Pastoral
Wretched
Wretched! Devotions for 6-14-23
Revelation 3:17 “…you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,”
Some people, when you ask them how they are doing they will respond really upbeat and say something like, “I’m doing great” or “I couldn’t be better.” For me, I always appreciate that sort of response, it is way better than something that reflects a very negative outlook on life and we all know people who seem to always have that attitude.
In Revelation 3 the Apostle John was writing about the church in Laodicea and he writes something very different. He says that they think they are great people who are doing well. He says they think they are rich and have no need of anything. But the Apostle, speaking on behalf of the Lord Jesus says they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.
I’m sure if you asked them, they didn’t feel that way, they felt great. They thought they were doing well and that things were going well in their life. They would probably give an answer about how they were doing similar to the ones above that I appreciate when people give.
But something deep down in their lives was wrong. Jesus saw through the exterior that looked good in all the ways that people think makes for a good life. They were rich, from human standards. They had all the material blessings that people of that day hoped for. They lived in a city where most people were well off, there was peace, and most people were likely living happy lives. But pull back the screen into their hearts and things were not so good, at least by God’s standards. They were not living vibrant Christian lives. They were compromising in their walk with Jesus in this world.
That makes for a very ugly and miserable life in God’s eyes and ultimately in our souls. Deep down, we know that we should not be living the way we are and it makes us feel dirty and guilty. We may try and excuse it away, and we can be very good at that, but still, in our heart, we know we are not living the way God calls us to. So, we are miserable in our soul.
None of us wants to be called wretched or miserable. We want to be “great” and “fine” and anything but poor or sad or anything negative. We would all like to respond to our friends that we are great when they ask how we are doing. And, I hope you can.
But, when you look deep into your heart, how are you really doing? On the surface, you may be doing wonderful, like the people in Laodicea were. But how is your heart and how is your walk with Jesus? Those are the deeper questions that we need to ask of ourselves sometimes. And when we take that deeper look, we need to be honest.
The people of Laodicea were not being honest about how their spiritual life was, about how it was between them and God. Jesus knew that and He is here calling them out for being dishonest about their soul health.
Let us take an honest and deep look at our soul health and where we find things that are not right between us and the Lord, let us do what Jesus called the people in Laodicea to do, “repent.” We need to get real with Jesus and admit our sin and seek His help to walk closer to Him. Then when Jesus asks us how we are doing we can say with joy in our heart and voice, “Great!”
Pastor Gary
Thanks for you!
Thanks for you! - Devotions for 5-32-23
1 Corinthians 1:4 “I give thanks to my God always for you…”
Thanks. We all love to hear that we, and/or what we do, is appreciated. The Apostle Paul gave thanks a lot. In this text, as in some of his other epistles, he gives thanks for the people in the church. He was writing to a church he planted and served for a year-and-a-half, and in his introduction, he gives thanks to God for them. For the people in the church.
I am thankful to everyone who is part of the church I serve, many of you reading this are part of that group. I give thanks to God for you because without you, there is no church. The church is not the building, not even a fancy one with all sorts of beautiful decorations and religious looking items all around. The church is made up of flesh and blood, not wood and stone and its ornaments are the gifts of the Spirit that God gives His people, not things made of gold and silver.
When I was in Israel several decades ago, I went to a church building with all sorts of gold and silver and other beautiful decorations. These were things that people had spent a lot of money on, or the church bought with donations. They were beautiful, but they were also cold and a bit gaudy. Taken individually, they were beautiful, but there were simply too many of them and the end result was a cluttered look.
However, I have never seen a church with a cluttered look because there were too many people in it. No, the people make the church look beautiful and so, whether with few or many, it is beautified by those who worship there. And I thank God for each and every person who comes to worship the Lord here or joins us on-line. We are made more beautiful for each person who joins us. You are what makes this church, or any church, beautiful in both man’s eyes and God’s.
I can understand how Paul must have been feeling as He addressed his various letters. He would think back on some of the people he knew in each church and wonderful memories would fill his mind and heart. He would remember how each one came to faith, or how they came through some difficult event with God’s help, or perhaps how this or that person helped him in some way in the work he was doing. And he had to stop writing. His pen could not write until he took time to thank God for each person from that church that the Lord brought to his mind.
I think that is why at the end of each letter he sends greetings to various people. In Romans 16 Paul and his co-writers send greetings to many people by name. He was blessed because of those people; people God had brought into his life and who made his life better by having been in it. That is how I feel when I think of the people in this church, or in those I served previously. I thank God for each and every one of them, for you. You are a blessing to me, and God has brought us together to mutually bless each other’s lives.
