Category Archives: Presbyterian Church (USA)

Christian, devotion, Presbyterian Church (USA), Uncategorized

Glimpses of Grace Daily Devotional for May 12, 2017

Devotional Reading: Luke 7:1-17

Text: When they (the religious leaders) came to Jesus, they appealed him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him …” (v. 4)

I’m sorry but I have a problem with this text. I don’t recall Jesus ever asking anyone about their worthiness. Nor did Jesus ever ask for a background check and references. He did ask a blind man and others, “What do you want?” But He never asked “Are you worthy?” Yet, this idea of worthiness seems to permeate much of current Christian thought. So many times someone has said to me, “I hope that I’m good enough.” It seems that fear rather than love is what drives many preachers and teachers.

But let’s get something straight; No one is worthy. Not you, not me, nor anyone else. As the apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We are saved by grace and grace alone, not by works or effort.

I often tell people that it is not about them but about God. Your salvation was sealed 2000 years ago on a hill outside of Jerusalem. God is not a scorekeeper or bookkeeper. We present a child for baptism or come to the baptism font ourselves not because we are good enough or because of what we have or have not done but because we are responding to God’s love. The same is true when we come to the communion table. It is God’s table, not ours. It is God who institutes and invites. It’s all about God. In the words of I John, “We love God because God first loved us.”

So, I hope that, at least for today, you will give up your guilt and your questions about being good enough. If you have wronged someone, follow Zacchaeus’ example: repent and make generous restitution. If you continually do the same destructive thing over and over, make a plan that helps you avoid that temptation. Seek help. But do something rather than wallow is useless guilt and paralyzing fear.

By the way, Jesus healed the centurion’s slave and brought back to life the widow’s only son. I truly believe that He did both of these things not because of worthiness but to show that God’s love knows no boundaries.

Lord, remove all fear from my heart. Give me the faith that allows me to trust in Your Eternal Love, a Love that will never let me go no matter what happens in life. Give me your Peace that passes all human understanding. And knit me into Your Church, the very Body of Christ here on earth, with the cords of Fellowship. Amen.

 

 

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Christian, devotion, Forgiveness, Luke, Gospel of, Presbyterian Church (USA), Uncategorized

Glimpses of Grace Devotion for May 11, 2017

Devotional Reading: Luke 6:39-49

Text: Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own. (vs. 41)

We are so good at seeing the faults of others while being blind to our own shortcomings. We are so quick to judge someone else and seek a pass for ourselves. Against this backdrop Jesus said, “Wait a minute. What’s with that?”

My mother told me that whenever I point a finger at someone else there are three fingers pointing back to me. Don’t we know that when we are so quick to judge others, to project upon them our presumptions, we are making ourselves smaller?

Good trees to do not produce bad fruit. Grapes are not found in bramble bushes. If we are to be Kingdom ambassadors and Jesus’ followers we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard.

I have often said that there is no one who is more truly humble than a serious follower of Jesus. Serious followers of Jesus know that they are not perfect. They don’t point fingers nor to they judge. They know that they have been forgiven much–by the grace of God. Serious Jesus followers pass this forgiveness and grace onto others so that God may be glorified by our actions.

Lord, give me a humble heart. Make me slow to judge. Grow in my life the delicious fruit of your Kingdom. Amen.

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Christian, devotion, Presbyterian Church (USA), Uncategorized

Glimpses of Grace Devotional for May 9 2017

Devotional Reading: I Colossians 1: 15-23

Text: He (Jesus Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in Him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers–all things have been created through Him and for Him. (vss. 15 & 16)

Look out look a window. What do you see? Whatever it is that you see, is it the totality of the world, the cosmos, the universe, let alone your neighborhood? No. But it is all that you can see at the moment.

When I read today’s text many years ago it was an “Ah-ha” experience. I began to see Jesus and read the Bible with a new, deeper and better understanding. It dawned on me that Jesus Christ is the visible manifestation of the invisible God. If we want to know Who God is, if we want to know what God is like, we simply need to look at Jesus. Jesus is the greatest understanding that we can have of God as long as we live in a temporal world. Jesus gives us the temporal insight into the Eternal God–the One who created all things whether they be visible or invisible.

