Courage

12 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , , ,

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. ~Luke 9:51 (CEB)

“Biblical spirituality inspires acts of courage born of commitment to God. Such courage does not call persons to do the impossible but faithfully and selflessly to do what they can when they could have chosen otherwise. Lent recalls the courage of Jesus who ‘set his face to go to Jerusalem’ (Luke 9:51), in of understanding what awaited him there. Jesus’ example invokes courage today as you and I translate words of commitment to God into freely chosen actions that place others above self- and God above all, for trust of God opens the door to courage.” ~From Neglected Voices by John Indermark

Almighty God, through the power of your Holy Spirit you enable me to do and be more than I can think or imagine. Come now, dwell within me and give me strength to do your work and will. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A need for saints

08 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , ,

Teach me your way, LORD, so that I can walk in your truth. Make my heart focused only on honoring your name. I give thanks to you, my Lord, my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify your name forever, because your faithful love toward me is awesome and because you’ve rescued my life from the lowest part of hell. ~Psalm 86:11-13 (CEB)

“The church and the world need saints. They need saints more than they need more canny politicians, more brilliant scientists, more grossly overpaid executives and entrepreneurs, more clever entertainers and talk-show hosts. Are there any on the horizon now that Mother Teresa is no longer with us, either of the extraordinary or of the ordinary kind? I think there are. Maybe I should say that there are saints ‘aborning’ by God’s grace. There are those whose lives have been irradiated by God’s grace, who seek not to be sage but to be faithful, who have learned how to get along in adversity, who are joyful, who are dream filled, and above all, who are prayerful. That is what the church and the world need most. It begins with you.” ~From Spiritual Preparations for Christian Leadership by E. Glenn Hinson

Almighty God, by the power of Your Holy Spirit open our eyes, ears, hearts, and very lives to Your presence so that today we may worship and serve You in faithfulness, be blessing and healing reminders of Your love to all whose lives we touch. We offer our prayers in the name of Christ. Amen.

Sower of peace

06 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

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Dear friends, don’t be surprised about the fiery trials that have come among you to test you. These are not strange happenings. Instead, rejoice as you share Christ’s suffering. You share his suffering now so that you may also have overwhelming joy when his glory is revealed. If you are mocked because of Christ’s name, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory—indeed, the Spirit of God—rests on you.

Now none of you should suffer as a murderer or thief or evildoer or rebel. But don’t be ashamed if you suffer as one who belongs to Christ. Rather, honor God as you bear Christ’s name. Give honor to God, because it’s time for judgment to begin with God’s own household. But if judgment starts with us, what will happen to those who refuse to believe God’s good newsIf the righteous are barely rescued, what will happen to the godless and sinful? So then, those who suffer because they follow God’s will should commit their lives to a trustworthy creator by doing what is right. ~1 Peter 4:12-19 (CEB)

“The more I see of conflict in the church, the more I am moved by persons who allow conflict to become the occasion of their growth. And wherever several persons allow personal growth to happen, their collective growth may begin to reshape the community of which they are a part. To say this is in no way to make light of the number of church and denominational conflicts that swirl about us. It is to say, though, that Jesus seeks to form us even in the places of greatest friction. In the midst of division and hurt, he can draw us toward maturity in fresh and formative ways. This formation can take place whether we happen to be the focal point of a conflict; its anguished observer; or in some formally defined role, are present to the situation as ‘conflict manager.’

In matters of conflict, Jesus shapes his community fundamentally by point it toward a healing intent. Nowhere in the Gospels does Jesus deny conflict. At no time, in his own actions or in his counsel to others, does he ignore its presence or imply that conflict itself is evil. However, Jesus unceasingly encourages his followers to reach after wholeness.” ~From Discovering Community by Stephen V. Doughty

Heavenly Father, may I be an instrument of peace for You this day. Where there is strife help me to sow comfort; where there is hurt let me sow understanding; where there is hate, help me to sow love. Help me this day to restore wholeness, in Jesus name I ask this. Amen.

The privilege of holding a hand

05 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

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Jesus was throwing out a demon that causes muteness. When the demon was gone, the man who couldn’t speak began to talk. The crowds were amazed. But some of them said, “He throws out demons with the authority of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons.” Others were testing him, seeking a sign from heaven.

Because Jesus knew what they were thinking, he said to them, “Every kingdom involved in civil war becomes a wasteland, and a house torn apart by divisions will collapse. If Satan is at war with himself, how will his kingdom endure? I ask this because you say that I throw out demons by the authority of Beelzebul. If I throw out demons by the authority of Beelzebul, then by whose authority do your followers throw them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. But if I throw out demons by the powera of God, then God’s kingdom has already overtaken you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his possessions are secure. But as soon as a stronger one attacks and overpowers him, the stronger one takes away the armor he had trusted and divides the stolen goods.

