Pastoral
Hear My Prayer, O Lord
Hear My Prayer - Devotions for 6-23-21
Psalm 102:1 “Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you!”
There are times when we all feel like crying out to the Lord. “Hear my prayer, O Lord.” We cry out for God to hear us, for God to care, for God to know what we are going through and to have Him help us. Sometimes that is because of some medical situation we find ourselves or a loved one in. Sometimes it is because of a difficulty in a personal relationship, maybe in our marriage or with a parent or child. Sometimes that cry comes up from deep within us because of some other important issue in our lives like finances, or a sudden crisis of some sort. We have a deep pain and we call out to God to hear us, to know what is going on and to help.
That is what this Psalm writer was feeling too, what all of us feel at times. He cries out in verse two, “Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress!” The Psalmist was in deep distress, deep pain, deep anguish of heart and soul. We all can be there, some of you are right now. The family of the Arvada police officer who was killed yesterday and the other man who tried to help are having such a day today.
When I turned on my computer this morning I was greeted with a string of emails and two of them contained information about two people I know who died yesterday too. Their families are grieving and calling out to God for help, for God to hear them. On any given day this could be any one of us. Life is fragile and we need God to be there when things are falling apart.
“Hear my Prayer, O Lord.” And He does. In verse 17 this Psalm says, “He regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer.” It goes on to say that the Lord hears the groans of people in deepest trouble. God hears our prayers.
This is a great comfort to all who are hurting, to those in need of God’s help and care. He hears our prayers. Sometimes we see that immediately when we pray, something happens that shows that God has heard our prayer. Sometimes that is an answer to what we just prayed, sometimes it is just a reminder that He is there and that He cares. But always, God hears our prayers.
It comforts me to know that He hears. There have been times when it felt like God didn’t hear, like God didn’t know or didn’t care about my situation. But that is never true for the person who cries out to God in earnest prayer. He hears and He cares. When I feel like God doesn’t hear or doesn’t care it is me who is wrong, not God. God hears and God cares whether I feel it or not. He hears because He promises to hear our prayer and He calls on us to - “Cast all our anxiety on Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7. He hears and He cares.
Turn to God today and tell Him your worries, your fears, your concerns. Lift up to God your heart and let God bring comfort to it by hearing the concerns of your heart. He will hear you and He will do what His will dictates.
Pastor Gary
Its Hot Out
Its Hot Out! - Devotions for 6-16-21
Matthew 35:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”
For the past two days it has been 100 degrees out, and today it is supposed to be that again. Three 100-degree days in a row. Its hot out. It is hot in too since we do not have air-conditioning. We have a cooler, but it doesn’t cool it much, so we retreat to the basement where it is still cool. Thankfully we have a basement.
This heat, maybe especially following a cool and wet May, seems excessive. I am not used to it. I do not think I could ever get used to it. It is just plain hot. Which reminded me of the very terrible statements in the bible of what hell will be like. In several places, including here in Matthew 25:41, we are told that it will be hot, a place of fire, a lake of fire. We are told the fire will not stop, not be quenched.
Fortunately, we all know that the heat we are dealing with now will come to an end. It cools off every night and in a day or two it is supposed to be 15 – 20 degrees cooler during the day. I look forward to that, maybe I will be able to stop hiding inside and see the outside again. Just kidding, but it is hot. And that heat will not last forever.
It does last forever in hell. God tells us that hell will be hot and we are not meant for that sort of heat, that sort of eternal punishment. That punishment was built for the devil and those angels that forsook God and followed Satan. That is who hell was built for, not for us.
But, those who deny the Lord, those who are not saved, will feel that heat too. How sad. How sad, especially since no one needs to experience that sort of punishment. We were created to have fellowship with God, and He went on to build a place of peace and joy for us. He built a heaven for us and according to the book of Revelation, He will build a new one after the end of time on this earth comes. A place of rest. A place of peace. A place of joy. A place of eternal reward. That is what God created for all people.
What a contrast. What a sad contrast, the difference between what we were created for and what some people will choose. I want heaven. I want you to go to heaven too. I want the best for you. God wants the best for you, that is why he made heaven. He made it for you.
Where will you go when you die? Believe in Jesus and heaven will await you when you die.
