Remember Your Mercy

Psalms 25:6 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.

My span of attention is not what I would like it to be. I guess it is part of aging, or it could also be the proliferation of distractions in my life. In any case, today is a day to focus, focus, focus. It's time to get serious about the short span of attention, just as soon as I go check facebook & twitter, then....


There is a part of our lives that is very short in duration. It would be the time we have with those who surround us. The people who are a part of our lives are temporary in nature. They are loaned to us, if you will.  We start out with childhood friends, progress to college friends or friends from our time in the military. Then there are those we meet early in our lives, then later on in our lives. And most certainly we count our family too as people in our lives. Our parents, grand parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, spouses, and our own children.  They are all part of the blessing that God gives us in our lives. They are there next to us, or we are connected via phone calls, letters, e-mails, Skype, Face Time, etc. And as time moves on, we lose those we are connected to. Their time on earth, like our time, draws to a close and we are left without their presence in our lives. The loss of these loved ones can leave a hole in our lives. It can be as if something is missing. And in reality there is a part of our life that is missing when they depart. We often celebrate their lives in memorials, celebrations of lives, wakes and other forms of celebrations. And when the celebration is over, we are left with our feelings and emotions. We reach out to others for comfort. And we look to the Lord for strength and courage to continue on with life. We seek the ability to cope with the loss of the departed from our lives. We turn to the Lord because we know, without a doubt or reservation that His love is a "steadfast love." His love never waivers, it never fails and it never diminishes for us. It is the one constant in our lives that we can absolutely count on. In the midst of our mourning, our trials and our tribulations He is always there. He is just a prayer away. We can pour out our hearts to Him. John 3:16 reminds us that "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."  His is a love that has "been from of old." And it will be there for all times. We can find comfort in this constant in a life of constant change.



PRAYER: Lord God, Heavenly Father we cry out to You in times of loss, trial and tribulation. We reach out to You who have shown steadfast love for man when condemnation was most certainly warranted. We praise You and thank You for Your love. You gave us Your Son that might live once again. For that Father, we are grateful beyond measure. Praise by to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Without Grumbling

Philippians 2:14-16 Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

There is an old saying amongst sailors. A happy sailor is a complaining sailor (or words to that affect). If the sailors are complaining, things must be okay. If the complaining stops, the sailors have decided to do something about it. That is when you need to worry.

Often times in ministry we may find ourselves involved in a less than glamorous task. It may not shine the light on ourselves or our efforts. We may even be doing something that is repetitive in nature and seems to have no real purpose.  One of the above, some of the above, or all the above may apply to your situation right now. There are a few thoughts that can be shared to help put a better light on serving in some situations. We are in a world where self-gratification, elevating oneself or shameless self-promotion are an expectation. Humility is not an often used word today. Yet that is exactly the type of servant we should be, and service we should be rendering to God. We are worshipping God, and not ourselves. We need look no further than verse 14 of Philippians 2 (children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation) to see that in Paul's day, as in our time, we are living counter to the popular culture by worshipping and serving God. If we look to Christ, for instance and for an example, all he did was in worship to His Father in Heaven. All that He did was to fulfill the will of the Father. He did not heal the lame, give sight to the blind or hearing to the deaf to promote himself. He did these things out of love for others and in serving the will of His Father. When we serve in humility we close the door to that easy to fall into trap of sin that comes from pride. We give our Father all that we have to give out of our love for Him. And when we do these seemingly insignificant, repetitive or seemingly boring tasks in ministry we can "shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life." We, as Paul, do not labor in vain. We have a purpose in serving because we serve out of love and not out of obligation in order to earn our salvation. Jesus paid for that on the cross in his humble service to all mankind. We cannot better that which has already been freely given. We have been saved by grace and serve gracefully. To God be all the glory in all that we do.

PRAYER: Almighty and Everlasting God, our tasks may seem minor and repetitive. They may not have the glamor of preaching or serving in a public setting. Yet these simple acts of service are nonetheless carried out in love of You Father. Just as Christ served out of love for sinners, we sinners serve you in love. May all our service be received as a fragrant offering by You O God. Amen.

Speak Lord For Your Servant Hears

1 Samuel 3:9-10 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak,   Lord, for your servant hears.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.  And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant hears."

