“For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Psalm 90:4 & 12
It is really hard to believe that it has been a year since my husband and I sold nearly all of our possessions, said goodbye to family and dear friends and made a run for the border to get a fresh start and make a new home in Kansas. Time flies for sure. Time can be both a friend and an enemy depending on what is happening in life and it seems that the older we get the faster time flies. Have you ever noticed that time goes faster when you are content with life and doing something you are passionate about or that it drags when things aren’t going so well?
Psalm 90 is a prayer about the timelessness of God and the limitedness of man. Two passages provide us with this week’s reading. Verse 4 lets us know that God’s economy of time is quite different from that of ours. Imagine how fast time would have to go to fit 1000 years into a 24 hour time span or how much faster it would have to go to fit into a four hour night watch? We would never get anything done if we experienced time like God does and yet time can still get by us, leaving us wishing for more. More time to get stuff done, more time to spend with friends and family, more time to enjoy the beauty of the creation around us.
Then there is the other end of the time spectrum when we really wish it would go by a bit faster. Times like waiting at the Department of Motor Vehicles because we’ve forgotten to make an appointment. That the line and so time would go faster as we wait to buy something or ride our favorite amusement park ride. I am sure you can think of many more instances when time either drags its feet or flies.
In all of this we are supposed to come to the understanding that we humans are just blips – well loved and very valued – but just blips in the time spectrum of this planet. In light of that the Psalmist asked God to teach us how to make the most of whatever time we have. It’s about priorities isn’t it? It’s about working some, playing some, being alone some, being with others some, be creative some and enjoying creation some. It is about loving some, forgiving some, being patient, grace filled and courageous some. It’s about spending time with the One who made us and who we will spend all of eternity with some day. It is about using what precious little time (whether is it flying or dragging) we have to be our best selves and to make the lives of those around us better.
This week number your days aright – cause time flies, and there is much to do.
A Prayer
Father – How different our lives must look to you from your eternal perspective. Like the psalmist asked, so we ask that you teach us to number our days wisely giving the right things and people priority in our lives. May we recognize the limitedness of the life we have on this world and allow you to guide our steps and our work until that day – whenever that is – when we will see Your face and begin a life where time has no limits. In the name of Jesus, the keeper of the real time we pray – Amen.
Monday, January 25, 2016
Take Heart and Overcome
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
A project I had been working on was getting close to being finished. All that needed to be done was to place the final piece of the modular desk. The problem – the last piece was a large corner hutch in the basement of a building with no elevator and too big to easily fit through a door. Luckily I was not alone in getting the desk piece where it needed to go. Now redecorating an office isn’t a life changing struggle, just a bit of hard work. My husband and I have some friends who are facing some changes similar to the ones we made a year ago. Life change is hard and scary but no matter what we are facing we are not alone in any of it.
The passage for this week comes at the end of what we could say is a good news – bad news conversation Jesus had with his disciples. You see he is trying to get them ready for what they will experience as a tragic and devastating, life change event – his death and the cost they will face for staying faithful to him after he is gone. At the beginning of chapter 16 Jesus tell them straight up, that they will probably get kicked out of church and that some people will think they are carrying out God’s will if they kill them – that’s the bad news for sure. Jesus continues talking to them telling them that even though he has left them – he will always be with them and they will see Him again one day.
Jesus’ closing statements sums up the good news portion of the conversation. He tells them that despite all of the troubles they will face in the days, months and years ahead as long as they remember Him, follow after Him, allow themselves to be enfolded by His Spirit that they will not only have the peace that He has given to them, they will also have the courage needed to face whatever comes at them – all because He has overcome all of the bad news this world has to offer.
Whatever you are facing whether it is extreme weather related storms or the storms of life change, you are not alone – no matter what you are facing. Let yourself be wrapped by the power of a risen and loving Savior who gives us all the courage and peace we need to overcome.
A Prayer
Father – you are our peace and our courage. Thank you for providing us with everything that we need to face the bad news that this world is so good at throwing at us. Thank you - that your Son has overcome the world – so that we too can overcome. Help us to share the power, courage and peace you give us with those around us so that they will see you and become over comers as well. In the name of Jesus, who leads us in overcoming the world we pray – Amen.
John 16:33
A project I had been working on was getting close to being finished. All that needed to be done was to place the final piece of the modular desk. The problem – the last piece was a large corner hutch in the basement of a building with no elevator and too big to easily fit through a door. Luckily I was not alone in getting the desk piece where it needed to go. Now redecorating an office isn’t a life changing struggle, just a bit of hard work. My husband and I have some friends who are facing some changes similar to the ones we made a year ago. Life change is hard and scary but no matter what we are facing we are not alone in any of it.
The passage for this week comes at the end of what we could say is a good news – bad news conversation Jesus had with his disciples. You see he is trying to get them ready for what they will experience as a tragic and devastating, life change event – his death and the cost they will face for staying faithful to him after he is gone. At the beginning of chapter 16 Jesus tell them straight up, that they will probably get kicked out of church and that some people will think they are carrying out God’s will if they kill them – that’s the bad news for sure. Jesus continues talking to them telling them that even though he has left them – he will always be with them and they will see Him again one day.