I know this sounds old-fashioned. But it is still true. God created heaven for you and you for heaven. Believe in Jesus and it is all yours. This is my prayer for you, that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are saved.
Pastor Gary
Trust in the Lord
Trust in the Lord - Devotions for 6-9-21
Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”
Trust in the Lord. We hear that phrase often, especially when someone is trying to comfort us in difficult times. Trust in the Lord. But what does it mean to trust in the Lord?
It means to go against yourself, to go against your natural tendencies. We think we know a lot. We think we are smart. We think we are good at making choices and decisions, so we make them based on our own understanding.
There is the problem. Our own understanding is flawed. We see through a glass darkly the Apostle Paul tells us. We do not see all that there is. Our vision is limited by many things and so our understanding is flawed, it is based on a very limited understanding.
I love it when a child of five says something like, “When I was young..” They think they are so old and so knowledgeable, so wise. So too do we when we get to be high school seniors. We are so smart, we know so much about the world and about people. And when we graduate from college we really think we are something, that we are really wise now! After all, we have a piece of paper that tells us so. Or so WE think. But our understanding is so short-sighted.
The child of five is funny when they think they are so wise. So too is the high school senior only now they can make decisions that can have life-long consequences. That is why mom and dad keep trying to have some influence on them, to keep them headed in the right direction. When we leave home, get a job, settle down, we hope we are wiser and able to handle the world. But soon we learn that we are not that smart.
When we get old, we have gained some wisdom, but not everyone who is old is wise either. There are some people who have just grown older, but not so much wiser. Those who have gained the wisdom of their age smile with someone who is young thinks they are so wise. “Just wait,” they think. “You will grow up. You don’t know much yet, even if you think you do.”
I wish I had listened to some older and wiser people when I was younger. I could have avoided making some huge mistakes and maybe I would have been given some good advice that would have sent me in a better direction.
My point is this, that our so-called wisdom is not all that good. It is based on our own experiences, education, and life lessons. The older we get the more life lessons we have to rely on, but still, we can only learn so much as we can only experience so much. God has been around for a lot longer, He has been around forever. His life experience goes all the way back to Adam and Eve. He walked with them in the garden, and He walked with every person who has ever lived. He has way more life experience than we do. So, God’s wisdom is far greater than ours, greater than ours every could be.
So, listen to Proverbs 3:5 and do not think you are so wise. Do not lean on your own understanding, it is way too limited. Instead, put your trust in the One who is truly wise, in the One who has all wisdom. Trust in the Lord. His understanding goes way beyond ours. Let us put our trust in the Lord and follow His leading. If we do, our life will go way better.
And thankfully, a lot of His wisdom has been written down for us to read, as in this book of Proverbs. It is a really wise read.
Pastor Gary
Partnership in the Gospel
Your Partnership in the Gospel - Devotions for 6-2-21
Philippians 1:3-5 “I thank God … Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”
Paul was writing to people he knew in many places where he had once gone and preached the gospel and established churches. One of the places Paul started a church and was writing to while he was in jail in Rome was Philippi. Paul knew a lot of people there; Lydia a lady who he led to faith, the jailer and his whole house who he led to faith and baptized. Paul knew a lot of people in Philippi and while he was in jail in Rome, awaiting his trail, he wrote to them. Maybe he was lonely, maybe he was just filling his time, but he wrote to them this wonderful letter we know as “The letter of Paul to the Philippians.”
Paul starts out this letter by telling the people of that church that he thanked God for them whenever he thought about them. Thinking about his friends in Philippi brought Paul great joy. He loved them. He prayed for them. He cared for them. And now he writes to them to make sure they knew how much he cared for them.
We should send those kinds of notes and letters to the people we care about too. Make sure they know how much you care about them!
In this letter he talks about their partnership in the gospel. Paul was calling them partners in the work of Christ. And such they were. They helped support Paul while he was in jail. That was one way they partnered with him. But that partnership in the gospel went much deeper. They continued on with the work of Christ in Philippi. They brought their friends to Christ. They preached to those who would listen. They shared their faith in Christ with those they knew. They were truly partners in the work of Jesus Christ, the work Paul started when he came to Philippi with Timothy several years earlier.