Thank you for being part of the ministry I am involved in. Thank you for reading these devotionals. I thank my God for each one of you who bless this church by becoming part of it and who then, bless me because I am part of it too.
So, when you come, bring your God given beauty, and the added beauty of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in you, and make the church you worship in, shine for Jesus.
Then look around at all the others and do as Paul did, give thanks to God for every one of them. And if you truly want to bless them, tell them thanks for being there and beautifying God’s church.
Pastor Gary.
Rain
Genesis 7:12 “And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.”
In Colorado we have been receiving a lot of rain lately. I have said many times that in Colorado we always welcome rain because it is usually so dry here. We rejoice when it rains here just like people in the Pacific Northwest rejoice when it stops raining and the sun comes out. But the recent rains have come at a cost. In our church last Sunday, I talked with five people who had damage to their homes and property because of the rain. For some it was hail damage. Hail dented their vehicles, broke windows and ruined roofs. For others it was water damage, flooded basements, water seeping in through the ceiling or a wall damaging the sheetrock and paint.
Too much rain! Noah knew what that was like. The flood the bible talks about during the time of Noah was many times greater than anything we have ever seen. That flood covered the whole earth for a time. But Noah and his family were safe in the ark God had called Noah to build. God was greater than the flood He sent on the earth and God is greater than the flooded basements and damaged roofs people are experiencing today. The good news is that God will see you through the hardship caused by the rain that falls into your life, physical or spiritual rain.
There is another side to the rain, and to the problems we all experience in our lives. They cause growth. The rain that God saturated our land with lately is yielding green grass and trees. It is seldom this green around here. God has truly blessed us with the necessary moisture to make our world grow and turn green. We are also not hearing a word about fire danger or red-flag days. The rains have made it so that there is virtually no chance of a grass or forest fire for some time to come. And that is a real blessing in an area where fires have burned hundreds of houses in the past few years.
And the rains, storms or hardships in our lives cause us to grow too. We may not like the problems we have in life, but without them we hardly ever grow in our faith or life. Most people love their comfort, but our comfort often keeps us from change, or growth. The storms of life are almost always what push us out of our comfort and cause us to turn to God and grow spiritually, emotionally and in our service to God and others.
While we may not like the rain or storms that come into our life and disrupt our comfort, God knows that we need them to push us to grow. Just like He sends rain and storms to water the earth and push it to grow, so He allows rain and storms into our lives to cause us to grow.
So, what should we do when storms come? Turn to God. When God sent the rain in Noah’s time, we are told that God “remembered Noah” in chapter 8 verse 1. God had not forgotten Noah floating on the flooded earth in the ark God had instructed Noah to build. God watched Noah through it all and then when His purpose for the flood was accomplished, God dried the earth and led Noah and his family out of the ark into a whole new beautiful world. God blessed them.
When our struggles are over God leads us to a new place in our life and in our relationship with Him. So long as we are willing to hear His voice and listen to Him, He will lead us to higher ground and a better walk with Him. He does not forget us when we are in the storms of our life, He knows, and He cares what is happening in our lives. And He will lead us to dry ground and bless us once again.
Pastor Gary.
Honoring Mom
Honoring Mom - Devotions for 5-10-23
Luke 2:6 “And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.”
This Sunday is Mother’s Day. We all have a mother. God made it so that the only way we can come into this world and be born is by having a mother. Even Jesus had a mom, her name was Mary. We all know that story, it is the story of Christmas, the birth of the Son of God, the Christ.
We always look at the birth of Jesus at Christmas, not usually in the middle of May. But with this Sunday being Mother’s Day, I was thinking of moms and Mary, the mother of Jesus came to mind. She was an unexpected mom. She didn’t think she could be a mom, not then anyway. She was no doubt hoping to become a mom, just not yet, not until she and Joseph were officially married. But God had other plans, plans that included making Mary a mom before she could have imagined, while she was still a virgin.
My intent is not to go into Christmas, but to take a look a moms. Moms are important. Moms are necessary. God ordained it so that we would all have a mom, the woman who gave us birth. Which means, you have a mom. Maybe your mom is still with you, maybe she has long since passed from this world, but you came into the world because of a woman who became a mom by giving you birth. And some became a mom by adoption. They are important too for they are also real moms.
What makes a mom special? I wondered at that question. Why should we have a day set aside to honor the woman who gave us birth? What makes a mom worthy of a special day?
I have come up with two things, though no doubt you will come up with many others, but I think these two things cover it all. The first is that they are special just because they carried us to term and gave birth to us. We have much to be thankful for in that, especially in a day when abortion is such a huge thing. I am thankful that my mom gave me birth.
