of it. However, not all of them are that wise. Some of them, those who are not that smart, not that wise as the proverb says, do not combine their raw intelligence with wisdom. And that is an issue. Some people are book smart but lack basic common sense or common wisdom. And woe to the world when someone with book smarts but little common sense gets into positions of power!
This proverb adds to the understanding of what real wisdom is, the call to listen to people who know what they are doing and who are willing to tell you when you are wrong. We need to listen to them.
My dad served in the navy for a time. I think he loved serving on the aircraft carrier he spent a lot of time on. He talked about that sometimes. One thing I remember from some of those chats was how he said that some of the officers needed to be put in their place occasionally. He said that the people who achieved higher ranks usually were the ones who listened to those with real-world smarts and took their correction, even if they had a lower rank and lower education level.
One example he gave was of a high-ranking officer coming to an experienced machine worker and asking for advice. I don’t remember what the situation was, but something was needing to be fixed so that the work could go forward. The officer in charge could have given orders that needed to be followed. But instead, he sought advice from those who worked on the machines involved. After listening to those who knew the specific work that was being done, he took their advice and had them fix it.
He knew enough to listen to others.
My dad also had examples, usually of younger officers, not listening to those who did the work and how that would often lead to problems. They didn’t listen. They didn’t take correction and everyone suffered because of it. Those officers would not advance too far unless they learned to become wise and accept correction.
We Christians need this advice too. We need to listen to others, even those who are not Christians, and when we are wrong, we need to take their correction. Personally, I don’t like correction. When I was young, I was one who knew everything, or so I thought. It is hard to be told you did something wrong and then have to be corrected. But, just as Solomon was teaching young men in his day to take correction in order to be truly wise, we need that same advice. We need to listen to those who are over us, like our parents, and take correction when we have done something wrong. It is truly Godly to take correction, it is part of true wisdom.
Pastor Gary
Preaching There Also
Preaching there also - Devotions for 7-19-22
Mark 1:38 “And He said to them, ‘Lets us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.’”
In this text Jesus had just been praying up on a mountain by himself. He did that so that He could stay connected to His Father and stay in God’s will. Jesus did that often, we should too. Jesus did that so that He could remain in the Father’s arm’s and in His will.
The pressures that Jesus faced must have been great. Satan did not want any of the things Jesus came to earth to do to succeed. He did all that he could to try and make Jesus fail at everything. He tempted Jesus. He caused people to go against Jesus. He tried to kill Jesus, he tried to stop Him. Satan did not want the work of Jesus to go forward, and Satan does not want the work of God that we are involved in to go forward either.
So, Jesus climbs a mountain and prays. He talks with God the Father and gets on track with the purpose for which He came to earth.
After talking with His Father, His disciples come to Him and are all excited. Many people have come to hear Jesus preach and be healed. They are excited because crowds of people are starting to seek Jesus out and come to Him. They tell Jesus, “Everyone is looking for you.”
That is when Jesus looks out across the hills and valleys and says, “Let us go on to the next towns.” Jesus had connected with the Father and realized that He was not sent here to earth to become popular, He came to preach God’s message of salvation to all people. So, Jesus gathers His group of followers and goes on to other towns to tell those people of God’s love and forgiveness.
Why are you doing what you are doing? Is it because you have met with the Father and know that this is what He wants you to be doing? Or, are you doing what someone else thinks you should be doing? In this case, Jesus was being told what others wanted Him to do, stay in that town and return to healing those who were coming to Him. Many people wanted to control Jesus and make Him do what they thought He should be doing. That happens way too often with us too, we get involved in doing what others think we should do instead of what we were created by God to do.
So, Jesus went to other towns and to other people so that He might preach there also and tell them about the God who created them and loves them and wanted them saved.
The Christian work needs to be going and preaching there also. We need to send missionaries to places where people don’t know Jesus. We need to start churches in areas that need a greater Christian witness. We need to be involved in going and “Preaching there also.”
And that would include preaching to our neighbors. Some of them are unaware of God’s love for them and God’s offer of salvation and eternal life. We need to go and preach there also, preach to those around us who don’t know Jesus.