So when someone asks me what God is like, I tell them to simply look at Jesus. Read the gospels for they give us the best understanding of the nature of God. If we want to know how to live as a follower of Jesus in our daily life and in our community of faith, read the epistles. The epistles are specific letters written to specific faith communities at a specific time regarding a specific problem or problems. Within their unique situation they reveal to followers of Jesus insights into how to live faithfully within the community of faith. Of the epistles, I advise new followers to read James first. It is what I call “Christianity 101”. Follow James with Philippians, then Ephesians and so on.

So, if you want to know Who God is, read the gospels. And if you want to know the basic teachings of Jesus, begin with the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount. After you read them all, live with each Beatitude for a week and then work your way through the rest of them. See how your life is changed…for the better.

Lord, You created us in Your Image and called us into communities of faith. Teach us Your Way as we seek to know Jesus more deeply. Use our faith communities to mold us into the people You intend us to be. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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Christian, devotion, Luke, Gospel of, Prayer, Presbyterian Church (USA), Serenity Prayer, Uncategorized

Glimpses of Grace Devotion for May 8 2017

Devotional Reading: Mark 2: 23-27

Text: Jesus said to them, “The sabbath was made for man not man for the sabbath. ” (v. 27)

This text is one of my favorite teachings of Jesus.

Sometimes rules, regulations and laws get in the way of doing Kingdom work. Sometimes they create more injustice than they prevent. Sometimes they are a means to maintain an unjust reality. And sometimes I think that we simply make rules and laws to avoid the hard work of using the gray matter God placed between our ears.

Jesus was criticized, variously, for feeding the hungry, healing a person with a crippled hand and giving sight to the blind on the sabbath. His critics cited Exodus 20:8–Remember the sabbath and keep it holy. In doing so they forgot why God created a sabbath. God made the sabbath for us, not us for the sabbath. There has to be a balance in our lives between labor and rest otherwise we experience burnout, which neither glorifies God nor is beneficial to anyone.

Human need can present itself at the most inopportune times.  Our challenge is what I call “the goose that laid the golden egg syndrome.” We need to be productive but we also need to be mindful of our limits. I see us–myself included–getting this wrong more often than not.

Perhaps the most important prayer to the work of the Kingdom is not the believer’s prayer but the serenity prayer. Here’s a challenge: Begin each day this coming week with the serenity prayer. Then, at the end of the day take five minutes to reflect upon the day and write down an insight or two. See if you don’t become a better follower of Jesus.

Serenity Prayer attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the Courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.

 

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Christian, devotion, faith, Love, Prayer, Presbyterian Church (USA), Uncategorized

Glimpses of Grace Devotion for May 6 2017

Devotional text: 3rd Letter of John: 1-15

Text: Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. (v. 11)

While cooling down from a recent run, a preschool aged boy pointed a stick at me an said in a stern adult-like voice, “Don’t you do that, young man!” I simply smiled and waved. Earlier in the day, at the preschool in the church I serve, I overheard a little girl telling her friends a story. With her left hand on a hip thrust to the left and pointing her finger, she said, “Well, let me tell you …” I smiled and wondered who she was imitating.

The apostle Paul once said that we should imitate him in as much as he imitates Jesus. (I Corinthians 11:1) Imitation is the highest form of flattery, and it is how we learn to be who we are, for better or for worse.

I am intrigued by John’s last phrase in today’s text: whoever does evil has not seen God. In his first letter John wrote that God is love and whoever lives (abides–takes up dwelling) in love, lives in God and God lives in him. (I John 4:16). Have “evil-doers” simply not experienced God-like unconditional love? Has the evil of the world so broken them that they find it difficult to trust, let alone love? Are there not enough Jesus followers sharing the love that God first gave to us?

I have to think about that. Maybe I’d better do a better job at loving. Then, maybe, I’d be a better glimpse of grace. How about you?

