17 December 2009 Devotion for Today "The War on Christmas" Luke 2:16-20

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,

18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

(Luke 2:16-20)

 
 

I read an article yesterday on Yahoo News entitled, "Christian Group Launches New Attack on Christmas Commercialism" <http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20091215/us_time/08599194759000> It is a disconcerting look at how some of us, especially pastors, view the Christmas holidays. Its not that we are trying to become "Scrooges" or anything like that. But the overwhelming pressure to kowtow to the commercialized Christmas is actually competing with the whole reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place. Pastor Rick McKinley explains: That's sort of bad if you're a pastor." Instead of helping their congregations focus on the season of Advent and prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, the pastors found themselves competing with a secular consumerism that made December the hardest time to make their message heard. Pasted from <http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20091215/us_time/08599194759000>

 
 

I have felt that same pressure, as well as many Christians in our church. In fact in recent years we have found ourselves having to scale back the activities we once enjoyed at church because many of them just cannot seem to make time for them the way we once did. The commercial sector seems to be waging an all-out "war on Christmas" in order to distract and to demand all of our attention for the sake of boosting the economy in desperate economic times. McKinley continues on this thought by saying: But to a growing group of Christians, this focus on the commercial aspect of Christmas is itself the greatest threat to one of Christianity's holiest days. "It's the shopping, the going into debt, the worrying that if I don't spend enough money, someone will think I don't love them,...Christians get all bent out of shape over the fact that someone didn't say 'Merry Christmas' when I walked into the store. But why are we expecting the store to tell our story? That's just ridiculous."

 
 

There may indeed be a war on Christmas, but this "Advent Conspiracy" is really only just another battle that began to be waged the moment Jesus was born, and all the forces of Hell unleashed themselves upon Him as well as upon everyone who has followed Him since that time. In the devotion text, you will note how the shepherds "hurried off." That seems to describe the way that many are spending the holidays to the point that it becomes almost a blur; where we hardly remember what we did or with whom we spent the Christmas holidays. However, the shepherds, after they heard the announcement from the angels, hurried off to find where the baby Jesus was born and were determined not to stop until they had found Him. They presumably even left their sheep in the field that they had earlier been watching- in other words, they reordered their priorities- and did not even allow their work and family schedules to keep them from doing what was most important at that time.

 
 

Reordering priorities- perhaps this is the most important weapon we could use as we defend ourselves in this "war against Christmas." On Sunday evening before Christmas we give out small bags of fruit and candy to give to members of the congregation to remind them of what Christmas was like back in the Depression, when we began this holiday tradition. In those days such a gift was one of the few gifts a child would get back then. Who knows, we may be going back to this- if the economy gets worse. But the point is driven home whether anyone appreciates the two pieces of fruit and piece of candy- we won't allow the commercialism of Christmas to obscure the message of Christmas: that God sent His one and only Son into this commercialized, badly-focused and sinful world that we may be saved from the effects of emptiness this type of thing brings and to give us everlasting life in a world where materialism will never feel its affect upon us again.

 
 

Prayer: Dear God, I admit that I've been "blown away" by the demands of commercial Christmas. I'm tired of the pressure and the guilt that it often brings. I commit myself to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and to celebrate it in a way that pleases You. In Jesus Name, Amen.

 
 

Have a blessed Christmas!

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

16 December 2009 Devotion for Today "Fear Not" Luke 2:8-11

^{8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold,[b] an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.}

(Luke 2:8-11)

 
 

Black Bart was a professional thief whose very name struck fear as he terrorized the Wells Fargo stage line. From San Francisco to New York, his name became synonymous with the danger of the frontier. Between 1875 and 1883 he robbed 29 different stagecoach crews. Amazingly, Black Bart did it all without firing a shot. Because a hood hid his face, no victim ever saw his face. He never took a hostage and was never trailed by a sheriff. Instead, Black Bart would later say from prison that he didn't need to fire a shot; all he had to do was to use fear to paralyze his victims. "Fear, the face of the unknown, was my weapon of choice, my weapon of intimidation." His sinister presence and his threat of words was enough to overwhelm the toughest stagecoach guard.

