Pregnant with the Spirit

Thursday, May 31    
Romans 8:22-25 (The Message)
"All around us we observe a pregnant creation.  The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs.  But it's not only around us; it's within us.  The Spirit of God is arousing us within.  We're also feeling the birth pangs.  These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance....We are enlarged in the waiting....The longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy."  
     Thank you, Eugene Peterson, for making this passage slightly easier to understand!  Even the Good News Bible seemed convoluted.
     "The Spirit of God is arousing us within." (vs. 23)  I like this verse!  We are all in a pregnancy of Hope - our hope in the complete fullness of life in Christ, our hope for a God-filled life in the present, and the promise of an intimate life in the direct presence of the Creator for all eternity.  We can endure the hardships and pains of our pregnancy because we anticipate the absolute joy with which we shall welcome our delivery into the hands of God.  We are "swelling larger and larger as the power of the Spirit grows within us."  (d365.org)  Somehow, linking the trials and struggles of discipleship with the pains of pregnancy makes it so clear!  The anticipated joys of birth overwhelm all the pain.  Just ask a new mother.
     People treat a pregnant woman differently - with more respect and love.  What if we were to view each person we meet as pregnant...with the Spirit?  Would that change how we treat them?
     Let us live in joyful hope and anticipation of the Spirit growing within us!  All Creation is pregnant!  Come, Spirit, Come!

Holding Hands with the Spirit

Wednesday, May 30 
John 16:12-13
"I still have many things to tell you, but you can't handle them now.  But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you in all the truth there is." (The Message)
     I have often heard the phrase, "God won't give you more than you can handle."  Jesus seems to be telling the disciples the same.  Step by step the Spirit will guide us.  We may never see the Big Picture of God for it is more than we can comprehend!  But piece by piece our part in the overall plan will be revealed.
     Perhaps the question we should ask of ourselves is "Are we ready to receive, ready to hear, ready to act upon, what the Spirit's revelation may mean in our lives?"  That revelation may be confusing or unsettling.  It may be 'out of our comfort zone'!  It may not be what it on 'our agenda'.   But it will never be more than we can handle.  The Holy Spirit will be holding our hand!      

Father Knows Best!

Tuesday, May 29     Father Knows Best!
John 16:4-7
"I didn't tell you this earlier because I was with you every day.  But now I am on my way to the One who sent me.  Not one of you has asked, 'Where are you going?'  Instead, the longer I've talked, the sadder you've become.  So let me say it again, this truth: It's better for you that I leave.  If I don't leave, the Friend won't come.  but if I go, I'll send him to you."  (The Message)

          This passage has the classic sound of parents telling their children, "This is for your own good!" or "This will hurt me more than you" or "Father knows best!"  But.... the Father DOES know what is best for us!  We cannot fathom the plan of God anymore than we can comprehend the depth of God.  We have to trust in faith the untimely events, the strange requests, the good and the bad of life, can all ultimately be 'for our own good' because it is with unfathomable love that God operates.  We pray our prayers and then complain that God didn't answer them as we requested.  No, because God answered in the way that was best for us!  Our Father does know best!
          Jesus is reminding the disciples he will be leaving....for their own good.  But he also reiterates that when he leaves, the Advocate/Friend in the form of the Holy Spirit will come!  He will not be gone except in a physical sense.  What wonderful reassurance to have!  God is taking care of us!

Memorial Weekend Devotions on the Road

Monday, May 28   The Spirit As Advocate & Friend
John 15:26-27
"When the Friend I plan to send you from the Father comes - the Spirit of Truth issuing from the Father - he will confirm everything about me.  You, too, from your side must give your confirming evidence since you are in this with me from the start." (The Message)
     Jesus is still in the middle of his long prayer with the disciples in this passage.  He speaks of the Spirit to come as The Advocate (NRSV), the Friend (Message), Helper (TEV), Comforter (KJ), Counselor, Intercessor, and Strengthener (Amplified) as per various translations.  Advocate is most commonly used in many modern translations.
     What is an advocate?  One who has the power to speak on behalf of and ensure the best possible resources and blessings are granted to an individual or group.  In looking up the official definition, I found the term publicly used.  This is an obvious and public demonstration of support. As the Spirit speaks with the power of God on our behalf, it empowers us to speak on behalf of all God's children in need of a friend and comforter.  Verse 27 emphasizes our responsibility in sharing truth of God's love, as revealed in Jesus.  A-A Masters of d365.org writes, "As children of God, we must testify and be advocates for justice and truth because we ourselves are given the ultimate Advocate." 
     Who needs me to be their advocate/friend or comforter today?  How can I let the Spirit which strengthen me, intercede on behalf of another?  Am I giving confirming evidence of the presence of Love in my life?


Sunday, May 27     PENTECOST!  The Spirit Comes!
Psalm 104:24-30 (Selected text from The Message)
"What a wildly wonderful world, God! 
You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, 
Made earth overflow with your wonderful creations. 
All the creatures look expectantly to you to give them their meals on time...
Take back your Spirit and they die, revert to original mud;
Send out your Spirit and they spring to life - 
The whole countryside in bloom and blossom." 

     Today is the birthday of the church.  A celebration and time to remember when the Holy Spirit of God breathed life into a collective people so they could spring forth and blossom as God intended.  When the Spirit isn't present, we are back to the old life; we've died to God's promise of eternal life.  Let our hearts be filled!  Let us work together as a Spirit-led church.  May we celebrate our birthday with joy, with blossoming hearts, party balloons, and the flames of passion!  Come, Spirit, Come!
  
