Magnificat

 I will sing of the Lord's great Love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations, I will declare that your love stands firm forever...Psalm 89:1-2

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:4

Advent is a time of anticipation and reflection. It is said that one of the best things about a trip is the anticipation while planning it; it is a tangible benefit of the experience. The memories of that trip or vacation also have great value in refreshing us. 

I love to think of Christmases past and anticipate the things that will make this season feel festive and magical. I remember being pregnant for two of my long-ago Christmases and sharing with Mary's expression in the Magnificat. The awareness of miracles is always a wonderful awakening.

When I was a teenager, I found such treasure in the late night or midnight Christmas Eve services. To go to church at such a late hour seemed a rare privilege and added to the special nature of the celebration. We would see people we rarely saw and have the joy of spending that special time with them. The service felt more intimate than the pageantry I associated with Christmas, and that appealed to me.

I like to think that Advent calendars tell a story. The story is slowly revealed in the time of waiting, like the nightly continuing tales of Scheherazade. Christmas books enchant me. I have a friend who displays all her Christmas storybooks on her living room shelves and tables during Advent, when she celebrates her December birthday with a cookie-decorating party. It is like being in a Christmas library.

Advent carols tell the roots of our faith, the events leading up to the birth of Jesus. It is powerful imagery to anyone of any age. The stories have so much symbolism, and we take that symbolism into our own stories so that the original story deepens in personal meaning.

To think of the candles and lights which decorate so many homes and neighborhoods, is always such a joy. "Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness" is one of my favorite expressions from Anne Frank. Light, like faith, wrests power from darkness and fear. We see the truth of darkness for what it is, when we use the light that is given to us, The light is a reminder of what we are preparing for, and what we want to become.

I loved learning that the last Sunday before Advent (also the final Sunday of the church year) is known in the UK as "Stir Up Sunday", because it is the time to stir up the Christmas puddings. The Collect for that Sunday from the Book of Common Prayer of 1549 begins "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded". The Christmas puddings need to mature throughout Advent before being set afire with brandied sugar cubes on Christmas. The preparation of that Christmas pudding involves stirring up ingredients, just as we are to stir our own hearts and minds to do great things. The waiting time of Advent is important to puddings and Christians alike.

Whatever Advent means to each one of us, it should have a little of the secular connected to the sacred. In order to understand Emmanuel, God with us, we have to be able to elevate the things we love in our daily life to the level of the inexplicable and eternal things that God infuses us with.

A translation of the Magnificat by Joy Cowley:

My soul sings in gratitude,

I'm dancing in the mystery of God.

The light of the Holy One is within me

and I am blessed, so truly blessed.

This goes deeper than human thinking.

I am filled with awe

at Love whose only condition

is to be received.

The gift is not for the proud,

for they have no room for it.

The strong and self-sufficient ones

don't have this awareness.

But those who know their emptiness

can rejoice in Love's fullness.

It's the Love that we are made for,

the reason for our being.

It fills our inmost heart space

and brings to birth in us, the Holy One.

Amen.

Mollie Manner (reprinted from 2018)

Don’t Worry, Be Thankful

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as member of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15

Being grateful and thankful for all God has given us are the most powerful factors to improving our lives and fulfill our purpose. Are you a grateful person?  Regardless of all the challenges we face, there are many things that all of us who follow God can and should thank him for.

Gratitude is a constant theme in the Bible; it is mentioned more than 150 times and commanded on more than 33 occasions. In Colossians verse, Paul, the author, admonishes us to become increasingly grateful. Gratitude is our choice. Since we can’t always control the circumstances, we need to practice adapting our responses to them. There is always something to rejoice about in every situation. Although our culture constantly reminds us of what we don’t have, consider these facts:

•              If you own just one Bible, you have more than one-third of the people in the world.

•              If you woke up healthier than ill, you are more blessed than the one million people in the world who will not survive the next week.