The second reason for making a special day to honor moms is for all that they do for us.
Now, here is where some people part ways with Mother’s Day. Not all moms deserve to be honored, some were not honorable people. But most are or were. I hope your mom was a good one, mine was.
And what does a mom do that is worthy of honor? They feed us, they care for us, they teach us, they clothe us, they love us. And the scripture says, “The greatest of these is love.”
Mary would go on to feed Jesus, care for Him, teach Him, and love Him. And she would suffer for being the mother of Jesus. One day, she would stand before a cross with Jesus hanging on it and watch Him die. To love someone often means to have pain because we love in the good and hard times alike and both come to every life.
We honor mom because of love. She loved us. We love her. We have a special day set aside each year because of love, her love for us and our love for her. Sunday is a day when we honor our moms. Celebrate your mom this Sunday.
Who else in your life needs to be honored? Who is there in your life that slips through the cracks and gets ignored because there isn’t a certain day set aside to honor them? Who loves, but does not get recognized for their love? Think about that person and find a day to honor them too. We all have people in our lives who need to know we care and that we appreciate all that they have done and do for us. “Give honor to whom honor is due.” (Romans 13:7)
Pastor Gary.
Joyful Noise
Joyful Noise - Devotions for 5-3-23
Psalm 100:1 “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.”
A joyful noise. That is what I make when I sing, just a noise, but hopefully a joyful noise that brings our creator and Lord praise and glory. I love music but I am not musical. My wife is, she sings and can play several instruments. So too are our children, all of whom could be involved in music if they wanted to be. But I struggle to hold a note even though I love music, especially Godly music that lifts the heart and touches the soul.
In Psalm 100 it calls us to “make a joyful noise to the Lord.” I can do that. I may not be able to make beautiful music to the Lord, surely not anything anyone would pay to have on their playlist, but I can make a joyful noise. So can you. We all can. Everyone who has a voice, or can play, or play at, some instrument can make a joyful noise.
In the church on Sunday mornings, we love professional music led by great worship leaders or choirs. And when we have that, some people stop singing. They listen. Some people feel their voices would only hurt the great music coming from those leading.
If that is you, don’t stop, join in and make a joyful noise! That “noise” is beautiful to the Lord and we are singing it for him, not those around us. We sing to lift our hearts and voices to the Lord who loves to hear the voice He created and gave to us, lifted in praise to Him.
When I first started as a pastor in a church, 40 years ago, I struggled. The church I was serving expected the pastor to lead the music, and as I said, I am not musical. But I tried. I sang those hymns and other music as best I could. Then one day, early in my time there, I was approached by some of the church leaders about whether the church could look for real music leaders.
I might have been insulted! However, instead I just sort of laughed inside. I know how I sound, and it isn’t good. That church did have some good musicians in it and shortly after that we had a worship team up and running and the music was greatly improved, and I was able to simply join in and add my “joyful noise” to their much better praise and worship.
Here I am now, 40 years later, in a different church and I am being tasked with making a joyful noise again. Over the past few years, especially since Covid made a mess of so many things in the church, we lost our worship leaders. For a while we have been using music piped in over the sound system from a computer using on-line music. That is great music, very professional. And we have some people who are good at locating it and streaming it for us to sing and worship too. I am grateful to those who can do that, and I am grateful to people who record their music so that churches like ours can use it and praise the Lord with it.
But, I also like live music. And thankfully we now have someone who will play for us so that we can make a joyful noise to the Lord. I will lead once again and await the day when the Lord will send us someone who can lead the singing better than I can. Until that day, we will raise our voices in joyful noise unto the Lord interspersed with music others recorded so we can praise him with gifted singers.
I hope you can join us in that joyful noise. Join us on-line if you cannot come to our services. Or, if you attend another church, join with their music leaders and add your joyful noise to their worship. Make the Lord, the one who created your voice, rejoice in hearing you sing to Him from your heart.
Pastor Gary.
Cheerful Giving
Cheerful Giving - Devotions for 4-26-23
2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
We all have wondered over the years what God would have us do in the area of giving financially to the Lord’s work. Every Sunday the ushers come around passing the offering plates and we are faced with the question; “How much should I give?” Sometimes, that becomes more pointed when a church has a fundraiser or is seeking money for a building program or some new ministry. We also hear the calls to give over Christian radio or a Christian program on TV. Then too there are the letters from people we know who are going on a mission trip or who have decided to become a full-time missionary and need to raise funds for their work.