Saturday, May 26, 2012
1 John 5:12-13
"Whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life.  My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life."  (The Message)
     Simple, short, and a good reminder.  That's all John is saying.  As I couldn't log into d365.org initially this morning (figuring out campground internet!), I went to the Introduction to John 1,2,and 3 written by Eugene Peterson.  I found it an excellent summary of John's concise words:
     "The two most difficult things to get straight in life are love and God.  More often than not, the mess people make of their lives can be traced to failure or stupidity or meanness in one or both of these areas...

     "....the two subjects are intricately related.  If we want to deal with God the right way, we have to learn to love the right way.  If we want to love the right way, we have to deal with God the right way.  God and love can't be separated.  
     "John's three letters provide wonderfully explicit direction in how this works.  Jesus, the Messiah, is the focus...provides a true understanding of God; ....mature working out of love... God and love are linked accurately, intricately, and indissolubly in Jesus. 
     "There are always people who...want to make up their own idea of God,...their own style of love. ...In his letters, John is reestablishing the original and organic unity of God and love that comes to focus and becomes available to us in Jesus Christ." 
     Suddenly the image of Professor John, trying to get his message across, writes it on the black board of life as a mathematical equation.  An absolute Truth or principal of life.  A Scientific law.  A reminder for his students over and over of how to gain eternal life.  How to live in the relationship of God and love.  The Law of God.

Friday, May 25, 2012                        “Eternal Life”

1 John 5:11 

“This is the Testimony in essence:  God gave us eternal life; the life is in his Son.” (The Message)

            Once again, John can’t get any more succinct.  He certainly doesn’t waste words:  God gives us eternal life in Christ.  That’s it!  That’s enough!

            So often I think people envision eternal life as just life after our physical death here on earth.  I believe it is more than that.  A death must take place, but I see it as a death of our past behaviors and life, a death to the pre-Christ way of doing things.  Eternal life is truly living in the here and now.  It is living into the grace of God, living into the Truth, living into and through the overwhelming love of the Father.  Eternal life is living a God-filled life, just as Jesus did.  If we live as Jesus lived; we shall experience the eternal life God promised.  

Testimony

Thursday, May 24
1 John 5:9-10
"If we take human testimony at face value, how much more should we be reassured when God gives testimony as he does here, testifying concerning his Son.  Whoever believes in the Son of God inwardly confirms God's testimony.  Whoever refuses to believe in effect calls God a liar, refusing to believe God's own testimony regarding His Son."  (The Message)
     Most testimony we get today comes from the news media, teachers, parents, and friends.  Imagine how the Good News might have been shared in 35 AD if the power of modern technology had been available then?  Would Jesus have gone 'viral' on the internet?
     How have we learned about the Christ?  Parents? Family? Sunday School teacher? (I still remember my 5th grade teacher, Andy Moore!) The testimony of a friend?  Your church family?  Good sources all!  Reliable?  Usually!
     But the best source, the MOST authoritative, is God himself (herself?)  If we believe, if we open our hearts to God, we can hear him speaking to us.  If we question the authority or the Truth in what we hear from other sources, we need to go back and listen to God!  The Testimony from God is Truth!

Protected by Truth

Wednesday, May 23
John 17:14-19
".....Guard them from the Evil One...Make them holy - consecrated - with the Truth; your word is consecrating truth.  In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world.  I'm consecrating myself for their sakes, so they'll be truth-consecrated in their mission." (The Message, vs. 15, 17)
     'Guard against Evil', protection, safety, power of Truth.....this sounds like Jesus is directing his prayer at a gathering of new SuperHeroes!  Jesus, God's first SuperPower, took on the responsibility of Truth, and now, in a world of hostility, he is passing it on.  The safety and protection of God's truth will be a necessary defense or secret super-power for the disciples.
     Paul's description of the Armour of Christ in Ephesians comes to mind here in addition to Super Heroes. Armed with the sword of the Spirit, the Armor of Righteousness, the Helmet of Salvation!   The Truth will be the disciples' superpower against injustice, hatred and sin.
       What kind of movie might this make?  Take the Joker out of Batman and replace him with Satan.  Add the Jewish high court, the Romans, and the idol worshippers as the antagonists, the 'Evil Ones'.  Arm twelve superheroes with the power of God, manifested in the Holy Spirit and the words of Christ.
     How does the movie end?  Do I have a small role in it?  My powers of Truth are within me.  Have I used them?

Safe to Soar

Tuesday, May 22
John 17:10-13
"They'll continue in the world while I return to you.  Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life that you conferred as a gift through me.  So they can be one heart and mind as we are one heart and mind....Now I'm returning to you.  I'm saying these things in the world's hearing so my people can experience my joy completed in them."  (The Message, vs. 11, 13)
     I envision Jesus ready to leave all his disciples at college or perhaps their graduation.  He has taught them all he can.  He has watched over them much as a parent.  He has protected them from the sins of the world.  Now it is time to let go...and leave them in God's care.  But God and Jesus are one.  So, perhaps the prayer, as verse 13 suggests, is really more for the disciples' benefit than a petition to God.  Jesus wants to assure them he will continue to 'be in touch' even though he won't physically be present.  One in me, one in God, one in each other.
     Another image pops into my mind.  The mother eagle is preparing to shove the eaglets out of the nest.  Their learning is over.  The prayer of the mother Jesus is they have learned their lessons well and will soar - safe and lifted high by the love and power of God the Father, Christ the Son, and the breath of the Holy Spirit.
     How willing am I to leap from the nest?  Have I received my diploma? Am I 'one in Christ' enough to feel that safety net below?

