For students, this season marks the end of summer and the beginning of a new year.
Every beginning has an ending. Time gets by so quickly that sometimes we can hardly keep up with the memories we are collecting along the way.
Endings sometimes come all too quickly. So there’s something to be said for taking every moment as something to be embraced and savored for as long as it lasts.
The God we serve, though, is not limited by time. The moments we spend in the presence of God, then, hold the possibility of timelessness.
SATURDAY, August 10, 2013 "Joyful Expectancy"
Romans 8:22-25 (MSG)
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. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.
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| I am reposting a Scribble for this passage from last year. I love 'pregnant with the Spirit'!! |
FRIDAY, August 9, 2013 "Burger God"
Revelation 1:8 GNT
“I am the first and the last,” says the Lord God Almighty, who is, who was, and who is to come.For some strange reason, maybe last night's Barley Brown's mushroom cheeseburger, I thought of a sandwich/burger as I considered this passage. God, the ever present bun on top and bottom, the beginning and the end. Life in the middle with all life's condiments of relationships, service, vocation, etc. We LIVE God in the middle of the sandwich. Does my sandwich have forgiveness? A layer of tolerance and acceptance? Do I live my sandwich every day, beginning and ending my day in prayer with God? Is my bun a plain white roll with a narrow view of God, or 9 grain oat with sesame seeds and covered with flecks of onion .... tasting the many nuances and ways in which God comes to us?
What's in your sandwich? Do you eat every day?
THURSDAY, August 8, 2013 "Let Go and Let God"
Isaiah 55:8-9 (GNT)
"My thoughts," says the Lord, "are not like yours,
And my ways are different from yours.
As high as the heavens are above the earth,
So high are my ways and thoughts above yours."
So often when I ask God for something,I have just the right answer!
I know exactly how God should
take care of the problem.
I've thought it out carefully,
Considered all the 'angles',
And I'm confident of my plan.
But....my ways are not God's ways.
That quickly becomes clear.
God's designs are unfathomable
In my limited scheme of things.
Reminder to self.... Pray,
Then, let go and let God go to work,
Through us and in us.
The results will shine with God's glory,
Soar above our imaginations,
Reflect a God of ultimate power and love,
And...keep us humble!
BENEDICTION.... d365.org (Rich Clark)
Go ahead and take that first step.
Is it risky? Of course.
That’s faith for you.
But remember,
Your faith is in God Almighty,
And God will not be moved.
You’re going to be just fine.
WEDNESDAY, August 7, 2013 "Dig Deeper"
2 Timothy 1:7 (MSG)
God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.
Good gifts from God. To be shared, to be used.
But we often doubt our abilities
To use the gifts.
We compare ourselves with
the gifts of others that seem so much greater.
We forget the gifts are not ours alone,
But empowerment through God.
The gifts come with God's presence,
God's spirit and power.
We must dig deeper in the package God has offered,
Pull the power of God out too,
And be bold and confident.
With the Spirit to guide us,
Risk to share the gifts
In new ways, new places, and with new people.
TUESDAY, August 6, 2013 "One-Tenth"
Genesis 28:22 (CEB)
This stone that I have set up as a memorial pillar will mark this as a place where God lives. And everything you give me, I’ll return a tenth to you.”
My question is, one-tenth of what? We commonly figure a tithe is one-tenth of our material wealth. Hmmm....before or after taxes? One tenth of what's left at the end of the month or one-tenth of EVERYTHING at the beginning? (Yes!)
What about one-tenth of my time? My talents? To return to God the gifts of music, art, organization, or other skills that God has given me? Or do we figure a little money in the offering plate is enough to maintain our 'what-if' contract with God? Jacob says EVERYTHING you give me, I'll return a tenth. This is far more than just cash!
How and where can we give a little more of our resources, of ourselves?
MONDAY, August 5, 2013 "Holy Place"
Genesis 28:16-17 (CEB)
When Jacob woke from his sleep, he thought to himself, The Lord is definitely in this place, but I didn’t know it. He was terrified and thought, This sacred place is awesome. It’s none other than God’s house and the entrance to heaven.
Take a few moments, Luke said, to find a holy place.
Walk around, sit in the sunshine,
Meditate. Listen for the voice of God.
We all spread out from the chapel
To spend some time alone.
I found my holy place
Along the edge of the patio.
Beneath a towering tamarack tree.
I leaned back and gazed upward.
The air was still but the branches gently floated in the winds.
Graceful and feathery, the needles of the larch.
The longer I sat, silent and still,
The stronger I felt God's presence,
One with the tamarack tree.
The strength and power of the trunk,
Tall and mighty.
And then the waving branches,
Shifting by the winds of the Holy Spirit,
Changing direction through Spirit power.
Butterflies, birds, dragonflies and bugs:
Darting in and out of lacy spaces,
Carrying tiny messages from God to the world,
Little angel carriers connecting the pieces of heaven.
The sun lit up the branches until they glowed...
Lit from within by the sunlight,
By the Son Light?
Am I lit from within as well by Son Light?
Father, Son, and Spirit -
A Holy Place.
A Holy Tree.
We don't need to be IN the church building
To find the places where God dwells.
Our holy places are everywhere,
Just like God.
(Based on Westminster Woods Worship on Sunday, August 4)
SUNDAY, August 4, 2013
"Dreams and Promises"
Genesis 28:15 (GNT)
"Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you.”
The past few days here at Westminster Woods have been a welcome for some, a return to a familiar place for others. But it is also a welcome for Luke in his new role as the youth leader. It marks another new beginning this summer for the church and the kids. It has been a time to build community among the PYGs and also with the greater church family. God will be with us in the months ahead, and that is something to look forward to!
My scribble today will be the composite I put together of our Westminster Woods experience for 2013.
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