How do we know what to give in each situation? That is a struggle for me. In my work as a pastor and with my wife having spent most of her adult years as a teacher in Christian schools, we have gotten many requests from friends or others who thought we could help support them in their work for the Lord. I remember one year when we received requests at least a couple of times every month from people close to us to be part of their support team.
How do you know what to give and who to support?
The Apostle Paul, in his second letter to the church in Corinth, gives us some advice on that. No doubt at that time there were similar requests to support the local church, new church plants, travelling evangelists, missionaries heading out to far away places and calls to support the poor and needy. Paul, speaking in God’s word says to give as much as you can and still be happy in your giving.
It isn’t good to give to someone only to feel upset about it. It isn’t good to give because you feel guilty. It isn’t good to give because you feel forced to give. Paul says to give generously but also to give what you can give and be happy about it.
So, what do you give to the Lord’s work? How much do you put in the offering plate every month? I hope you consider giving generously because the needs are great. No doubt your local church needs generous givers. No doubt the local pregnancy center needs donations. No doubt some friend or relative who is doing work as a missionary or for some good Christian group needs people to give money to them. And there are always the poor who need help. There are a lot of needs in God’s work. So, strive to be a generous giver, the needs are great.
But, do so cheerfully. Give what you can give and still be happy in your giving. Consider how much you can stretch in your giving and still be glad you are able to give that much. Then, work to be able to give more next time. God’s work only goes forward as God’s people support His work. And there is a lot of work to be done in the Kingdom of God on earth.
So, how much should a Christian give to the work of the Lord? Paul does not give us a fixed amount, but rather a call to consider the needs of God’s work and do what we can to support that work. The bible shows us that we should give bountifully, but also that we should give cheerfully.
How much can you give and be cheerful in your giving? Give that much and see about stretching that to even more as you are able.
Pastor Gary.
By Him
By Him - Devotions for 4-12-23
Colossians 1:16 “For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through Him and for Him.”
Creation. Whenever spring returns to this world it reminds me of God’s creation in Genesis one. God speaks His creative and powerful word into the void and suddenly things spring forth. I love reading the first chapter of Genesis when I am out in God’s creation. I try and visualize all that I see before me suddenly springing up at the calling of God’s voice.
In Colossians we see a bit more behind the scenes of what took place when God’s voice boomed out into that deep void making things suddenly appear out of nothing. We see that it was Jesus who was speaking. We are told that by Him, by Jesus, all things were created.
That adds a lot to our understanding of creation. Jesus, who is the Word of God according to John chapter one, went forth into the void and created things that had never existed before. What a wonderful picture to see the Word of God going forth and making things out of nothing.
Mountains spring up. Rivers start rushing down their valleys. Lakes fill with water and trees and grasses spring up next to them. Animals suddenly appear on the hillsides and fish in the lakes and rivers. Birds suddenly appear in the air, soaring above the beautiful hills and valleys and bright flowers suddenly dot the landscape. Spring reminds me of that every year.
And we get the blessing of all that creative activity. We get to live on that land blessed with grasses, trees and flowers. We get to watch the birds soar and the majestic animals walk on those hills and in those valleys. We get to see the snowcapped mountains and the tree lined ridges. We are blessed because we get to live in and among God’s creation.
When I am walking in the glory of God’s creation, I give God thanks. We should as He has truly blessed us. We are blessed to have been placed into God’s beautiful creation. After creating mankind, God placed us among the rest of all that He created, at least all that he created on earth. I cannot wait to be able to walk in heaven among His, as yet unseen by us, creation.
But there is more to our understanding of God’s creation that Colossians reveals to us. God’s word say that Jesus created all things, and it says that all things were created through Him and for Him.
And here I thought they were created for us, for me! I thought all that God created were made for mankind. After all, God made all things and then after He was done with the rest of His creating, He created mankind and then placed mankind into His earthly creation. Wasn’t that His way of showing us that He created them for us? Well, yes and no.
Yes, all of earth’s creation was given to mankind. We were placed into God’s creation and told to care for it. So, in one since it is for us. It is for us to enjoy, to use, to be blessed with. But our text clearly adds another understanding to that. It says that all things were created by Jesus, through Jesus, and for Jesus.
Jesus is blessed by His creation. Jesus is the reason for all that has been created, to bless Him. And I am sure that when He walked this earth, He enjoyed the flowers, birds, fish, mountains, streams and all of His creation. But even now, He is still enjoying His creation.
I bet God walks through His creation even now. I bet He is enjoying all that He created, all over the world, today and every day. So, go out and enjoy it with Him and be truly blessed.
Pastor Gary.
