Spring!

Spring

"In the bulb there is a flower,
in the seed an apple tree;
in co-coons a hidden promise:
butterflies will soon be free!

In the cold and snow of winter
there's a spring that waits to be,
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see."
(Hymn of Promise, Verse 1, Natalie Sleeth, 1986)

        This is s glorious time of the year. The northern hemisphere goes into the transition to summer. It is a time when the resolutions from New Year’s Day are long since successful or forgotten. A time of vacation planning, garden planting and the anticipation of the beauty of the warm season. A time of hope led by the visible evidence of God's presence around us.

        This is a time for reflection and review of our dark side. A review of the negative forces in our lives. This is spring and we need to recover the "...hidden promise..." in our personal lives "... that God alone can see." Through our faith and belief, our Lord will share with us the pleasures of life.

Thought for Today: It is spring. Let us take special notice of its wonders. Smell the flowers and enjoy the showers. Let us share these positive feelings with others and encourage positive feelings around us. 

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father we pray for an end to senseless killing and the guidance to understand this violent world that surrounds us. There seems to be a dominant hate factor that is not created by Godly forces. There needs to be more prayer and less negative logic.  We pray that the world’s religions may see you as one God. We pray that somehow through your divine guidance, killing, hate and violence may come to an end.

Nervous Breakdown

Nervous Breakdown

"The fruit of the Spirit is... peace

 (Galatians 5:22)

And the peace of God... will

guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"

(Philippians 4:7).

J.L. Glass has written a humorous article, titled "Five Ways to Have a Nervous Breakdown". He lists the ways as follows:

1. Try to figure out the answer before the problem arises. "Most of the bridges we cross are never built, because they are unnecessary". Matthew 6:34 says: "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."

2. Try to relive the past. As we trust Him for the future, we must trust him with the Past, and He can use the most checkered past imaginable for His good. Paul’s letter in Romans 8 verse 28 states “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

3. Try to avoid making decisions. Doing this is like deciding whether to let weeds grow

in our garden: while we are deciding, they are growing. Decisions will be made while we are procrastinating. Choice is a man’s most godlike Characteristic.

4. Demand more of yourself than you can produce. Unrealistic demands result in beating our heads against stone walls. We do not change the walls. We just damage ourselves. Romans 12:3 says "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment."

5. Believe everything Satan tells you. Jesus described Satan as the "father of lies" (John 8:44). But our Lord declared that his sheep follow Him because they "know his voice"(John 10:4). They have listened to it in His word.

 Thought for Today: Let us feel the Lord’s presence in our daily lives so that we can keep our stress levels low.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, we are masters at leaving you out of our lives and building obstacles in our paths. We pray today that you will guide us through the day and that our troubles will be minimal.

Amen

Godless Chatter

Godless Chatter

 "Keep reminding them of these things.
Warn them before God against quarreling about words;
it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.
  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,
a workman who does not need to be ashamed
and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Avoid godless chatter,
because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly."
(2 Timothy 2; 14-16)

            In today’s world we are approaching a world war. There are ethnic battles, religious battles, tribal battles and civil wars around the world. In the United States we are surrounded with Godless chatter!

            When Paul wrote the above he was concerned about the welfare of the church during a time of persecution. He was asking Timothy to guard the gospel. So what does that have to do with us today? Christianity is a part of the world's society. What is there to guard?
            Well, how about guarding our own faith against the "Godless chatter" that surrounds us daily. We read it, hear it and sometimes participate in it. There are many examples of in our elections. The candidates negative campaigning with partial truths, facts taken out of context and drilling into their opponents past certainly apply. We need to put their chatter in perspective and pray about it all. Now it has become a daily event, worldwide!

            In the war zones each side strongly believe in their rightful mission. Each side is fighting for their rights. Neither is willing to talk or compromise. Often there is a strong feeling that God is on their side; that is tough to overcome. What is the answer?

            OK, I will not even try to address that. I will address our personal answer. There is a need for each of us to listen to others; to pay attention; to speak out and demonstrate our faith and thoughts. We need to work our faith into our daily lives and conversation and we need to pray for peace for the love of God.

Thought for Today: Today we will hear some Godless chatter. Let us recognize it, correct it when we can and keep it in perspective. Pray for those who promote and participate in it.

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord and father we pray for the strength to do your will here on earth. We pray for the end to terror in all forms and for peaceful resolution to neighbors fighting neighbors.

Easter

Easter on April Fool’s Day?

            I do not remember Easter falling on April first but I assume it must have. So we have a holy week mixed with a bit of tomfoolery! I can live with that! On Friday at bible study the Pastor asked each of us to tell what Easter meant to us. My answer was simple. Two weeks ago my message was entitled “New Beginnings” and I used Brian Wren’s words from his hymn of that same name. For my answer I read these verses and stated that every day was a new Beginning and that was what Easter meant to me!

"This is a day of new beginnings.
time to remember and move on,
time to believe what love is bringing,
laying to rest the pain that's gone."

