Rejoice in the Lord!

Philippians 3:1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.

I will be writing the next set of devotionals as if I were writing these to my Son, who can not read them. He sits in an Army jail awaiting his Article 32 hearing. This hearing is like a civilian grand jury hearing where evidence is presented and a decision is made whether the to go on to a trial by court martial.

I am writing this devotional on a Sunday morning. My wife Pam and I are preparing our house to host a visitors brunch today after our 11:00 AM worship service concludes. The house is quiet, for the most part. Our cat Kiah is doing her best to be annoying.  But it is my favorite time of day to write. My mind is not cluttered with the debris of the day. No one has interrupted my thoughts and life is pretty good. This is how I wish all of my time in worship could be. But that is not always the case. There are times when I just want to go to church and worship and praise the Lord. I do not want to be disturbed I just want to keep it simple and let my heart empty out in praise. But that is not how it is. There are these little inconveniences like meeting friends and fellow worshipers who have problems in their lives, or someone wants to know how Andy is doing, when his trial is, etc. I become distracted and unfocused. But then I know that if God did not love me, these things would not be going on around me. He has surrounded me with a group of people who are just a broken in sin as I am. He has placed me in the middle of a bunch of people who care, are loving, and as devoted to worshiping the Lord as I am. And he helps me to understand that the love His Son shared is to be shared, and is being shared, at all times in all places and with all people. He knows exactly what I need. He gives me my daily bread. I can rely on that fact. I can take it to the bank! That is why we rejoice in the Lord. His love is the only constant. Every other aspect of our lives are like the variables in an equation. But the Lord, and only the Lord is the constant that yields the answer to all life's equations. And for that I say again "Rejoice in the Lord!"

PRAYER: Most merciful God, we struggle in our daily lives searching for the one thing we can hold on to. That one thing we can anchor our lives to. And all else, but You, is fleeting in nature. You O Lord are the strong anchor we can tie to that will weather all the storms of our lives. You, and You alone are our salvation. We can find our harbor of refuge in You and for this we give thanks in the name of Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Welcome him in the Lord with great joy

Philippians 2:29 Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him,

I come from a fairly large family. Four boys and one girl. My sister is the middle child so she had two brothers to contend with as the youngest and two brothers to torment as the older child. Seems fair to me, but then I guess you would have to ask John & Greg how they feel ;-)

We have a tradition at Grace Lutheran Pocatello called First Sunday of the Month Brunch. it is part of our Connecting Ministries program. A member of the congregation opens their house to new attenders & visitors to stop by after the 11:00 service concludes for brunch. It is an opportunity for them to meet a Pastor, School & Church leaders, and other new attenders and visitors. This is one of my favorite ministries at Grace. There is good food, good people, good congregation, and we talk about a common love for Jesus. We welcome him (and her) in the Lord with great joy. We welcome those who join us as brothers and sisters in Christ. Our family grows with this gathering. And we share the love poured out for us on the cross with others. It is my favorite ministry because we satisfy so many basic needs at once. Good food, comfortable surroundings, fellowship, conversation, and Jesus.  We never quite know how many will show up. One time it was 8 people. Another we hosted about 28 when two very large families joined us. We have our next opportunity to serve in this ministry on Sunday. I pray for guidance in how much to cook. And I remain confident that there will be enough because the Lord provides for this meal. He watches over us just as he was there for feeding the 5,000.  Fishes and loaves are not on the menu, but chili and cornbread with Pumpkin dessert are. We will pray, we will talk, and we will welcome all in the Lord with great jo

Does your church do something like this? As the old commercial goes "try it, you'll like it!"

PRAYER: Almighty and everlasting God. We thank You for the gift of friends old and new and those we have not met. We thank You for the blessings of fellowship that gives those who serve opportunities to serve, and their guests to opportunity to be served. We ask that our conversation be salted with Your words. We ask for Your Spirit to be poured out in full measure on all who gather together in fellowship events where ever they occur. We thank You for the love Your Son showed all mankind and ask that our hearts be for those who are seeking Him. This we ask in the name of Jesus who with the Father and the Holy Spirit reign. One God, now and forever. Amen.

Life is good!

Luke 1:28&29 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

There are times in our lives when things are going well. These are times to be cherished and remembered. They can be fleeting in their duration. If you are used to a life of trials and tribulations these experiences can almost seem to be foreign in nature. You can bet no one says “Beam me out quickly Scotty” when times are good!

Just as our struggles are a gift from God, so too are the times of plenty. We know this to be true from the words of James 1:16&17 “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  We are constantly blessed in our lives by the Lord. We are given salvation and life eternal through the grace of God. We received these gifts through the sacrifice of no less than the Son of God. Talk about extravagant gifts. And we have done nothing, nor can we do anything, to make us worthy of receiving these gifts.  This is given as a gift to be cherished, and shared with others. But let me ask you one question. When life is good, and things are going well for you, do you stay as in touch with the Lord as when you are eyeball deep in a crisis?  Don’t be shy, look into your heart and ask yourself that question.  It is an important question so take your time and think through your answer. And don’t be ashamed if your answer is no. Do not beat yourself up too badly. That is all part of being human. Our very nature is sinful. We have lots of practice and it also just comes naturally. But that does not mean we ignore the problem of slacking off in our devotion to God in times of plenty. It just means we need to be aware of that tendency and try to do better. We pray for help from the Holy Spirit. We pray for the faith we need. And this we do not just for ourselves. We do this because how we behave is observed by so many others. If we strive to set a good example in practicing our faith, we can impact so very many others. We strive in our lives to be Christ-like knowing that we can never achieve that standard. But that does not keep us from trying to do better. We are already saved, so it is not a matter of salvation by works. Rather we do this out or gratitude and devotion. Praise God at all times.

PRAYER:  Lord of all creation. Thank you for our blessing, be they big or little. Thank you for the blessings we do not even recognize as blessings. In the name of your Son, our greatest blessing we pray. Amen.