 
 

Fear is also Satan's weapon of choice. More often than not, he uses fear to paralyze his victims. Its amazing to us how many times he entered even into the nativity narrative to prevent God's plan from coming to pass, or to harass the characters of it. Lets look one more time.

In the text, the shepherds were terrified at the presence of the angels. Why were they afraid? Admittedly angels do not show up every day. They did not know whether they were looking at the presence of an angel or the face of God, as Scripture tells us, "No man will see the face of God and live." (Exodus 33:20 )

 
 

Mary and Joseph lived on the edge of fear even while following God by faith. How intimidating it must have been to stand in the face of public opinion over the status of Mary's pregnancy. Joseph feared what would happen if he did not divorce his wife.

 
 

Satan entered the heart of Herod who himself feared the advent of the Christ child- that he would be a potential threat to the throne and had to be eliminated. In order to make certain he got the right one, he massacred all the babies of Bethlehem!

 
 

The Wise men were fearful- or at least wise enough to take Herod seriously, to return back to the East without letting the king know the identity of the baby they had seen in Bethlehem.

 
 

It is a fool who would deny the presence of fear. Yet the shepherds were told not to give into their instincts. Instead, they were to move beyond fear by faith and act upon the good news that they had heard from the angels that Christ the Lord had been born.

 
 

We have the same choice before us even now. We can choose to follow our fears and our instincts. For example- I have a fear of heights. It is difficult for me to get up on a high ladder or even a roof top. Its not that I fear the ladder, but falling off of it. I don't fear the rooftop, but I do fear the sudden jolt on the ground should I fall off of it. I can't help it, and I cannot ignore it. But neither can I ignore the choice of faith, either, which is far more secure and has done much more for me than staying paralyzed by fear. I might get hurt, yes. But there are worse things that befall me when I remain locked up in my fears. The worst thing is to be an unwitting servant of hell by remaining under Satan's control and not yielding my trust in God.

 
 

What are you fearful of today? Has your fear of the unknown, or difficult economic times displaced where you should be placing your trust? Don't ignore your fears, but override them by your trust and faith in God today.

 
 

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I am fearful of many things as I come before you today. I fear losing my position, my livelihood, my ability to provide and to take care of my family. Yet in all these things I see that you can provide and care for them much better than I can. So today I yield to You my trust so that my fears will be displaced instead. May I walk today by faith and not by sight that I may please You most of all. In Jesus Name, Amen.

 
 

Have a blessed day!

 
 

December 10, 2009 Devotion for Today "Imagine- If Lennon Had Known Jesus"

December 10, 2009 Devotion for Today "Imagine- If Lennon Had Known Jesus"

Twenty-nine years ago this week Beetle John Lennon was gunned
down in front of his apartment. For good or for bad
his influence upon the youth of the world changed the values
of generations, including the one I grew up in. As I reflected upon his
life this week and thought about one of his most famous songs
I began to imagine myself, what if Lennon had known Jesus?
How would that song have come out then?

"Imagine- If Lennon Had Known Jesus"

Imagine there's no Jesus…
The very thought makes me cry:
Its only hell that's for us;
Tis what happens when we die.
Imagine all the people
Living without hope...

Ah ah, oh
You may say that I'm old fashioned
But I'm not the only one.
I hope one day you will find Him
As your Savior, to Him belong.

Imagine all the countries
It isn't hard to do.
Turning weapons into ploughshares
And no more hated, too.
Imagine all the people
Eternal in God's peace.

Ah ah, oh
You may say that I'm old fashioned
But I'm not the only one.
I hope some day you will find Him
As your Savior, to Him belong.

Imagine all our possessions
It's a wonder if you can
Letting go of everything
Putting trust into God's hand
Imagine the ones that you have loved
Living eternally.

Ah ah, oh
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one .

Jeffery C. Russell

"Give God's Peace a Chance"

09 December 2009 Devotion for Today "Blackmailing Jesus" Isaiah 9:1-2

1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan-

2 The people walking in darkness

have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of the shadow of death [a]

a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:1-2

For the next time period of Devotion for Today I am expositing Isaiah 9 in this devotion series called, "Prophecies of Christmas." I hope that it will be informative as well as inspirational and encouraging to you as you find solace throughout these very busy Christmas holidays.

