Gratitude

O love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Psalm 116:1

Isn't it wonderful that our God not only hears our prayers of gratitude for all that He has done for us, but He also hears our prayers when we ask for his help. Sometimes when I am troubled by a problem and know that I need lots of help from God, I may forget to thank Him for all the wonderful blessings that He has given to me and immediately begin my prayer by asking for help. Do you sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and have difficulty falling asleep again? It is at these times that I pray to God, thanking Him for all the many blessings that he has given me and asking Him for His help for the day that will be dawning soon. These prayers help me relax and fall asleep again. When I awaken in the morning, I feel that God is with me and that He will be with me throughout the day, guiding me in all that I do and say.

Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, thank you for all the many blessings that you have given us. You are with us every second of every day, watching over us as your children. Help us to always do your will and to be a witness for you in everything that we do and in everything that we say. In Your name we pray. Amen.

Linda Douglas (reprinted from Eastridge Daily Devotion book, printed in 2008)

Migration

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

In an essay published in a 2019 National Geographic “We Are All Migrants”, Mohsin Hamid talks about migration. When you hear this word, a few things probably come to mind. You may be thinking about picking up roots and moving from one location to another. Or you may be thinking about birds and animals that migrate from one area to another according to the seasons and food/water availability.

In Mohid’s essay, he points out that we are continuously migrating. As we move through time, “none of us is a native of the place we call home. And none of us is a native to this moment in time.” Further, he says: “we become refugees from our childhoods, the schools, the friends, the toys, the parents that made up our worlds all gone, replaced by new buildings, by phone calls, photo albums, and reminiscences.” In addition, this essay makes one aware that not much is gained from dividing ourselves into “native” and “migrant”. There is much more to his essay, but for this devotion, I’m focusing on individual growth.

I think of this migration of our lives, and how, for me, it’s been a journey of learning, spiritual growth, and appreciating humility. As we “migrate” from one time to another, we (hopefully) learn along the way a little bit from everyone we meet, everyone God puts in our path. Those lessons may be hard, they may include “what not to do”, and/or they may be hopeful and loving. These lessons, if we are open to them, are part of our spiritual growth. If we're in the Word, we can probably find something scriptural about every single encounter we have with others. Thankfully, if we include God in the journey, we will find blessings in the migration.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to keep you close to me in thought and prayer as I migrate through life. Let me learn, grow, and become closer to you. Amen.

Donna Gustafson

Psalm 25

 In you, Lord my God,

    I put my trust.

I trust in you;

    do not let me be put to shame,

    nor let my enemies triumph over me.

No one who hopes in you

    will ever be put to shame,

but shame will come on those

    who are treacherous without cause.

Show me your ways, Lord,

    teach me your paths.

Guide me in your truth and teach me,

    for you are God my Savior,

    and my hope is in you all day long.

Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,

    for they are from of old.

Do not remember the sins of my youth

    and my rebellious ways;

according to your love remember me,

    for you, Lord, are good.

Good and upright is the Lord;

    therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

He guides the humble in what is right

    and teaches them his way.

All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful

    toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

For the sake of your name, Lord,

    forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?

    He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.

They will spend their days in prosperity,

    and their descendants will inherit the land.

The Lord confides in those who fear him;

    he makes his covenant known to them.

My eyes are ever on the Lord,

    for only he will release my feet from the snare.

Turn to me and be gracious to me,

    for I am lonely and afflicted.

Relieve the troubles of my heart

    and free me from my anguish.

Look on my affliction and my distress

    and take away all my sins.

See how numerous are my enemies

    and how fiercely they hate me!

Guard my life and rescue me;

    do not let me be put to shame,

    for I take refuge in you.

May integrity and uprightness protect me,

    because my hope, Lord, is in you. Psalm 25

The Parable of the Sower

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

His disciples asked him what this parable meant.  He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,

“‘though seeing, they may not see;

    though hearing, they may not understand.’

“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.  Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. Luke 8:1-15

Prayer

Why must people kneel down to pray? If I really wanted to pray I'll tell you what I'd do. I'd go out into a great big field all alone or in the deep, deep woods, and I'd look up into the sky-up, up, up into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness. And then I'd just feel a prayer. 

                                                           L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

A Psalm of Praise

  

Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

I will praise the Lord all my life;

    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Do not put your trust in princes,

    in human beings, who cannot save.

When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;

    on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,

    whose hope is in the Lord their God.

 

He is the Maker of heaven and earth,

    the sea, and everything in them—

    he remains faithful forever.

He upholds the cause of the oppressed

    and gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets prisoners free,

     the Lord gives sight to the blind,

the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,

    the Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the foreigner

    and sustains the fatherless and the widow,

    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

 

The Lord reigns forever,

    your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord. Psalm 146

Saving Pennies and Choosing Wisely

Suppose one of you want to build a tower.  Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? Luke 14:28

I am reading a new-to-me author this week. Throughout the book the author has included phrases from one of the character's grandmothers. The one that has stayed with me is “Save your pennies, and the dollars will save themselves.” This morning on the national news there was advice from financial experts about the ways that spending has changed during the pandemic and how we need to look at our budgets as things begin to re-open. Not everyone was able to have the blessing of work during the pandemic. And now there is news that some unemployment dollars will need to be paid back.  Our family has been fortunate to work during the pandemic. We have benefitted from the interest deferral on federal student loans. No concerts, sporting events and limited travel have helped us to save up for bigger purchases. Prior to the pandemic we had set some goals for paying off debt and increasing our savings.

As I read this verse from Luke I thought about instances where we make decisions without evaluating if we have enough. This could be about money, but it could also be about time, or personal interest. Do we stop often enough to think through what we are committing to? Many times for financial items, if our need or desire is deep enough we will “borrow” the funds, this could be for a mortgage, a car, education, or vacation. This allows us an opportunity to have what we want and plan to pay it off in the future. This isn’t as easy with personal commitments. With time, we often have to review our available budget to see if we can fit something in. This could be volunteering for a community charity, serving at church or making a weekly date night with our partner a priority. 

Budgeting isn’t only about adding, but also subtracting to get things to balance. If you want to go to Europe for 3 weeks where are you willing to trim expenses to save for the trip? Your daily coffee? Reducing your clothing budget? Maybe 6 months without cable? If you want to give back to your community or your faith what are you willing to give up to make time to do this? Maybe it means cancelling Netflix night. Maybe it means not sleeping in on the weekends.  What does your personal and financial budget cycle look like?

Prayer: Guiding God, help us to evaluate our personal and financial budgets and listen to the hope inside our hearts. Help us to be conscientious with all the gifts that we have been given. Lead us to good choices and service in your name.  Amen.     

Christi Moock