"Christ is alive and goes before us,
to show and share what love can do,
this is a day of new beginnings;
our God is making all things new."
(This is a day of New Beginnings; Vs 1 & 4;
Words: Brian Wren, 1978; Methodist Hymnal No. 383)

            This morning the local weather man commented that his forecast was not an April fool’s joke. He then proceeded to forecast a 36 hour snow event starting on Easter Monday! No, he was not joking!

Below is my April first devotional from Spinach!

Boldness

"Almighty God, may they be filled with the Holy Spirit

 and speak the Word of God with boldness..."

-- Acts 4:31 

                April fool’s day is a day of practical jokes, misleading emails and general tomfoolery! Ok, so let’s skip reading our devotional, forget the Holy Spirit and our Lord so that we may participate. That will not work because we cannot hide from the God we all believe in.

            Today the comics in the newspaper will have Fool’s Day jokes, the news and sports programs will be full of them and there will be a few bogus press releases to get your attention. If I was to write a press release for today it would be “Bob shoots par at St. Andrews!” or “… donates a million towards the church mortgage.”

People would recognize immediately that these were jokes and some would know they were my fantasies.

            Today like all days I hope this devotional puts you on track to recognize the Holy Spirit in your life and the role it plays for you. While others are playing the jokes, we need to be sure that we are bold in our faith.

Blessings to you all and enjoy the start of April.

Thought for Today: For today we will be bold in our faith and remember that it is ok to be a joker also!

Prayer for Today: Father, we give thanks for all that we are and have. We thank you for having the freedom to enjoy a good joke, a great laugh and the faith to know the real truth. We thank you for being with us and meeting our needs.

Amen

Character

Character

“Now all has been heard;
   here is the conclusion of the matter:
… keep his commandments,
   for this is the duty of all mankind.”

(Ecclesiastes 12 vs. 13)

            What a wonderful world it would be! We are all aware of the rules and will have a chance to break them daily, weekly etc. Temptation is always around and I frankly succumb to it too often. I guess each morning I need to pray “Dear Lord, for today I pray to be perfect.” No coveting, jealousies, anger, aggressiveness toward others (that must mean complete stops at the stop signs!). Ok, when I am done writing this I will try again!

            There are only ten rules to obey for a great life and a great world. Most of us try, many of us fail. That’s why we go to church on Sunday and pray daily. Somehow we end the day wishing we were better- that we were perfect.

            Each day we strive for perfection; that is we try to build character. We attend church and pray and that generates spiritual growth. Building character is slightly different, but parallels it. The closer we are to the spirit, the easier it is to have that perfect character we all desire.

            Persistence is the word, perfection is the goal. Pray daily, obey the commandments daily and life will be good. Never give up being the best you can be.

Thoughts for Today: For today let us be aware of the commandments in all of our activities. 

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord and father today we give thanks for our wonderful lives and the hope we have for the future through our belief in Jesus. For today we pray for the strength and judgment to be obedient and of the highest character.

Amen

New Beginnings! 40 years later!

Today is a great day in the life of my family- The following is the story!

New Beginnings

"This is a day of new beginnings.
time to remember and move on,
time to believe what love is bringing,
laying to rest the pain that's gone."

"Christ is alive and goes before us,
to show and share what love can do,
this is a day of new beginnings;
our God is making all things new."
(This is a day of New Beginnings; Vs 1 & 4;
Words: Brian Wren, 1978; Methodist Hymnal No. 383)

            Those of you that have known me long enough understand that on March 21, 1978 my family and I started a true "New Beginning". That was the year of treatment for alcohol abuse and the adoption of the slogan "This is the first day of the rest of your life". They supported me as did my friends and business associates. Each year I am reminded that through faith and friendship there is a good life. I thank all of you that have been my friends and associates since then.

            The story of recovery is repeated in our society every day with the grace of God ever present in the process. Often as Christians we see a need and get a chance to help. One of the beauties of being Christian is the act of helping.

Thought for Today: Today we will be out in the world interacting with friends and business associates. We may see a need to help. Many people will back away. Let us recognize needs in others and step forward with God's support and offer the Christian assistance that is needed.

Prayer for Today: This week the serenity Prayer:

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.

Blessings to you and your family!
Bob 

Letting Go

Letting Go

"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you

may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you".

(Colossians 3:13)

            Recently I was talking to a group of 60ish guys about a pending class reunion. The subject broke down to the many things we did in our youth that we would not consider doing today. The events we talked about were items on our conscience, things we were not proud of doing.  They were the acts of youth and part of growing up. Each helped develop the person that we are today. None of the events made us a bad person, however, at the time there were people (neighbors, school authorities, mom/dad, friends etc.) that did not appreciate our behavior. These discretions and memories are perseverance finishing its work “…so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

At a bible study this week we talked about letting go of past discretions. Others forgave us long ago and somehow as adults we seem to hold on to past errors.  As we work through our faults, we learn that life goes on. God eventually works his miracles in our lives. When we lack the wisdom he comes through for us.
 
Thought for Today: When we are very busy, it is difficult to feel God’s presence in our lives. Today, let us all try to take time to understand and appreciate His contributions. 

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, we thank you today because we are not what we were. We have sinned along the way and are grateful of the Grace and forgiveness we receive through Christ.

Amen