•              If you have never experienced the danger of battle, imprisonment, starvation, arrest, or torture, you are more fortunate than 500 million people around the world.

•              If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and a place to sleep, you are richer than three-fourths of the world.

•              If you prayed yesterday and today, you are in the minority because you know that God hears and answers prayers.  (Excerpted from frankerb.org, 2021)

Prayer: Lord God, guide us to be grateful and thankful for the problems and worries we have. Let us realize that had we not been given so much by God, we wouldn’t have the experiences or find ourselves in situations that lead us to worry. Help us turn our worries into gratitude. Amen

“Some people grumble because roses have thorns,

I am thankful that thorns have roses.”  (Alphonse Karr)   

Carol McClain

Love One Another

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:7-12 

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 1 John 4:19-21

Be imitators of God, therefore as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2

And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 2 John 5

It is pretty easy to love those you like but very difficult to love those who irritate you, do you injustice, or hurt you in any way. Think about these verses, they don’t say only love those you like. Do you think they apply to your neighbors, your friends, your school mates? We, as humans, sometimes make quick decisions about those around us. Sometimes we are quite surprised when someone we didn’t like before does something good and you change your mind about them. How about trying to love all others? How about praying for those you dislike?

This is my command: Love each other. John 15:17

Prayer: Dear Father in Heaven, be with us as we go about our days. Let us see the difference in others when we show love to all. Amen. 

 Sandra Hilsabeck                      

Discipline of Prayer

We practice the spiritual discipline of prayer because prayer changes things. But we mostly practice it because it is through prayer that we commune with the living God, and He changes us ~ from Encountering God: Cultivating Habits of Faith through the Spiritual Disciplines by Kelly Minter (current Wednesday Morning Bible study at Eastridge)

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Give Thanks

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Thankful words from Psalms

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind. Psalm 107:8 

A Grateful Heart

Give thanks with a grateful heart 

Being Grateful

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16

While reading Brene Brown’s new book, Atlas of the Heart, I found myself agreeing and feeling convicted while recognizing myself in her descriptions.

In the section on Gratitude, she mentions how many of the emotions that are good for us – joy, contentment, and gratitude have appreciation in common. She goes on to say that gratitude is good for our physical and mental health. In researching the section on gratitude, Robert Emmons, a professor of psychology at UC Davis, figured prominently. He says, “gratitude makes us appreciate the value of something, and when we appreciate the value of something, we extract more benefits from it; we’re less likely to take it for granted.” He continues: “with gratitude we become greater participants in our lives as opposed to spectators.”

Whether you make lists, say daily prayers of thanks, or share your thoughts of gratitude with others, let us remember that “every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father…” (James 1:17)

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for the many blessings in my life. Help me to focus on gratitude instead of bitterness, even when it's hard. Guide me in becoming an active participant in a life of gratitude. Amen.

Donna Gustafson (reprinted from 2022, edited)

Love

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. I Corinthians 13:4-7

The 13th chapter of 1st Corinthians in the New Testament is often referred to as the “Love Chapter.” It is regularly used at weddings, intended as a description of the love between the bride and groom.  

But here’s a different way to think of this scripture. I recently attended a meeting where a pastor used this chapter as part of a meditation. He asked us to substitute our individual names for the word “love.” Try it. Read the above passage and put in your own name each time the scripture uses “love” or “it.” 

How did it feel to say that you are patient and kind? Can you honestly say that you do not dishonor others? Are you not easily angered? Do you rejoice with the truth?

If we substitute God’s name in the passage, we are reminded that God is patient and kind, and He always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres. Whether we substitute our own name or God’s name in these verses, the meaning is clear--we are called to love one another as God loves us.                 

Prayer: Dearest Lord, thank you for sharing your love with us and for showing us how to share our love with others. Forgive us when we are envious, boastful, or proud. Help us to work toward becoming more like your son, Jesus Christ, in making our names synonymous with love.