We are partners in the gospel too. All who work together in the church of Jesus are partners in the gospel. Sometimes we feel like we are just a tiny speck in the church and have nothing to offer, but we are wrong. We are all partners in the gospel. We are co-laborers in the work of Christ. Whether we preach, or sing, or pray in church, or sit in the chairs and take it all in, we are partners in the gospel. Whenever we do anything in His church we are partnering in the gospel. Whenever we pray with our neighbor who is hurting we are partnering in the work of Christ. Whenever we give to support the church or some work of the church we are partnering in the gospel. When we work for Christ’s church, in our church, we are partners.
What Paul was saying, and what we all need to hear, is that the church was not His. It was not the church of Paul in Philippi, it was the church of Christ. And because it was not Paul’s church, the people were not working for Paul, but rather with Paul. They were working for Jesus. You are working for Jesus whenever you do anything in the church. You are being a partner in the work of grace, in the work of the gospel. Never think that your involvement in the church is tiny or unnecessary. If you are serving in His church, you are a partner in a very important work, the work of the gospel. Thank you for your service!
Pastor Gary
Rejoicing and Weeping
Rejoicing and Weeping - Devotions for 5-19-21
Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”
Last Sunday we were able to take down the sign that said that everyone had to wear a mask to enter. Our President and our Governor both said that those who were vaccinated did not need to wear masks any longer and that gatherings of people with mostly vaccinated people did not need to require people to wear masks.
It was a good Sunday. People who had not been in church for months showed up. It was good and that was seen on the faces of the people as they came and saw people who they had not seen in a long time. We had great fellowship.
Fellowship is what was missing for many people during this time of social distancing and the wearing of masks. It is impossible to be social when you distance yourself from others. It is difficult to have deep fellowship when you cannot see each other’s faces. Everyone did the best they could for over a year, but we all knew that something was missing and that some people were missing.
In Romans 12 we are told to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep. This has been difficult to do during the time of Covid shutdowns. During our time of social distancing and mask wearing, limited or no visiting and gatherings, a lot of life has happened. In my work as a pastor, I have experienced a baby die in the hospital, friends die far away and their funerals, babies being born into families of friends and loved ones, birthdays of grandchildren, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, and all sorts of other life events.
Those life events were different! Easter with no one in church but rather worshipping on-line in their homes. Christmas with no family gathering. Birthdays where we had to sing “Happy Birthday” from a Zoom meeting. People sick and dying in hospitals where maybe one person could visit. Funerals where many of the people who would have normally been there were watching on-line or just not able to come.
What a different fifteen months we have had. And what has made it difficult is that it has been very hard to rejoice with those who were rejoicing and to weep with those who were weeping. Celebrating a grandchild’s birthday from a computer just doesn’t do it. When we hung up we wanted to cry because it just wasn’t the same. How do you celebrate when you cannot be together! And to weep with those who weep you need to be there to give them a hug! How can you hug someone over the phone or on-line? A lot of life was missed because of this pandemic.
But, we can live again! We can be together again. We can rejoice with those who rejoice again. We can weep with those who weep again. Let us do that, let us put fellowship on the top of our To-Do list and make up for lost time.
If there is one thing this pandemic has taught us, it is that people need people. Let us return to fellowship again. Fellowship in the family, in the neighborhood, in the church.
Pastor Gary
Children Walking in the Lord
Children Walking In the Lord - Devotions for 5-12-21
3 John verse 4. “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
Parents love their children. My wife and I love ours and we love our grandchildren. It is almost a universal concept that parents will love their children. This is even seen in animals as an animal’s mother cares for its children in a way that demonstrates love to them. It simply goes without saying that we parents love our children.
It is our love for them that makes us want the best for them. We want the best for them in this life and the next. We want them to uphold the values and practices and faith that we have as we pass those things on to our children. We want them to have an even better life than we did and so we work to pass that on to them when they are young and even as they live their lives as adults. You never stop being a parent and a parent never stops loving their child or wanting the best for them.