Jesus’ closing statements sums up the good news portion of the conversation. He tells them that despite all of the troubles they will face in the days, months and years ahead as long as they remember Him, follow after Him, allow themselves to be enfolded by His Spirit that they will not only have the peace that He has given to them, they will also have the courage needed to face whatever comes at them – all because He has overcome all of the bad news this world has to offer.
Whatever you are facing whether it is extreme weather related storms or the storms of life change, you are not alone – no matter what you are facing. Let yourself be wrapped by the power of a risen and loving Savior who gives us all the courage and peace we need to overcome.
A Prayer
Father – you are our peace and our courage. Thank you for providing us with everything that we need to face the bad news that this world is so good at throwing at us. Thank you - that your Son has overcome the world – so that we too can overcome. Help us to share the power, courage and peace you give us with those around us so that they will see you and become over comers as well. In the name of Jesus, who leads us in overcoming the world we pray – Amen.
Friday, January 15, 2016
Don't Jump
“When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, ‘This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.’ But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.”
Acts 28:4-6
Ever see a news headline and jump to a conclusion? Ever see a person on the street – homeless or acting a bit strange and jump to a conclusion? Ever been offended by someone and jumped to the conclusion that it was all about you? I am pretty sure that all of us have at one point or another have jumped to a conclusion about someone or something, only to find out later that we were wrong and the situation was something completely different than we’d thought. Sometimes our responses to these situations leave others jumping to conclusions about us.
In this week’s passage from the Book of Acts – sailors, soldiers, prisoners and perhaps some who had paid for passage on the ship had made it to shore safely. We have no way of knowing if the Maltese islanders could tell the good from the bad of those who washed up on their shores. What we are sure of is that they jumped to some conclusions about Paul. That snake bite set the up the first jump – they assumed that Paul must have been a murder because he survived the ship wreak only to be bitten by a poisonous snake – one that they knew should either make him very sick at best and would most likely kill him at worst. They watched waiting for him to get what was coming to one “like him.” After a while they jumped again – this time to a different extreme as they decided his survival must mean that he is a god. The reality of Paul and his survival of first the ship wreak and then the snake bite was that his life was somewhere in the middle of the extremes. Called a criminal by the government, Paul since becoming a follower of Christ had become a good man and was traveling to Rome under God’s divine protection.
What if the islanders hadn’t waited to see, what if they had acted to hasten the work of justice on the “murderer”? What if after they decided he was a god they built him an altar and offered sacrifices to him? Both could have been disastrous for Paul and for us all these generations later.
The thing for us to understand is that there is always more to the story than the conclusions we may jump to. We need to take the time to find the real story behind the headline, to discover the human being – the person that God loves – behind that face on the street, to understand that maybe that offense we took had nothing to do with us personally, we just happened to be in the way. How we respond to these situations and the people involved have the potential for making a huge positive change. Will we find a place for redemption in the headline story? Will we show that person on the street God’s love and let them know they are valued? Will we show compassion to the one who offends; because it turns out we have been through the same life storm?
Slow it down this week, seek to find the whole truth and show God’s love… don’t jump.
A Prayer
Father – thank you that we can learn so much from the lives of Your servants and the situations they faced. Help us Lord to approach every situation with open minds and hearts so that we don’t just jump to conclusions, conclusions that are often negative. Show us the truth and help us to respond in a way that draws others closer to You and Your redeeming love. In the name of Jesus – Amen.
Acts 28:4-6
Ever see a news headline and jump to a conclusion? Ever see a person on the street – homeless or acting a bit strange and jump to a conclusion? Ever been offended by someone and jumped to the conclusion that it was all about you? I am pretty sure that all of us have at one point or another have jumped to a conclusion about someone or something, only to find out later that we were wrong and the situation was something completely different than we’d thought. Sometimes our responses to these situations leave others jumping to conclusions about us.
In this week’s passage from the Book of Acts – sailors, soldiers, prisoners and perhaps some who had paid for passage on the ship had made it to shore safely. We have no way of knowing if the Maltese islanders could tell the good from the bad of those who washed up on their shores. What we are sure of is that they jumped to some conclusions about Paul. That snake bite set the up the first jump – they assumed that Paul must have been a murder because he survived the ship wreak only to be bitten by a poisonous snake – one that they knew should either make him very sick at best and would most likely kill him at worst. They watched waiting for him to get what was coming to one “like him.” After a while they jumped again – this time to a different extreme as they decided his survival must mean that he is a god. The reality of Paul and his survival of first the ship wreak and then the snake bite was that his life was somewhere in the middle of the extremes. Called a criminal by the government, Paul since becoming a follower of Christ had become a good man and was traveling to Rome under God’s divine protection.
What if the islanders hadn’t waited to see, what if they had acted to hasten the work of justice on the “murderer”? What if after they decided he was a god they built him an altar and offered sacrifices to him? Both could have been disastrous for Paul and for us all these generations later.