There are variations of an old humorous illustration several preachers have told down through the years

The one I remember is told like this:

Little Johnnie desperately wanted a bright red wagon for Christmas.

His friends were writing letters to Santa Claus, but Johnnie decided to go one better.

"Dear Jesus," he wrote. "If I get a red wagon for Christmas, I won't fight with my brother Hank for a year." Then Johnnie thought, Oh, no, Hank is such a brat, I could never, ever keep that promise. So Johnnie threw away the letter and started again.

"Dear Jesus, if I get a red wagon for Christmas, I will eat all my vegetables for a year." Then Johnnie thought, Oh, no, that means spinach, broccoli and asparagus. Yuck! I could never ever keep that promise.

Suddenly Johnnie had an idea. He went downstairs to the living room. From the mantel above the fireplace, he grabbed the family's statue of the Virgin Mary. Taking the statue to the kitchen he wrapped it in newspapers and stuffed it into a grocery bag. He took the bag upstairs to his room, opened the closet and placed the package in the farthest, darkest corner.

He then closed the closet door, took a new sheet of paper and wrote, "Dear Jesus, if you ever want to see your mother again..."

Blackmailing Jesus. As humorous as the story may be, there may be more truth in this than we might suppose. It's a struggle many Christians have, including myself. There is a feeling that we are in a Quid-Pro-Quo" relationship with God: that is, if God will do something for us, we might do something for Him.

So we pray and make bargains with God, or we will serve Him with some type of condition upon it- whether we voice it to ourselves is immaterial. Let's just say we teach a Sunday School class for a whole year-even though we really didn't want to do it. But during the course of the year, things begin to go terribly wrong in our lives. We lose our job, we experience marital difficulty, or have an incessant array of repair bills to our homes or automobiles. Our hearts begin to grow heavy and disappointed with God in the process. We begin to think: "God, I don't understand? I'm serving You the best way that I know how, and still You don't seem to want to bless me? So I will tell You what? Either You start blessing me and give me some relief, or I am going to stop doing what I'm doing for You, God! And if this pattern keeps up, I'm going to stop going to church altogether!"

Few Christians would admit this but I have seen this pattern borne out in many. Its akin to "blackmailing God." If God won't give me what I want, I won't serve Him anymore!" We suppose God is no longer worthy to be our God when He won't bless us the way we think we should be blessed. But God is not a friend whom we turn our backs on whenever He doesn't treat us the way we think we should be treated. What we don't understand about God is that we were in enmity against God before we were ever aware of His presence in our lives. The fact is, we're the ones who have turned our backs on God and mistreated Him, not the other way around.

Isaiah discusses this tendency of human nature in the first two verses of Isaiah 9. It is called walking in darkness. We walk in darkness when we don't understand the nature of God and His character of love and desire to reach out to us. But we prefer to walk in darkness- coloring God's motives with the same color of our own bitterness and our own dark outlook of our surroundings. We impute these same characteristics upon God, and prefer to see Him the way we see ourselves. Instead, God wants us to see a great light- the light that first causes us to see ourselves the way we truly are, and a Light that will lead us out of that darkness so that we will no longer live in gloom and distress. The Light which leads us out of that darkness is Jesus Christ. As the Wise men followed a star from the east to find the source of the true Light, we orient our attitudes and our lives by following the Light emerging from the darkness of our souls.

Its easy to give into self-pity and even anger toward God for the manner in which we perceive He is treating us. But we make it worse on ourselves when we do. In reality we find that its in the darkness that we stub our toes and trip over things that we have placed there ourselves. God desires to lead us out of this, not to make it more difficult for us. If you see a glimmer of Light right now, won't you follow it?

Prayer: Dear Lord, forgive me please for the anger and bitterness I have had while trying to trust You. The frustration I feel right now is nothing more than the frustration I have for myself, not toward You. Help me to find a way out of the darkness instead of blaming You for the darkness I have created for myself because of my sins. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Have a Blessed Day!

07 December 2009 Devotion for Today "A Course in Miracles" Mark 6:38-43

 

^{38 But He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see."}

And when they found out they said, "Five, and two fish."

