Everday Moments

I piled groceries in my car and carefully exited my parking spot. Suddenly a man darted across the pavement just in front of me, not noticing my approach. I slammed on my brakes, just missing him. Startled, he looked up and meet my gaze. In that moment, I knew I had a choice: respond with rolled-eye frustration or offer a smiling forgiveness. I smiled.
      Relief flickered across his face, raising the edges of his own lips in gratefulness.
     Proverbs 15:13 says, " A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit." Is the writer directing us to cheery grins in the face of every interruption, disappointment, and inconvenience life brings? Surely not! There are times for genuine mourning, despair, and even anger at Injustice. But in our everyday moments, a smile can offer relief, hope, and the grace needed to continue.
      Perhaps the point of the proverb is that a smile naturally results from the condition of our inner beings. A " happy heart" is at peace, content, and yielded to God's best. With such a heart, happy from the inside out, we can respond to surprising circumstances with a genuine smile, inviting others to embrace the hope and peace they too can experience with God.
      Dear Father, today as I cross paths with others around me, make my heart happy that I may share with them the hope only You can offer.
      Encourage one another and build each other up. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:11)

Thanks Journal

When I was a new believer in Jesus, a spiritual mentor encouraged me to keep a thanks Journal. It was a little booklet I carried with me everywhere I went. Sometimes I would record a Thanksgiving right away. Other times, I would pen it at the end of the week during a time of reflection.
     Taking a note of praise items is.  a good habit-one I'm considering re-establishing in my life. It would help me to be grateful for His provision and care.
     In the shortest of all the Psalms, Psalm 117, the writer encourages every one to praise the Lord because " great is his love toward us."
      Think about it: How has the Lord shown His love toward you today, this week, this month, and this year? Don't just look for the spectacular. His love is seen in the ordinary, everyday circumstances of Life. Then consider how He has shown His love toward your family, your church, and to others. Let your mind soak up the extent of His love for all of us.
     The psalmist added that " the faithfulness of the Lord endured forever." In other words, He will continue to love us! So we will continue to have many things to praise God for in the coming days. As His dearly loved children, may praising and thanking God characterize our lives!
      Father, if we were to record all of Your blessings, we could not complete the task in a lifetime. But we can pause this moment to say a simple " Thank You" for Your faithfulness and goodness.
      Remember to thank God for the ordinary as well as the extraordinary.

What on Earth?

WHen Andrew Cheatle lost his cell phone at the beach, he thought it was gone forever. About a week later, however, fisherman Glen Kerley called him. He had pulled Cheatle's phone, still functional after it dried, out of a 25-pound cod.
     Life is full of odd stories, and we find more than a few of them in the Bible. One day tax collectors came to Peter demanding to know, " Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?" ( Matthew 17:24). Jesus turned the situation into a teaching moment. He wanted Peter to understand His role as King. Taxes aren't collected from the children of the King, and the Lord made it clear that neither He nor His children owed any temple tax.
     Yet Jesus wanted to be careful not to " cause offense", so He told Peter to go fishing. ( This is the odd part of the story.) Peter found a coin in the mouth of the first fish he caught.
      What on Earth is Jesus doing here? A better question is, " What in God's kingdom is Jesus doing? He is the rightfully King-even when many do not recognize Him as such. When we accept His role as Lord in our lives, we become His children.
      Life Will still throw it's various demands at us, but Jesus will provide for us. As former pastor David Pompo put it, " When we're fishing for our Father, we can depend on Him for all we need."
      Lord, teach us to basketball in the wonderful realization that You provide everything we need.
      We are children of the King!