Speaking for God

Monday, May 21
John 17:7-9
"They now know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that everything you gave me is firsthand from you.  For the message you gave me, I gave them, and they took it and were convinced that I came from you.  They believed that you sent me.  I pray for them.  I'm not praying for the God-rejecting world, but for those you gave me, for they are yours by right." (The Message)
     Jesus, in this longest recorded prayer in John, is asking that his disciples will continue to realize that his message is authentic from God, even when the going gets tough.  He is the current "burning bush" for this generation and time.  He speaks for God.  His words must ring with Truth when the listeners acknowledge the source of the words.
     But how often do we hear someone say, "God told me to do it!"?  People today claim God guides them to do all sorts of questionable things.  They claim to have the same 'direct channel' to God that Jesus had.  How do we know what's from God and what isn't?
     Look beyond the words to the actions.  Jesus lived God's word.  We believe what he said because his daily life, his healing, helping and loving, all affirmed his words as God's Truth.
     Does my daily living affirm God's love and message to those I encounter?  My neighbors, friends, and family?  If I tell someone this message is from God, will my life make my words believable?

SOIL SAFETY

Sunday, May 20
Psalm 1:1-3
"Happy are those who reject the advice of evil men, who do not follow the example of sinners or join those who have no use for God.  
Instead, they find joy in obeying the Law of the Lord, and they study it day and night. 
They are like trees that grow beside a stream, that bear fruit at the right time, and whose leaves do not dry up.  They succeed in everything they do."  (TEV)
     What kind of soil grows the best plants, which yield beautiful strong flowers or firm fresh fruit?  Soil that is well watered and fertilized on a consistent basis.  Soil that is tended with loving care.
     We are the trees growing beside a stream.  God longs to take the soil of our hearts and shower us with the life-giving water of baptism.  He wants to fertilize us with the Scripture and Spirit.  He will tend the soil of our soul.   When we grow in a God-nurtured soil, we will grow strong, able to withstand the dangers and pressures of this life.  We will be safe in the heart of God.  We will be able to prosper and grow.
     Are we doing enough to allow the water and nutrients INTO the soil of our hearts?  Or do we have a little tilling to do to prepare the soil to receive?

     This week's theme on d365.org is SAFE.  The opening "Pause" for this week reads:
     "From the time we are children we try to determine when and where safety can be counted on.  That doesn't mean we don't take chances, even dangerous ones.  But we can be sure that safety is always found wherever God is.  That doesn't mean life isn't dangerous, however.  In a dangerous world, find your SAFE place now, quietly in the heart of God." 

Confirmation Contact

Saturday, May 19

1 John 5:6

"Jesus - the Christ!  He experienced a life-giving birth and a death-killing death.  Not only birth from the womb, but baptismal birth of his ministry and sacrificial death.  And all the while the Spirit is confirming the Truth." (The Message)

     d365.org speaks of the humanity and divinity of Christ in the experience of baptism and blood, life and death.  It writes of the humility in which we must live to allow the divinity of Christ to show forth.  Yet it is mostly in the last line of the verse that speaks to me today: The Spirit confirms the Truth.  

     Rick and I watched the movie Contact last night for the first time in years.  I wonder now if we ever had really watched it clear to the end, because I remembered a movie about radio telescopes and outer space aliens and making contact with intelligent life on another world.  And while that story-line plays out, last night the message I received loud and clear was a message of Faith and Truth.  The lead character, played by Jodie Foster, is denied the chance to go into space because she cannot PROVE scientifically there is a God.  The underlying conflict for Jodie is with a romantic interest, a man of faith who challenges her science-only foundation.       

     Ultimately, Jodie does experience space, through a wormhole that I liken to baptism, and she encounters a Spirit confirming truth on a planet of the star Vega.  She returns to earth transformed.  She has seen the universal God in space through an indescribable encounter.  Yet the very science she formally espoused to deny God, now fails her in her attempt to PROVE her "contact" was real.  She must ask the world to believe her on faith alone.  I asked myself, is the movie about contact with intelligent life "out there" or contact with none other than God?  Regardless, the Spirit was with her on the journey, and the Spirit confirmed for her the Truth of God.  Just as the Spirit continues to work in and through us today to confirm our contact with God and Christ.  

FAMILY AFFAIR

Friday, May 18    Family Affair
1 John 5:1-3
"Every person who believes that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah, is God-begotten.  If we love the One who conceives the child, we'll surely love the child who was conceived.  The reality test on whether or not we love God's children is this:  Do we love God?  Do we keep his commands?  The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments, and they are not at all troublesome."  (The Message)
     Faith is a family affair!  Our brothers and sisters in the family of God and our love for them reflects our love for God.  If we truly love our Father/parent God, it isn't hard to love the whole family.  It just happens as a natural result of following God and his direction for us.  We can't have love for one without love for the other.
     But....do we always get along within a family?  Do we always LIKE what a sibling is doing?  No!   Do we disagree? Yes!  But we can let love be the path through our differences and disagreements, because a bond of love will hold the family together.
     How well have I loved the Father? Son? Spirit?  Have I shared an act of love with a sibling in my faith family recently?  If the love is truly present, it is not difficult.