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is despair, let me bring hope. Where there is darkness, let me bring light. Where there is sadness, let me bring joy. Let me be worthy of imitation so that you may be glorified. (This prayer is a modification and abbreviation of a prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Christian, devotion, faith, Luke, Gospel of, Presbyterian Church (USA), Uncategorized

Glimpses of Grace Devotion for May 5, 2017

Devotional Reading: Luke 5: 12-26

Text:  Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.” (vss. 18-20, New Living Translation)

I was impressed by the men’s ingenuity and persistence. I suspect that Jesus was, too. A little later in Luke’s gospel Jesus told a troublesome parable about a dishonest steward–or employee.  The steward turned out to be the “hero” of the story, and Jesus told His disciples that needed to be a shrewd in Kingdom matters as the people of the “world” are in worldly matters. Note, Jesus did not commend the dishonesty but the leverage of assets.

We need to be as creative and determined in managing the assets that God has entrusted to us as we do Kingdom work. And we need to do this at all times. I believe that this is a part of what Jesus’ meant when He said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness…” (Matthew 6:33).

We need to use the gray matter that God placed between our ears. And whatever we do or say, may it glorify God.

Lord, You have entrusted me with so much and so often I take Your gifts for granted. I see what abilities and opportunities that I don’t have and wish for them. Forgive me for discounting Your gifts in this way. Help me use entrusted to me so that as I go about my day so that I may honor you. Amen.

 

 

 

 

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Christian, devotion, Luke, Gospel of, Presbyterian Church (USA), Uncategorized

Glimpses of Grace Devotion for May 4, 2017

Devotional Reading: Luke 5: 1-11

Text: When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed Him. (v. 11)

A friend in my accountability group confessed that he never listened too closely for God’s call because he was afraid that God would send him foreign missions. I think that a lot of people, if they are honest, believe the same thing. It’s better to keep God at arm’s length lest the Almighty tells you to do something that you don’t want to do, let alone be suited for doing.  I suspect that they get this idea from passages like today’s text; “they left everything and followed Him.”  That text, though, is not the whole story.  In John 21 we see seven of the disciples returning to their nets, their former lives.

I believe that when the Risen Lord touches your life you are forever changed. But I do not believe that this change will lead you into becoming a foreign missionary. More often than not we are called to stay where we are and be God’s Kingdom ambassador. The strange land is that of our own neighborhood, community and city.

A missionary in East Africa once told me that if a child is given a change for an education–even if it is for only a short period of time–they will not go back to their old life.

That is also true of those touched by the Risen Lord. The disciples left not only their boats but their old way of life. By the grace of God, they became new creations.

Lord, remove fear from my heart and let me listen intently for Your Voice and direction in my life. Amen.

 

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Christian, faith, I John, Love, Presbyterian Church (USA), Uncategorized

Glimpses of Grace Devotion for May 3, 2017

Devotional Reading: I John 5: 1-12

Text: For the love of God is this, that we obey His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (v.3)

Love is not an emotion or a feeling. Emotion and feeling are passion. Love is a decision; a willful decision that calls us to do a thing even when we do not feel like doing it. I remember a particularly low point in my life and reading Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking. At some point in the book he said that if we do the loving thing even when we do not feel like it, we will begin to feel  loving. Feeling follows action, or, As James Allen wrote in his classic book As a Man Thinketh:  “As a man thinketh so he becometh.”

Love is hard. It is not doing the easy thing or, necessarily, the thing that the person wants you to do. It is doing the right thing. It means that you may have to say “No.” Love means being misunderstood or being unappreciated. It means that you do not always get the credit you deserve or want. It means that at times you will be misunderstood or even hated. But you do the loving thing anyway.

Jesus gave only one commandment in His life–that His disciples love one another as He loved them. It would be by this that others would know who He was and is.  His Way of love is not easy but neither is it burdensome. It is Truth and Life, real Life.

I believe that Love takes wisdom and thought and commitment. It is a decision, an action and a way of being. It is the only way to have a sense of fulfillment and purpose for it is the path to living a meaningful life.

