Can You Imagine
(NIV) Gen 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning —the first day.
(NIV) Rev 1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Today we are experiencing a total eclipse of the sun. I have my “eclipse” glasses and I plan on seeing this phenomenon along with millions of people. But I can’t help but think of Day One when God set the sun in the sky, and the end of time, when the night will be ended and the Lord God will provide the light.
Can you imagine?
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A Steadfast Love
(KJV) Ruth 1:14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. 15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law. 16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
Steadfast love means having a loyal and firm love. The love exhibited in the book of Ruth is beyond most mortal love and is certainly steadfast.
You know the story. Naomi and her husband leave Jerusalem during a severe famine and travel into Moab, where her sons meet and marry Moabite women.
Naomi’s husband and two sons die, leaving her in a foreign land with her daughters-in-law. (It is important to remember that women in that culture were completely dependent upon their husbands.)
Totally bereft, Naomi tells her sons’ wives to return to their mothers and she will return to her homeland. But Ruth, with a love and devotion that exceeds anything many of us can understand, clings to her mother-in-law. She leaves the only land she has ever known to work in the fields. There, she reaps the corn and grain left intentionally according to Levitical Law to provide for those who had no provisions.
The rest of the story shows us how Boaz, the owner of the field, becomes the Kinsman Redeemer of Naomi and Ruth and ultimately he and Ruth are the ancestors of King David. And Ruth becomes one of only two Gentiles in the bloodline of Jesus.
I delivered a sermon a few years ago called “The Steadfast Love of God” and the final point was that we can never outrun the love of God, nor out sin the mercy of God. Just as Ruth gives us a snapshot of a deep sacrificial love, God shows us the truest love of all. “For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
I pray today we would be given a fresh understanding of the meaning of steadfast love.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
(NKJV) Phil 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
My husband and I were talking about my first heart attack last night, and just like two people witnessing a car accident but remembering it differently, we had disparate memories.
Larry remembered how anxious I was. I remembered having a supernatural calm settle over me.
I awoke at 5:30 in the morning to excruciating pain, not in my chest but in my ears, my jaws and going up into my head. I sat up in bed and decided to take an aspirin. I had not realized how weak I was until I tried to make it to the bathroom.
I was able to walk to the entrance to the bath when I collapsed in the chair just outside the bathroom door. I tried to call Larry but had very little oxygen. After a couple of tries, I was able to raise my voice just above a whisper.
Larry heard me, raised up out of bed, and asked what’s wrong. I answered I need help. I told him I needed an aspirin.
After a comedy of errors with Larry rifling through the cabinets and bringing ibuprofen and everything other than aspirin, he found the bottle and I chewed an aspirin. He asked what I needed now and I replied call 911.
We had been in Pittsburgh, PA for two weeks.
As the ambulance was carrying me out of the door, I prayed, Father, if this is it, then into thy hands I commit my spirit. So began a twenty-three year journey where my health began to take center stage. I was fifty years old, but I was not afraid.
The scripture speaks of the peace of God which passes all understanding. I experienced that peace with my first heart attack, and then sixteen years later when I had quadruple bypass surgery. So, peace was mine but the anxiety was Larry’s.
As a pastor who has sat with many families during surgery, it seems the hardest place to be is not in the operating room but in the waiting room. The OR is filled with a competent surgical team, and if anyone is anxious it does not show.
The waiting room, however, is filled with a mixture of folks-family, friends, pastors. During my first heart attack Larry was alone. During my surgery there were 35 people— some family and friends and the rest from four churches I had served.
I have found that the peace of God needs to be cultivated. If we wait until we need such peace, it may be hard to find.
Does cultivating peace mean I live in a perpetual state of bliss? No. But it does mean I know where to go to access such peace. I seek out scriptures that
will comfort and uplift me before challenges occur.
So today, I encourage you to find some “go to” verses that you can memorize and therefore have at your disposal whenever trouble arises. You will find any anxiety slipping away as you put more of your trust in God.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Whatever you do, let God Renew You
(NIV) Col 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Yesterday, our senior pastor reminded us that as long as we have breath, we should know that God has a plan for each of us and we are not going to heaven until He is ready to call us home. As one who has lived longer than I ever thought I would, his words encouraged me to “keep on keeping on.”
I loved preaching, but I cherish even more the connections I made with the congregations. I no longer have my own church, nor do I fill pulpits when someone is ill or needs time off. But I do still write devotionals for Facebook and for my site seekingholiness.blog and I still officiate funerals.
Funerals have always been special to me. It is the last thing I can do to honor the deceased and it is the best thing I can do to give hope to the family.
The Colossians verse I referenced has been the stalwart of my ministry and truly was implanted in my heart. My health has made it difficult for me to live up to my calling, but as long as I can string two thoughts together for a devotional, and make it to a church or funeral home for a final service, I will continue to serve.
How about you? Do you need some encouragement to continue in your earthly calling? If the above verse does not speak to you, ask God to show you one that will propel you on.
(NKJV)Isaiah 30:31 But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Road to Easter: He Has Risen, He Has Risen Indeed
(NIV) John 20:13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
Anyone who has lost a loved one knows the grief that accompanies such loss. For Mary, the loss was a weight she could no longer carry alone. Jesus had delivered her from demonic possession and her gratitude had no limits.
She remained at the foot of the cross along with Mary, the mother of Jesus, Salome, and John the Beloved. Wracked with sorrow, but not only because of Jesus’ death and the uncertainty of what would happen to His followers. Now, someone seemingly moved His body to an undisclosed location.
She looks at Jesus, but there is no recognition. But then it happens. Jesus calls her by name! Oh, how precious to hear the voice of the One who delivered her and redeemed her. She must have believed the sound of that voice was lost forever.
Two of the Old Testament scriptures that speak to God knowing our names are:
Isaiah 43:1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
John 10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Today, we celebrate the Resurrection with song, with Scripture and with a message designed to point us not only to the Cross, but to the open tomb. May this Easter resurrect in us the need to listen to the Shepherd’s call and follow.
In the name of the father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Seeking Holiness 