CHOSEN!

Thursday, May 17         Chosen!
John 15:16-17
"You did not choose me, but I chose you.  And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him, in my name.  I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."  (NRSV)
     I love the word 'Chosen' in this passage.  We are chosen by none other than the Almighty God of the Universe!  Wow!  That is a special calling!  WE are special to God.  YOU are special!  I am special!  It's like getting picked to be on a team in grade school....that warm feeling of being wanted.  But this team is for life....God's team!  Christ has picked me to be on his team for a reason however....to love; to use the power he's given me to bear fruit, fruit of love.  We are chosen, but we are chosen for a big job of responsibility.
     Today I noticed the different use of words in this passage by the NRSV as opposed to The Message:  "Remember the root command: Love one another!"  OR TEV, "This, then, is what I command you: love one another."  These seem much more direct from the "I'm giving you these commands so that you may love one another."  Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?  The command or the love?  The fruit or the vine?  Do we love because it bears the fruit of love (and God then gives us what we ask for)  OR does God give to us all these directions (commands) so that we will love one another?  I think God knows how hard it is to love all - including those different, difficult or divisive.  We are only able to love them through the power of God.  He gives us that ability.  He knows we are going to need a little help.
     Which came first?  That's easy - GOD!  And then, heaps and heaps of love.  We've been chosen to spread that love.  Did God chose well?  Am I doing my part for the team?  Am I living up to the responsibility given to me?

Friends

Wednesday, May 16    FRIENDS
John 15:14-15
"I am no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning.  No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father."  (The Message)
     "Jesus' entire life was an act of love and friendship to us." (d365.org)  To say that we moved from the God-servant or Master/Servant relationship with Jesus/God to the intimate bond of friendship puts everything on a whole new level of understanding.  Friends share with one another.  Friends care for one another.  To live as Jesus lived is to return that act of friendship and be drawn closer and closer to the heart of God.  God wants to speak with us.  A good friend will be there to listen.  Have we listened to God today?  Have we listened to our friends?

Life on the Line

Tuesday, May 15
John 15:13
"Put your life on the line for your friends."  (The Message)
     The Message often lengthens some passages of scripture, but for verse 13 of John 15 it is short and sweet...and to the point.  Those who enter the military understand what it means to be called to die for their country - unknown friends and family.  We as ordinary citizens are not often asked to die for a friendship in the physical sense.  So how can we apply Christ's message in this verse?
     I see two deaths that can take place.  The first is to reject or die to those aspects of our life that separate us from God.  It might be an activity or addiction we REALLY like, hence, a close 'friend'.  Think of death in this case as a good pruning.  Secondly, and I think more importantly, to 'die for someone' means to put their desires and needs ahead of our own.  This is hard to do on a constant basis, but when we live our life thinking of others first, we are free to experience a life of completeness, a life filled with the joy of God's love.
     How can I 'lay down my life' today?  For whom?

Joy Love

Monday, May 14     Joy Love
John 15:11
"I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy be wholly mature." (The Message)
     God has given us commands....for a purpose.  And that purpose is not to judge or boss us around, but simply to show us the best way to live, a safer more productive way, a way that not only allows us to experience God's abundant love more, but to share that love more deeply.  That brings deep and lasting joy.  The purpose of living in God's love, of living in the light of that love, is mature loving/life/joy.  (It's a package deal!)  "By living the way God has told us to live, we are more open to God's light and love - and that is where true and deep joy comes from." (d365.org)

Weekend Love

Sunday, May 13      Back to Love
John 15:12, 17
"This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you.  this is the very best way to love. ... But remember the root command: Love one another."  (The Message)
     When 'all is said and done', it comes back to LOVE.  Love as God loves us.  A love filled with grace and forgiveness.  A sacrificial love that places the needs of others over personal desires.  A patient and honest love.  An unselfish love.  A love of friendship, not master-servant relationship.  That's the command - the ROOT command - the action so necessary to the health of the vine,so critical to produce good fruit.
     Grow love - abide in the vine, prune as necessary, and make myself at home in God's love.  So simple, so hard to do.  But, with God's help, possible.

Note:  Today and yesterday I am off schedule with d365.org.  I am camping and without internet, hence I just continued reading in John 15!  Probably messed myself up for next week according to the lectionary schedule!  


Saturday, May 12   At Home
John 15: 9-10
"I've loved you the way my Father has loved me.  Make yourself at home in my love.  If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love.  That's what I've done - kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love."  (The Message)
     What does it mean to be at home?  I think of that overwhelming sense of comfort and peace when you return to your family home after an absence, perhaps college or to return after being 'out on your own' for awhile.  You are able to be yourself, to not have to be 'on show' for any reason.  To be 'at home' means total acceptance.
     This is how God calls us to be with him - in love.  Obey the 'house rules', but the wonderful peace and joy that comes when we reside with God is well worth it.  God is calling us home.  Let's make ourselves 'at home' in His love.






Friday, May 11  Pruning the Vine
John 15: 1-3
"I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer: He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes.  And every branch that is grape-bearing, he prunes back so it will bear even more." (The Message)

     What struck me as I wrote these lines of scripture is that Jesus is talking about himself!  If God prunes the life of such as Christ, no wonder He can find plenty to prune out in our lives!  We have to remove those parts of our life that crowd out God, then concentrate on growing and blooming as God intends.  Pruning can be like a good spring cleaning to rediscover that which is important in our life.  What part of my life might need a little pruning today?  What am I spending too much time on effort on that doesn't really matter?  That might be counter-productive to expressing God's love to those around me?  Clip-clip!