There is a quote from Star Trek - from a character (Zefram Cochrane) that makes a great deal of sense. "Don't try to be a great man. Just be a man, and let history make its own judgment." Being humble in what I do is important. It is a characteristic I have to constantly seek to hold onto. Pride is easy to embrace and pride goes before the fall.

These devotionals are fairly simplistic in their theology. I am not a biblical scholar. I am not a theologian by schooling or trade. I guess all I am is someone who the Lord would use.  And I am no different than the next person. Each and every one of us is someone the Lord would use to serve. Each and every one of us can serve the Lord. It really comes down to, are we listening?  Are we taking the time to discern what the Lord is saying to us? This is a fundamental question we need to ask of ourselves. Much of the distraction we impose on ourselves, or is imposed upon us, diverts our concentration from listening to what the Lord is saying. The Lord is always speaking, but are we listening? Having a rich prayer life is a goal of mine. Being able to focus not on what I want the Lord to do but to discern what the Lord would have me do is the goal I have. There are times when it is very easy to hear the Lord. And there are times when it is not so easy. My best analogy is a Christmas gift I was given. Pam, my wife, gave me a set of noise cancelling headphones to wear on my daily commute on the bus. They reduce the noise when I set them over my ears. But, when I activate the noise cancelling function the background noise goes away. All I can say is WOW! I can hear the music playing very clearly. The rumble from the engine and the road is gone. The ability to discern the notes or the words is greatly improved.

And so, what are you and I doing in our prayer life to eliminate the background noise that distracts us from hearing the Lord clearly? I would offer that each of us needs to look deep within to root out the distractions. It is imperative that we find a place (physical and mental) to go to and spend time in prayer. We need to connect to God in a deep and meaningful way. Our soul cries out to the Lord! The Psalm of David is a gentle reminder of how we should be. From Psalm 143:5-6 we read "I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah."  We seek to reconnect with the Lord. We seek to do the bidding of the Lord, and not our own bidding. But first we need to connect with the Lord. The great man is the man who puts aside his foolish pride and does the will of the Lord. My friends, that is the man history will judge kindly. That is the man that history will call a truly great man for he placed the Lord first in his life. Let each of us glorify the Lord in all that we do.

PRAYER. Father of all Creation, we seek You Lord in thought, word and prayer. Open our ears so that we might hear. Open our eyes that we might see. Clear our minds to that might discern. Let Your will be done in our lives and Jesus carried out Your will on the cross. This we ask in Jesus' name, Amen. 

The Good Fight

2 Timothy 4:7&8  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

I lost a friend Monday. Don Frederickson passed away.  He was a the Head Elder at Grace Lutheran Church and he was the guy who thought I should get out of my comfortable chair and become and Elder. He was the guy who offered me the chance to serve that has been an awesome journey thus far with much more to come. I will miss Don, yet I am glad He stands in the presence of His Savior and suffering in a hospital bed.

Don was an interesting guy. He was pretty straightforward, blunt and to the point. If he did not like something that was going on, he spoke his mind. He was a good friend, kind and generous. All nice qualities to be certain. Yet this is not what assured Don a place in heaven. Don was very firm in his belief that he was saved through the grace of God, and not by anything he had done or could ever do. He was adamant about this to the very end. He was a pillar of faith and firm in his belief that Jesus Christ died on the cross so that all men would be free from sin. Embracing Christ was how Don saw his future. His was a simple and yet strong faith. Yet, he was not pretentious about this. He would tell you exactly what was on his mind, at any time. He shared his faith and beliefs with others, especially the Saturday Men's breakfast and bible study. He was a regular attender. As his health declined, he stepped aside from his duties as an Elder with grace. He fought the good fight, he finished the race, and he kept the faith. The words of 2 Timothy 4: 8 ring very true. "Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing."

In many respects, Don reminds me of the standing stones that would be placed at the gates to ancient communities. They had a story to tell, they marked an event of significance. They let others know about the place and event they commemorated. Don honored his Savior at every opportunity. It was a privilege to know Don, and to serve our Savior with Don. He will be missed. To God be all the glory in all that we do.

PRAYER: Father, we thank you for the life of Don Frederickson. We thank you for his love of others, his service to You, and his inspirational faith and love of Christ. As we go forward Father, help us to not grieve, rather to rejoice in Don's victory over death. Thank You for the promise given each of us in Christ Jesus. And we ask for the peace from You that comforts all in this time of mourning for his family and friends. This we ask in the strong name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

No Excuse

Romans 2:1-2 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God falls rightly on those who practice such things.

