The Good News

 

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,

    who will prepare your way”—

“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

    make straight paths for him.’”

And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.  John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.  I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Mark 1:1-8 NIV

Words from Jeremiah

"Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you. Jeremiah 1:5a The Message 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

  

I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High. Psalm 7:17 

I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. Psalm 9:1

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 1 Chronicles 16:34–35

Our Shelter and Refuge

“My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust,” Psalm 91:1-2

In the book Gracelaced by Ruth Chou Simons, Ruth shares how her busy home (she is mom to six boys!) makes it a struggle to keep things tidy. She continues with something that was eye-opening to me (someone who loves to stay home and considers her home a peaceful sanctuary): our perfect home can be “an idol of the heart that can neither sustain nor deliver”.

In essence, she’s saying that we should find comfort in God, not our surroundings. I don’t think that means we can’t enjoy a peaceful home environment, but when we place our trust in that for our happiness, we’ll be disappointed. When things are chaotic, we will find ourselves unbalanced instead of harmonious, struggling instead of tranquil.

Of course, a restful home isn't the only thing that can take God's place as our shelter. As an exercise, she suggests filling in the blanks to find the “false shelters” in our lives. Like this:

_______________________ is not my shelter. 

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to place my trust and faith in you as my refuge from the storms of life. I know that there will be times that I’ll want a shelter free from adversity and hardship. I know to put my trust in you, and to find peace within you and your word, not within those idols of our world. Amen.

Donna Gustafson

Care a Lot and Pray a Lot

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.  Hebrews 10: 22 – 25

A friend of mine told me, “My worst sin is that I’m a procrastinator.  It gets in my way and it keeps me from doing all that God created me to do.”  I would have to say that I’m the opposite.  My worst sin may be that I’m an “urgent-inator”.  I want everything to happen right away, as in “Never put off til tomorrow what you can do today” – even if it means losing sleep and missing other good things in order to get it done. I like to write things on my to-do list and check them off at the same time.  If an email is in my in-box, I feel I need to respond to it. 

In my advancing age, though, I have learned that some things are better off if they’re left to sit for awhile – chili soup, angry words, home decorating, and God’s work.  Scripture tells us that it is through challenges that we grow in our faith and our dependence on God. Paul writes this in nearly every letter – Hebrews, Corinthians, Philippians, 1 Timothy. It was true for them then and it’s true for us now. 

Right now, there are a lot of things that make us afraid. And fixers, like me, would like to fix things up right away.  A nice easy solution would be very nice!  But God sees things with eternal eyes. The Apostle Paul talks to all the early churches about the need  for struggles and perseverance in order to grow faith.  As the writer Anne Lamont says, “It’s good to be afraid, when it mobilizes us to fight tooth and nail for what is right, when it pricks the balloon of our complacency, when it gets us back on our feet.  A lot of us are both afraid and devoutly faithful at the same time… courage is fear that has said its prayers.” 

We can respond to the things that make us afraid with fear.  Or we can care a lot and pray a lot.  We can stick together and share and listen and draw nearer to God knowing that we are loved and chosen and safe.  We know the ending of the story, and it is this.  In the end, God wins.  Jesus came to tell us that.

Today I will pray to the God that loves us, and be at peace.

Prayer:  Dear Lord, It seems like there are so many things to be afraid of, but I know that you tell us over and over again in Scripture to, “Be not afraid”, and to trust You.  Protect me from my urgent-inator ways.  I pray for peace in my soul as You slow me down and help me to remember to pray and to trust You while You work out Your way in the world.  Amen

Lori Snyder-Sloan (reprinted from the Eastridge Advent Devotional, 2016)

Keep Doing

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1

About a year ago, one of our neighbors told us his philosophy on aging and his belief that whatever you can keep doing…. You can keep doing. If this sounds complicated or like word play say it out loud a few times. He was referencing activity. If you mow your lawn every week, you can probably keep mowing it year after year (even with a break for winter) because you are training and conditioning your body. If you took 2-3 years off from mowing and outsourced it to a child or grandchild, or neighbor kid, or even a mowing service it might be hard for you to get back to doing that chore. Our neighbor makes sure that when the weather is nice he rides his bike once every week, so that he can keep riding his bike. Before he retired he walked to and from work 3 or more days a week. 

My grandmother would have turned 100 this year. I have been thinking about this idea, of doing what you can do. My grandmother lived with us most of my life.  She had a stroke when I was 2 and returned home, with a walker. Our house had a LOT of stairs, and her bedroom was on the second floor, and the laundry was in the basement, and we had a huge clawfoot tub but no shower. This seems like a physical therapy return to home nightmare. But my grandmother survived the Great Depression, and World War II serving as a WAVE, and the turbulence of the 1960s, and the uncertain economic structure of the 1980s, and the early instances of domestic terrorism and she was certainly going to come home, and do everything that she did before her stroke. She was able to keep doing, what she was able to keep doing.

In 2020, we have struggled mightily against a virus that we cannot see. Through a political campaign that has divided friends and families and neighbors. Through changes to virtually every normal experience in our lives. As we approach the holidays, it is hard to endure the loneliness, to remain separated, to let go of our anger about differences in polity, to plan for a celebration with only those who we regularly interact with, and to keep our numbers small and exclusive. To wear a mask indoors when visiting others and to hold our hugs and kisses for the future. It is hard to not feel angry for these losses and limitations. But if we want to continue to celebrate with those we love in the future, we must push past this challenge and throw off everything that hinders us. We must be creative.  We must protect those we love by assuring that we are distant from them. We might have to explain that we know this will result in hurt feelings, but saved lives. We have to keep doing what we can keep doing.

Prayer: God who knows all about the race course ahead, please be with us during this time of sadness and uncertainty. Help us to manage our feelings of loss and anger.  Help us to remember that our sacrifices today, will be of benefit for all humanity in the future. Shower us with your love and compassion and give us strength to endure.  Amen. 

Christi Moock

Holy Spirit

And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Acts 2:2

The strong winds of the south came blowing into our area. It was gusting up to 40 MPH and it was 73 degrees outside. I took the dogs outside and standing on my porch I felt the strong winds pressing against me. For some reason, I don’t really know why, it reminded me of every time I have heard of the Holy Spirit with the breath of God embracing the body. I stood there and felt the need to pray for the Holy Spirit to encompass me. The last 8 months have been such as over pouring of negativity, anger, sorrow, fear and hate in the world.  Every time I have felt overwhelmed I take the time to talk to God and pray for strength and refresh my soul. At this moment it was a feeling of a warm wind with the sun that began to feel like arms wrapping around me. I closed my eyes to fully enjoy the moment of God’s nature sending the message that all is good. I opened my eyes and began to again see the beauty of nature before and count my blessings.

Prayer: Dear Father in Heaven, I pray that the mighty power of the Holy Spirit will cover the world and heal your creation. I pray that all find the strength to work together and comfort each other in their hour of need. I pray that we learn to count our blessings, even the small ones that we so take for granted. I pray that all those in turmoil will find it in themselves to kneel down, pray and ask for your forgiveness and guidance. In Jesus name, Amen. 

And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:22

Lori Hood