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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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May baskets, May Day, Uncategorized

Glimpses of Grace: May Day Baskets

As a child I never had the thrill of either giving or receiving May baskets. We lived in the country and I guess that everyone was just too busy. It wasn’t until I moved to Iowa that I received my first May basket!

One afternoon the front doorbell rang. When I opened it there was no one there but sitting on the step was a little basket with a flower. When I brought it in the girls immediately recognized it. A May basket! We scrambled about getting supplies to make our own May basket. From that point on we had a little circle of people who received May baskets. Sometimes they were filled with assorted candies. Other times they had flowers or a small potted plant. It was, to me, a true glimpse of grace. It was unexpected and gave off the scent of a kind of love. It is a scent that remains with me still.

As I turn over the page of my monthly calendar I see that it is May Day.  I smile. It’s not too late! Gotta run and get some May baskets delivered! Maybe you should, too.

I think I’ll deliver a few May baskets today. It’s still early.

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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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Christian, devotion, Forgiveness, Peter, Presbyterian Church (USA), Uncategorized

Glimpses of Grace Devotion for April 30, 2017

Devotional Reading: John 21: 15-25

Text: Jesus said to him a third time, “Simon, do you love me … Feed my sheep.” (v. 17)

This is the last post Resurrection appearance in John’s gospel. It is an exchange between Jesus and Simon Peter in the presence of the other six disciples. The seven had returned to their nets–to their old way of life–but once Jesus enters your life, you can never be who you were.

In some ways this reading an absolution for Peter’s threefold denial of either being one of Jesus’ disciples or ever being with Him. Not only did the Resurrection Lord give absolution but He also gave him a purpose; feed and tend the sheep and the lambs, the old and the young of God’s children.

I believe that that is our call, too. Jesus forgives us for the variety of ways that we deny Him. He restores us into relationship with Him for once He has claimed us, we are always His. We cannot be lost.

Lord, we know that like Your first disciples we not only betray You but deny You. We are thankful that you are more ready to forgive than we are to ask for it. Thank you for Your faithful love that is beyond out wildest imagination. Amen.

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Christian, Country and Western, devotion, Love, Presbyterian Church (USA), Temptation, Temptations of Jesus, Uncategorized

Glimpses of Grace Devotional for April 29, 2017

Devotional Reading: Luke 4:1-13

Text: Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan (His baptism) and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness  … (vs. 1)

I have always found it fascinating that Jesus was led into the wilderness of temptation by the same Spirit that descended upon Him at His baptism. My wife once pointed out to me that we are never tempted by those things that we do not desire. The temptations of Jesus are somewhat universal; satisfaction, fame, power.

There is a fine line distinction between temptation and testing, though we often translate and use them interchangeably. As with everything in life, context is important.

Temptation’s intention is to make someone succumb. Testing’s intention is to clarify. A more accurate understanding of Jesus’ experience would be that of testing. His wilderness experience clarified His ministry and purpose. It reaffirmed Mary’s “Magnificat” found earlier in this gospel. Jesus’ Kingdom was not going to be like the world’s kingdoms. His was based on agape Love; a love that respects the other, cares for the other even at our own expense, and sees in the other the face of God.

An old country and western song says that if you don’t know what you stand for, you’ll fall for anything. Jesus knew what He stood for. He challenged those who would take Him seriously to stand with Him.

Lord, give me clarity of purpose and the will to follow in the Way of Jesus. Amen.

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Christian, devotion, Presbyterian Church (USA), Psalms, Song, Uncategorized

Glimpses of Grace Devotion for April 28, 2017

Devotional Reading: Psalm 96

Text: O sing to the LORD a new song, sing the the LORD, all the earth. (v. 1)

“Give me the making of a people’s song, and I care not who makes the laws.” The quotation is attributed the the 17th century Scottish writer and politician Andrew Fletcher. It has the ring of truth about it.

Songs move a people, a nation and the world. Recall how “The Star Spangled Banner” united a nation since the War of 1812, or how “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” solidified the North just as “Dixie” united the South during the American Civil War. The Christian Missionary Movement of an earlier time marched into new fields singing the hymn “Onward, Christian Soldiers”*  In my youth, it seemed that the whole world sang, in various languages, Coca Cola’s “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing”.

Have you ever considered making your life a hymn to the LORD? The decisions you make, the attitudes you carry, the words you say have are the lyrics to your life.

Today’s Psalm was used as worshipers entered the Temple but it is also a call to carry the hymn of praise out of the worship assembly into the world. You, too, are writing the psalm of your life every day.

O Sing to the LORD a new song, … write your song, your psalm…to the glory of God.

Lord, You write the music and today and every day, I’ll sing the song of Your glory. Amen.

 

*Contrary to today’s interpretation, it was not a military song, per se, but a call to share the message of Christ.

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