For all of us, we need to be involved in sending missionaries, supporting church planting in this country and doing what we can to share the love of God with those around us who do not know Jesus. We need to go and “preach there also.” And we will be best able to keep that focus in our lives by first spending time alone with God like Jesus did.
Pastor Gary
Waiting Patiently
Waiting Patiently - Devotions for 7-13-22
Psalm 40:1 “I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.”
I wish I could say I waited patiently for the Lord. That sounds so good and tender and peaceful. But I have to say, when I have been in times of trouble or hardship of some kind, patient waiting does not describe my attitude at all.
In this Psalm, the writer shows that his life was not running smoothly. He says that the Lord drew him up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog. That does not sound like anyone living a peaceful, quiet life of goodness and fun. No, that sounds more like what most people experience, at least at some times in their lives. We all have times when it seems that nothing goes right, nothing goes as we wish it would.
I know about miry bogs. Living in Minnesota there were all sorts of bogs. Big bogs, small bogs, bogs of all sorts and sizes. And eventually, if you venture off the beaten path, you will find yourself in one. It seems that they suck you in and try and hold onto you. They seem to have a will of their own and draw you deeper into their muck.
Obviously, they don’t, they aren’t a living organism with the ability to think and act. But sometimes it seems like it. And in the Psalm, King David seems to understand that. His life seems to be sinking and getting stuck like a person being sucked into a bog of black ooze.
One day, while walking home from school, I got stuck in one. My left shoe is still in that bog. On other occasions I have felt the panic of wondering if I would ever get out, but thankfully, I always have.
My point in this devotional is this, that even when our lives seem out of our control, and going in a direction we would never want, God is still there.
King David says, before he talks about the pit and bog, that he waited patiently for the Lord and that God heard his cry. That is what we need to focus on, not the bog, not the pit. We need to focus on the Lord. In our times of crisis, in our times of trouble, we need to take our eyes and minds off the struggle and focus on the Lord.
God does hear our prayers and His promise is that He will answer them. He does not promise to answer immediately, but He does promise to answer them.
King David said he waited patiently for the Lord. That means that all the while He was in the pit of destruction or the miry bog, he was waiting. No doubt he was also praying. And as he prayed, the pit was still holding him and the bog was sucking at his boots. He prayed, and waited. Prayed and waited. Prayed more and waited more.
Does this sound like your prayers right now, praying and waiting but seeing no immediate help or answer? Then keep on waiting. It is not easy. It is not what we want for ourselves, but it is what we need to do. We need to wait, because God is there. He does hear our prayer and He will answer but we do not know when or in what form that answer will come.
So, keep on praying but know that as you pray, God hears. And as God hears, He cares.
Keep on praying and God will lift you out of the pit you are in, out of the bog sucking at your boots. God will lift you up because He hears your prayers and cares about you.
So, keep on praying and keep on waiting. Soon, you will see Him act just as King David did. This Psalm goes on to have King David lifted up and singing God’s praises. You will too, if you just hang on and wait patiently for the Lord.
Pastor Gary
Taste and See
Taste and See - Devotions for 7-6-22
Psalm 34:8 “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
You have probably seen one of those meal deals advertised where they deliver pre-packaged meal preparations for you to make. They include a recipe and all the main ingredients, but you have to, or get to, cook it for yourselves. Many people are trying those and as a result cooking things they have never tried before. Then, when you are all done preparing something new, something you likely have not made yourself before, you get to “taste and see” how good, or not, it is.
I love the implication of this verse about coming to the Lord. Basically, what this is saying is “try God out” and see if you like Him. I think that is a good thing, to test the Lord and see if He is real, if He really is what He says He is. Taste of the Lord and His ways, and see if you find He is real, if He is good.
If more people did that, they would find that He is real, that He is all that He says He is. And then comes the bigger part, choosing to live for the Lord as a believer in the One who has proven Himself to you.
Often, we in the church put things the other way around and call people to become a believer just because we say they should, and then have them see that God is real. That has worked for some people, but I believe that calling people to “taste and see that the Lord is good!” is a great way to go for most people today, especially those who are more skeptical than you or I. Give them a taste of what God is like. Call them to come with you to some Christian event or to in some other way, “taste and see.”