The Cross
The Cross - Devotions for 4-5-23
Luke 23:33 “And when they came to the place of The Skull, there they crucified Him.”
Friday is what Christians all over the world call Good Friday. That is the day we remember that Jesus was killed on a cross between two thieves. Christians have “celebrated” Good Friday since very early in the time of the Christian church. For many it was a time of mourning, sadness and preparation for Easter, or Resurrection Sunday. The day was variously known as God’s Friday, Holy Friday or even Sorrowful Friday, but it seems to have been practiced in most Christian churches all over the world.
Why? Why would we celebrate, or at least revere the day our Lord was killed? Because it was a very good thing. One church in their teaching materials for this day said it is because on this day “Christ showed His great love for man and purchased every blessing.” He purchased our redemption with His blood, His death. His pain became our good.
Martin Luther preached sermon in 1519 simply titled, “Good Friday Sermon” and it was one of his most famous sermons. In that message he gives many examples of what it would mean for a Christian to meditate on or consider the events of Good Friday. One of the main things He shows us is that when we meditate on what Christ did for us on the cross it should show us how awful our sin is and that it is our sin that drove Christ to the cross. It is our sin that killed Jesus. We are the reason Jesus died.
Another way to say that is that a look at the cross of Jesus on Good Friday should be a look in the mirror. No, it isn’t us on that cross. We are not the ones who pay for our sin with our death. But we should see our sin as the reason for Jesus dying on the cross. We should be the one on the cross, but Jesus went there for us. He went to the cross and died for you and for me.
There is a very good song with these words for the chorus, “We were the reason that He gave His life. We were the reason that He suffered and died. To a world that was lost, He gave all He could give, to show us the reason to Live.” That song then ends with theses words, “He is my reason to live!”
Another part of a look into the mirror of Good Friday would be to get a look toward tomorrow. A look at today is to see that Jesus died for my sins. I need Him to wash away all my sins. We need to remember this every day because we need the forgiveness of our sins each and every day. A look at tomorrow is to look at what the death of Jesus for me means as I strive to live my life. I, we, should be striving to live for Him, for He who died for us. His death for me should drive me to live for Him. We should sing as that song ends, “He is MY reason to live!” Jesus died to give us life, let us live for Him.
In one sense that is what Easter Sunday is all about, moving forward in God’s grace, purchased for us on Good Friday, and then going out into the world to live for Jesus.
When you think of the cross, the symbol of every Christian everywhere in the world, remember what Jesus did for you. He died that you may live. Now, go and live for Him.
Pastor Gary.
Living with Purpose
Living with Purpose - Devotions for 3-29-23
Luke 9:51 “When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem.”
When my grandma was about 90 years old she asked me, “Gary, why can’t I just go home,” and then she pointed toward heaven. After that we talked about God having a purpose for every one of us who lives on this earth. We talked about our need to find that purpose and live in it because whatever it is and whoever we are, God has a purpose for our being here, or he would take us home. So, I told her, “As long as you are here on this earth, God has a purpose for you.”
Over a decade later, when she was nearly 103, God took my grandmother home. At her memorial service the church was full and as I looked around, I saw all kinds of people that she had touched in those years since she asked that question. God used her to touch many people in her old age, even if she thought her life was behind her. God had used her all through her life touching people. My wife and I and our children and grandchildren are just a few of the people she left a giant mark on.
When Jesus was heading to Jerusalem, for what would be the last week of His life, he stopped in a Samaritan village and sought food and lodging for He and His followers. In Luke 9 we are told that the people of that village wanted Jesus to stay there, but not just overnight. They wanted Him to stay and perform healings and miracles and teach them because they had heard of how Jesus had been doing that in all sorts of towns and villages and they wanted Jesus to do that in their village too. They wanted Jesus to serve them.
But Jesus had “set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Jesus told the people there that He was just passing through and had to go to Jerusalem. His work was in Jerusalem, not there, so He could not stay and perform miracles for them. He had a purpose for His life and that meant He had to go to Jerusalem for what we now call Holy Week.
As a result of His knowing what His purpose was, and needing to go to Jerusalem to fulfill it, the people of that village rejected Jesus. Verse 53 says the people of that village “did not receive Him.” Jesus and His disciples had to go to another village for the night.
Here is where I am going with this, we need to know why God has us here in this world so that we can focus on God’s purpose for our life and be able to say both yes and no to things. We need to say yes to the things God has for us to do and no to what really amount to distractions. The devil will always put distractions in our life, even ones that may seem good and Godly, but if they are not part of God’s purpose for our life, they are only distractions. We need to say no to them so we can say yes to the right things.
