One Another

“This is My commandment, that you

love one another as I have loved you.”

     John 15:12 (NKJV)

“With all lowliness and gentleness,

with longsuffering, bearing with

one another in love.”

     Ephesians 4:2 (NKJV)

“Therefore comfort each other and

edify one another.”

There are some 59 “one another” verses in the New Testament—verses exhorting Christians to show love, grace, patience, etc. to one another.  Listed above are just a few of them.  I’ve heard a sermon series on the “one anothers” and it was both interesting and convicting.  They seem easy enough in the abstract to do but often hard in practice.  I can usually be loving and patient when it suits me, but it can be a big challenge when it’s inconvenient, when I don’t think I have the time or desire to deal with the person or situation.

 For example, the other day my heart sank when I saw my neighbor poke his head out of his condo as I walked down the hallway to my place. He’s a dear man who lives alone (and is lonely, I think) and he loves to talk.  A conversation with him is never just a minute or two and I was anxious to get home and do the things I had planned.  So when he asked me to come in to see the new set-up he's designing for his trains, I was sorely tempted to beg off. 

But then I remembered that he too loves Jesus and how we’re supposed to love one another and bear with one another.  More importantly, I remembered how the Lord always has time for me.  I’m never an interruption; He never tells me to come back later when He’s not busy. So by God’s grace, I was able to rejoice with my neighbor and encourage him to pray about a certain issue.

 I have a long way to go, but little victories like this encourage me to keep pressing on.  Why not pick out one or two of the “one anothers” and try practicing them this week? Jesus said that by showing love to one another, all will know that we are His disciples (John 13:35).  Let's show the world we are His by our loving words and actions. 

Thursday Devotional - God's "No" to Jesus

Do you ever feel like God isn’t listening because you aren’t getting your desired answers to prayer? Did you ever think about the fact that Jesus didn’t get a “yes” answer to all His prayers, either, even though God definitely heard Him?

Hebrews 5:7-9      ⁷ During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ⁸ Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered ⁹ and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. 

God heard Jesus’ prayer to spare Him from death:

Matthew 26:39a    Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.”

God answered Jesus’ prayer “no.” However, Jesus acknowledged that might be the answer and ended His prayer praying for God’s will to be done instead of His own. (Matthew 26:39b “Yet not as I will, but as you will.”)

Just because we don’t get the answer we want doesn’t mean God isn’t listening. He has a better and more perfect plan, even if we don’t understand it at the time. (Like God’s answer “no” to Joe and I wanting children early on in our marriage, but later providing them almost a decade into marriage in a very unique way.)

What other “No” from God do you and I need to accept? Let’s submit to His will, like Jesus did. When we pray for His will to be done, the answer is always “yes!”

Alice

Embrace The Journey

The Israelites left Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.  The Lord went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night.  And the Lord did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people.  Exodus 13:20-22

This past weekend represented the end of the football season.  I am sure there is a mixture of sadness if you are a fan like me and relief if you are like my wife.  That all being said, one must realize that a journey started well back in July last year culminated for one team, Kansas City, out of thirty-two celebrating a Super Bowl championship.  However, that was not what they were thinking early in November when they lost to a team they would later have to beat for the chance to win Super Bowl.  Back then, they were barely the best team in their division let alone the league.  But that was the last game they lost in the season.  For them, it had to be an amazing journey each team member will relish for the rest of their lives.

Sometimes our journey of faith is like a season.  It ebbs and flows having various changes in courses.  I can speak to that having suffered a lot of disappointment and pain lately.  However, I was reminded of a story of a Vietnam veteran named James Stockdale, who was imprisoned and tortured for over seven years.  His story of perseverance has been studied by not only military leaders but also business and religious leaders as well.  The question that he was asked was quite simply how he survived in such dire circumstances.  His answer, which is better known as The Stockdale Paradox, was this:

You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

You see, his faith was that he would get out of there even as things looked incredibly bleak in isolated moments.

We must always view our relationship with Jesus Christ as a long journey where God’s glory is there even if we cannot see it at that moment.  Today, we come to the part of Exodus where Israel has been freed by Pharaoh, and God is leading them on their journey to the Promise Land.  There was an easier road that was more direct road there, but God chose to have go a different way.  The Bible said, “So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle.” (Exodus 13:18) This was much like I spoke earlier in the story of God ‘setting the stage.’  However, today I wanted to focus on the ‘how’ and not the ‘what’ God was doing.  He led and guided them every step of the way by clouds, light, and fire.  They traveled day and night knowing where to go and which way to turn.  As I thought of my own journey thus far, I did not always know where I was going.  But there was a time that I began to fully put my trust in Him, and time after time, He would lead me the right way.  So, I now trust Him even as I know the twists and turns are upon me and I cannot see the ultimate destination.  But through the storms and battles, there is God leading the way, and we know the destination at the end where there is as said in the Bible ‘milk and honey.’  It’s that faith we must maintain even in the most trying circumstances.

God is always the light in front of us.  Ours simple but challenging task is to simply follow.  Martin Luther King once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.”  Understanding this, we must fully commit to finding this light and following it even if it appears to lead us somewhere, we might not have anticipated.  We should learn as Israel did that God loves to set the stage for His glory to be revealed for all to see.  No matter where you are today in your journey, recommit your trust in Him to guide you to the Promise Land.  Where are you in your journey today?  Are you following the light God has placed in front of you?  My prayer is that we trust in God and embrace the journey.  Amen.

The Lord is my Strength

Psalm 59:16-17

But I will sing of your strength,
    in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
    my refuge in times of trouble.

 You are my strength, I sing praise to you;
    you, God, are my fortress,
    my God on whom I can rely.

A few weeks ago I shared that I was excited to be able to watch my nephew leave for bootcamp.  This past week, we got word that he was being discharged.  Long story short, he couldn’t get past some of his past and was not going to be able to handle what would be ahead if he was still hung up on the past.  He will hopefully be home sometime this week. 

In times of uncertainty, prayer is the best thing we can do.  God is our strength in times of trouble. 

Each of us face times of uncertainty.  Sometimes those are exciting but uncertain times.  Sometimes those are not so exciting times.  Through it all, we need to remember that we can rely on the Lord and we are to sing praises to him. 

Next week I will share more on facing times of uncertainty with the strength of the Lord.