John shows us that he too cared for his children. Now, John was never married and never had any biological children as far as anyone has ever discovered, so the children he was talking about here were those people he either led to faith or those that he was in a paternal way over spiritually. I am sure that there were many people who John would have called his spiritual children and probably many more who would have called him their spiritual father or at least their mentor. So, when John says that he has no greater joy than to see his children walking with the Lord, he is talking about people who he led to faith.
Whether we talk about our biological children, adopted children, or spiritual children this verse applies. We want the best for our children no matter who they are and no matter what our parental connection to them may be. We want the people we love and care for to have a good life and to live with Jesus in heaven for all eternity and to serve His church.
So, John writes that it brings him joy to hear that those he loved were walking with the Lord. This is one of the reasons for his writing this letter. He wanted Gaius to know that he was glad to have heard that Gaius was still walking in faith, walking with Jesus. John also wanted to encourage Gaius to serve the church and care for other people. He was doing so, and John writes to him to let Gaius know that John was proud of him.
Gaius was welcoming travelling evangelists and other Christian leaders into his home and showering them with hospitality. He helped them in their travels and sent them on their way in serving Jesus. Gaius was encouraging other believers and John was encouraging him.
Are you encouraging your children, whether biological or not, in their walk with the Lord? I hope you are, encourage them when you see them walking with the Lord. Encourage them when you see them doing something to serve the Lord or His church. Encourage them when you hear that they are walking the Christian walk. Everyone needs encouragement because we have a very real enemy who wants to tear Christians down and get them to stop walking with or serving Jesus.
“Encourage one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25. Be spiritual parents to those who look up to you and encourage them in their walk with Jesus. This world is doing its best to tear Christians down, we need to build them up, especially those close to us.
Pastor Gary
Mom's Wisdom
Mom’s Wisdom - Devotions for 5-5-21
Proverbs 6:20b “do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”
Mother’s Day is this Sunday. It is always a special day for families as we all have a mother, we all have a mom. I hope you will do what you can to make your mom’s day a special one, to let her know you love her and care for her.
In the book of Proverbs we are mostly given a man’s instruction to his son about being a leader in society. For that reason it often says something like, “Listen my son to a father’s teaching.” Proverbs 1:8a. But in some places it brings up the teaching or instruction a person gets from mom, as it does in the second half of 1:8. We need both a mom and a dad to become fully developed, well rounded people. A dad teaches us much, but a mom adds her own wisdom and it is usually very different than what a dad teaches.
A dad teaches us how to handle ourselves in the working world, how to be strong and take it, how to lead, and often, how to have fun, how to play. A dad’s instruction is vital to us, but so is moms. Mom’s often teach us to be softer, to be kinder, to be more relational, more loving.
Even as I write this I know families where those roles are reversed, but in general this is how I see it, or maybe this is just how it was for me growing up. My point is that moms teach us a lot, in many homes today, mom is the main teacher of family life and living.
For many of us when we reach the teenage years we start to rub against our mom and dad and anything or almost everything they have taught us. We reach those difficult years of rebellion as a teenager. We want to find our own way and do our own thing and be able to go and do what we want, not what our parents tell us to. Many people have a rough time as a teenager, not all, but many do.
What is interesting to me is what happens to so many of those rebellious teens as they reach their mid-20’s and especially when they settle down and have their own children. They suddenly return to almost everything mom taught them. They return to their mother’s teachings. They find out that mom was right all along. Dad too, but this is for mother’s day after all.
The book of Proverbs is about wisdom for living in this world. One place we need to go to for wisdom is God’s word, it is a great source of wisdom and one place God’s word tells us to go for even more wisdom, the basic wisdom of general living, is to our mom. “Do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”
When you think back on your mom and what she taught you, what do you see? What do you remember? My mom taught me how to cook, how to get along with people I didn’t get along with naturally and how to get by with less than I wanted. My mom taught me a lot about life. Thanks mom! What did your mom teach you?
This Mother’s Day, remember your mom and the lessons of life she taught you. Then pass on those teachings to the next generation.
Pastor Gary
The Heavens Declare
The Heavens Declare – Devotions for 4/28/21
Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the Glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”
Spring is upon us and summer is soon to follow. For awhile, I was wondering as yet another spring snowstorm dumped on our area, but right now, I can see that spring is here. Our tulips are up and some of the trees are starting to sprout flowers.