Robin Hadfield (reprinted from 2018, 2023)

Singing Praises to Our God

Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. (Gen. 2:7 New Oxford Bible)   

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.  When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means sent).  Then he went and washed and came back able to see. (John 9: 5-7 New Oxford Bible)

It’s November again! For more than a decade now, I have used my early morning prayers in November to sing praises to the Lord for the restoration of my eyesight. (All 4 surgeries and healing after several months of treatment were accomplished in the month of November). I start my praises to God by rereading the 9th chapter of the Book of John which tells us the miracle of Jesus healing the blind man.

Fast forward that story into the 21st century and you have my story. To Jesus, the substance of man was dirt and he healed the blind man by placing mud (dirt and saliva) on the man’s eyes. When my eyes were healed, the doctor placed donor tissue on my eyes (the substance of mankind on my eyes).  However, the 21st century miracle takes a bit longer as time is needed for God’s healing to take place. 

This process is a very traumatic one because as the recipient of donor tissue I realized that someone had to die to donate his or her eyes. It is a very sobering thought. As much as I prayed for the restoration of my sight, I could not pray for someone to die to accomplish it.  

In my prayers in November, I also give thanks for donors who have given of their bodies to save others in need, and to the doctors whose skill accomplishes the transplants. Then, over it all, we wait for the healing hand of our Lord and Savior.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I sing Your praises for the healing of all of us who are in physical need, and I ask You to bless the donors who so generously give of their bodies and the doctors who act as Your healing hands on earth. In Your Son, Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.  

Judy Welch

Praying for God's Will

When we pray for God's will, we're praying for him to act. We're also agreeing to work in accordance with His purposes so we can be active participants in what He's accomplishing on earth. ~ from Scot McKnight: Sermon on the Mount commentary and Encountering God: Cultivating Habits of Faith through the Spiritual Disciplines by Kelly Minter (current Wednesday Morning Bible study at Eastridge).

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Thankfulness

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessolonians 5:16-18 

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34 

In this holiday season, we ought to adopt the attitude of thankfulness not just on one day, but every day. In his book “Life’s Greatest Lessons,” Hal Urban has an exercise that I am going to do and I hope you will too. Take a sheet of paper and title it “I am thankful for…”. Draw two vertical lines so there are three columns. The column headings are “Material Things,” “People”, and “Other”.  “Other” can be freedom, Jesus, faith, health, etc.  Fill in all of the lines on the paper as you think about this. Keep the list handy (or make a few copies) and read over it four times a day. In his over 30 years of teaching, Mr. Urban says this is one of the best assignments he has ever given. Join me in this exercise and let’s see what happens!

Prayer: Dear Father, we should be overflowing with thankfulness for all you have given us but sadly we often complain or take for granted what we already have. We ask that our thankful hearts be a light for others to see the contentment and hope we have in you. Amen.

Cathy Schapmann (reprinted from 2017)

Thoughts on Gratitude

"To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch heaven." ~ Johannes Gaertner 

Happy Veteran's Day!

Veterans Day: Honoring those who have served.

Yesterday, Today, and Forever

 

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

Occasionally I make the trip back to where I grew up, a rural acreage that was a farm but also a sand quarry. My father (and his father before him) sold sand to construction companies for concrete, and its location on our property from my growing-up years was a large pit (in fact, that was the business name: Hieb Sand Pit). The view of the pit from our house hasn’t changed much over the years, even though much of the landscape on the property has.

I think of this “sameness” like the promise from God in the scripture noted above. He has promised to be the same “yesterday, today, and forever”. This steady presence in our world brings a sense of peace, even when the world around us seems to be in chaos.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your promises and your steadiness in our lives. Thank you for remaining the same yesterday, today, and forever. Thank you for being that one we can turn to when we need clarity and a sense of peace. Amen.

Donna Gustafson

(top two photos show the view referenced in devotion, second one taken on a recent trip (September 2023). The barn has, sadly, fallen apart. Other photos of the sand pit added just for fun! Click on any photo to view larger.)