^{39 Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. 41 And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. 42 So they all ate and were filled. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. 44 Now those who had eaten the loaves were about[f] five thousand men. (Mark 6:38-43)}

 
 

What is a miracle? Baker's Dictionary of the Bible defines a miracle as "an event in the external world brought about by the immediate agency or the simple volition of God." It goes on to add that a miracle occurs to show that the power behind it is not limited to the laws of matter or mind as it interrupts fixed natural laws. from<http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4222629/k.EE2A/What_is_a_Biblical_Definition_of_Miracle.htm>

 
 

Yesterday at Salem Church I believe that we saw God working miracles all through the service. Its not that God has never worked like this before; its due to the fact that He opened my eyes to what He has been doing all along and gave me eyes to see it. Perhaps that might have been the greatest miracle of all. I want to take this time to share this with you today so that you would be encouraged and strengthened in your faith in Christ.

 
 

The first miracle was seen when sometime toward the end of the Sunday school hour, the electrical power went off. Some who had arrived to church said they saw the Dominion Power company working at the small substation that serves the Weeksville community. In the back of my mind I am thinking, "That's just great! Of all Sundays for the power to go out. Our youth were planning to do a special presentation requiring a video and they are sure to need microphones! Dear God, please hear my prayer, and do something." Excusing myself during Sunday school, I whispered a prayer as I stepped in the hallway. As I reached the stairwell, a church member by the name of Scott, met me to say, "Pastor Jeff, I want you to know that I just happen to have an electric generator on the back of my trailer. I was planning to use it during the parade tonight. It all gassed up and ready to go if the church can use it." I asked Scott to follow me, where we met Jeff, an electrician and a very resourceful deacon. We asked his opinion about utilizing the generator and Scott and Jeff set to work getting power restored to the church building while I scrambled to get the morning worship service underway.

 
 

I met with the choir for prayer and said, "Lord, Your church has had to rely upon nothing but Your power for centuries. Thank You for reminding us of this. Prepare our hearts today to rely upon You in Jesus Name, Amen." As we entered the sanctuary, there was a definite chill in the air. Thus far the power was not yet running for it would take a while. I began the service by the lighting of the Advent candle, but by the time the communion service was to start, the power was restored to the building; thanks to God's provision.

 
 

However, the second miracle was yet to be seen as the deacons dispensed the elements of communion, the bread and then the fruit of the vine. There was a large crowd in the service that morning, but I didn't realize that we might run short of communion elements. However, as the large group which sat in the narthex was being served, I observed that there were fewer than usual communion glasses in the trays. After the choir was served, of the deacons who was serving them brought back a tray completely empty. I eyed the small tray which was returned from the nursery after they were served. One full cup remained on it. As I began to serve the deacons I prayed to myself, "Lord, I don't know what You are trying to tell us here, but please let there be enough for everyone to have a communion glass." As I served the deacons, I returned with just one remaining communion juice glass, the one I would use to serve myself! God told me to say this: There is just one glass remaining here this morning. The only thing I can say about this is that God is telling us how much He loves us by providing for us. He loves us so much and wants us to know that when it comes to His provision, no one is left out! Thanks be to God!"

 
 

Following the Communion service and the offering the choir brought the special music. Following this, the youth and adults from the church gave a testimony presentation about their recent trip to Operation Christmas Child headquarters in Charlotte. They had the opportunity to process shoeboxes for this project and returned so blessed by the experience. Thanks to the restored power, we were able to view the video one of the participants made telling about the trip. However, during the testimony portion, after each youth and adult spoke, one of their team members spoke. But what was so remarkable about her testimony was the fact that her speech had been significantly impeded due to a severe brain injuries following an auto accident almost twelve months earlier. Katie spoke up and gave a perfectly clear, two-sentence delivery of what she did during the mission trip! She has spoken in broken sentences or one-word answers in personal conversations before, but nothing like this! Everyone broke out in applause and praise to God.

 
 

The service concluded not long afterward. No one even noticed that the service went a half an hour overtime- perhaps that was a miracle in itself. But there was no doubt how the Holy Spirit filled the service that day.

