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JOY!

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
August 6, 2024
Nehemiah 8-10, 1 Peter 1:8-9

The second fruit of the Spirit is JOY!

In this second installment of our meditations on the fruit of the Spirit, we are looking at Christian Joy. Is Christian Joy different than anyone else’s expression of joy? Well, according to what I read about the fruit of the Spirit and joy in particular, I see a constant that doesn’t exist with any other expression of joy. I’m not saying that all Christians have a full grasp of this fruit of joy, but at least we can address the challenge to be living expressions of the Joy of The Lord.

In the book of the prophet Nehemiah, we see that it is during a time of great sorrow, doubt and mourning that he tells the people to rejoice. Many of the exiles from Babylon had returned to Jerusalem only to find it in shambles, particularly the wall and the temple. These structures were significant to the people’s faith and confidence in God, so to have them practically destroyed only brought them great grief and doubt that these would be restored and worship resumed. In our text from Nehemiah we read; “They read from the book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving meaning so that the people could understand what was being read”. Let me pause here to remind you that they were upset at the reading of God’s Law because they had been away from it so long during their exile. Back then, it was not customary for conquered people to have access to their religious readings, hence, they forgot what God had given them in his Law (given through Moses on the mountain). They must have felt hopeless to ever be truly God’s people again, but wait, help was on the way; “Nehemiah said, ‘Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’”

1 Peter 1:1-9 tells us that we can have faith and joy in Christ even though we may not see him now in the flesh, even though there is great suffering and even great persecution. True faith in The Lord rests in an unchanging trust which in turn gives us joy; “Though you have not seen him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls”. Robert Strand writes; “Christ was not only the man of sorrows, He was the epitome of joy in living! He is the ultimate example of joy in living and dying!” (Nine Fruits of the Spirit – Joy, pg.28). We can imagine Jesus smiling as the children were brought to him, laughing at wedding celebrations, embracing and crying tears of joy when his friend Lazarus returns to life. He cared for the widows, the sick, the women, the children and any who found themselves on the fringes of society. I want that kind of joy, because that is not a fleeting happy thing, that is eternal difference making. Do you have the joy, joy, joy, joy down in your heart, down in your heart to stay? You can, just ask Jesus into your heart and listen for his Holy Spirit to guide you into this joy.

Amen!


 

Agape Love

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
July 31, 2024
Galatians 5:22-25, 1 Corinthians 13:4-13

I’ve been feeling a bit unsettled with the world. I try to avoid watching or listening to the news, but I know that I need to be informed so that I can engage in conversations as well as how I can pray more specifically. I understand that God already knows everything, but I believe there is something calming about speaking with God about my concerns – I think He just wants me to make time for Him.

With all the turmoil in the world, in our communities and sometimes in our churches and homes, I find that I am less and less peaceful, so I asked the Lord to help me find a focus for our midweek meditations to help anyone who might be feeling what I am feeling. I landed on a favorite devotion series entitled The Fruit of the Spirit by Robert Strand. Gleaning from Galatians 5:22-25, I hope these next five meditations will help calm your soul as it calms mine.

The first fruit in Paul’s list for the Galatians is Love. This is Agape love, the all-. encompassing presence of God in our lives. It never changes and it never fails. When we come to faith in God, inviting His Son, Jesus Christ into our lives, we then are invited to reflect and represent Him in the world. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 we read from the Apostle Paul how this love demonstrates itself: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres”. Robert Strand suggests that these are characteristics of Christ and as followers, we too can demonstrate these traits. One way to check how we are doing with this is to put our name where the word Love appears in the passage above. Go ahead, try it, even speaking these verses with your name in place of Love and feel what that speaks to you, what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. For me, it makes me realize how much I need the Holy Spirit to help me grow in character and Christian witness.

One last thought from Robert Strand; “Not a whole lot is going to happen for the good in this world until we can team up with God and other people to make life what it ought to be, church what it ought to be, society what it should be and homes what they should be. Together in partnership with God, we can reach out and touch all who might be hurting or incomplete” (The Fruit of the Spirit pg. 19).

Amen!


 

Mess Serves a Powerful Purpose

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
July 24, 2024
John 1:1-5

Twas a foggy morning as I arose to pray and sit with my husband. As we chatted and read our devotional I felt unsettled, unsure about what my next move should be when I feel as if I have many tasks at hand. But what is most important at this particular moment? I guess you could say I have gotten out of my “groove”.

I decided I should sit quietly, eyes closed and simply ask the Lord to speak and the Holy Spirit to help me to listen and discern. Then it came to me; reread your devotional from earlier this week, focus on the word “messy”.

I found myself reciting one of my favorite memory verses from John 1:1-5 and landed on the introduction of Matthew Kelly’s book, Life is Messy; “Life is messy. This is the human dilemma. You’re not doing it wrong. Life isn’t a color-within-the lines exercise. It’s a wild and outrageous invitation full of uncertain outcomes. Sometime it is beautifully rational, at other times it lacks all logic…It’s what we do with the mess that determines everything. You can ignore it, avoid it, deny it, blame others, shame yourself, and exhaust yourself pretending your life isn’t messy…Or you can realize that the mess serves a powerful purpose”.