Some people are not willing to dive right into being a full-on-Christian without having something to show them that God is real. They need a bite of the Christian life first. They need to “taste and see that the Lord is good!”
It is like a man I once watched eat a meal he wasn’t sure of. I had cooked a meal of wild game for a group of people, many of whom had never eaten wild game before. I cooked an elk roast because one person in the group had experienced it before and wanted to have some again. He had tasted it before and thought it was good enough to re-do.
One man, who grew up on beef and potatoes, went to the table holding the food and took tiny bits of each item. Most of his plate was bare and untouched. He was skeptical, but he didn’t want me to think he was against me or my cooking, so he took enough of everything to taste it.
I watched him sit down and take a bite. He tasted and saw. Then he immediately rose from his chair and returned to the table holding the food and filled his plate full. He tasted and saw that it was good.
In our reaching out to people outside of the Lord, outside of the church, we should find ways to introduce Jesus to them in a “taste and see” sort of way. It may be too much to invite them to a worship service with you. It may be they cannot cross that boundary, not yet. So, find another door to the church, another door to the Lord, find a way for them to “taste and see.”
At Community In Christ, we have a concert from an outside Christian group, “The New Legacy Project” coming up on July 15. That is an opportunity for us to invite people to “taste and see that the Lord is Good.” If you are in our area, invite someone you know who wouldn’t come to a worship service with you. Invite a friend or neighbor. If you are not from here, or are reading this after the concert is over, find a way to invite others to another non-threatening event at your church or in your area. Don’t just invite people to your worship service, invite them to something less threatening for a non-Christian first. Invite them to “taste and see.”
Pastor Gary
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Life!
Genesis 2:7 “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostril the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
God is a gift giving God. Whenever we pray for something, help, health, peace or whatever it is we ask God for, and we receive it, that is a gift from God. Answers to prayer are gifts from God.
So too is life itself. Life is the first gift from God any of us receive. When we are brought into this world and made a living human being, we receive our first gift from God, life. What a great way to start our life, by receiving a free gift from God.
There is a lot going on in this country now because of life. I want to thank the Lord for giving us all the gift of life.
In our church this was a weekend of celebrating life. No, not because of the Supreme Court’s decision, but because of what is going on in a couple of our younger families. For one, we held a baby shower. One of our young couples will be having a baby in September. The baby shower for them was Sunday after church.
Then about the time that baby shower was ending, another couple in the church sent a text message that their baby had just been born! There was a lot going on regarding life this Sunday in our congregation. Praise God for life!
Have you ever thought about your life, your first gift from God? Before you could do anything, God was giving you a gift, the gift of life. Our loving heavenly Father was breathing into you the breath of life. It was a gift you never asked for, a gift you could not earn, a gift you had nothing to do with at all. It was simply, God’s first gift to you.
All through your life God has been giving other gifts to you as well. Some of them we think we earn, like a job, or a promotion, but some of them we know we had nothing to do with. I love the ones I know I had nothing to do with best for then I am humbled to admit that God is the one giving the gifts. I love knowing that God is in my life, giving His gifts to me. To us. To all of mankind.
Salvation is like that; it is a gift from God. Before I, or any of us, could do anything to be made right with God, Jesus did it all for us. He went to the cross, while we were yet sinners, and died for us. His death on the cross was His gift to us that made our salvation possible. Without Jesus dying, our sins would still be weighing heavily upon us. We would be unable to reach heaven, without Jesus dying for our sins.
Then Jesus rose from the grave making a pathway for us to reach heaven’s shores. Another gift from God. Another gift we had nothing to do with. It was all by God’s grace and because of God’s love for us.
Sometimes we think we need to “get right with God.” Sometimes we think we need to be good and go to church. Sometimes we want to make a deal with God, maybe a promise to keep. We think we need to do something to earn our salvation. But when it comes to salvation, God is giving us a gift, the gift of the forgiveness of our sins, the gift of salvation. Salvation is a gift, not something we can earn. We can never do enough to earn our way to heaven, to earn our forgiveness. Instead, God is doing all He can to give us salvation as a free gift.
