HELP FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT

Saturday, September 15   "Take Heart!"
Isaiah 35:4-7  (The Message)

Energize the limp hands,
    strengthen the rubbery knees.
Tell fearful souls,
    “Courage! Take heart!
God is here, right here,
    on his way to put things right
And redress all wrongs.
    He’s on his way! He’ll save you!”

Blind eyes will be opened,

 deaf ears unstopped,

Lame men and women will leap like deer,

 the voiceless break into song.

Springs of water will burst out in the wilderness,

 streams flow in the desert.

Hot sands will become a cool oasis,

 thirsty ground a splashing fountain.

Even lowly jackals will have water to drink,

and barren grasslands flourish richly.

     Words to encourage.  Words of hope.  Isaiah is filled with them.  The Old Testament proclaims God's abiding presence over and over.  The words of Christ in the New Testament announce the coming Kingdom of God.  Yet we face a world marked by war, conflict, natural disasters, poverty, distrust, and suffering.  Where is the hope?  Where is the good news?  Where are the springs of living water bursting forth in the wilderness?  Where are the dancing, joyful, healed people of God?  
     Don't look too far away.  God is here.  God is at work, healing.    God is at work in individual relationships, in restored communities and families. God is at work in isolated, unknown incidents of transformation.  God just doesn't make the headlines very often.   But the "harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few".  God is at work....through you and in me.  When we become an agent of change, an agent of peace and hope, we are bringing the Kingdom a bit closer.  We are bringing the hope of Isaiah to our broken world. We are laboring for God. 
     How is our job going today?  What work lies before us?  Today.  Now.    
     Lord, make me your faithful servant in strengthening, energizing, healing, and filling my world with the song of your kingdom, a song of hope.  Don't let me be discouraged by the big picture of conflict, but focus on the small acts that I can perform today to bring healing to my world.  Amen. 


Go! d365.org

"As the hands and feet of God,
we put our faith to work in service to the world,
trusting in the One who has helped us,
named us,
and called us
to lead us to those in need.

Let us love as God loves:
with hands ready to get dirty,
with feet ready to walk far,
with eyes ready to see hardship,
with hearts ready to receive.
Let us love as God loves:
with lives ready to serve."

(Nikki Finkelstein-Blair)


Friday, September 14  "Faith and Works"
James 2:14-17 (The Message)

"Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?"
     Isn't it obvious? The outrageous nonsense of talk?  Apparently not in our world today.  So much God-talk takes place.  The Bible says this, the Bible says that.  But the action?  Not always so apparent.  
     This is the scripture Rick used for his morning to lead devotions at Habitat.  It seems to me that Habitat is one place where the God-talk ends and the action begins.  We are many different faiths and beliefs come together to put our individual talk collectively into action - providing shelter to those who need it.  It is a start. It was a great choice of scripture. 
      Lord....
      I can argue theological interpretations. 
      I can debate the intent of King James or Peterson. 
      I can say all the right words in a crowd of believers.
      I can write daily devotions or even draw pictures on faith.
      I can go to worship every Sunday and sit in the same pew among my friends. 
      I can acknowledge your presence before every meal with bowed head and reverent words of gratitude.  
      I can talk the talk with the best. 
      And, God, I can KNOW that isn't enough. 
      That isn't what you called me to do.  
      Talk is cheap.  
      Talk is easy.  
      Hold my hand, Lord, while I stumble and grope to put actions to my words. 
      Perhaps today a smile, a nod of encouragement. 
      Perhaps tomorrow a hammer, a meal, a coat.
      Perhaps a piece of my heart, my trust, my faith. 
      And in the end, Lord, all of me, at work with you.  Amen.  
      
Thursday, September 13 "Banking" 
James 2:5-7 (The Message)
"Listen, dear friends. Isn’t it clear by now that God operates quite differently? He chose the world’s down-and-out as the kingdom’s first citizens, with full rights and privileges. This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. And here you are abusing these same citizens! Isn’t it the high and mighty who exploit you, who use the courts to rob you blind? Aren’t they the ones who scorn the new name—“Christian”—used in your baptisms?"
     Why do we fear the poor and oppressed? Why are they the ones we choose to humiliate or judge against?  They are the ones we push aside.  Are we afraid of their faith - that's all they have!  They have so much to teach us about trusting God!  The rich, the politicians, those in power?  They are so easily corrupted, so easily led to put their trust in the dollar and position.  
     Our banker God keeps accounts differently - he measures in love units, not dollars, peso, or yen.  God counts heart.  How much love is in our God bank?  Have we made any deposits lately of heaven wealth?  Maybe we should look around and spend more time with the truly wealthy in our community, and let our assets compound!  

Wednesday, September 12  "Favoritism"
James 2:1-4 (The Message)
"My dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, “Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!” and either ignore the street person or say, “Better sit here in the back row,” haven’t you segregated God’s children and proved that you are judges who can’t be trusted?"