Love God. Love People.

Thursday, May 10     Love God. Love People.
1 John 4:19-21
"First we were loved, now we love.  He loved us first....The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people.  You've got to love both."  (The Message, 19,21)
     Once more John takes the essence of the Gospel and puts it into one sentence: Loving God includes loving people; you've got to do both.  You can't love God and then hate your brothers and sisters.
     But how many times throughout history have we taken "Loving God" and turned it around.  In 'the name of God', we fought the Crusades, burning at the stake, relentless religious wars, families divided, doors closed to each other, names called, fingers pointed.  Jesus doesn't give the command to judge first, then love.  That's not our job.  Our job is to simply love - even if that love is not returned, even if the loved ones disagree or I don't know them.  Just love 'em.  That's all.  God would be so pleased if we could just figure this out.
     What ONE thing can I do today that would a small act of loving people?  Now...do it.  Now.

PERFECT LOVE

Wednesday, May 9    PERFECT LOVE
1 John 4: 16b-18

"God is love, and whoever lives in love lives in union with God and God lives in union with him.  Love is made perfect in us in order that we may have courage on the judgment Day; and we will have it because our life in this world is the same as Christ's.  There is no fear in love; perfect loves drives out all fear.  So then, love has not been made perfect in anyone who is afraid, because fear has to do with punishment. "  (TEV)
     The Greek word used here for perfect means "mature".  When we are little, we follow certain rules because we fear getting in trouble with our parents. Our limited maturity only allows for this.   Likewise, immature love comes because we don't want to disappoint God.  But as we grow older and wiser, we learn to obey because it is the right way to act.  Love follows the same progression to maturity...to perfect love.  Perfect love is a mature love - one with God that empowers us to love recklessly and fearlessly.  Perfect love is an action, a demonstration of God in us.  We love because God loves.  We love not to avoid God's anger, but because of God's love.
     I challenge myself today to look for opportunities to love....perfectly.

START NEXT DOOR

Tuesday, May 8     Love Starts Next Door
1 John 4:13-16
"This is how we know we're living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He's given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. ... Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God's Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God.  We know it so well, we've embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God."  (The Message)
      Over and over John reminds his readers that our ability to love comes from the Spirit of Christ alive within us.  Love comes from God.  Love God, love each other.  You would think John knew how hard this simple concept would be to grasp!
      Our d365.org writer today recalled the Acts story of Philip sharing the story of Christ with the traveling Ethiopian.  A chance encounter (NOTHING is chance with the Holy Spirit!) that was made sacred because Philip saw the opportunity and shared the love.  The authors challenged us to ask, What persons has God put in front of us that we must love for God's sake?  We might not even suspect that God is at work in the relationship.  And then I thought, "I don't need to look too far for someone to love.  My neighbors are a family in need, a family with both physical and spiritual needs.  Perhaps God is calling me to start right there." Quit judging their values and priorities and do what I can to make God's love alive for them.  Love needs to start right next door.

WORLD HUG

Monday, May 7    Pass It On!
1 John 4:9-12
"My dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other.  No one has seen God, ever.  but if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us - perfect love!  (The Message, vs. 11-12)
It's hard to love from afar.  You can't send a hug through the mail or phone line.  Over the time from Creation, God had used many long distance means to share his love with the world, but ultimately he needed to deliver the love hug in person.  So he sent Jesus to physically love us - or as the phone company would say, "he reached out and touched us"!  But for this love to continue, for the plan to keep working, we have to keep the hug chain alive.  When we love one another, God's love reaches through our hands and arms to hug the world.  That's God-love dwelling in us and sharing God with all.   Give a hug today....give God today.

TWITTER MESSAGE

Sunday, May 6    Twitter Love!
1 John 4:7-8
"Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God.  whoever loves is a child of God and knows God." (TEV, verse 7)

What if God had asked Jesus to post his religious views on Facebook or Twitter the gospel to the world?  The message would be just as concise as John repeatedly gives it: God is love.  Everything else flows from there.  We are given just two commands!  Love God and love each other.  Short and sweet.  Easy to understand.  You would think.
     But we as a collective world have made understanding Christ's Twitter so confusing.  We have mixed up and messed up as we argue the details of "love one another".  What if one part does this?  What if we can love one day and not the next?   What if?  What if?  So much discussion and debate that we miss the point - to love!
     God's Twitter is easy to understand.  There is no reason to be confused.  Love God.  Love each other.  Practice that love.  Keep the message central to our life.  All else flows from there.

A NEW KIND OF STAFF?

Saturday, May 5
1 John 3:23-24
"Again, this is God's command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ.  He told us to love each other, in line with the original command.  As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us.  And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us:  by the Spirit he gave us." (The Message)
     As I read through this passage, my first thoughts were, "OK, we're talking the love commandment here, and then, hmmm, how will I connect this is the Shepherding theme for the week?"  But then the thought occurred to me....the Spirit!  The Staff!  Isn't the Holy Spirit just a new kind of staff?  The shepherd's crook, that tool of intimate shepherding has become the superpower cape of the Holy Spirit.  With the power of Christ abiding within us, we can have the power to love all, in spite of personal hesitation to love those that are different or we don't like.  Our Shepherding cape/staff gives us the love to act in ways we can't alone.  The Holy Spirit is our Shepherd's crook!  We are all Shepherd's of Christ's love.  We will make mistakes, but we know the tools and support of Christ is ever present for us to act as we are called to do.
     Let's put on our capes and do a little shepherding.  It will be exciting to see what God has in store for the flock!

