As we journey through life, we are often shackled by metaphorical chains that hold us back, tie us down, or slow our progress.
However, we find in God’s abundant love and grace the hope that can free us.
So raise your hands high, liberated to receive the many gifts God has for you.
SATURDAY, June 29, 2013 "Free...to Love"
Galatians 5:13 (Message)
It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. To hold God's love for selfish gain is to imprison oneself from the freedom such love can bring; to radiate God's love outward is to watch freedom grow with abundance.
BENEDICTION....
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
(2 Corinthians 3:17 CEB)
FRIDAY, June 28, 2013 "Go. Tell."
Luke 8:38-39 (Good News)
The man from whom the demons had gone out begged Jesus, “Let me go with you.” But Jesus sent him away, saying, “Go back home and tell what God has done for you.” The man went through the town, telling what Jesus had done for him.
You are free!
Filled with joy and wonder.
Filled with excitement.
Now....Go. Tell.
Perhaps the REAL freedom comes
When we release the good news to others.
Have we been given
Opportunities to unshackle other chains,
And release others as we have been freed.
We can't stay in the safety of our freedom,
But we must take it beyond secure lines
Into the prisons of our community and world.
In so doing,
Our true liberation comes:
To live in and with God.
Go. Tell. Proclaim freedom.
"Where have you seen God this week?" It is the opening question of our weekly lectionary Bible study. It is our opportunity to reflect on how God has been at work in our daily happenings and to articulate our good news with others. I am challenging myself to DAILY reflect and WRITE DOWN my 'God-Moments' in July. I will be looking within my personal life, community, country and world. Our group isn't meeting again until the end of next month - how long will my list be?
Stand upright, speak thy thoughts, declare The truth thou hast, that all may share; Be bold, proclaim it everywhere: They only live who dare. (Voltaire)
THURSDAY, June 27, 2013 "Fear"
Luke 8:34-37 (Message)
Those tending the pigs, scared to death, bolted and told their story in town and country. People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had been sent, sitting there at Jesus’ feet, wearing decent clothes and making sense. It was a holy moment, and for a short time they were more reverent than curious. Then those who had seen it happen told how the demoniac had been saved.
Later, a great many people from the Gerasene countryside got together and asked Jesus to leave—too much change, too fast, and they were scared. So Jesus got back in the boat and set off.
Fear.
Fear of change.
Fear of difference.
Fear of incomprehensible power.
Fear of the unknown and unseen.
Fear chains us with invisible shackles.
Fear imprisons us in bonds of intolerance.
Fear is part of our humanity.
And yet...
There is God.
God, who conquers fear.
God, who walks with us in the dark moments
And holds our hand while we face the unknown
and learn to celebrate our differences.
God, who allows us to leave our fears behind
in the musty damp cell of our soul,
And escape into God-Light, God-Love, and God-freedom.
Let go of fear.
Let God release the chains,
And experience life in the fullness of God's glory.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; I will fear no one.
The Lord protects me from all danger; I will never be afraid.
The Lord protects me from all danger; I will never be afraid.
(Psalm 27:1 GNT)
WEDNESDAY, June 26, 2013 "Pigs"
Luke 8:32-33 (The Message)
A large herd of pigs was browsing and rooting on a nearby hill. The demons begged Jesus to order them into the pigs. He gave the order. It was even worse for the pigs than for the man. Crazed, they stampeded over a cliff into the lake and drowned.
The possessed man is a Gentile, a 'foreigner' in Jewish eyes. In his isolated, primitive life among the caves, how did he know about Jesus? He acknowledges him as the Son of God in his greeting! He is afraid; he knows Jesus has power!
Jesus responds with compassion for all. The demons aren't destroyed outright - Jesus instead honors their request and sends them into a herd of nearby pigs. (Not good for the pigs, but they were considered 'unclean' in Jewish culture anyway.) The man is healed, made whole again.
God doesn't destroy those we consider our enemies. We are all His children! What God destroys are the walls of intolerance and prejudice we create and allow to hold us captive: The walls that make us see one another as enemies. These are the demons to be cast aside to free us to full life.
TUESDAY, June 25, 2013 "Demons"
Luke 8:27-31 (Good News Translation)
As Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a man from the town who had demons in him. For a long time this man had gone without clothes and would not stay at home, but spent his time in the burial caves. When he saw Jesus, he gave a loud cry, threw himself down at his feet, and shouted, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God! What do you want with me? I beg you, don't punish me!” He said this because Jesus had ordered the evil spirit to go out of him. Many times it had seized him, and even though he was kept a prisoner, his hands and feet tied with chains, he would break the chains and be driven by the demon out into the desert.
Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is ‘Mob,’” he answered—because many demons had gone into him.
Demons. The dictionary defines them as 1. An evil supernatural being or devil; or 2. A persistently tormenting person, force, or passion. Demons can be disease, circumstance or consequences of the past. Demons imprison us and prevent us from reaching our God-given potential. Perhaps in this Biblical story the man was an epileptic in need of healing; a seizure would be misunderstood by those in Biblical times.
What are the demons in our lives? What are the forces holding us captive to our fears and holding us back from God? Friedrich Nietzsche wrote,
"Not necessity, not desire - no, the love of power is the demon of men. Let them have everything - health, food, a place to live, entertainment - they are and remain unhappy and low-spirited: for the demon waits and waits and will be satisfied."What holds us captive? It's a power struggle. But God has the ultimate power to free. If we offer our demand for power to God, we allow God to free us. Through God, and in God, may we find release from the demons we hold within.
MONDAY, June 24, 2013 "Prisons"
Isaiah 42:3 (The Message)
He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurtand he won’t disregard the small and insignificant,
but he’ll steadily and firmly set things right.
God did not come to earth in human form to punish or condemn. We are broken people, enslaved to our human nature. Our compassionate, loving God understands. He seeks not to intensify the brokenness, but to heal and release the chains of our bondage. Rejoice in a God of justice who sets us free from the prisons of our own making!
(Today is fairly short and sweet. Devotional time taken while waiting in the Cell Phone area of Portland airport, watching the planes touch down right over my head. Managed to write and draw in the time I waited for Mom Doris' plane to arrive. Rest of day spent driving from Bandon to Baker City via Portland! Long day in the car!)
SUNDAY, June 23, 2013 "God-Water"
Psalm 42:1, 5 (The Message)
A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek;
I want to drink God, deep draughts of God.
I’m thirsty for God-alive.
I want to drink God, deep draughts of God.
I’m thirsty for God-alive.
Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Why are you crying the blues?
He puts a smile on my face.
He’s my God.
Thirst. Deep thirst. Visions of desert scenes, dry bones, and a distant mirage as the lone figure crawls across the sandy terrain in search of water. We've all seen the cartoons. And, I venture to guess, at some point, we have all come to that state of a deep, longing thirst AND the overwhelming release that comes with the first swallow of cool water. Our body is, on average, 60% water. Water is LIFE. We need it. We come to crave it.
God is the water of life as well. God is a cool drink of hope. God is the refreshing promise of new life and the release from old restraints. Crave the hope of God. Drink deeply of God. Often.
Nothing is better for our health than 8 glasses of God-water....daily!
(I opted to redraw my original Psalm 42 scribble, but the more I wrote this morning, another design came into my pencil. So....two scribbles for today!)
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