Render Your Heart

“Even now’ declares the Lord. ‘Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and relents from sending calamity.”
Joel 2:12-13

It is the time of year when the Church begins one of its most important seasons. The Lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday. Lent is a time of introspective, looking into our hearts and seeking what parts of our lives we are keeping from God. It is also a time when we try to relate to everything that Jesus experienced – from his 40 days in the wilderness being tempted to His death and resurrection. I will be honest and say that trying to find a fresh perspective on something that occurs year after year can be difficult. So as I was thinking about what to write about Ash Wednesday, I was looking through all sorts of passages. I looked at passages that had been earmarked for our church’s Lenten series and nothing was really standing out to me. Then I looked at the scripture passages that would be used for our Ash Wednesday service. I was surprised to find the prophet Joel. I have read Joel a number of times but had never thought of his words as speaking into this season.

As I read it this time the solemnness, the anguish - of Ash Wednesday, of Good Friday and yes even in the celebratory tone of the Triumphant entry - came screaming into my mind and heart. The passage above follows eleven verses of doom and gloom – of a plague of locust, that look like horses and leave desolation in their path, God’s judgement on a wicked and stiff necked people. But Joel doesn’t leave the people with this dreadful image in their heads – no God has more for him to share, a message that says perhaps all is not lost, perhaps the Lord God will reconsider and have mercy on the people.

In Biblical time is was a common practice when people were mourning or angry to tear their clothes – it was a way of expressing extreme and painful feelings. Joel tells the people that they needed to “rend their hearts.” The dictionary has this to say of the word “rend” – to separate into parts with force or violence, to tear apart, to tear ones’ garment or hair in grief or rage. Joel is telling the people that tearing their clothes will not be enough to show God that they are truly sorry for their sin and stiff necked behavior – no this time they must break open their hard hearts, to prove that indeed their hearts are broken over how they have behaved. Once they have rended their hearts Joel calls them back to God, assuring them that God is still filled with grace and compassion and love.

In a few short weeks we remember another solemn day, that today we call good. We will remember that Jesus rended His heart to restore our relationship with the father. The curtain that separated the most Holy place from everything and everyone will be violently torn from top to bottom as the Father grieves for His Son.

We are not so different from those of ancient times – we are all sinners doing things that separate us from a God who loves us. We can be stiff necked, not wanting to change – because that change might be uncomfortable, might make us more different from the world than we want to be. Joel is speaking to us though, as he did all those generations ago – encouraging us to rend out hearts and return to God, that we might receive grace and compassion, that we would feel His love restoring our torn hearts.

If we’ll rend our hearts out of sincere grief, He will make them whole again with His love.

A Prayer
Father – what powerful words your servant Joel spoke to the people. May his word echo though our spirits giving us the courage to rend our own hearts, that the work of your Son make restore them, making us whole and bringing us back to a right and loving relationship with the One who made us and calls us His child. May we have the courage to be who You want us to be, to be so different that others will see Jesus through the torn curtain. In the name of Jesus, who rended His heart so that we would be healed from our sin sickness – Amen.

Give to God What Is God's

“…The he said to them. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
Matthew 22:21

It’s tax season here in the U.S. for some it will be a time of rejoicing, as the prospect of a refund for having paid the government too much becomes reality. For others however, rejoicing is not what comes to mind as they see the amount owed go up and then discover there may also be a penalty because you didn’t pay enough up front so to speak. This is where my husband and I find ourselves at the moment. The realization that we had not planned well enough in the first place and that the amount was way bigger than we had even imagined. After the initial shock wore off, we came to the conclusion that we should be grateful for the progress we made in the past year. Gratefulness in the midst of trial is the inspiration behind this week’s devotion.

This week’s passage from Matthew Gospel is the conclusion of an encounter Jesus had with the minions of the religious leaders of His day. They were trying to trap Him by getting Him to speak against the government, which would have made Him guilty of subversion and that could be punished by death according to the Romans. Instead Jesus turns the tables on them asking to see the coin used to pay taxes and then asking in essence who does this coin really belong to? He told them to return the coin to its rightful owner – Caesar and then He takes it a step further and tells them they also need to God what belongs to God. Did this group really know and understand what that meant? Do we?