Thanks to my Missional friends for giving me voice and a platform to share my daily thoughts!!!  Scribbles may not come on a daily basis next week...This week.I was intrigued with drawing lots of sheep, plus I wasn't feeling well enough to do much else!  I AM FEELING BETTER TODAY...finally!

USE YOUR STAFF

Friday, May 4    USE YOUR STAFF

1 John 3:18

"My dear children, let's not just talk about love, let's practice real love.  This is the only way we'll know we're living truly; living in God's reality."

    A Shepherd cannot tend the flock from a far off post and then use a microphone or megaphone to yell directions at the sheep.  The key tool for a Shepherd is the staff: a tool that implies action, not just talk; a tool that suggests getting intimate among the sheep.  

     People are like sheep in many ways.  "Instead of just words, people respond best to someone who is willing to come beside them and offer a helping hand, a listening ear, or a hug." (Susan Reed, d365.org) To shepherd means a willingness to get involved in the lives of the sheep.  How often do we want to shepherd with megaphone or wallet - a quick word of advice and a dollar slipped in here and there - such "action" doesn't demand much investment, our 'staff' doesn't get dirty!  Our shepherding love will mean so much more if it is shown with actions, not just words.  Listen to the sheep.  Hear their concerns.  Work beside them.  Shepherd using the staff.  Shepherd AMONG the sheep.  

Being a missional church in community has a lot in common with shepherding our flock of sheep.   Being missional is working AMONG the sheep.  How are we doing?  What are we doing?  Maybe we need to know our sheep better.     That could be step one.  

From Jim....

I'm at work, I have no problem standing, stretching, taking a short break to renew my mental focus. Why is it I don't think to do this throughout the day to renew my spiritual focus? 

"Lay down our lives" I naturally think of dying but I can lay down my life without dying physically. I can die to my wants and desires, I can set aside my life for the life God desires to give me. If I take up God's life, I must lay down my life, for the sake of the world. We are chosen, not for the sake of salvation but for the sake of the world. The world is our flock and like all the saints who came before us, are here now and who will come, we learn how to shepherd during "ON THE JOB TRAINING", with the guidance of our Lord and Savior through His Holy Spirit. As you have pointed out, Ginger, "God, you have given me a perfect example to follow. While I cannot live up to that example, help me to desire to try. Help me see myself as a shepherd of your love for the world. Amen." 

I believe, technically our Missional Community devotion, is more than just a day, it is a God given way of LIFE. I believe, technically, you are living what we have committed to as a community and "come much closer to acting as Christ in our broken world."  

With Love,

Jim

MORE SHEEP

I know yesterday was "technically" our Missional community devotion day, but I have been caught up in the Sheep imagery all week (and lacking anything more strenuous to occupy my time....).  I especially found the closing prayer in today's message thought provoking:  "God, you have given me a perfect example to follow. While I cannot live up to that example, help me to desire to try. Help me see myself as a shepherd of your love for the world. Amen." Read on....


Thursday, May 3    Shepherd Love
1 John 3:16-17
"This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us.  This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves...."  (The Message)

    To be a good Shepherd means to put the needs of the flock ahead of our own. It involves sacrifice.  It means diligently tending the flock and not running off and neglecting them.  Even if we don't always LIKE some of the flock....or they hold different views from ours.  I must tend to some gay sheep in my flock?  Some Arab sheep?  We often get caught up in judging the value of the sheep first.  Christ set the example of Shepherding. If we see each sheep as our extension of Christ's love....if we see LOVE in each sheep, our sacrifice will come, our actions will be right.  If we Shepherd Love, rather than sheep, we will come much closer to acting as Christ in our broken world.  








Wednesday, May 2    One Flock
John 10:16-18
"You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen.  I need to gather and bring them too.  they'll also recognize my voice." (The Message)
     At the heart of yesterday's devotion was the message that God calls me by name - individually.  He knows ME inside and out.  It would be easy to think of this as a one-on-one exclusive relationship - a personal Big Brother and Shepherd.  But Jesus goes on to remind us there are other sheep also. 
     Other sheep?  What? I have to share?  Does God/Christ love that funny-looking sheep over there just as much as me?  If that sheep has lots of problems, will the Shepherd have time for me?  Those sheep are different from me.  Are you sure they recognize the same shepherd's voice?  They hear it differently.  We have to live together in the same pen?  In harmony?  
     We love the thought of a unique individual faith with God.  We don't always handle sharing our pen, or our God, as well with those who hear the same voice, but in a different way.  How do we learn to live together in the flock?  Watch and listen to the Good Shepherd.  Copy him.  He's pretty good at loving ALL the sheep.  

This is interesting, navigating this blog! 

This blog is one vehicle for communication. Newsletters, e-mail, postcards, telephone calls, face to face conversations are all communication vehicles. This blog is intended for community communication, the community of "1st. Presbyterian Missional Community" yet not all those who are currently in this particular community and those who potentially could be in this community can conveniently access this forum. Which introduces us to an additional issue. 