Lord, give me the wisdom and courage to love with Your love. Amen.*

*You may also want to refer to a prayer attributed to the late Mother Teresa. http://prayerfoundation.org/mother_teresa_do_it_anyway.htm

 

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Christian, devotion, faith, Fear, Forgiveness, I John, Love, Presbyterian Church (USA), Uncategorized

Glimpses of Grace Devotion for May 2, 2017

Devotional Reading: I John4: 7-21

Text; No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and God’s love is perfected in us. (v. 12)

I don’t read a lot of poetry but today’s devotional reading drew me to two poems in Gordon and Gladis DePree’s book of poetry, Faces of God (Westminster Press, c. 1974).

Recognizing the stranger/ As a face of God/ Takes so much of the suspicion and hostility/ Out of Life./ Perhaps I have never met you before…/But if I look at you with an open face,/ Accepting you as a valid person,/ With no need to judge/ Whether you conform to my standards or not,/ Will you really seem to be a stranger?/ Or will we have the vague feeling/ That we must have met somewhere before?’

Somehow viewing the stranger as a face of God/ Changes the other as well as me./ For if I have seen God in the other,/ How can he see less in himself?

*****

When I think of myself/ And you/ As faces of God,/ Praying seems different …/ Should I still close my eyes/ And pray to somewhere,/ Or should we open our eyes/ And look at each other,/ Aware of our mutual life/ And the source of life beyond us both?

What would happen if we prayed about a problem,/ Looking at each other?/ If we prayed about a worry,/ Looking at each other?/ If we prayed about an anger,/ Looking at each other?

It is not as though we pray to each other,/ But how could I look into your face,/ A face of God,/ And be a hypocrite?

When the Old Testament patriarch, Jacob, decided that he had to return home and face the brother he wronged, he was afraid. But for once in his life he decided to trust the God’s Providential Care. He had a fitful night’s sleep, wrestling with a Stranger on the banks if the Jabok River.

The next day, when he met his brother Esau he was surprised to be met not with a sword but with unconditional love. Looking into Esau’s face he said, “To see your face is like seeing the Face of God.” (Genesis 33:10)

Our challenge today, and every day, is to see the face of God in the other for each one of us have been created in the Divine Image. When we learn to love the other, we learn what God’s love for us really is.

Lord, open my eyes that I may see Your reflection in everyone that I meet, even in the faces of those I wish to avoid. Amen.

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Christian, devotion, faith, Holy Spirit, I John, Prayer, Presbyterian Church (USA), Temptation, Uncategorized

Glimpses of Grace Devotion for May 1 2017

Devotional Reading: I John 1: 3: 19-4:6

Text: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (v. 4:1)

Test the spirits. Not every one of my whims is God given. Nor is every idea divine. I need to test the spirits. When the writer of the letter we call I John gave this advice he knew how easily any of us can be led astray. As Robert Bellah wrote centuries later in Habits of the Heart, we can be fooled by the cultural and non-biblical myth that everything is a matter of personal opinion, belief and preference.

The early Church knew better. They believed that an individual found wholeness only within a greater community. Charismatic leaders can too easily lead us astray (Recall Hitler or do a Google search on Jim Jones, for an example).

There is a sure-fire threefold test that can be used to “test the spirits.”

First, ask if it is biblical. Is there overwhelming evidence of it in the bible’s story of faith.

Second is it God-glorifying as opposed to Self-glorifying. We can do all kinds of mental gymnastics to convince ourselves that what we are doing is really for God. So, maybe we need to ask ourselves, “If I never got the credit, would I still want to do it?” This takes a lot of serious honest soul searching. And, it isn’t foolproof because fools can be very ingenious in fooling themselves.

Third, does the larger community of faith that I am an active part of agree that it meets the first two standards; ie. biblical and God-glorifying?

In Infinite wisdom God decides to create us in the Divine image and make us stewards–responsible for God’s Creation. We are to care not only for all things of the earth but for every living thing for all of it belongs to God. And, we are to care for one another. Not every inkling is Heaven sent. We need to test the spirits.

Lord, give me a heart of wisdom and the courage to test the spirits lest I be tossed to and fro by the fickle winds of the world around men. Amen.

 

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