“Whoever isn’t with me is against me, and whoever doesn’t gather with me, scatters. ~Luke 11:14-23 (CEB)

“The cup of suffering has many shapes and a variety of contents. In our tradition, the cup has special significance. It is a communal cup, meant for sharing. Abandonment at a time of suffering is the deepest of tragedies. Each time of suffering is the deepest of tragedies. Each time we pass the wine of the Eucharist, we are reminded of our communal relationships and our sharing is to continue in our picking up the burdens of the larger community.

Draining the cup of suffering is the final test of our sincerity in claiming discipleship. We can expect no right or left hand seats of honor, no prerogatives of power or monopoly on truth, no thrones, no outsiders. But we can have the privilege of holding one another, broken and bruised, in the embrace of our circle, of keeping watch with the dying or keeping vigil with the condemned, of walking alongside the exiled and the weary, of standing at the foot of the cross, not in despair or in bitterness, but open to the miracle of pending resurrection. And, finally, of waiting hopefully for our own welcome into life, wholeness at last!” ~From Seek Treasures in Small Fields by Joan Puls

Almighty God, as I go about my busy schedule today, let me not forget to hold the hands of the people You put in my path today. May I remember to take the time to foster and feed relationships, to embrace the weary, to stand with the saddened. Help me to help others to find joy in the moment so that in the present we will see Your face. Amen.

Don’t worry

28 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

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“Therefore, I say to you, don’t worry about your life, what you’ll eat or what you’ll drink, or about your body, what you’ll wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t sow seed or harvest grain or gather crops into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are? Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? Notice how the lilies in the field grow. They don’t wear themselves out with work, and they don’t spin cloth. But I say to you that even Solomon in all of his splendor wasn’t dressed like one of these. If God dresses grass in the field so beautifully, even though it’s alive today and tomorrow it’s thrown into the furnace, won’t God do much more for you, you people of weak faith? Therefore, don’t worry and say, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ Gentiles long for all these things. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Instead, desire first and foremost God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, stop worrying about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. ~Matt 6:25-34 (CEB)

“Money, I never think of it. It always comes. The Lord sends it.

We do his work. He provides the means.

If he does not give us the means, that shows that he does not want the work. So why worry?” ~From My Life for the Poor by Mother Teresa

May the power, peace, and presence of Jesus Christ uphold, sustain, direct and keep me always. Amen.

To simply follow

25 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

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Teach me your ways. O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. ~Psalm 86:11-13

“St. Francis was a radical in his day- was even perceived as a heretic- because he offered a fresh view of the Christian life by living as a beggar, believing in providence, and closely following the teaching of the Gospel. But what was also unusual about him was that he reformed his own religion from with the institutional Church rather than by breaking away from it. Mother Teresa’s life has many similarities to that of Francis. Her path is also through poverty, simplicity and adherence to the teachings of Christ, and because of this she has been viewed as a progressive in the present fundamentalist framework of the patriarchal Church. Yet she preaches her love and peace in action in a world still lacking in strong female leaders and from one of the largest and poorest and most polluted cities in Asia.” ~Lucinda Vardey in Mother Teresa: A Simple Path comp. by Lucinda Vardey

Loving God, clothe me this day in Yourself and enable me to live and serve after the pattern of Jesus. Help me to be Your hands and feet in this world. Help me to spread love and peace in the world. Amen.

In the end…

21 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

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“Now when the Human One comes in his majesty and all his angels are with him, he will sit on his majestic throne. All the nations will be gathered in front of him. He will separate them from each other, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right side. But the goats he will put on his left.

“Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who will receive good things from my Father. Inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world began. I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’

“Then those who are righteous will reply to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or naked and give you clothes to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

“Then the king will reply to them, ‘I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Get away from me, you who will receive terrible things. Go into the unending fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels. I was hungry and you didn’t give me food to eat. I was thirsty and you didn’t give me anything to drink. I was a stranger and you didn’t welcome me. I was naked and you didn’t give me clothes to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn’t do anything to help you?’ Then he will answer, ‘I assure you that when you haven’t done it for one of the least of these, you haven’t done it for me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment. But the righteous ones will go into eternal life.” ~Matt. 25:31-46 (CEB)

“Many assert that John Wesley was the world’s most influential social reformer of his day. While some will question the depth of his influence, none question his remarkable ability into daily living. From the early days at Oxford until a few days before his death, Wesley was about the ministry of caring for the poor, the oppressed, and the imprisoned. And all of this while living a rigorous life of prayer, study, and reflection.

This commitment to neighbor and passion to proclaim the gospel story was so great that John and Charles rode in a cart with a condemned prisoner so that they could sing and pray on the way to the hangman’s scaffold. . . .

Holy living is a direct result of and inseparable from a holy heart. To experience Christian perfection is to live as Jesus lived. It is to be obedient to the One proclaimed as Savior and Lord. Matthew 25 is a text to be taken seriously. To know Christ and to be known by Christ means to walk with Christ in the everyday business of life.” ~From A Wesleyan Spiritual Reader by Rueben P. Job

Almighty Father, grant me the strength to be Your hands and feet, give me Your heart so that I may more freely love Your children. When my life is done may You say to me “Well done, my faithful child”. Amen.