I would guess that Jesus’ disciples thought Jesus had an opportunity to do some more healings and miracles in that village, but Jesus saw through the Devil’s temptation and said no. He came for a purpose and stopping there would have distracted Him from His greater purpose, even if He would have done a lot of good for the people of that village.
What is your purpose? Why does God still have you in this world? What does God want you to be doing with your life? Find God’s purpose for you and stick with it. It makes no difference how young or old we are, as long as God has us here, He has a purpose for us. Let us find that purpose and walk in it.
And what a joy it is to know we are about His purpose for our lives!
Pastor Gary.
The Leash
The Leash - Devotions for 3-22-23
Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other God’s before me.”
Deb and I are dog people. We have a young Wheaten named Oskar who loves to go for a walk. All you have to do is say, “Go for a walk” and he runs to the door, nudges his leash, and jumps for joy. When I open the door he is very excited and will run out and jump for joy, but, he will wait and look back at me as if I forgot something. Then I will call him over and put his leash on him. After I do that, he is ready and excited to go for a walk. He knows that having the leash on him means we will leave the yard, leave the cul-de-sac and either go to the park or follow some walking trail for a few miles. Either way, he loves to go for a walk. Anyone can see by the excitement in his eyes, his face and in his jumping up and down, that he is excited to get out and explore beyond the house.
To Oskar, his leash means freedom and fun.
That is what the 10 commandments were meant to be to us humans, a leash that gives us freedom and allows us to really enjoy life. But, most people see commandments of any kind as a bad thing, a restricting and negative thing. Most people would chafe and bite at any leash.
Oskar used to do that. When he was a puppy we would go camping and he had to be on a leash in the campground. But Oskar didn’t like his leash so he would simply bite it and be free. Then he would walk around our site and come to us. He would never run off, but he didn’t want to be on a leash. To him, as a puppy, the leash meant law, it meant restrictions, it meant punishment. He didn’t understand what a leash really meant.
His leash is on him for a reason. When he is on his leash, he can go places he cannot without it and be safe. Without it he could wander away and be caught by Animal Control or eaten by a coyote. He could be taken in by others who think he was lost. He could be stolen by people who wanted a nice dog that would surely come up to them and lick their hands. He could get lost and not know his way home. All because he was “off leash.”
Now that he knows his leash means either a long walk or going to the park to chase and catch a frisbee, he has stopped chewing himself free from his leash. Indeed, when we are sitting on our couch he will walk over to his leash and nuzzle it. He is telling us that he wants to be on his leash, he wants us to put his leash on so he can play and find some freedom. No longer is the leash something evil or bad, now it is life-giving.
Oh, that we would see God’s commandments in the same light. They really are a source of fun and freedom, not a source of law, of pain, of no fun in life. When we understand that God really has our best in mind, those “restrictions” really become freeing and life giving. When we understand the pain that comes with adultery, we can understand the joy that comes from living in real love. When we understand the pain that comes from having something stolen from us, we know the joy of security. When we understand the pain that comes from someone lying about us and telling all sorts of negative and untrue things about us, we learn that living in truth is life giving.
God gave us the commandments to provide for us a framework to live within so that we could have a better life. Those commandments are a “leash” for us that provides the security we all need to live a joyful and free life.
Pastor Gary.
More...
Wait Patiently For the Lord
Wait Patiently for the Lord - Devotions for 3-15-23
Psalm 37:7 “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him…”
I’m sure you have been there before, needing something in a hurry, but being forced to wait. You wait for the receptionist to call your name while you sit in the waiting room. You stand at the counter while you wait for the clerk to come and help you get what you need. You go to some governmental office building to get some certificate or license that you need, and you wait in what seems like an endless line.
We have all been there. We do not like to wait. That is especially true when either we are in a hurry or when whatever it is we are dealing with is very important and urgent.
God’s word tells us in many places, like the above Psalm 37, that waiting is a good thing. We are told that in many places in the bible, that we are to wait on the Lord and as we do we are to trust in Him.
I know in my mind that that is good. It is good to wait on the Lord, to pray and wait for God’s answer. To face some issue and wait to see how God will handle it. To have some need and wait for God to provide. I know it is good to wait on the Lord. I know that I will learn a lot by waiting on the Lord and I know He can and will take care of whatever it is I am dealing with.
But I don’t like to wait. I want instant answers to prayers. I want quick relief from problems. I want to take a pill and have my pain go away or my health restored. I want what I want, and I want it NOW!
That is how most people go through life. We want instant gratification, or at least we want help or answers quickly. And as Christians, we are no different than the rest of humanity. We want God to come to our aid quickly and fully and take care of whatever our problem is.