There are a couple of terms that really irritate me. The first is “guilty until proven innocent.” And the second is “guilty by association.”  I have seen these two terms used, overused, and placed into practice in real-life in the past year. The results have been nothing short of tragic.

There are more than a few down sides to our modern society of constantly being connected. The time it takes for an event to be splashed across the headlines of newspapers, websites, blogs, etcetera has been drastically shortened. And for some reason, the public seems to have changed their perspective on ‘innocence. We, in the United States are a country formed after our forefathers experiencing that very same environment and resoundingly rejecting such in our own constitution. But then again, who reads the constitution. The innocent until proven guilty concept is inconvenient for a society looking to move on the next big things more quickly. Out span of attention is small, and seemingly our compassion is just as small. We really need to look closely at Romans 1:1-2. The reminder that “for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself” has been lost on most people in our society.  We are entering into the season of politics and are constantly bombarded by many variations of “The Truth”. It all seems to depend on the time, the place, or the person as to which truth should apply.  We are all to willing to throw out the positive in a person and grasp on to the negative. We feel compelled to ‘judge” others. We need to stop and rethink our whole mindset.  None of us is perfect. No one dare “cast the first stone” as we are all sinful and prone to failure. Yet there we stand more than willing to pitch away at others. In passing judgment we heap judgment upon ourselves. “We know that the judgment of God falls rightly on those who practice such things.” And this is a judgment we must do our level best to avoid. And to do so requires that we treat others as we ourselves would be treated. It is a simple principle. We must try to embrace it in our daily lives.

PRAYER: Almighty God, we all to often rush to judge others. We fail to wait for the facts to be gathered and jump to the conclusion that characterizes others in the worst possible light. We, who are sinners, try to raise ourselves by lowering others. We justly deserve your present and eternal punishment. Help us dear Lord to overcome our sinful nature. We would be lost, if it were not for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and Your eternal grace. We are humbled and give thanks to You, Amen.

Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled

John 14:1-3 "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

There are things I worry about, and things I do not worry about. The process of worrying tends to wear me down. At some point I may even end up exhausted and have no energy to worry. At point I have to leave it up to God. Hindsight being what it is, I probably should have started at that point and saved all that energy.

Continuing with the theme of trouble during the holidays, I want to look at what we may encounter that can leave us troubled.  To be sure we can spend too much money lavishing gifts on our family and friends to show our love. We can also fret over how well our annual Christmas or New Years dinner will be received by those invited to the feast.  Or we may have concerns about family members. As mentioned in a previous post, things can go very badly during family get togethers.  It's tragic how siblings may try to tear each other down, or may even attack their parents over a perceived failing in how they were raised. It's the "Mommy & Daddy didn't love me enough, trust me enough, give me enough or show love for each other enough."  All I can say is ENOUGH. Besides the get-over it response that comes to mind. I have to look at the John 14:1-3 passage in scripture and say, why are you the child troubled? And I have to say to the parents, why are you troubled?  Believing in God removes the burden of worry from your hearts. Believing in God places trust in what God's will is in our lives, and the lives of our children. It eliminates the fret and worry from our hearts. God has a plan for all of us. God will see all of us through the tough times. He is there by our side. He is in our corner. And he is waiting patiently for us when we reach the end of our rope.  If we leave our troubles to solve ourselves, we will fail.  But if we look to God, He is the only one who can give us the final results that really matter. What we do, worry about, fret over, matters so little in the end. It is all about what we do in love to one another that makes the difference in our lives and the lives of those we call family, friends, and even enemies.  The acts of love will not get us a better place in heaven. Jesus has done that already. He will come again and take us there. That is what is important. Not that we did not have enough of something we thought we needed. It is a matter of perspective. After all, how much is really enough?

PRAYER: Lord and Giver of Life, we are at times troubled by the petty things in our lives. These things which divert our attention from You, and seek to separate us from You. We are often surrounded by trials and tribulations. Help us to see beyond the fog of these distractions. Help us to see You in all that we see and do. We ask this in the name of Your Son Jesus, who has gone before us and will return one day to bring us home, Amen.

Things of Old

Isaiah 43:18-19 "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.  Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

I guess I am still basking in the glow of a very nice Advent season. Sure it was busy and all that. But this year was essentially free from some of the emotions that can make for difficult times amongst family members, especially siblings.