    Various translations of this passage in James use the terms snobbery, partiality, favoritism, but I think the Good News Bible spells it out most clearly: "Never treat people in different ways according to their outward appearance."  And we do this ALL THE TIME!  We are wired this way, and to live as Christ we have to rewire our first impulses.  Disregard the accent, the smell, the clothing, whatever triggers the "no" button, and accept, welcome, help, and love.  Look beyond the outer to the inner - to the person who is JUST LIKE YOU AND ME: a child of God, loved and accepted by God, and bringing their gifts to God as well.  Perhaps they are even sent by God to minister to US in ways we can't imagine.  
     See the child of God, the face of Christ in everyone we meet. Accept our differences, accept our common bond in Christ, and love. That's all.    
Note to Missional:  I will be with you in spirit today during the meeting, pondering again the words of Luke 10:1-12.  As I read them over now, in light of James' message, above, my comment would be Christ is sending them out like lambs in the wolf pack, only they aren't to see the wolves, just more lambs!  
The sun is rising on the red rocks of Ghost Ranch.  There is something magical here.  Peace everyone!  

Tuesday, September 11 "Sowing Seeds"
Proverbs 22: 8-9 (The Message)
"Whoever sows sin reaps weeds,
   and bullying anger sputters into nothing. 
Generous hands are blessed hands
   because they give bread to the poor."
     What kind of gardeners are we?  We all sow seeds!  Sometimes they fall on fertile soil and grow...sometimes not!  But what KIND of seeds are we sowing?  That is the question for this proverb.  Are we sowing seeds of blessing and generosity or seeds of hurt and anger?  Do others see us and instantly think "that person scatters love all day long!"?  Do we spread seeds of positive energy and the light of Christ or seeds of put-downs and gossip?  Before we worry about the fertility of our soil, perhaps we need first to check the quality of our seeds!  Only top-notch LOVE seeds are really going to produce the crop we seek.  

Monday, September 10  "Choose God"
Proverbs 22:1-2  (The Message)
"A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich;
    A gracious spirit is better than money in the bank. 
 The rich and the poor shake hands as equals -
   God made them both!" 

    We all have decisions to make in life - decisions that can have a profound effect on the directions we take.  But the best decision, the one decision that anyone and everyone can make, rich or poor, needy or not, is to CHOOSE GOD!  This choice puts us all on equal footing, responsible for each other within community.  The needs of one become the needs of all.  God doesn't care about the money in our bank account or the type of car we drive.  He cares about what choices we make in regard to our relationship with him.  Let's make that choice clearly and then recognize that it makes us all equals.  Shake hands, brother!  We are all children of God!  

HELP FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT

SUNDAY, September 9
PAUSE! D365.org  (Nikki Fimkelstein-Blair)
"Everyone has needs.
We need a comforting arm or a companion for the journey;
a safe dwelling place or a square meal;
a time of rest or rededication.
From every community, every family, every economic level,
people seek help,
a source of fulfillment for the things they lack.
God invites us into a life of abundance,
where all can be filled,
and where all will be called
to become helpers, too."

Psalm 146:  3-7    (The Message)

"Don’t put your life in the hands of experts
    who know nothing of life, of salvation life.
Mere humans don’t have what it takes;
    when they die, their projects die with them.
Instead, get help from the God of Jacob,
    put your hope in God and know real blessing!
God made sky and soil,
    sea and all the fish in it.
He always does what he says—
    he defends the wronged,
    he feeds the hungry."

     Who can we always trust?  Parents? Teachers? Bosses? Candidates? Politicians? The list of so-called 'experts' is endless, yet the psalmists claims they know nothing of life!  "Mere human don't have what it takes!"  

     Who can we ALWAYS trust?  God!  He is worthy of our total praise and acclamation, he leads us to champion for justice, to serve the oppressed.  Trust in God, especially during this political campaign season.  May he lead us through it all to the 'real blessing' that lies ahead!  

     Our emphasis this week at d365 is on needs. Our own at times, but especially the needs of those around us.  May we open our eyes and our hearts to those needs and come prepared to be the answer for others through the love of our Lord God. 
     My drawing today is a composite of all the "God creation" that I felt during our hike.  God was in the morning sunlight filtering through the trees on the yellow flowers. God was in the creatures - the nuthatch, the woodpeckers, butterflies, deer, and pika.  God was in the beauty of the clouds, the blue skies.  God was in the people we met along the trail, and all those marveling at His creation at the pass.  God was in the flowers still blooming, and those reminding us of the changing circle of life, in the death that precedes a new beginning.  As Psalm 146 begins, 
Hallelujah!
    O my soul, praise God!
All my life long I’ll praise God,
    singing songs to my God as long as I live.