Will you receive His free gift?
Pastor Gary
Stories
Stories - Devotions for 6-22-22
“He did not speak to them without a parable…” Mark 4:34
Stories. We all love a good story and good storytellers are wonderful to listen to.
Jesus knew this and in this text from Mark we are given a glimpse into His life a little. He was a storyteller. The bible calls them Parables, but really, they are stories. Stories about people. Stories about farmers and seeds. Stories about lost things. Stories about lamps on hills. Jesus told stories, or parables, about all sorts of things.
This summer, I am preaching on many of those stories. No, I’m not as good a storyteller as Jesus must have been. I think He would have been an amazing storyteller. In the bible people came from all over to hear Jesus tell stories. I think that shows how good a storyteller Jesus must have been. Many of the stories Jesus told are in the first three gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke.
In Mark 4, where we are told that Jesus told many parables there are four recorded for us with three of them being about seeds. I think that this must have been spring or early summer as that is the time people all around us are planting seeds. My wife and I have been busy planting seeds and now seeing them start growing into all sorts of vegetable and flower plants. Soon, we hope to be doing the harvesting, another subject Jesus told parables about.
The parables of Jesus were something that everyone around Him could relate to. People love stories. So, this summer I will be walking with Jesus through some of His parables.
My reason for writing this devotional on the parables of Jesus is not to draw you to come to church on Sunday. Though I hope many of you can come and hear the parables of Jesus. The reason for this is that you can become a story teller too. We all have stories to tell.
I love to tell stories. Many of my stories are about places Deb and I have visited, or people we know. Some of mine are hunting and fishing stories, stories about the big one that didn’t get away. But we all have stories.
When our children were young and we lived far away from Grandpa and Grandma, I told some very specific stories. They became known in our family as “Grandpa Dick Stories.” I told our kids bed-time stories about their grandparents so that they could get to know them from afar. Eventually, they all became focused on my dad and some were true and some were far from true. Grandpa Dick did some amazing things in those stories!
There is an even more important story that we all have too. We all have our God story, and some of us have many God stories. Those stories need to be told and many people would listen if we told our God stories. God used stories to bring people to salvation, and He is still doing that. Sometimes we share our story of salvation. What a wonderful story of God working in our life. While we may think others might be bored with it, I think many people would find that part of our life fascinating. Many people are looking to connect with God too, and when they hear how we did, they may be encouraged that they too can make that connection.
So, share your God stories. Share them with your Christian friends who may need to be reminded that God can work in their life. Share them with non-believers and show them that God reaches out to touch all of us and invite us to become His children. Tell your parables!
Pastor Gary
Family
John 2:1-2 “On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.”
In this text Jesus, His mother Mary and His disciples were all invited to a wedding in Cana, a small town near Nazareth. I would assume that His brothers and sisters were invited too since He and His mother were. They were, after all, a family.
Family is important. The family of Jesus was important to Him, my family is important to me and your family is important to you. Family is what God has given us to give us love, comfort, guidance, care, and a sense of belonging. Family is a gift from God.
This has been brought into a clearer focus to me lately. Debra and I are in the midst of a time of increased family involvement. My mom is visiting with us for a month. We love having her here, she is a great encouragement to us. Debra was just watching two of our granddaughters for several days while their parents were at another family event. We were just at a granddaughter’s high school graduation and we will be at another in a week. We will also be heading to a granddaughter’s wedding in a few days. This month-and-a-half we will be with all of our family and we will get to see many extended family members too. What a blessing!
As I was thinking on that this past week, all the family interaction, I was contemplating what a blessing it is. We don’t get this very often as we live a long way from all other family members, with no others living in the same state we do. Usually, we miss being with family, but this spring we are blessed to be able to be with many family members.
Jesus was with those He loved at the wedding ceremony in Cana. If you read through the Gospels, Jesus’ mother and His brothers and sisters are mentioned as being together several times. It seems that it was common for them to get together when they could. His mother Mary seems to have been able to join with Him in many of His travels and was there in His last week of life in Jerusalem.
