20 December 2005 Devotion for Today "First Flight" Luke 2:7

20 December 2005 Devotion for Today “First Flight” Luke 2:7

Tens of thousands converge today upon the ridge over looking Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to celebrate the centennial of the Wright brothers first airplane flight which took place on this date back in 1903. Our region is full of excitement and tourists are pouring into our town here in Elizabeth City. I watched yesterday as Homeland Security helicopters flew over Weeksville in preparation for the President’s visit. Engineers have built a replica of the Wright aircraft and have tried to get it up in the air, but have failed many times. Actor John Travlota, the Master of Ceremonies at the event, says that “perhaps the craft was not supposed to fly, but it did, and the secrets of how Wilbur and Orville ever got the machine up into the air is a secret that is lost in history. We will know more today when we try once again to get it up into the air.” Hopefully the rains will not dampen the enthusiasm of the enthusiasts who arrived this week to be part of history. President Bush, in his address to the event, said that the Wright brothers had originally planned the flight for December 13. But that date was a Sunday. The sun was bright and it was warmer that day. It would have been a perfect day to be outdoors. But due to their Christian convictions against working on the Sabbath, they decided to put off the flight until the 17th. On that date, bad weather also prevailed. The less-than-perfect conditions underscore the fact that adversity also flew into the face of the inventors one hundred years ago. But the rain and wind and biting cold were also the things that helped to propel that first flight. Undaunted, Wilbur and Orville turned their plane into the wind and changed our way of life forever.

I thought about that as I reflect how often I get upset when things down turn out the way I had planned them. Often I view the adversities of life as mitigating against what I want to do. However, there are times when these things which I view as adversities and problems are all part of the success that make any project worthwhile. If everything were easy and we could accomplish what we wanted to without anything ever going wrong, we would not appreciate their value and understand the cost of things that did not come with sacrifice or pain.

Even the birth of the Christ child was not without adversity. Luke 2:7 tells us that his mother Mary, “brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Miles from home, tired, with no clean place to stay, anticipating a birth of a baby, Joseph frantically searched for a fit place for his wife to rest. It was not to be until a stable was offered to them. These were the conditions that our Lord was born into. Not a palace with sterile conditions with physicians attending a royal mother. It was a common, ordinary place full of every circumstance mitigating against the success of what God had set out to accomplish for us. Yet it was only right that Jesus was born in that stable. For he who was born in adversity ultimately overcame adversity and overcame sin and conquered death to give victory with us all.

The next time adversity strikes, and tries to discourage us may we think of the one who was born into it that He might overcome it. Have a blessed day!

 

(from 17 December 2003)

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@earthlink.net

 

website:   http://25621.lifewaylink.com
http://jeffrussellsblog.blogspot.com
http://devotionfortoday.blogspot.com/

 

12 December 2005 Devotion for Today "The First Christmas Tree" James 2:24

12 December 2005  Devotion for Today  “The First Christmas Tree”  James 2:24

 

Legend tells us that the first Christmas trees originated with the famous reformer, Martin Luther back in the early 1500s.  He was strolling through a forest in northern Germany one evening. Struck by the beauty of the moonlight shining on the fir trees, he went home determined to recreate the moment for his children. He brought a fir tree into the house and decorated it with candles. And so, the legend of the first decorated Christmas tree was born.  

            In the 7th century, the English monk St. Boniface went to teach the pagan Germans of Thuringia about Christianity. He used the fir tree's triangular shape to explain the concept of the Trinity. The people came to revere the fir tree and by the 12th century would hang a tree upside down from their ceilings as a symbol of their faith. Reports of Christmas tree decorating traditions increased in the ensuing centuries.  The first known decorated fir tree in England was set up in the year 1840 in Windsor Castle , occasioned by the wedding of the young Queen Victoria to her husband, the German Prince Albert so he would not be homesick. 