Our intent is to listen to God, discern God's Will. We grow in our personal discernment through personal spiritual practices,  grow in our communal discernment through communal spiritual practices and through our community dialog within the framework of the Biblical narrative, and we grow in our discernment through dialog within our larger church, (issue one). All of this is communication, communication between God and us individually, between God and us communally and between each other. Issue one is "what are we communicating", answer, "Gods Will" for us individually and communally. 

Issue two, how do we communicate with others? What vehicle or vehicles do we use? I believe a noted novelist once stated that the greatest single misconception about communication is the belief that it has taken place! To facilitate open, honest, free flowing dialog, we must cultivate the environment for this dialog and convenience of communication methods is critical for this healthy environment.


The above issue two applies to all areas of dialog especially within a congregation not just within a small group. Our family of faith is multi-generational. How do we cultivate an environment for dialog, what methods do we use to communicate? At the inquirers class, Katy provided handouts to the inquirers and also noted she would send the same information electronically to those who desire this form of communication. The responses to Katy's question were down generational lines. Roger Fisk gave me some articles about this same issue, what method, vehicle, do we use to get the word out, to facilitate dialog, to communicate? How convenient do we make communication? Lots of questions, not many answers!


Well this is the view from my saddle.
Jim

Sheep and Shepherds!

I am home "laying low" and getting bored, so I shall share a little.  I spent the morning drawing!

Tuesday, May 1   The Shepherd Relationship
John 10:14-15
"I am the Good Shepherd.  I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me.  In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary."  (The Message)

     At the heart of Shepherding is a reciprocal relationship between the Shepherd and the sheep.  We easily understand the first part: our Shepherd takes care of us and knows us by name - individually.  Not as a number or as part of the whole flock, but as us...alone.  It is a great big universe out there with lots of sheep.  To think that God doesn't look out and see a massive flock, but sees and knows each of us as a unique individual - that is mind blowing.  What a sense of overpowering love flows from that realization!
     But how easily do we often neglect the second part of the relationship: my sheep know me.  We must listen and recognize God's voice when he calls to us, when he tries to gather us in as we stray.  We often get confused with conflicting voices telling us what to do.  If we live in our Shepherd/Sheep relationship, we'll recognize God's voice among the crowd and seek him only.
     By name, by voice....live in the love of the Shepherd Relationship.

Monday, April 30   Fair-Weather Shepherds
John 10:11-13

"A hired man is not a real shepherd.  The sheep mean nothing to him.  He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf."  (The Message)
     We all know or have known "Fair-weather" friends - those who are with you when life is fun and exciting, when the going is smooth, but run for the exit when things heat up and get tough. They are gone, like the hired hand, when the wolf comes - just when you could really use their help!
     But not our Shepherd, Christ.  Our Good Shepherd will be there for us.  He's no "fly by night" hired hand.  Shepherding is hard work, but God/Jesus love us so much, they will be there.  No matter what.  No matter when.
     What kind of Shepherd am I to those within my care?  Am I a friend that stands firm when the wolf of illness, divorce, financial difficulties comes?  Do I show the love of Christ in my relationships with others?  I want to be known as a Good Shepherd, not a hired hand!

Missional Devotions 1-7

I wanted to keep all the Missional "stuff" in one place, so I am transferring this post to our new site.

MISSIONAL DEVOTIONS

MISSIONAL POST Week #7 
Wednesday, April 25
Luke 24:44-48  Mission Impossible
"You can see now how it is written....and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations - starting from here, from Jerusalem!  You're the first to hear and see it! ... So stay here in the city until he [my Father] arrives, until you're equipped with power from on high." (The Message)
     Richard Vinson of d365.org says it well when he writes this sounds like a job for Tom Cruise and Mission Impossible!  Your job, should you accept it, is to proclaim Christ to all the world!  To preach forgiveness and salvation to everyone, starting with your neighbors here in Jerusalem (or Baker City!)  Poorly equipped? Heavens no!  The disciples would be armed with the greatest "technology" available, better than the decoder rings and micro-glasses worn by Tom Cruise:  The disciples will be armed with the power of God through the Holy Spirit!  
     Our mission as well?  You bet, for the job hasn't been finished.  We are all "special agents" for God.  Agents with a really big job still ahead of us.  "Sometimes salvation feels like a really big challenge to undertake with others." (RV)  
     Accept the mission.  Accept the power to work together to fulfill God's purpose.  
     PS.  The Bible will NOT self-destruct in 30 seconds!  


MISSIONAL POST Week #6
Wednesday, April 18
John 20:28-29   Doubting
"Jesus said, 'So, you believe because you've seen with your own eyes.  Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing'." (The Message)
     While Jesus praised those who believe without seeing, he met Thomas where he was at - he came and provided proof.  He gave Thomas what Thomas asked for and needed.  Jesus goes above and beyond to answer our questions and make a way to be in relationship to us.  We shouldn't be afraid to ask God for what we need, but we should try to live by faith - proof or not. 
     Thomas is not alone in his doubt.  We all have it at one time or another.  Doubt isn't the exception - it is often the rule.  Did the other disciples say, "I expected to see you?" or "Welcome back - what took you so long?"  Of course not.  No one really anticipated Jesus' return, even when he told them over and over he would rise again.  
     Is Jesus rebuking Thomas for his doubt, or really blessing those who have managed to believe without the benefit of direct experience? Who have managed to come to a faith EVEN while living with doubt; A way to believe in spite of and through the doubts.  
     Let's allow the Doubting Thomas in all of us to provide the basis for a life lived in faith.  