I enjoy the spring, but I enjoy the summer even more. What I am looking forward to in summer is going to the mountains and going camping and fishing. I love to get out in God’s creation and see the many things His hands have crafted and formed.
When I am out camping, or out in God’s creation, away from the city and its lights and busyness, I love to look up. At night I love to look up and see the stars. I love to see the big dipper and other constellations, I love to see a meteor shower, I love to see God’s handiwork in the heavens above. And when I am looking up, I am always amazed and humbled. I am amazed at how vast the heavens are and how many stars there are. I wonder about big things then like, “How big is the sky? How many stars are there? Will mankind ever get to visit another star? Will we ever know how big God’s creation is?”
I reflect on these big questions, questions some astronomers might have an inkling of but I don’t think any human really understands. The vastness of God’s heaven is mind boggling. It is awe-inspiring and that is exactly what I love on a clear night in the mountains, to be awe inspired. I need that inspiration. I need to know that God is there and that He is way bigger than I am or than my problems are. I am reminded of all that when I camp under the stars and see the heavens stretched out and twinkling above me.
Something else happens to me as I watch the stars on a clear dark night too and that is that I am humbled. And I need to be humbled, we all do.
When I see the stars and am reminded of how big heaven is and therefore how big God is, I am humbled by how tiny I am and the thought that God still cares about me.
I do not think that anyone could see how big the created universe is without feeling tiny. To know that I am just a speck of dust on a tiny grain of sand planet in this huge universe is a humbling thing. In the big picture of everything, I am nothing, and neither are my problems that may seem so huge back at home.
As I watch the stars above, I will always think of this Psalm because as I look at the stars and the vastness of heaven I am reminded of God’s handiwork. It is He who created it all and that means He is above and bigger than it all. He is able to handle everything, even my tiny problems. And more than that, He cares about me.
Why would the God of creation, care about such a tiny speck of seeming nothingness? Because He loves me. Because He loves you.
Look at the stars and know that God loves you and that God is big enough to handle all of your issues and problems. Give yourself into His hands and give your problems into His hands. He is big enough to handle it all.
Pastor Gary
Imitate Me!
Imitate me! – Devotions for 4/21/21
Philippians 3:17 “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”
Imitate me! I cannot imagine a more vain statement than that. Do what I do. Follow my example. But this is exactly what we do every day. We teach our children to do what we do, whether we think we are or not, and whether they should do what we do or not. We teach new workers what to do by showing them what we do. We teach children in school by first showing them and then having them imitate us.
A lot of teaching is done by example. And the Apostle Paul is telling us that a lot of Christian life is learned by example. Imitate me Paul says and imitate all those who are walking in Christ in right ways. Notice that Paul limits our imitating others, to imitating other Christians who are walking in Christ as they should. He is not telling us to imitate their sin, but to imitate them as they walk as Christians should. The difference is huge. Even Paul would not have wanted anyone to imitate him when he was not walking as Christ would have him walk. He too was a sinner and no doubt his friends and those who worked with him saw some of that sin come out. But still he writes, “join in imitating me.”
I have a difficult time telling others to imitate me. I see my sin. I see where I am not worthy of imitating. I see where I fail God and where I fail my family and friends and even myself. I do not want anyone imitating me in those areas. So, I have a difficult time telling others to imitate me, to do what I do.
But still, imitation is the fastest, and often the best way, to learn. In many employee training programs the first thing done in training new workers is to have them watch someone else do the job and then to imitate them. So, why am I struggling to have others imitate me? Why does that sound so arrogant?
In our churches we need mentors. That is really what Paul is saying here, we need Christian mentors. We need people who can take other Christians, especially newer believers, under their wings and walk with them as they walk with Jesus. We need Christians who can show others how to pray, how to have better self-control over sin, how to resist temptations, how to give to God’s work, how to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. We need mentors in the faith.
And what is a mentor? Just someone who has learned something and can help someone else learn that same thing. So, what do you know? Do you know Jesus? Do you know how to pray? Do you know how to resist some temptations? Do you know how to share your testimony with others? Do you know how to notice the leading of the Holy Spirit?