            While its hard to verify the accuracy of some of these legends, but make no mistake about it, Christmas trees are beautiful- at least until they want to take the word Christ out of it and make it a holiday tree.  But I submit to you that the very first Christmas tree was set up two thousand years ago.  It was decorated by our Savior.   Instead of candles and lights, it was sprinkled by His blood.  Instead of ornaments it was adorned by His body on the tree.  The tree I’m talking about was the Old Rugged Cross that we sing about which so few will ever associate with Christmas time.  Yes, the true Christmas tree is a cross. First Peter 2:24, "He who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree."

            The tree specified here used to described the cross. It was also mentioned in the Book of Acts. “The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead –whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.”(Acts 5:30).   You say, “Hold on, now! This is not how I pictured Christmas at all.  Why talk about gruesome, gory stuff like what we saw on the Passion?  Save that for Easter!  I want to come to enjoy Christmas, see the church all decorated up with poinsettias and red bows.  I want to come to see children dressed up like shepherds, wise men, and angels.  I’ve come to see the baby Jesus in a manger, not to see Him on a cross.  I can understand your feelings.  For the very image of the cross intrudes upon our wonder as we read Luke’s narrative of the Christmas story.   But without the cross the vision of the baby in a manger has no meaning.  Without the cross, the baby Jesus would be just like every other baby that was born that night or on any other night for that matter.  As innocent and as lovely as the sight of this little head, these tiny arms and feet, his body snuggled warmly in swaddling clothes, what gives this precious little life beauty is seen in this one Scripture:  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) It’s the image of this child born against the backdrop of the first Christmas tree, the cross.  

            When you look at your Christmas tree this evening, admiring its beauty and wonder, thank God for the very first Christmas tree, and the One who gave His life on it for you.

            Have a blessed day!

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@earthlink.net

 

website:   http://25621.lifewaylink.com
http://jeffrussellsblog.blogspot.com
http://devotionfortoday.blogspot.com/

 

13 December 2021 Devotion for Today “Frankincense” Exodus 30:34-38 This past weekend I visited a tea and spice specialty shop while browsing around Colonial Williamsburg. In that shop was a display of various kinds of mood-enhancing ‘essential oils” and other aromas. One large apothecary jar contained small whitish-gold nuggets labeled “Frankincense.” Instinctively I pulled the lid from the jar and held the edge of the jar to my nose. This very potent aroma made its presence known to my nostrils immediately. It nearly choked me at first, but I sniffed again- lightly at first, and then dared to inhaled the fragrance further up into my sinuses. At once my mind went to the gifts the Wise Men presented the baby Jesus as they journeyed to Bethlehem and the fragrant substance they gave. How did they even come by the frankincense and why? In Exodus 30:34-38 we are given a this Scripture describing the preparation and use of frankincense: And the Lord said to Moses: “Take sweet spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, and pure frankincense with these sweet spices; there shall be equal amounts of each. 35 You shall make of these an incense, a compound according to the art of the perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. 36 And you shall beat some of it very fine, and put some of it before the Testimony in the tabernacle of meeting where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. 37 But as for the incense which you shall make, you shall not make any for yourselves, according to its composition. It shall be to you holy for the Lord. 38 Whoever makes any like it, to smell it, he shall be cut off from his people.” The preparation and manufacturing of frankincense was a delicate and complicated process. There were special priests who were dedicated to producing this holy incense to burn in the Tabernacle on small altar in the Holy of Holies. But that’s not all. Frankincense was produced from a white resin harvest by tapping into certain species of the Boswella tree. Any species of tree was difficult enough to find in that part of the world but the Boswella tree was especially rare. First of all, the Boswella tree was tapped at certain times of the year to harvest the sap. In order for that to happen, the bark and tree had to be spiked or pierced with a nail. The imagery fits so perfectly with the prophecy given by Isaiah 53: But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5 The harvested sap would then be dried and hardened into resin. The resin would then be crushed- with certain other spices mixed in and rendered into goldish-white nuggets. Each nugget was worth its weight in gold. The Hebrews were not the only ones who used frankincense. The priests of the pagan gods in Rome, Greece, and Egypt- making demand for this resin so prized that the Arabians were some of the most wealthy people in the world- not for producing oil, but for frankincense. Apparently the Wise travelers from the Orient brought frankincense with them from as far away as Persia- and may have had their own recipe for preparing it. This extremely pungent, fragrant substance would be burned in a holy censer in the Tabernacle in the Old Testament and the Temple: signifying the prayers, the worship of the saints that goes to Almighty God. The frankincense also pointed to the sinless deity of the coming Messiah- the One the Wise Men recognized as Jesus Christ the Divine Son of God. The Wise Men worshipped as facilitated by this holy incense. They stated this purpose to King Herod in Matthew 2:2 “For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship Him.” Although Herod made pretense of worshipping the Christ child, he did not. He would not even move himself from his throne to kill Him, much less worship Him. There is a vivid connection here to those even today who do not give to the Lord Jesus the worship that is due to His name. They refuse to worship Him. There are some who claim to follow Him do not worship Him. The Wise Men covered a great distance- perhaps over 2000 miles- to worship Christ. Herod would not even go five or six miles down to Bethlehem even though he had access to the scholars who all knew what the sign of the Star meant. To the Wise Men, however, the discovery and worship of the Christ child was both costly, inconvenient, and perhaps even dangerous. The use of the frankincense signifies this act. Right worship and connection to God may require all three. Is my worship costly- that is, did it cost me something in my time, money, or other resources to do this? Is my worship inconvenient? That is, what must I do to rearrange my schedule and prioritize the time to make worship of God the most important thing I do- or is it a “tack-on” to an already over-crowded schedule? Is it dangerous- or at least life-altering? How will this worship change me- or am I willing to let it change my heart? Consider what you are willing to give up or give out as you contemplate the frankincense burning in your own heart today. Have a blessed day!