The eyes of a child

18 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

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See what kind of love the Father has given to us in that we should be called God’s children, and that is what we are! Because the world didn’t recognize him, it doesn’t recognize us.

Dear friends, now we are God’s children, and it hasn’t yet appeared what we will be. We know that when he appears we will be like him because we’ll see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure. ~1 John 3:1-3 (CEB)

“In 1966 a retrospective of Picasso’s paintings was exhibited in Cannes, France. Hundreds of his works, from the first he did as an adolescent beginner to the latest of the master, who was then eighty-five years old, graced the walls of the gallery. The old man himself roamed about, enjoying the show more than anyone. One report told of a woman who stopped him and said, ‘I don’t understand. Over there, the beginning pictures- so mature, serious and solemn- then the later ones, so different, so irrepressible. It almost seems as though the dates should be reversed. How do you explain it?’

‘Easily,’ replied Picasso, eyes sparkling. ‘It takes a long time to become young.’” ~From Alive in Christ by Maxie Dunnam

To see the world through the eyes of a child means I love more deeply, laugh more quickly and my heart grow young. A child trusts more readily and believes more easily. No wonder Jesus says we need to have the faith of a child.

Heavenly Father, thank You for this day and all the wonders it will hold. Help me to see the beauty of a flower, pause to watch a butterfly float by, and marvel at the song of a bird. Help me to look under the rocks for tiny wonders that I could easily walk by. Help me to see pictures in the clouds and inhale deeply the freshness of spring. When I come to the end of my day Lord, help me to sleep with the ease of one who has not acquired a world of hurts but lies safely in her Fathers embrace knowing with all assuredness that I am safe and sound. Amen

Leadership

09 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

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“Therefore, we must select one of those who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus lived among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when Jesus was taken from us. This person must become along with us a witness to his resurrection.” So they nominated two: Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.

They prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s deepest thoughts and desires. Show us clearly which one you have chosen from among these two to take the place of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.” When they cast lots, the lot fell on Matthias. He was added to the eleven apostles. ~Acts 1:21-26 (CEB)

“All of us want faithful leaders, and we reject the notion that leaders don’t make a difference to the organizations, movements, and groups influencing our lives. We have seen dramatic evidence of the importance of faithful leaders. While we desire faithful leaders, we sometimes make it hard to choose them and even more difficult to keep them. Was the early church better at this than we are? Could the methods used and the qualities sought in those times instruct us in choosing leaders today?

It seems clear that a primary method in the early church was a deliberate search for the will of God. From the choice of David and Gideon to Matthias and Stephen, the method was centered in God and depended upon God. Choosing faithful leaders meant starting with God, continuing with God, concluding with God. Of course, other things were important, but the primary requirement was to know God’s choice.

Today the methods of choosing political leaders often influence us. Careful polling and building a candidate to meet the polls’ suggestions seems to be a popular method. Listening to the people’s voice is important, and pooling can accomplish that goal. It is more important, though, to listen to the voice of the only One with wisdom for every decision. Prayer and discernment are necessary parts of a faithful process every time we are involved in choosing leaders.” ~A Guide to Prayer for all who seek God, Rueben P. Job

Lord Jesus Christ, pour out Your spirit upon your church so that she may faithfully serve You and Your children. In the name of Christ. Amen.

Christ’s compassion

08 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

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He won’t break a bent stalk, and he won’t snuff out a smoldering wick, until he makes justice win. And the Gentiles will put their hope in his name. ~Matthew 12:20-21 (CEB)

Even though Jesus speaks out against all forms of hypocrisy and is not afraid to attack deception, vanity, manipulation and oppression, his heart is a gentle heart. He won’t break the crushed reed or snuff the faltering wick. He responds to people’s suffering, heals their wounds, and offers courage to the fainthearted. Jesus came to bring the good news to the poor, sight to the blind, and freedom to prisoners (Luke 4:18-19). Jesus considered others in all he says, and thus he reveals God’s immense compassion.

As a follower of Christ I am to have his compassion for the world. Jesus charged us to go out declaring the good news to everyone. (Mark 16:15) To a world that may know more about fear, harshness and misunderstandings by my gentleness I can bring hope. Jesus came into the world to give hope to the world and as his hands and feet we are charged with continuing his work to all corners of the earth. (Luke 24:47)

In my ordinary dealings this day may I remember to show Christ’s compassion to those around me. May I consider others in all I say and do remembering that I may be the only Christ others see. My actions can bring someone to Christ or it may turn them away forever. Today I want to have Christ’s gentleness.

Father in Heaven may I learn to have Your gentle heart showing your compassion to those I meet this day. Amen.

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