 
 

I realize that some theologians may not qualify what we experienced that Sunday as miracles, but there was no doubt in my mind that, miracle or not, God definitely intervened on our behalf. We are, after all, a Baptist church. Miracles just don't happen in Baptist churches! Or so I thought. Ordinarily I would have been severely "stressing" about the electricity problem. I did not. I just knew and trusted God that He would provide somehow and made up my mind that we would not need the electricity unless He intervened. He did. I also would have been dismayed (and so would have the ladies who prepared the communion cups) if I had known we might not have enough. God kept that information from me until the very end so that we would depend upon Him to provide. What can I say about young Katie speaking during the testimony service? That easily could have been explained away due to Katie's intensive speech therapy, her loving parents and grandparents also working with her constantly during her rehabilitation toward recovery. Still, she spoke and God was glorified in it.

 
 

The miraculous occurs when we can look beyond our myopic human nature and reason to look into the activity of God. There we see Him doing what He always does. Today I want to challenge you to do the same. Without a doubt you will experience the same blessing that I did on Sunday.

 
 

Prayer: Lord God, give me eyes to see, and ears to hear what You do each and every day even if my small mind and feeble faith do not have the capacity to understand it. In Jesus Name, Amen.

 
 

Have a blessed day!

 
 

 
 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

24 November 2009 Devotion for Today "Words" Proverbs 15:1-4

A gentle answer turns away wrath,

but a harsh word stirs up anger.

2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,

but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.

3 The eyes of the LORD are everywhere,

keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

4 The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life,

but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.

Proverbs 15:1-4

British author Rudyard Kipling was once interviewed by a group of reporters and was asked about the secret of his success. Kipling said that the secret of a good writer is to get each word to sell, for every word has value. The more valuable the word, the more richer the author. One reporter commented, "Mr. Kipling, it is estimated that many of your words per page are worth more than $100 each. If so, would you be willing to give us one of your $100 words?" Kipling asked first for a one hundred dollar bill, which the reporter handed over to him. Without saying anything else, Kipling took the one hundred dollar bill, folded it and put it in his pocket while the reporters stood in rapt attention. Kipling smiled and said, "Thanks!"

Thanks is certainly one of those valuable, one hundred dollar words- and certainly appropriate as we enter into the season of Thanksgiving. But all of our words have some value. One writer said that words are "among the most necessary, brilliant creation on the planet, and at the same time, some of the most destructive things one will ever find." The words themselves are not so inherently valuable as in how they are used.

Solomon certainly understood not only the power of words, but the way in which they are used. As king, Solomon was constantly in highly stressful situations where the atmosphere was extremely tense and volatile. One false step, one small nuance out of place, one tiny moment of insincerity, one bit of anger just below the surface could cause the entire situation to go up in flames. In those moments, Solomon understood the value of a gentle word and a soft answer. Many times skillful persons will, during intense conversations or negotiations, will employ humor to relieve the tension and diffuse the anger. Then as his listeners are more at ease, he can more easily, yet gently, drive his point home.

Unfortunately, not everyone is so skillful. Indeed there are some who will intentionally drop words like they were atomic bombs. Its bad enough when we unintentionally say the wrong thing. Yet these people go out of their way, spoiling for a fight. They will look for the means to twist your words around and impugn your motives, leaving everyone angry and frustrated. Solomon tells us it is wise to mark these people well and to stay away from them.

A deceitful tongue indeed crushes the spirit. Have you ever known anyone who never gave praise but was always full of criticism? Perhaps you work for or live with someone like this. No matter what you do, no matter how well you do it, the one with the deceitful tongue will always find a way to find fault with it. Solomon knew these people well. However, he seldom spent much time worrying about them. But he employed the same kind of wisdom against them. Instead of reacting with the expected hostility, Solomon would speak more slowly and softly, smiling as he spoke. He knew how to put them into situations where they would have to eat their words. Those who gush folly usually don't take long to let everyone know that they do not know what they are talking about, but a wise man knows the difference between a person who knows his stuff and the one who doesn't.

How much we need discernment and wisdom from God as we listen to people today. Perhaps we might want to incorporate Niebuhr's Serenity prayer as we listen and observe those who around us:

Prayer:

God grant me the serenity

To accept the things I cannot change;

Courage to change the things I can;

And wisdom to know the difference.