06 December 2006 Devotion for Today "Sankt Nikolaus" Ephesians 1:1

06 December 2006 Devotion for Today  “Sankt Nikolaus”   Ephesians 1:1

 

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.”  One of the saints of that region three centuries after Paul left Ephesus was St. Nicholas of Myra.  Because of his love for children and giving secret gifts to the underpriviledged, Nicholas is revered throughout the world as the originator of Santa Claus.

            Its been nearly four years since we left Germany, but each year when December 6 rolls around my heart goes back to that country and the first celebration of Sankt Nikolaus or Nikolaustag we experienced in 1998.   Parents were invited to the school program at the Grundschule Erlensee where our children participated in the festivities.  The memory of them singing “Kling Gloeckschen”  (Ring Little Bells) and “Ja ist Nikolaus Abend Da!” (Yes Nicholas Will Be Here Tonight!) is indelible as I remember the eyes of the children grow wild with excitement watching St. Nikolaus come storming into the room with a sack of small gifts.  He        wasn’t wearing a red suit, but arrayed in a bishop’s outfit.  As he gave out each gift, he acted as though he was intimately familiar with the personality of each child, commenting on their behavior throughout the year.  To one he said, “Fabian, I saw what you did in the hallway just last week.  You pretended to take the milk bottles back to the hallway after snack time, but you really ran home, didn’t you, because you forgot your Hausaufgabe (homework).  Didn’t you?”  The rosy-cheeked Fabian blushed and then smiled as the school room erupted in laughter.  To our two boys the old bishop congratulated them on learning the language so well.  After nearly a year in the country they had become completely fluent and doing well in their studies.   The whole time I am thinking, “this country has things all mixed up.  St. Nick doesn’t come out until Christmas Eve. He must be getting a jump on Christmas this year!” 

            Actually, the original celebration of St. Nikolaus is celebrated in nearly all the continental European countries on December 6, where children receive small gifts (kind of like a pre-Christmas present).  But Martin Luther popularized the giving of Christmas presents on Christmas Eve later in the month, focusing upon the great gift that God gave in sending our Savior to the world.  That is when the Christkind comes and then she delivers all the presents.  I still haven’t figured out why the Germans depict the Christkind as a female angel figure when the name in English means “Christ-child.”  But then again, I still haven’t figured out a lot of our American holiday traditions, and how Santa Claus (our version of St. Nikolaus) got so commercialized from a Catholic bishop to a man in a red suit on Christmas Eve.  When the Germans hear about the American version coming down a chimney, they laugh!  The chimney has nothing to do with it, they say.