Then be a mentor to others because you have something you can share, something you can pass on to other believers. Do not hide what you know, let your light shine so others can see it and learn from it. The Christian church needs mentors, will you be a mentor to others?
And how do we mentor others? First, by being with them. Spend time with them, eat lunch together, pray together, worship together, work together, be together. The first part of being a mentor to others is to be with them.
Who are you being with so they can learn from you, and who are you being with so you can learn from them?
Pastor Gary
Heavenly Minded
Heavenly Minded – Devotions for 4/14/21
Colossians 3:2 “Set you mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”
You have probably heard the saying, “This person is so heavenly minded they are of no earthly good.” Well, that can be true of some people, but I fear that most of us, even most Christians are “so earthly minded that we are of no heavenly good.” Well, that may be a bit extreme since we are not in heaven. But I hope you get the gist of what I’m saying, that we need to be more heavenly minded than most of us are.
This verse from the book of Colossians puts it straight, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” This is telling us that we need to be more focused on God and the things of God than on the cares and worries of this world.
But who can be that? I see the things of this world. I see the problems of hunger, of rioting in Minneapolis, of a government that seems to be against people of faith, of people who have been out of work for months, of more snow in the forecast, of bills that need to be paid. I see in this world; I see too much of this world.
I do not see enough of heaven. I do not see God on His throne. I do not see God at work in the world around me. I do not see God protecting me and my loved ones from things I cannot see because I do not see in that world. I do not see God’s love for me as I should. There is so much I do not see, but maybe the reason for that is because I am not really looking at the things above. Maybe I do not see the things of heaven because I am too focused on the things of this world.
How about you? Are you so focused on the things of this world that you miss seeing the things above? Are you so concerned about the issues of this life that you forget to set your minds on the things above?
So, how do we set our minds more on the things above? How do we take our eyes off the things of this world?
There are some practical first steps and one of them for me was to turn off the TV, or at least stop focusing so much on the news. My wife and I had to turn off the news because it caused us to focus too much on the things of this earth. After all, I have never heard a newscast about what was happening in heaven. What earthly things do you need to turn off so you can turn more to the things above? We all have things we need to turn away from so we can turn more toward the things of God.
Pray about what God would have you turn off, or at least delve in less, so that you can spend more mental time, more mind and heart time, on the things of God. And then, use that opened up time to do that, to read the bible, to go to church, to pray, to meditate on the things above. Open up time in your schedule for more God time and less worldly time.
Set your minds on the things above. Start looking at the things happening around you from the perspective of God, from a God’s eye view. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your spiritual eyes so that you see beyond the limited earthly view we all have so that you can see more of God at work in the world around you.
And then, consider your neighbors. Look at them through God’s eyes and see them as people who need the Lord, for that is what they are. People in need of Jesus. That would be to become people heavenly minded and of heavenly good.
Pastor Gary
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Prayer
Psalm 86:1 “Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.”
I love the reality of the Psalms. In the Psalms you can feel life, its ups and its downs. You can feel life in the raw. There is no pretense, no faking it until you make it, no wishful thinking. There is just raw life with its joys and sorrows, trials and triumphs. In this Psalm, David calls out to the Lord for the Lord to hear his prayer and answer him. We need to call out to God in prayer too.
But why does it feel like David is a bit desperate here? It seems that way to me. David is calling on God to hear his prayer and David calls himself poor and needy. David was not poor, not when He was king of Israel. And needy? David was never needy, except maybe when he was hiding from Saul, but otherwise, David was not needy. So, what is going on? What is David saying?
When I read these words, I hear a man who was in trouble calling out to God for help. David was desperate. In several verses in this Psalm, we hear that David was in trouble. In verse 7 David writes, “In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.”
I hear in these words a man who was in the midst of dark times in his life, and he is calling on God to help him. He was not feeling God’s help at the moment, he was feeling the trouble he was in.
Are you feeling trouble? Perhaps you are feeling the trouble of health issues? Maybe it is the trouble of relationship problems? Some people are feeling the trouble of a loved one who has their own troubles. Many people, perhaps all people, feel the trouble of financial hardships, at least at some point in their life. Are you feeling trouble of some sort?
David can relate, or maybe, you can relate to King David’s prayer.