What is it that we need to be giving God back, what does HE really want from us? He wants our hearts, our minds, our gratitude, our praise, our awe inspired respect, our love, our brokenness, our doubts, our fears, our struggles, our sin. He wants us to let the world have what belongs to it – all the stuff that draws us away Him and He wants us to give Him our whole selves – not just the good bits but every bit of ourselves – because we belong to Him.

I don’t know how taxes work in other parts of the world, if there is tax season or not – I do know that most of us no matter where we are, give to Caesar what is his or hers in some shape or form. If you find yourself challenged at times by this remember Jesus instructed those who would trap him to pay their taxes and give God what is His. Which is more difficult? Which has the greater return?

I’m happy to give to God what is His, for a future in His presence.

A Prayer
Father – Thank you for making the challenge out of paying taxes – since all the worlds money bears the image of a human leaders – lighter. Grant us the courage and strength to give the harder thing – ourselves to a Sovereign God, who loves us and wants the best for us. May our daily acts of giving to God what is His attract others who have been swayed by the world and bring them to a place where they too will connect with Jesus and find hope. In the name of Jesus, who gave to God what was demanded of Him and in the process brought grace, mercy and forgiveness to all who believe – Amen.

Hopelessly & Totally Devoted

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Acts 2:42

The Lord has been stretching me and is expanding my calling step by step. That expansion is scary sometimes. You see I have always seen my calling as a behind the scenes sort of thing – caring for the business of church so that lead pastor can concentrate on studying and prayer. But the Lord is putting me on the platform, to speak what He speaks to me through His Word. It is a task I feel the weight of. If I weren’t hopelessly and totally devoted to serving the Lord in whatever way He leads, I can say with some certainty the I would be fighting the transforming work that is going on in me personally.

Recently, I was called upon to take the platform, fill the pulpit whatever you want call it. This week’s passage is a portion of the Scripture I was given to speak about. The first thing that came to mind once I knew the passage was Olivia Newton-John’s song from Grease Hopelessly Devoted To You. If you have been reading Something Special for a while you know strange things inspire me. That song was the jumping off point for the message. As the words of the song and the message wandered around in my head together the idea of devotion bring about transformation came to the for front. Then another song, this one Love Broke Thru by Toby Mac entered the picture and it also has a line about be hopelessly devoted. Both the movie Grease and the music video for Toby Mac’s song end with transformation.

I’ll ask you the same things I asked our congregation – What are you hopelessly & totally devoted to? What is it transforming you into? See the things the believers in this week’s passage are devoted to are transforming them daily into the image of Jesus and that transformation is getting the attention of those on the outside and drawing them in so that they might be connected to Jesus and transformed as well. That kind of devotion, if we let it will transform us from sinners to servants, from outsiders to insiders, from being last to being first and it will make us attractive to the people around us who need Jesus.

From the beginning of time God has been hopelessly & totally devoted to you, me and all of mankind that His love broke through time and space to reach us. The question is… will we be so hopelessly & totally devoted to Him that we be transformed daily into the likeness of Jesus? So devoted that we will lay aside our selfishness, out personal preferences, out comfort, our bias’s and anything else that stands in in the way of our being Jesus to one another and to those around us who need to meet and make a connection with Jesus.

I challenge you to take some time to look at the things you are devoted to and how those things are transforming you. Me I am going to be hopelessly & totally devoted to Jesus.

A Prayer
Father – Thank you for being hopelessly & totally devoted to us and for wanting to transform us daily into the image of your Son. Help us to be hopelessly & devoted to you so that we can indeed be transformed into the image of Jesus. We pray that the transformation will be so striking that it will attract others to us so they can find and make a connection with Him. In the name of Jesus, who shows what hopelessly & totally devoted looks like – Amen.