            Holiday traditions change, but Christ never changes.  Christ was the One who inspired St. Nicholas to characterize love and gift-giving.  May we focus on Him who inspires the greatest good in all of us this season.

            Have a blessed Nikolaustag. 

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@earthlink.net

 

website:   http://25621.lifewaylink.com
http://jeffrussellsblog.blogspot.com
http://devotionfortoday.blogspot.com/

 

04 December 2006 Devotion for Today “Best Intentions” Colossians 4:2-5

04 December 2006  Devotion for Today  “Best Intentions”  Colossians 4:2-5

 

The other day I heard someone remark, “I meant to go and do that, but then I forgot.”   I honestly could not be too hard in my opinion of this person, even if it did sound like a lame excuse.  How many times have I honestly tried to do what I wanted to do, intended to do, and for some reason it just didn’t happen.  If this person’s schedule was like mine, it’s a wonder he is not dead, much less unable to show up at a meeting or to get a project completed.  There have been times I have allowed things to slip past because my schedule crowds them out.  This is especially true when spiritual things are concerned.  Most people have the tendency to grow comfortable with themselves, resting on past achievements, distinctions, or “laurels” to carry them into an area of life they simply are not prepared for.  That is when we try to “wing it” and hope others don’t notice.  Only they do notice.  They just don’t say anything to us about it because they are too busy trying to wing it themselves.

 

2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; 3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, 4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. 5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Colossians 4:2-5

 

Paul desires to be vigilant in his ministry- to stay focused and always look for the open door of opportunity.  Even though he is constantly chained and dragged down by the confinement of prison bars there are constant opportunities which surround him.  Even the Roman prison guards provide a captive audience to speak the mystery of Jesus Christ to them.  Then Paul challenges us to be wise to the opportunities to advance the witness for Christ to unbelievers.  In a round about way, Paul basically says that if he can do it in the context of prison life, how many more opportunities do we have to reflect our witness.   It is a matter of making most of our time.

 

I read an article yesterday which had a quote in it I will leave you with.  The writer said, “Even the poorest action is better than the best of intentions.”^[1]  How right he was.  The things we do may not turn out very well, or go as well as we had planned.  But how much better they are than the half-hearted thoughts that we never get around to doing.  And think about this.  We are already into the month of December.  How much more time do we have do accomplish what we said we were going to do last year?

 

Have a blessed and productive day!

 

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@earthlink.net

 

website:   http://25621.lifewaylink.com
http://jeffrussellsblog.blogspot.com
http://devotionfortoday.blogspot.com/

 

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^[1] Marvin Owen “Seven Useless Things: Hindrances to Growth”, Leaderlife Magazine, Lifeway Press Winter 2006-07, pp. 26-27.

 

18 November 2021  Devotion for Today   “Unwanted Publicity”   Mark 1:40-45

40 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”

41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” 42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. 43 And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”  45 However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.   Mark 1:40-45

In this passage, we see the compassion of Jesus at work who healed a man who had leprosy.   Leprosy was a horrible, incurable skin disease that was usually, eventually fatal.   Lepers were isolated from society and separated from their loved ones.   It was a miserable, terrifying existence.   The leper in this Scripture passage sought out Jesus and begged for Him to heal him.  The leper exhibited great faith in Jesus’ ability as well as His desire to heal.   He probably ventured out to where he was not permitted to be to find Jesus.   Jesus expressed His willingness and compassion to heal this man and did so immediately.   

Of course, this passage raises all kinds of questions, but the question I have at this point is this:  “Why would Jesus command this leper not to tell anyone about his healing?”  One would think Jesus would have appreciated the good “PR” to bolster the popularity of His ministry.   Yet we know that Jesus did not heal the leper for that reason.  Jesus did not need a publicist, nor did He need to rise in popularity polls.   Mark already said that Jesus had compassion on the man.  For one thing, the first thing the leper needed to do in order to reintegrate into society was to make an appointment with a priest to examine him.   Only a priest could certify a leper to be cleansed from this disease in order to return to society.   However, there were many selfish, corrupt priests in those days.   From sheer jealousy or spite, the priest might not have wanted to certify the man if the priest had known it was Jesus who had healed him.   