Help me also Lord to know the power of my

Words, as well as how to say them.

Have a blessed day!

18 November 2009 Devotion for Today “I Have Called You By Name” Isa 43:1-3

18 November 2009 Devotion for Today "I Have Called You By Name" Isa 43:1-3

 ¹ But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, O Jacob,
       he who formed you, O Israel:
       "Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
       I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

 ² When you pass through the waters,
       I will be with you;
       and when you pass through the rivers,
       they will not sweep over you.
       When you walk through the fire,
       you will not be burned;
       the flames will not set you ablaze.

 ³ For I am the LORD, your God,
       the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

    How is it that God, God's son, God's angels can so confidently tell God's people to "Fear not?" Don't they see what's happening? Don't they care about the harm we're about to experience? Are they living in some kind of divine state of denial? The answer follows those two words in vs. 1. "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine." God knows us (I have summoned you by name). We belong to God (you are mine.)
    God can say, "Fear not," because God knows that he's going to be with us no matter what. That's what vs. 2 is about. "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned." God never tells us there won't high waters, raging rivers or blazing fires in our lives. He just says, "When you are in the middle of those worst case scenarios, fear not. I am with you."
    Each football season the Texas Longhorns play the Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Shoot Out. It is played in the neutral city of Dallas. Thousands of fans from each team invade the city to witness the clash between these archrivals. Sometimes the clash extends beyond the playing field. One year a scuffle broke out in the stands and a handful of men were arrested and taken down town. To avoid jail they had to pay a $ 250.00 fine. One fan didn't have the money. All he had besides his drivers' license was his Neiman Marcus credit card. He showed the card to the judge, who said, "You can't pay your fine with that. You're spending the weekend in jail."
    When the man got to make his phone call, he didn't call his wife. He called the Neiman Marcus store and told them his story. The story made it's way up the company ladder until a Neiman Marcus vice-president said, "This guy is one of our customers, we'll help him out." The paid his fine and charged his card.
    Now, if Neiman Marcus could be loyal to a customer, do you think maybe your Father in heaven could be loyal to one of his children? And God won't charge your card. *
    Remember the young man who was arrested a few years ago in Singapore for some small infraction of their very strict laws? He was found guilty and sentenced to caning. It's not real important whether or not he was guilty or if the punishment fit the crime. The point is that his story made front page news here in the states. And the president appealed to Singapore for leniency -- for one reason; that kid was an American citizen. He belongs to us and we went to bat for him.
    That's why God can say, "Fear not." We belong to him. No matter what happens, no matter what we do, God is going to be with us in the flood, with us in the fire, with us when the worst happens.

Prayer: Dear God, I am in over my head right now, and it looks like the worst is happening to me. The flood waters are rising, and the flames are licking around my heels. Help me to trust in You, and not to fear. Let me know that hope lies beyond the flood, and on the other side of the flames. In Jesus Name, Amen.

*Jeremy Houck- "When the Worst Happens," Sermoncentral.com

17 November 2009 Devotion for Today “Extend the Margins” John 10:10, Isa 26:3

17 November 2009 Devotion for Today "Extend the Margins" John 10:10, Isa 26:3

 

This morning I am going to start off by doing something just a little bit different- kind of an exercise or object lesson to get you a little bit involved. First, find a book that is at least 100 pages long and turn to page 37. It doesn't matter what book it is- the fact that you are able to read it at all is because these words set are defined not by the printed matter that you see in front of you, but by the white space to the top, bottom, left and right sides that you normally do not notice. This white space, serving as a border and demarcating the printed matter is gives order and meaning to everything to the inside of the page. This white space is called the margin. This margin is not incidental- for in fact if we didn't have margin on the page, the book you are looking at, would be very difficult if not impossible to read. In fact, the words on the page, without the margin, would be almost incomprehensible. If you are reading a book with no margin on the left side where the book is bound, you would not be able to see the words on that side. It would be so difficult to read that you would just set down that book with no margin and find something else to read.