And the good news, the news David knew but wasn’t necessarily feeling at the moment, was that God does hear, and God does care, and God can take care of your troubles. God knows what is going on with you, just as He knew what David’s troubles were. More than that, David knew that God cared and had the ability to help.
David knew this and he points to that when he says in verse 10 “For you are great and do wonderous things; you alone are God.”
God knows your situation. God knows your troubles. He knew David’s troubles as well and still David called out to God and asked for help. We can, we need to, call out to God in our times of trouble too. Whether it is a personal issue, a family issue, a work issue or a political issue, we need to call out to God in our time of struggle and trouble. God wants us to pray. God wants us to ask. God wants to hear our voice and when we pray, when we ask, He does incline His ear to us. He hears our prayers.
Thankfully, we can rest in knowing that God hears our prayers. Then after praying, knowing God has heard us, let us look around us to see His answer. He hears and He answers.
Are you praying?
Pastor Gary
Welcoming Jesus
Welcoming Jesus – Devotions for 3/31/21
Matthew 21:9 “And the crowds that went before Him and that followed Him were shouting, ‘Hosannah to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Last Sunday is commonly known as Palm Sunday. It is the day we remember when Jesus came into Jerusalem five days before His death. The death of Jesus was ugly and messy. But the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem was more like a festive holiday. Palm Sunday is a beautiful day, while Good Friday is terrible and ugly.
In many churches people had palm branches handed to them and in some they waved them and sang as did the people of Jerusalem, “Hosannah to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” Some people weaved those palm branches into crosses, others have them at home and will hang onto them for a few days.
What we do with the palm branches is not important. What we do with Jesus is.
In Palm Sunday and Good Friday, we have two opposite ways of dealing with Jesus demonstrated for us. On Palm Sunday the crowd welcomed Jesus. They had an impromptu parade in His honor. People sang and danced, and the mood was festive. Everyone was welcoming Jesus to Jerusalem. They were welcoming Jesus into their lives, or so it seemed.
But on Good Friday the crowd was different. Instead of singing songs about Him, they yelled and chanted ugly words. Instead of welcoming Jesus, they were trying to get rid of Him. Instead of being glad Jesus was there, the crowd tried to kill Him. It is amazing how quickly a mood can change.
Two very different ways of dealing with Jesus.
How do we deal with Jesus?
My guess is, since you are reading this devotional, that you would be in the crowd that welcomed Jesus. If you were able to do that again, you would welcome Him with open arms and you likely will be expressing that exact sentiment this Easter Sunday. That is good. We need to hold out the welcome mat for Jesus. He needs to be welcomed into our churches this Sunday and He needs to be welcomed into our hearts and homes every day.
We also need to welcome those others who come to church with us. This text ends with verses 10 and 11 where the crowd that was singing and dancing enters into the main city of Jerusalem. They had started outside the city and continued until they came into the city.
When they entered the city, the bible says that the whole city was stirred up. It seems that not everyone was welcoming Jesus, not everyone even knew who He was for the crowd in the city asks, “Who is this?”
In your church this Sunday there may be people asking, “Who is this?” In your neighborhood there are people asking, “Who is this?” As we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus this Holy Week, let us remember those around us who do not know Him. Let us welcome Jesus into our churches and into our homes and lives and let us share Him with those who wonder “Who is this?” They need to welcome Jesus too.
Pastor Gary
Incomprehensible
Incomprehensible – Devotions for 3/24/21
Matthew 2:16 “Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.”
We cannot comprehend what happened this past week in Boulder when a young man went to a grocery store and killed 10 people. Our minds do not understand that sort of tragedy, that sort of evil, that depth of pain and suffering.
Neither could the families of all the young boys who were killed by Herod so long ago when he heard that there had been a new “King of the Jews” born in Bethlehem. He was angry and ended up killing many young baby boys. How the hearts of those moms and dads must have grieved.
How the hearts of the loved ones who died in Boulder are grieving today because of another angry man.
We cannot understand that sort of thinking. What would cause someone to kill others like that? We cannot know, and if we could know it would not lessen the grief of those who lost loved ones. If we could understand it would also not lessen our fear when something like that happens and shakes our world.