All We Need

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:19

Tis the season of making resolutions and many of us will make one or more in an attempt to attain something that we need or want. For me it will be to actually write one of these devotions each week, for myself and for those that it will encourage. As I thought about how important it is for all us to have people in our lives that encourage us, I realized that this is one of the many ways God provides for all that we need according to his riches in Christ Jesus.

The psalmist shows us a bigger glimpse of how Jesus is really all we need, when he writes: “He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. The Lord sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground” (Psalm 147:3-6). Did that one line hit your heart - “He determines the number of stars and calls them each by name.” Have you ever looked up into the night sky away from the city lights, maybe in the mountains or the desert? There are billions of stars out there and it is a stunning sight to see, breathtaking and awe inspiring. Then there is a still small voice, a gentle whisper that speaks to your heart and says: “I made all of those points of light; I gave them each a name and make sure they travel the path they are meant to travel. I made them and I made you too, I know your name and I know what you really need. I will walk with you so you can travel the path you are meant to travel.

We are standing on the threshold of a new year. It will no doubt be a year of trial and triumph, a year of heartbreak and celebration, of sadness and joy, of life detours and smooth sailing. No matter what the year brings Jesus is all we need. The apostle Paul who wrote this week’s verse also wrote: “Let your gentleness be evident to all. THE LORD IS NEAR (emphasis mine). Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:3-6).

No matter what you might face this year, hold on the fact the Jesus knows your name, He is the Lord and He is near. HE is all we need.

A Prayer
Father – Thank you for knowing what we really need. Thank you for granting us peace, for calling us by names, for healing our brokenness. Be near to us always, shining the light of your love through our lives to the world around us, that other will be encouraged to seek you for all they need. In the name of Jesus, who is all we need – Amen.

Destination Love

“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’”
Luke 2:15

It’s been quite a journey, but then the journey of life is quite an adventure isn’t it. We have traveled with Mary as she overcame fear to find hope knowing that God planned to use her ordinary life to carry out his extraordinary plan. We followed her as she walked from her home to the Judean hill country to see Elizabeth and gain peace as all Gabriel had spoken to her is confirmed. We witness what must have bought great joy to her as Joseph in his God given righteousness still takes her as his wife, because he loved God and he loved her.

Together they have journeyed to Bethlehem to be counted in the census. When they arrived at their destination they found the town filled with people and there is no room for them. Imagine what it would be like in our modern world to turn up at a hospital to have a baby only to be turned away because they were full. What must it have been like for them not having a comfortable place to have their baby in? One person gave them the only space left, a place among the animals. Perhaps it was a bit smelly, but it was warm and dry. There was a comfortable place to lay their new son. It was a good destination for love to truly enter into the world.

As Jesus is being born, God has sent another messenger to our planet, to share good news of great joy with a bunch of shepherds. As soon as the angel choir disappears these shepherds who in a matter of moments have traveled from fear to hope to peace to joy set out to see this child, to reach their destination of love.

The shepherds would share the news with all who would listen and return to their work, praising God for all they had seen, realizing their lives would never be the same because Love had chosen them and had made its destination their hearts.

Jesus’ journey would take many turns; detours even as He traveled to the destination love would lead Him to - the cross.

Fear becomes hope. Hope leads to peace. Hope and peace are great traveling companions and with them we find joy. But our destination is the most important, our destination is love - the love we can only find in Jesus.

A Prayer
Father – Thank you for the greatest gift we can ever hope to receive - the love of your Son. A love that allows us to live without fear, filled with hope, peace and joy. A love that changes cold, hard hearts to ones that beat for you. A love that restores our relationship with You and fills us to overflowing. Show us the people around who need to make the journey to Your heart and help us journey with them. In the name of Jesus, who is our destination love – Amen.

Next Stop Joy

“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.”
Matthew 1:20-21 & 24

When we last saw Mary she was in the Judean hill country visiting Elizabeth. Elizabeth had confirmed that what the angel had told Mary had indeed taken place. Now Elizabeth had given birth to John and it was time for Mary to head home. Three months had passed and Mary knew that there would be questions, hard questions when she got there.