What’s In It for Me?

“And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Hebrews 13:16

We have all been asked to donate, serve on a committee, or help someone. Often our first reaction is to try to think of an excuse to turn down the request—I’m too busy. I don’t know how to do that. Money is pretty tight right now. I already gave at the office. Solicitations arrive in the mail almost every day and tossed directly into the trash - unless there is a “thank you" gift offered. Sometimes those garner a second consideration. Is that trunk organizer worth contributing?  An “NPR Nerd” t-shirt would be fun to wear, and I only have to give five dollars a month.

When Paul wrote to the Hebrews to encourage Jewish members of the church to follow the teachings of Jesus and not revert to their previous practices, he directed them to do good deeds that required sacrifice. Sacrifice requires giving something we value, that costs us something. Investing in another person and going out of our way by offering our time, our prayerful support, or a listening ear is far more valuable than anything money can do or buy. When we give ourselves to others, we are pleasing God.

Prayer: Lord God, help me recognize others who are in need and see how to “do good” in a way that reflects a sacrifice pleasing to God. Give me the strength and courage to offer myself in ways that are uncomfortable and unfamiliar. Amen.           

Carol McClain

Miracles People Viewed

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them.  His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.  Matthew 17:1-4

Jesus’ countenance changed in an unearthly way. He appeared like he will in heaven while he was still on earth.

As he (Jesus) approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” Those who were sent ahead found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”  They replied, “The Lord needs it.” They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. Luke 19:29-36 

Not only did Jesus know the colt would be sitting there, he knew the owners would let the donkey go without payment if they said Jesus needed it. This is crossing the barriers of time and space along with preparing the owners minds to just let them take the colt to Jesus without paying anything. Did you catch that the colt had never been ridden? Somehow Jesus related to the colt’s mind that it was okay to have someone on his back. Another miracle!

He (Jesus) is the maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. Job 9:9-11 (The Orion is a prominent constellation during winter in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is one of the eighty-eight modern constellations; it was among the forty-eight constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy. It is named for a mythological hunter in Greek mythology. The Pleiades are a dazzling cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus, visible to the naked eye on clear nights.)

I love looking at the night sky. The making of the constellations is unbelievable, but he also made the earth, other planets and all of creation as we know it. Including US! If you want to know more about His miracles, search “Bible Gateway” where there is a list of forty-two miracles of Jesus throughout His lifetime on earth.

Prayer: Dear Father in Heaven, open our hearts to believe our Savior, Jesus. Thank you for the people that talked about seeing these miracles. Jesus was God on earth as God’s son and gave His life for us. Amen.

Sandra Hilsabeck

Give Thanks

Be joyful

Pray always

Give thanks 

Promises from the book of Corinthians

If the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven...2 Corinthians 5:1 

Choose Your Friends Carefully

“He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” Proverbs 13:20

“Do not be deceived. ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’” 1 Corinthians 15:33

Have you noticed how when a group gathers, the conversation often turns to a mutual friend who stayed home? Sometimes stories are told about silly predicaments they encountered. Or the time they were really embarrassed in front of a crowd. The absent friend’s escapades bring guffaws and laughter to the gang.  Suddenly the absent friend makes a late appearance and asks, “What’s so funny, guys?” Everyone averts their eyes and lamely tries to avoid the question.

Now imagine a group of believers gathering to share news of the love of God, forgiveness, and caring. They laugh about the joyous day when they arrive at the heavenly gates. The friends share parables and challenge each other to interpret Jesus’ word. Amazingly, God appears among them and asks, “Have you shown love to each other?” No one needs to look away; they excitedly rush to tell God about the compassion they have gladly shared. 

Prayer: Lord God, remind us to follow the example of Christ and hold onto kind and caring thoughts about our friends and acquaintances. Help us censor our words and resist peer pressure to act in opposition to our good morals. Amen

Carol McClain

All Saints' Day