Traditions and Christmas

As you savor a candy cane this Christmas, say " danke schon" to the Germans, for that confectionery treat was first created in Cologne. As you admire your poinsettia, say " gracias" to Mexico, where the plant originated. Say " mercies beaucoup" to the French for the term Noel, and give a " cheers" to the English for your mistletoe.
      But as we enjoy our traditions and festivities of the Christmas season-customs that have been cthe world-let's save our most sincere and heartfelt " thank you" for our good, merciful, and loving God. From Him came the reason for our Christmas celebration: the baby born in that Judean manager more than 2,000 years ago. An angel announced the arrival of this gift to mankind by saying " I bring you good news that will cause great joy...a Savior has been born to you."
     This Christmas, even in the light of the sparkling Christmas tree and surrounded by newly opened presents, the true excitement comes when we turn our attention to the baby named Jesus, who came to " save his people from their sins." His birth transcends tradition: It is our Central focus as we send praises to God for this indescribable Christmas gift.
     Lord, we thank YOu for coming to join us on that first Christmas. During a time of the year filled with many traditions help us to keep You first.
     May the Good of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him.

A Thrill of Hope

Reginald Fessenden had been working for years to achieve wireless radio communication. Other scientists found his ideas radical and unorthodox, and doubted he would succeed. But he claims that on December 24, 1906, he became the first person to ever play music over the radio.
      Fessenden held a contract with a fruit company which had installed wireless systems on roughly a dozen boats to communicate about the harvesting and marketing of bananas. That Christmas Eve, Fessenden said that he told the wireless operators on board all ships to pay attention. At 9 o'clock they heard his voice.
      He reportedly played a record of an operatic Aria, and then he pulled out his violin, playing " Of Holy Night" and singing the words to the last verse as he played. Finally, he offered Christmas greetings and read from Luke 2 the story of Angels announcing the birth of a Savior to Shepherd's in Bethlehem.
     Both the Shepherd's in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago and the sailors on board the United Fruit Company ships in 1906 heard an unexpected, surprising message of hope on a dark night. And God still speaks that same message of hope to us today. A Savior has been born for us-Christ the Lord!. We can join the choir of Angels and believers through the ages who respond with " Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."
     God, we give You glory and thank You for sending Your Son Jesus Christ to be our Savior!
      Without Christ there is no hope.

God with Us

" Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ at my right, Christ at my left..." These hymn lyrics, written by the fifth-century Celtic Christian St. Patrick, echo in my mind when I read Matthew's account of Jesus's birth. They feel like a warm embrace, reminding me that I'm never alone.
     Matthew's account tells us that God dwell with His people is at the heart of Christmas. Quoting Isaiah's prophecy of a child who would be called Immanuel, meaning " God with us." Matthew points to the ultimate fulfillment of that prophecy-Jesus, the One born by the power of the Holy Spirit to be God with us. This truth is so Central that Matthew begins and ends his gospel with it, concluding with Jesus's we to His disciples: " And surely I am with you always, to the very end of age."
     St. Patrick's lyrics remind me that Christ is with believers always through His Spirit living within. When I'm nervous of afraid, I can hold fast to HIs promises that He will never leave me. What I can't fall asleep, I can ask Him to give me His peace. When I'm celebrating and filled with joy, I can thank Him for His gracious work in my life.
     Jesus, Immanuel-God with us.
     Father God, thank You for sending Your Soon to be God with us. May we experience Your presence this day.
     God's love be incarnation at Bethlehem.

Silent Night of the Soul

Long before Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber created the familiar Carol " Silent Night," Angelius Silesius had written:
Love! in the silent night a child to God is born, And all is brought again that are was lost or lorn. Could but they soul, Of man, became a silent night God would be born in the and set all things aright.
     Silesius, a Polish monk, published the poem in 1657 in The Cherubic Pilgrim. During our Church's annual Christmas Eve service, the choir sang beautiful rendition of the song titled " Could but They Soul Become a Silent Night."
     The twofold mystery of Christmas is that God became one of us so that we might become one with Him. Jesus suffered everything that was wrong so that we could be made right. That's why the apostle Paul could write, " If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone; the new is here! All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ."
     Whether our Christmas is filled with family and friends or empty of all we long for, we know that Jesus came to be born in us.
      Ah, would they heart but be a manger for the birth, God would once more become a child on earth.
      Lord Jesus, thank You for being born into this dark world so that we might be born again into Your life and light.
      God became one of us so that we might become one with Him.