Everything the angel had said had been true. Elizabeth had her son John in her old age. Mary was now carrying God’s Son in her womb. She had, had peace while with Mary - they understood what it meant to have God work in their lives in impossible ways. I think Mary made the trip home confident that God would protect His child but would she have to have this child alone was a real question. The Scriptures don’t tell us much about Mary’s arrival back home. We don’t know how her parents responded or how her friends reacted to the changes taking place. We do know about Joseph though. Can you imagine how he must have felt? He knew there was no way the child was his. Could he really believe Mary had been unfaithful? Scriptures tell us he was a righteous man and planned to divorce her quietly so has not to publically disgrace her.

Then Joseph also received a visit from an angel who tells him “don’t be afraid of me or of taking Mary as your wife.” The angel would confirm Mary’s story of how the child in her womb came to be. With that visit Joseph got his own dose of peace, so he got up and went to see Mary.

Can you imagine the joy? The man Mary loved - believed her, still loved her and still wanted her as his wife. Oh the joy to know that she would not have to continue this journey alone - Joseph would be by her side and the joy of knowing that God was taking care of things so that His Son would have a good family.

No matter what you are facing - if the Lord has brought you hope, peace won’t be far behind and joy is there around the next bend. You see joy doesn’t depend on your circumstances it’s another of the amazing gifts God has for you and I.

Hope and peace are great traveling companions. Next stop joy!

A Prayer
Father – Thank you for the many amazing gifts you have for us. Thank you for hope and peace. Thank you for the joy comes along on the journey with us even during the difficult bits. May the joy that you give us shine brightly into the world around us and may it draw others to You. In the name of Jesus, who gives us joy – Amen.

Road Sign - Peace Ahead

“But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.”

Luke 1:43-45

Last time began a journey; following Mary on her way to all that the Lord had for her. The trip started with a bit of fear, but hope pushed the fear away. Have you ever been in a place where you are feeling hopeful but then doubt starts to creep in? The next step isn’t clear, you worry that you will be the right turn off or that whatever brought you hope to start with might not be true. I know I do and so like Mary I look for road signs.

As reassurance that all he had said to come to pass Gabriel had told Mary that her relative Elizabeth was having a baby in her old age in answer to her own earnest prayers. In a way Gabriel was telling Mary - look for the road sign that say peace ahead. After her chat with the angel Mary got ready and headed for the hill country to see Elizabeth. It turns out that Elizabeth’s response to Mary’s “Hello, Elizabeth I’ve come to visit” is the road sign Gabriel had spoken about. That where we join this leg of Mary’s journey.

Keep in mind, there is nothing in the Scriptures to indicate that anyone else knew about Gabriel’s visit to Mary or that she had been chosen to carry God’s Son. What reason did she give her family for wanting and needing to go and visit Elizabeth? Whatever she said, she left quickly and upon arrival was met with confirmation of what the angel had said. Elizabeth was indeed pregnant in her old age and with a special child as well. A child already filled with the Holy Spirit even in his mother’s womb. Elizabeth’s response confirms that Mary is already pregnant with the Son of the Most High. I can imagine the peace she must have felt as she understood she hadn’t dreamt the angel encounter - it was all true and that by going to Elizabeth she hadn’t missed the road sign the angel told her to look for.

Have you ever been in a place where finally you are feeling hopeful and hope filled only to have doubt try to creep in, bring fear along with it? Keep an eye out for the road sign that says peace ahead. It might be a word in the Scripture that chases the fear and doubt out replacing it with peace. More than likely it will be someone or something that confirms the reason for hope and upon that build up peace.

We have hope and the journey is leading to peace. Be watching for the road sign - Peace ahead.

A Prayer
Father – Thank you for understanding that even though we have hope, we often begin to have doubts. Thank you for putting road signs in our life that will encourage us, confirm for us that we are on the right road and lead us to a place of peace in the journey. Show us how we can be a road sign of peace ahead to those around us who are in danger of losing hope. In the name of Jesus, The road sign for peace ahead – Amen.