Family was important to Jesus. Family is important. God created us to be born into a family and surrounded with family for our growth, strength, protection and love. We need family.
There are also struggles in families. Jesus and His brother James seem to have had some issues as James was not a follower of His until after He died. In other families there seems to always be someone or some group within the family that stay distant for some reason or another. It is sad, but along with the blessing of family, there are also pains within families.
What is your family situation like? What blessings do you receive from being part of that family? What strength do you gain from your family? What good heritage have you received because of belonging to the family God placed you into?
As Debra and I are in the midst of a time of greater connectedness to our family, which is spread out over a couple thousand miles, we are rejoicing in and reflecting on the blessing of being a part of this family. Look for the blessings in your family too.
When this time of family gatherings is over, we will return home and will return to another family, our family of faith, our church family. God has given us more than one family and He does that because we need both. We need the family we were born into, but we also need a family of faith to help us in our walk with God. Sometimes both are together, but for Debra and I, we have two families to lean on for strength, help, support, love, comfort, and all the things that families are for one another.
I thank God for my families. I need them both.
Pastor Gary
PS. While Debra and I travel to be with our family in the next couple of weeks, I will not be writing my usual devotionals. So, you will not receive my weekly devotional for the next couple of weeks.
Waiting on the Lord
Waiting on the Lord - Devotions for 5-25-22
Psalm 40:1 “I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry.”
Patience. Maybe you have heard the warning about not praying for patience because God helps us gain patience by going through trials. Or maybe you have heard the joke about praying for God to give you patience, NOW! Patience is a gift. Some people have it, and some of us need to learn to have more of it. In truth, we probably all need more patience.
In this verse in Psalm 40, the choirmaster of King David, who wrote it, says he waited patiently for God. No doubt this man was in some sort of difficult situation. We don’t know what that situation was, but it must have been something that was really hurting him. We do have his word in verse 12 that simply says, “For evils have encompassed me beyond number.” He then adds, “My heart fails me.”
When have you been struggling with something so deeply that you could say your heart fails you or that evils have encompassed you beyond number?” Surely this man was going through some sort of very difficult problem. But he knew what to do, he prayed. He asked God to deliver him from whatever it was that he was going through. When have you experienced such a deep and painful time in your life? Maybe that time is now. Do you know what to do?
If and when that happens in your life, and it happens to all of us. Pray. Call upon God for help. He is often the only one who can help us. This verse adds, “He inclined to me and heard my cry.” God hears. God knows. God cares.
But what about the times when we pray and do not receive the answer we want and think we need? What about the times when we pray and hear nothing? What about the times when our heart is aching and crying out for help, but we seem to be left all alone, sinking deeper into our troubles? It happens. It happens to everyone, or so it seems anyway. My guess is that it has happened to you too, or it will. Sometimes it seems that we are left to slog through our struggles on our own with no help in sight, not even from God who we have cried out to.
So, what do we do? We wait. We try and learn the art of being patient. Patient for God’s help. Patient for deliverance. We wait. And in those times, waiting is often the hardest thing we could ever do. We want help and we want it now. We need it now! But we wait. We pray and wait. Pray and wait. Pray and wait. But we can say as this man, who was going through a very difficult time did, that we know God hears us. We pray, and wait, knowing that the Lord has heard us and that He cares. Because He does.
Waiting on the Lord is lonely, hard and often discouraging. No doubt, this man experienced all of that as he waited for the Lord in his time of pain and struggle. He waited.
But, all through this Psalm the man still had hope. He never lost his hope. The last verse says, “As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought of me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!” He never quits calling on the Lord. He never loses His faith or belief in the Lord. He never quits on God because He knows that God hears and that God cares.
Ultimately this Psalm is a prophesy of Jesus. He suffered greatly too. He knows what it is like to suffer and to wait on God. He who knows what that is like, is the one who hears your cries for help. Know this, He is there, even when it seems like He isn’t, so, wait on the Lord.
Pastor Gary
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