MISSIONAL POST Week #5  Wednesday, April 11
John 1:11-18  Grace and Gifts
"For out of his fullness (abundance) we all received - all had a share and were supplied with - one grace after anotherand spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift (heaped) upon gift."  (Verse 16, Amplified Bible)
     I went to the Amplified Bible where I found BOTH words used in the NIV (grace) and The Message (gifts). Out of who's fullness?  The fullness of God as witnessed through his son, Christ! Undeserved, unearned, unwarranted grace.  Blessings overflowing.  A Christmas of gift giving.  Party favor upon party favor.  All because God loves us and wants to be in relationship with us.  What bounty!  May we accept the gifts, let blessings shower down like rain, and share the grace with those around us.   When we do this, we will "see" God: "This one of a kind God-Expression [Jesus], who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day." (The Message, vs. 18) 
     Let the gifts multiply!  Share the gifts!  Share the grace!  Grace upon grace. 

MISSIONAL POST WEEK#4
Lent Day 37 - Wednesday, April 4
Mark 14:12-16   Passover Preparations
"...his disciples asked him, 'Where do you want us to go and make preparations so you can eat the Passover meal?'....The disciples left, came to the city, found everything just as he had told them, and prepared the Passover meal."  (The Message vs. 12, 16)
     This is the second time that Jesus has sent his disciples out to make preparations, and they find everything EXACTLY as he said.  How did he know a donkey colt would be tied up? (Mark 11:1-11)  How did he know a man with a jar of water would walk past at just the right moment for the disciples to find an upper room for the Passover?  Lest we forget, these experiences remind the disciples, and us, of Jesus' divinity.  He is God, in human form.  He knows!  
    Passover was a major event in the Jewish tradition - a celebration and time to remember all the details of the Exodus, a period of history when God interceded on behalf of man in an extravagant manner.  Could we as Christians see Christmas and Easter in the same way today?  A time to remember God entering our world in a new way, in a life-changing manner?  For the Jews, Jesus, and the disciples, there was no question of whether or not to take the Passover meal.  For us today, there should be no doubt as to WHY we celebrate both seasons of Christ's life.  Why we remember.   
    Preparations are made for the events of Holy Week to unfold.  Good Friday and Easter are near.  How will we remember our Christ? 


MISSIONAL POST WEEK #3
LENT DAY 31: Wednesday, March 28
John 12:25-26   RECKLESS IN LOVE
"Anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life.  But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal.  If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me... The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me." (The Message)

     I love Eugene Peterson's choice of words here in The Message: be "reckless in love".  To follow Jesus, to serve the living God, is to be lavish in loving: to love the marginalized, the poor, the terrorists, those who believe differently from us, those who speak against us, those who have different skin tones from us.  To love ALL, not just in word, but in ACTION!  With this wild abandonment of loving, God will honor our actions.  What high praise to be criticized for or described as being "reckless in love"!  What am I doing to earn this label?  What should I be doing?  What is keeping me from it?  What about you?  What about our churches?  How reckless is our love?  




MISSIONAL POST WEEK#2
Lent Day 25 - Wednesday, March 21
John 3:17    God Saves! 
"For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its Savior." (TEV)
     John 3:16 is the verse always seen on a placard at ball games and major events, but it shouldn't be separated from its companion verse 17.  To put them together gives you the FULL Gospel in a Nutshell: God loves us.  All of us.  God sent Jesus.  Not to judge, but to save.  
     Jesus didn't come to tell us how bad we were or to condemn us.  He came to show us, by example, a better way.  He came to make things right in our relationship with our Creator God.  He came to make our lives whole and filled with purpose.  In loving us, he saves us.  
     "Jesus is not judge or jury, but brother and friend." (PH d365.org)  In the name of Christ, can we not treat each other in the same manner? 
Footnote:  At some point during the night, I realized I was composing this scribble in my mind.  I had thought I would make an additional John 3:16 drawing when I arose this morning.  Imagine my surprise when I found the parting line to today's devotional to read, "God came to save us."  I dreamed the scribble before I even knew the verse!  Is God at work?  Wow!


MISSIONAL POST WEEK #1
LENT DAY 19: Wednesday, March 14
John 2:18-22     "Temple Address"
"Jesus answered, 'Tear down this temple and in three days, I'll put it back together.' .... Jesus was talking about his body as the Temple."  (The Message, 19-20)
     We love to "put God" in his "place" - at church, a temple, a holy site.  But buildings can be destroyed in a moment of time - a fire, a flood, a tornado.  The Israelites considered the Temple and Mt. Zion as the abode of God.  But in this passage, Jesus is saying HE is the NEW temple, a temple that cannot be destroyed, lost, or taken away.  NOTHING can take the presence of God from us - it is about relationships, not buildings.  
     This made me think about God as having an "address" for the mail (our concerns & petitions?) to be delivered.   God can never be in the "dead letter" box, because we have an all-present, ever-current forwarding address.  Jesus is God's forwarding address.  
     What about our temples or churches today?  We need to remember the physical building isn't what is important - it's what we do inside and outside those building walls, in relationship and service to God, that matters.  Buildings are temporary, God is eternal.  Where is your temple?  Where is mine?  Is God's mail being delivered?