That doesn’t always happen though. We don’t always get help quickly. We don’t always get what we want or pray for.
In this Psalm it seems like King David was dealing with ungodly people who were doing him harm. It talks of evildoers and wrongdoers; it talks about anger and wrath. King David was dealing with ungodly people who were hurting him and standing in the way of God’s goodness and help. So, he prayed, and went about his life in Godly ways. And then he waited.
I’m sure he grew weary of waiting and this Psalm, which would have been used as a song in the congregation, was a way of reminding himself and his people that we need to wait on God. Waiting does not come naturally, so he was reminding himself and those who worshipped with him, to wait on God. He is encouraging us to wait on God too. And while we wait on God for answers to prayer or help from some problem or hard situation, we need to do what David was doing and encouraging others to do, we need to go about our life in Godly and good ways. We need to live each day for the Lord as we wait on Him for help.
Verses 3 - 5 tell us how to do that, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act.”
In other words, continue to live out your life full of faith. Do not give in to either acting out in anger or hiding away. Go out every day and live for the Lord while you wait on Him. Usually, when we do that, we will wake up one day and see that God has answered our prayer while we were busy living for Him.
Pastor Gary.
Put me in, coach!
Put Me In, Coach! - Devotions for 3-8-23
Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I, send me!’”
This is the month of college basketball’s March Madness. Many people will watch a lot of college basketball as the games heat up and lead to the “Sweet 16,” ”Elite 8,” “Final 4,” and ultimately to the NCAA championship game (the last two of which are in April, not March). There will be a lot of college ball players who either are looking forward to trying to impress coaches and managers in the NBA or who know this is their last shot at being on TV and want to impress a national audience. Either way, there will be a lot of players who want playing time on the court so they can show their stuff. I can almost hear the sidelines where the coach is and hearing this from many of them, “Put me in, coach!”
That is basically what Isaiah was telling God in this text, “Put me in, coach!”
God had given the great prophet Isaiah a vision of the throne in heaven. He saw the Lord, “High and lifted up.” He saw angels flying overhead and crying out, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory!” The whole place shook and was filled with smoke. It would have been a very impressive and scary sight.
Isaiah’s initial response to His vision was one of great fear. After seeing that vision he immediately says, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Vs. 5.
Isaiah saw the holy and pure God, and in that moment understood how terrible sin was and realized the depts of his own sin. So, Isaiah assumed he would die or be punished. Sin and sinners cannot stand in the presence of the holy God. So, Isaiah cries out, “Woe is me.”
God, however, had no intention of killing Isaiah. Instead of punishment for his sin, God sends an angel over to cleanse Isaiah and forgive his sins. What a great reminder of what God does for us. He loves us and instead of wanting to punish us, He shows us His love and offers to us the forgiveness of our sins through faith in Jesus.
All of this must have been a great and awesome moment for the prophet. Seeing God on His throne. Seeing the majesty and power and awe of the Lord of Hosts. And then having that very God, reach out in love and forgive your sins through an angel of the Lord. I’m sure Isaiah was overwhelmed with emotion.
After this, while Isaiah was still in the height of his emption, no doubt trying to grasp and understand all he saw and his own forgiveness, he hears the Lord call out, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” God was looking for volunteers. God was looking for workers. God was searching the world over for people to serve Him. God was looking at his bench and seeking for someone to put in the game at a pivotal moment. And Isaiah calls out, “Put me in, coach!” He was ready to get in the game.
Are you? Are you ready to get in the game and serve the Lord? Now is a pivotal moment in the work of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and He is looking at His bench and searching for someone to put in the game. Are you up to it? Are you ready? Jesus Christ has died for your sins and He offers to all who believe in Him the same forgiveness that He offered to Isaiah. He who has done so much for you is now looking for those He redeemed to go into the world and be His hands and feet. Let’s respond as Isaiah did, “Here I am, send me!” “Put me in, coach!”
Pastor Gary.
Touch
Mark 1:41 “Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will, be clean.”
During the height of the lockdowns of the Covid 19 pandemic there was a real problem for many people, the lack of human touch. You likely saw pictures of loved ones sitting outside a nursing home window just to be near their loved one on the inside. They could see each other, but they couldn’t touch. When friends would see one-another they were told not to hug or shake hands or touch. A lot of our visiting was done on the computer with things like Zoom. These medical precautions left many people feeling isolated and alone.
In the time of Jesus the lepers were treated like that, the untouchables, the outcasts, the lonely ones. The reason for that was that leprosy could be passed on by contact, so everyone needed to stay away from a leper and not touch them. Lepers usually ended up living outside of a town with one-another because they were not permitted near people who were not sick themselves lest they pass on the disease.