The thing for us to understand is that there is always more to the story than the conclusions we may jump to. We need to take the time to find the real story behind the headline, to discover the human being – the person that God loves – behind that face on the street, to understand that maybe that offense we took had nothing to do with us personally, we just happened to be in the way. How we respond to these situations and the people involved have the potential for making a huge positive change. Will we find a place for redemption in the headline story? Will we show that person on the street God’s love and let them know they are valued? Will we show compassion to the one who offends; because it turns out we have been through the same life storm?
Slow it down this week, seek to find the whole truth and show God’s love… don’t jump.
A Prayer
Father – thank you that we can learn so much from the lives of Your servants and the situations they faced. Help us Lord to approach every situation with open minds and hearts so that we don’t just jump to conclusions, conclusions that are often negative. Show us the truth and help us to respond in a way that draws others closer to You and Your redeeming love. In the name of Jesus – Amen.
Saturday, January 9, 2016
On Your Mark, Get Set... Go Slow
“One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.’ So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.”
Acts 18:9-11
The year was off like a rocket and not really showing any signs of slowing down. With an early Easter on tap in the church world it seems like the year is almost half over before it’s even really began. As I was praying about what this devotion was to be about the old story of The Tortoise and the Hare came to mind. Tortoise wins the race because he kept a slow and steady pace. Believe or not but you can find biblical references to go with that story – Google is a wonderful thing…sometimes. I read all the verses I found that might relate to that story but none really struck a cord with me. Instead something else grabbed a hold – it was the idea that Paul liked to stay for a while in the places he visited.
There are plenty of passages that mention Paul staying for a time at the many places he visited as he carried the good news of Jesus to the world. I just picked one for this week that stood out when I read it.
I like that Paul wasn’t really in a hurry to get things done. I believe Paul felt a sense of urgency in carrying out the work the Lord had given him to do and I believe that sense may have been why he stayed and took his time with the people he had been sent to speak to. He wanted them to understand – to really understand and then live permanently transformed lives. Lives that would in turn take the time to bring others fully into relationship with Jesus.
When we charge headlong into our days, trying to get as much done as possible we run the risk of missing something along the way – something important. Maybe we’ll miss a divine appointment not because we were late, but because we were going so fast that we went right past it. In this week’s passage Paul decides to stay for awhile in Corinth because of a vision – pretty hard to have a vision if you are moving at the freeway speeds..
This year will be filled with ups and downs; there will be trials and victories – mountain tops and deep valleys. There will be opportunities in all of it to strengthen your faith, drawing nearer to God and there will be opportunities to share the amazing news of Jesus with others who are where you are or have been – if you are going slow enough to see Him and them. It’s ok to slow down, to stay a while where you are – He’s there with you and there is no need to be afraid.
So are you ready? On your marks, Get set… Go Slow.
A Prayer
Father - thank you for giving us the stories of those who have gone before us. They inspire us, teach us about you and about what a life in You looks like. Each life different, but connected by Your love for us. Help us to slow down, to be content to stay where we are for as long as you want us to be there. Be everything we will need this year. In the name of Jesus – Amen.
Acts 18:9-11
The year was off like a rocket and not really showing any signs of slowing down. With an early Easter on tap in the church world it seems like the year is almost half over before it’s even really began. As I was praying about what this devotion was to be about the old story of The Tortoise and the Hare came to mind. Tortoise wins the race because he kept a slow and steady pace. Believe or not but you can find biblical references to go with that story – Google is a wonderful thing…sometimes. I read all the verses I found that might relate to that story but none really struck a cord with me. Instead something else grabbed a hold – it was the idea that Paul liked to stay for a while in the places he visited.
There are plenty of passages that mention Paul staying for a time at the many places he visited as he carried the good news of Jesus to the world. I just picked one for this week that stood out when I read it.
I like that Paul wasn’t really in a hurry to get things done. I believe Paul felt a sense of urgency in carrying out the work the Lord had given him to do and I believe that sense may have been why he stayed and took his time with the people he had been sent to speak to. He wanted them to understand – to really understand and then live permanently transformed lives. Lives that would in turn take the time to bring others fully into relationship with Jesus.
When we charge headlong into our days, trying to get as much done as possible we run the risk of missing something along the way – something important. Maybe we’ll miss a divine appointment not because we were late, but because we were going so fast that we went right past it. In this week’s passage Paul decides to stay for awhile in Corinth because of a vision – pretty hard to have a vision if you are moving at the freeway speeds..
This year will be filled with ups and downs; there will be trials and victories – mountain tops and deep valleys. There will be opportunities in all of it to strengthen your faith, drawing nearer to God and there will be opportunities to share the amazing news of Jesus with others who are where you are or have been – if you are going slow enough to see Him and them. It’s ok to slow down, to stay a while where you are – He’s there with you and there is no need to be afraid.
So are you ready? On your marks, Get set… Go Slow.
A Prayer
Father - thank you for giving us the stories of those who have gone before us. They inspire us, teach us about you and about what a life in You looks like. Each life different, but connected by Your love for us. Help us to slow down, to be content to stay where we are for as long as you want us to be there. Be everything we will need this year. In the name of Jesus – Amen.
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