Can it happen again? Will it happen again? Could it happen to me? We all ask those sorts of questions. And when someone starts to tell us that we are safer today than at most times in history, it doesn’t help. When we are quoted statistics on violence, it doesn’t lessen our fear or worry. Our fear, our worry lies too deep for intellectual logic to penetrate. It lies in the depths of our hearts and logic has a difficult time penetrating that deeply.
So, what does help? What can help?
God can. That might seem trite, or even insensitive, but it is true. God is the only one who can help. And He can help.
I’m sure the families of the murdered babies in Bethlehem turned to God for help. They were a religious people. And I hope and trust that God did help them. I believe that God is helping the families of those murdered in Boulder too, especially those who are turning to Him and seeking His help. That is what we all need to do in times when we cannot make any sense of the situation. When the pain it too deep and the understanding missing, we need to turn to God for He alone is able to help when nothing else can.
Whether you are one who is hurting from a great loss, like those in Boulder, or one who is in fear of what might happen to you, you can find help in the Lord. Call out to Him. He hears our prayers. He listens to our cries for help. And He cares. He cares for those who grieve. He cares for those who are afraid. He cares for all of us. He cares for you.
The Bible is full of people who were in situations that were filled with pain, loss and fear and people cried out to the Lord and He heard their cry and answered their prayer. He will hear you. He does hear you. He hears the cries of your heart and He is there to bring strength and comfort.
Turn to the Lord and seek Him. He is there and He will help.
Pastor Gary
Killing Jesus
Killing Jesus. – Devotions for 3/18/21
Matthew 27:24 “So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood, see to it yourselves.’”
In the story of Jesus on trail there is that familiar place where Pilate gives in to the crowd that was calling for Jesus to be crucified and Barabbas to be released. Pilate was a terrible leader. He had already declared Jesus innocent, yet he did not release him. After trying to find an acceptable way to release Jesus, and failing, he chooses to appease the crowd and release Barabbas. He condemns an innocent man to death.
But in the midst of that, he does something that proves he knows Jesus is innocent, he washes his hands. What Pilate attempts to do is to wash his hands of the guilt of killing an innocent man. He tries to wash away the guilt of condemning Jesus to death on the cross. So he takes a basin of water and attempts to wash his hands of the guilt of killing Jesus.
He did not succeed. History still lays on Pilate, and others too, the responsibility and so the guilt of killing Jesus. Pilate knew he was innocent, yet he signed the death warrant. Pilate had said Jesus was innocent, yet he never released him. Pilate tried to wash the guilt of killing an innocent man, but he failed. He was guilty. He is still guilty. Even though he used water to symbolically wash that guilt away, he could not do it.
Neither can we.
We are guilty of killing Jesus too. Though we did not sign that warrant, we killed Jesus. Though we did not pound the nails into His hands and feet, we still killed Jesus. Though we did not whip his back or force Jesus to carry His cross as far as He could, we were just as involved in His death as those who did. And try and we might, we cannot wash that guilt away either. Our hands are just as blood stained as those of Pilate.
That is because it is our sin that caused Jesus to die on that cross. We are just as filled with sin as those actually there and involved in putting Jesus on that cross. We have lied, and cheated, and cursed, and lusted, and denied Jesus. We have broken the commandments of God. We have committed sin. We have disbelieved. And it is those sins and many others, that we have committed, that make us just as guilty as Pilate or the Roman soldiers or the Jewish leaders. We killed Jesus.
Thankfully, that isn’t the end of the story, for Pilate, for the Jewish leaders, for the Roman soldier or for us. While he was being put on the cross, likely at the very beginning of that horrible time, Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”
Those words wash sin away. Those words pronounce what Pilate was looking for. Those words grant inner peace with God. Those words of love, not Pilate’s desperate words, are what we all need. And Jesus says them to all of us. Jesus says to us, who also caused His death, “Forgive them.”
This is our good news. This is the news Pilate longed to hear, but likely never did. This is the news the soldiers heard and at least one of them believed. This is the news that we need and this is for us. Our sins are forgiven, not by what we do or say, not in our washing our own hands, but in what Jesus has done for us. He has spoken those words to us, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Believe Jesus’ words to you. Be forgiven.
Pastor Gary
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