The Ghost of Christmas Past, from the Charles Dickens classic work of fiction "A Christmas Carol", can be a troubling experience to endure. For this ghost can take on a real, and ugly form, during the Christmas season.  This ghost can come out in the form of past family history dredged up in the middle of the season of peace, love and kindness. Families can be ripped apart by the past. The ripping is usually done by family members airing out old, and most likely dead and long forgotten issues. It could be a perceived slight carried out by one family member upon another. Or possibly perceived favoritism towards one sibling. It can even be something even more serious or dark.  Often times the issues which have been simmering for many years can come to a boil and then quickly boil over at the most innocent of times. This is truly a sad, sad state of affairs.  The words from the Lord in Isaiah 43:18 are good words to hold close to our hearts at any time, and especially during the Christmas season.  Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.  This reminder to let the past stay in the past is wise council.  No one of us is perfect. Each and every one of us has sinned, fallen short of perfection, or not lived up to some one's expectations.  It is all part of the human condition. Only God is perfect, and we can only be made perfect in Christ.  We need to move forward in the newness we find in Christ Jesus. If we chose to hang on to the old, we are constantly trapped in the past, never moving out of that pit of depression or anger.  We hold ourselves hostage.  Yet, if we truly embrace the future that is in Christ Jesus, we are released from the shackles of the past. 2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds us of the renewal we have in Jesus. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  In choosing to live in the past, we reject the future and all the possibilities the future holds.  We fail to move forward and thrive. Dear friends, embrace the new creation we all have in Christ Jesus and let go of the old self.

PRAYER: Abba, Father we are often held captive by our past. We are tempted to hold a grudge against others, even our own family members. We shackle our selves to that which is long gone in our past. Help us Dear Lord to embrace the new creation we have in Jesus Christ. Help us, through faith in Jesus to let go of that which was so that we can slip out of those shackles and walk in the light of Christ. We ask this in the name of the our risen savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

Taking Heart

John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."

Happy New Year! I have enjoyed a few days off from writing. My workplace essentially begins a shutdown before Christmas and returns to operation after New Years. During my break I was able to reflect & pray about what to do for new year resolution. My resolution is Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. No, it is not to try to catch all the Jimmy Buffet concerts live or on the net. Rather, it is to post new devotionals on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

The time off from writing gave me a chance to take a break, reflect and just basically listen to what God was telling me. In long for directions on these things it is helpful, at least in my experience, to simply listen and look around. While I was doing just that, up popped a wonderful path forward.

We have been involved in the 2011 Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Years 2012 season. I can't say this year has been any easier or any more difficult than other years. Many things in the lives of Pam's family and my family (our family) have been resolved over the last year. A few things are still hanging out there. And I am sure that new things will pop up. However, that is not the case with some of our dear friends. We all, to one degree or another, are having complications in our lives because of adult children. I once heard a bit of wisdom from a friend. "Little kids have little problems. Big kids have big problems." To one extent or another this has held true in my experience. Regardless on the age, or relative magnitude of the problem we can look back at John 16:33. Jesus tells us "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." Jesus reminds us that we will have tribulations. Merely being a believer will not eliminate all the strife from our lives. Knowing this, we can be prepared in prayer, study, and connection with fellow believers to strengthen our selves for what may come in the future. And the most comforting aspect of this passage is that Jesus has overcome the world. He has lived, in our world. He has suffered as we suffered, and was tempted as we are tempted. He experienced a cruel death on the cross. He also was resurrected from death and we are promised the same resurrection. Our greatest fear, separation from God because of sin and death has been eliminated by Jesus' blessed resurrection.  We have the faith by the Holy Spirit to keep focused on what is promised so that we do not lose sight of the inheritance we have in Christ. We have the peace offered us by God the Father through Christ (Philippians 4:7) to see us through life's tribulations. And that makes all the difference when contemplating what is ahead of us in 2012. Up next, what can happen when the "Ghost of Christmas Past" choses to visit in a very cruel manner.

PRAYER: Lord Of All Creation, Your peace beckons us when we are troubled. Our lives are full of opportunities for fear and doubt to creep in and divert our attention from You and to destroy our faith. Help us Dear Lord to stay the course. Guide us with the light of Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, so that we will not be lost. We ask this in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One God, now and forever. Amen