Perhaps the most likely reason that Jesus warned the leper not to tell anyone was because He knew the act would add more popularity than He wanted.   News travels fast.   Jesus’ approach was to enter into a town in order to get to know the people and perform what acts He wished as He moved about at will.   Because of this overwhelming reputation, Jesus was no longer able to come into a town without being greeted by hundreds, if not thousands of needy people- all wanting Jesus to touch them with compassion as much as the leper received when Jesus healed Him.   It would probably create huge crowds and block streets, and bring unwelcome attention from the authorities who would likely call Jesus to account for a disturbance.   Going forward, Jesus would have to meet people outside the towns and cities He desired to minister.   The people thronged about Him coming from every direction, it says.  Perhaps they came from other towns and villages just for the opportunity and hope that Jesus might do something for them.   

Publicity has a way of not only proclaiming the truth, but also distorting truth.  It would not take long for the image that Jesus had of Himself to change to what many people wanted it to be.   Jesus knew that.

Jesus also knew that when He commanded the leper not to say anything that it would probably have the opposite effect.  Human nature is notoriously bad for keeping secrets.  It would not have taken long for someone who knew the leper to ask him how he came to be healed.   Still, Jesus needed to resist the pressure of others taking His ministry to places He did not want it to go.   Jesus came to this earth not to be a rising star, but to do the will of Him who sent Him.   In John 9:4 Jesus said:  “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”    Jesus knew He only had so much time on this earth to proclaim His Kingdom.  He certainly had no time to waste it by sorting out who others wanted Him to be.   

This leads me to my closing thought:   is Jesus just a healer, an astute story-teller, a good teacher, an inspirational leader, or is He the Son of God who can produce change in Your life stemming from the salvation He offers.  Jesus has compassion to change you because He loves you.  He wishes to touch you in the way He touched and cleansed the leper.   Because of His finished work on the Cross, He can do so much more for you than He did for the leper.   The leper was healed and cleansed of leprosy but he would live again to die of something else one day.   But the cleansing Jesus can do in your life is more powerful- healing you forever and giving you not just a changed life, but eternal life.  

Have a blessed day!

 17 November 2021   Devotion for Today “Alone in the Darkness”  Mark 1: 35-39

35 “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. 37 When they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” 38 But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.”

39 And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.”  Mark 1:35-39

I first read this Scripture long before the sun came up this morning.   I did not sleep well last night.  I haven’t slept well for several nights since 

my mother passed.  Those of you who are grieving, you know what I am talking about.   My legs also ache and I have to get up and move about to restore circulation.   Those of you over 60 you know what I am talking about as well.   I rose early and got alone with Jesus.   Its in these times I realize I am not really alone, even on a dark night.  It is easy in the darkness to feel confused, afraid, lonely, angry, even bitter.   Many are wondering around in the darkness not knowing where they are.  This has nothing to do with the lacking of the Sun.  Some have also felt that Jesus has turned His back on them, and forsaken them.   I have felt this way at times.  This is when I need to remember that Jesus is in the darkness, too.   Jesus was there when the disciples were in the fishing boat when they saw their Master walking on the water.  Jesus was in the darkness in the midst of His own temptation.  Even at His crucifixion, on the darkest day there ever was- Jesus was there, feeling abandoned, forsaken, in great darkness- enduring this for us. 

One thing comes to mind in spite of the darkness.  Jesus stayed through the darkness until the sun came up.  He was there to greet the sun as it came up over Him- the original Creator of it.  If Jesus endured the night and all the darkness with it, He will emerge into the light, and carry you into it.

In my prayer time I remembered a song we sang at last night’s worship rally at another church.  When I called it to mind, I sang it in praise to the One who will never leave me or forsake me:

Light of the world You stepped down into darkness,  

Opened my eyes, let me see

Beauty that made this heart adore You

Hope of a life spent with You

Here I am to worship… (Chris Tomlin)

Are you feeling “in the darkness” today.   Call upon Jesus.   He’s been up long before you.   Have a blessed day!