In the text from Mark 1, Jesus breaks that rule. A leper comes to him and asks Jesus if he would be willing to heal him and make him clean. Jesus’ answer is the verse above and Jesus reaches out and touches the man and says to him, “I will, be clean.”
Jesus did not need to touch him to heal him. Jesus brought Lazarus back to life by simply using his voice. In other places Jesus spoke and people were healed or demons were cast out. Jesus did not need to touch the leper to cleanse him. He touched the leper because the leper needed human touch. We all need human touch. Some people need it more than others, but we all need human touch.
In the medical world of hospitals, they know this. In the nurseries where there are very sick babies there are volunteers who come just to hold and touch those sick babies. They need human touch. Touch is part of their healing, part of their medicine. Visiting and touching your loved ones does the same thing, it is much needed medicine.
So too do we. We need touch. Even the most independent person needs the touch of another human. It is part of the basic makeup of being human.
In the church we need to remember that. There are people who are lonely, they need your touch. There are people who seem strong and independent, but they still need your touch. So, reach out and shake their hand, give them a hug, put your hand on their shoulder. Touch them. That is, when it is medically feasible and done in socially appropriate ways.
In today’s world there are various ways to reach out and touch someone. The phone company used to have a commercial with that line in it. They urged people to use long-distance to “reach out and touch someone.” Yes, our phones are one way to touch people. So to are our computers, like those Zoom chats during the lockdowns. There are many ways to let someone know you care about them, let us make use of those ways and “reach out and touch someone.”
Who do you know who could use a touch? If you are able, go visit them and do as Jesus did for the leper who craved human touch and touch them. If you cannot go there in person, pick up the phone or send them a text or an email. Let others know that you care, especially those who you know who do not have close relationships that provide such touch already. Seek out the lonely, the lepers of our society, and give them a touch. Be the hands of Jesus to them.
Pastor Gary.
God's Geese
God’s Geese - Devotions for 2-22-23
Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
For the past several weeks I have been coming to my office with a gaggle of geese on the lawn in both the front and back yards of the church. I like geese, it is nice to have them around and I enjoy them bringing a bit of the wilds to the church lawn.
These particular Canada Geese winter here and then in another week or two will start flying back to northern Alberta Canada where they will spend the summer raising broods of goslings. But in the meantime they eat the grass on the church lawn, as they do all over this area, both in the country and the city. God is feeding them. God is caring for them.
I especially like it when there is heavy snow on the ground as then they will come really close to the main door of the church because the wind will blow the ground next to the church building clear of any snow. The geese find a tiny bit of open ground to graze on the grass as they wait for the sun to melt more areas for them to feed in.
God feeds the geese just as he feeds all the “birds of the air” that Jesus talks about in His Sermon on the Mount. God has made it so that these birds can thrive in the wilds of northern Canada and in the suburbs of Arvada, Colorado. God supplies them with food on the farmer’s fields as they fly between their summer and winter grounds and God supplies them with food in the far north and here in our church yard. The point is that they don’t have to worry, there is food for them all along their path provided by the hand of God. God their Father designed them for where they live and where they live for them.
God our Father does that for us too. Jesus is using illustrations from nature to try and help us humans understand that we too have a Heavenly Father who does all He can to take care of us. We can trust Him. We can rest in His care. We can depend on God. That is the message Jesus was giving in His most famous message and that is what He wants us to know as well. That we can learn from how God cares for wild creatures to understand that He will take care of us. After all, Jesus reminds us that we are of far grater value and importance to God, than a flock of Canada Geese.
What is it in your life that you are worrying about? What do you fear? What is keeping you awake at night as you contemplate what might happen or go wrong? We all have something that we fret over whether it is big or small. What is on your mind and heart?
Jesus says for us to look at how God cares for creatures that cannot take care of themselves and know that we are much like them. Though we think we can and need to take care of ourselves, what we really need to do it place our lives and futures in His hands and let Him take care of us. We need to be more like the geese and know that God will take care of us and worry and fret less than we do.
After all, if God is powerful enough to create all that there is, why do we think He cannot take care of our small needs? Therefore we can do as Jesus says and “not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.”
It doesn’t come naturally, but we really can rest in God’s amazing care and love for us. Just look at the geese and other things in nature. They don’t seem anxious or worried, they just live and eat and fly, resting in God’s provision for them.
Pastor Gary.
Get In Touch
-
12229 West 80th Ave. Arvada, CO 80005
-
303-421-6732
-
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.