 

What was the point of that whole illustration? To demonstrate to you that you take margin out of a book or a page and you may not be able to read it, or make much sense- but unfortunately that is what we have done to life. We have literally snatched, chopped, sliced, and otherwise pulled out the margin . But you take the margin out of life, and what you have done is to overload your life so much that its only a matter of time before emotional, financial, spiritual, moral, and physical breakdown is going to occur. An example of this is when you have no margin you end up being 30 minutes late to the doctors office because you were 20 minutes late getting out of the bank because you were 10 minutes late dropping the kids off at school because the car ran out of gas two blocks from the gas station- and you forgot your wallet! Margin, on the other hand, is having breath left at the top of the staircase, money left at the end of the month, and sanity left at the end of of your kids' adolescence. Marginless is the baby crying and the phone ringing at the same time. Margin is grandma taking the baby for the afternoon. Marginless is being asked to carry a load give pounds heavier than you can lift; margin is a frind to carry half the burden. Marginless is not having time to finish the book you're reading on how to manage stress; margin is having the time to read it twice. Marginless is fatique; margin is energy. Marginless is red ink, margin is black ink. Marginless is hurry, margin is calm. Marginless is anxiety, margin is security; marginless is the disease of our new millennium- but margin is its cure. Have you ever wondered why it is that we have comforts and conveniences that other times in history could only dream about, yet somehow, inspite of the fact that we have them, we are not flourishing under the gifts of modernity as as one would expect. We live in an age of unprecedented breakthroughs in technology, in medicine, in science, and invention. Its an amazing age of progress, and for that we should be thankful.

 

Yet as visible as these achievements have been, our faults demand a glaring prominence of their own: I recently financed a car for roughly the same amount of what I mortgaged my first house for 20 years ago. We have divorce, teenage pregnancy, illicit drug abuse, crime, incarceration rates, one fourth of our population is functionally manic-depressive. Add these to corporate malfeasance, AIDS, litigation rates, unaffordable health care, educational breakdown and functional illiteracy---if our progress is so wonderful, why do we drink and drug to forget our problems? Why are we divorcing and suing at such unprecedented rates? Why is it that we are hearing and seeing so many things like what happened at Columbine and Virginia Tech? Why are people killing themselves-and others, in such numbers? Because our progress has come a price. For all the progress we have in modern life, the rat race that this progress has generated in many was far outweighs the benefits we derive from them.

 

    I do not believe that God ever meant for life to be this hard.    You look at the life of Jesus as you see someone who was never in a hurry, yet He only had three years But when Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly- He was not only talking about eternity. He was also talking about time. Time right here on earth, and how to experience that abundant life of margin that God desires us to have. I don't believe, for example, that God ever meant for us to be so tired and frazzled all the time! Have you ever stopped to wonder why it is that people are so anxious and depressed? Do you think that God meant for one-fourth to one third of population to have to live on the medication we are taking just to cope with one more day? Something is wrong- desperately wrong! And its not just enough to call it sin. to accomplish what God put Him on this earth to do. You never see Jesus stressed-out. Sure you saw Him angry, like the encounter He had with the money changers at the temple, or disappointed- perhaps expressing a little frustration with His disciples because they just couldn't seemd to get what their Master was teaching them. But not even having the basic necessities or comforts of life seemed to bother Him. "Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has no where to lay His head." Here was one who had thousands of people clamoring to make Him a king, to do miracles, healings, preaching sermons on the mount and yet not once did He miss that time to be with His heavenly Father.

    

    Jesus said, I am come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly! (John 10:10) The abundance of life is found not in how much you may squeeze in a page, but in the margins- the space and time in which God has defined life to take place. Knowing that we have everlasting life is the framework for restoring the margin back into our lives which sin has robbed us of- and to live the kind of life that God wants us to live. When I think of the Psalmists, for example- God speaks through them saying that when God leads us, He leads us beside the still waters. He tells us to be still and know that I am God. Isaiah 26:3
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

 

    As you approach the holiday season, remember this, the extent to which you enjoy this next month or so ahead of you will be enjoyed in the same proportion as to the margins you have in your life. Before you make any plans and crowd the season with activities, focus on the margins and extend them first. You will enjoy the holidays so much better.

 

    Have a blessed day!