Our scripture for meditation today tells us that the Word [revealed in Jesus Christ] is always present, from the beginning and forever. He brings life which is the light for everyone and guides us through the darkness of the mess in which we find ourselves. So, do you sometimes find yourself in an emotional fog with little assurance of what direction you should take? I think it is a safe bet that everyone has such moments or even extended periods of time when life just feels messy and it’s overwhelming to try to figure out how to clean it up. Listen to this piece of advice from Matthew Kelly again; “[A] radical acceptance of self, others, and life may be the beginning of wisdom. I’m not sure we can every truly appreciate anyone or anything until we have made peace with the mess.”

My prayer for you as I prepare to post this is for you to find your peace with God, as moment by moment you turn your mess over to the Master and watch the message that produces.

Amen!


 

The Meaning of Sacrifice

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
July 17, 2024
Romans 12:1-2, John 7:38

For many years now, I have tried to incorporate bible verse memorization in my daily routine. I also decided to find a passage of scripture that can serve as my “go to” whenever I come into a difficult time or difficult decision. History tells me, I should have done this before becoming an adult, I think this practice might have saved me many heartaches.

When I recite Romans 12:1-2 from memory, I often see where I miss the mark when it comes to being a living sacrifice. In point of fact, it took someone like Oswald Chambers to help me understand what being a sacrifice really means; “Our Lord’s teaching was always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a person—His purpose is to make a person exactly like himself, and the Son of God is characterized by self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what He pours through us that really counts. God’s purpose is not simply to make us beautiful, plump grapes, but to make us grapes so that He may squeeze the sweetness out of us. Our spiritual life cannot be measured by success as the world measures it, but only by what God pours through us—and we cannot measure that at all” (My Utmost For His Highest, Barbour and co.pg.181).

John 7:38 also holds a difficult concept, but one that equally important to understand; “Jesus said, “‘Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’” Jacob Glassner, from his article on these scriptures in a 2014 edition of the Southeast Outlook newspaper explains this well; “This living water is the Holy Spirit, and it is to flow from us, not be stored in a reservoir (pg. 16, Devotion article).

I leave you now with a spontaneous poem upon which I invite you to ponder;
“The Holy Spirit, you must come to know so that out of you will overflow streams to comfort and to show God’s good, perfect and pleasing plan.”

Amen!


 

Wait Upon the Lord

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
July 10, 2024
Isaiah 40:1-2, 30-31

Good morning! From where I sit at my home, I am enjoying the windows open and gentle breezes that bring such a welcome break from the extreme heat and humidity. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to wait for better days.

I was uplifted this morning with a song that a wonderful Pastor friend of mine shared in his meditation this morning. I remembered it from my youth group days, which seems so long ago now, and actually sang along this morning. Pastor Tony recommended a review of the text that inspires the song; “They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength”, so I read out loud, to myself and my cat, these wonderful words; “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint” and the song adds; “Teach me Lord, Teach me Lord to wait”.

This week I will be celebrating with many friends and neighbors from Lanesville, the life, death and resurrection of a sweet friend who has been waiting for quite a while to go home to heaven. She was such an inspiration to me of her attitude of gratitude even in the nursing home where she has been living for quite some time. The first two verses of our text today remind me to be a voice of comfort in just such a time as this;

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”

I pray you will be comforted and inspired this morning to wait upon the Lord for His next assignment for you, even has you run and walk on your journey in His kingdom work here today.

Amen!


 

More Like Jesus...Less Like Me!

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
June 27, 2024
Matthew 12:33-37

Today is a beautiful day in the neighborhood, would you be my neighbor? If so, I shall endeavor to love you as I love myself, which on some days feels a bit lacking. I hope you are feeling loved. You are loved, you know. For God so loved you that He sent his only begotten son to prove his love. If you feel less than loved, hold onto the fact and try to let go of the feeling.

One of the ways I want to share God’s love is by checking my words before I speak them. I’ve probably shared with you before, something my sweet and supportive husband often said to me when we were younger; “Honey, not everything that pops into your head needs to pop out of your mouth”. True that. Our scripture for meditation today includes this from Jesus;

“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned”.

Ouch!

I’ve decided while I meditate upon this today, I will sing a little song by Zach Williams which in part says; “A little more like kindness, goodness, love and grace. A little more like patience, a little more like peace. A little more like Jesus, a little less like me”. May your heart be encouraged to know the deep, deep love of God and may the Holy Spirit direct your words.

Amen!


 

Cool, Clear Water

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
June 19, 2024
John 7:37-38

This morning, I had every intention to sit with my coffee, pray and study when my deck became active with squirrels, birds, a groundhog, and now a baby raccoon all looking for food and water. I knew it was already getting hot outside, so I decided to feed and water the zoo. Water, seemed to be the focus, so I cleaned our makeshift bird bath, emptied a cooler full of water bottles to be refrigerated, gathered water for our rosebushes; it was all about water. I will say my toes enjoyed the cool clear water as I cleaned and filled buckets.

Cool, clear water. What a blessing! In a world where so many do not have access to safe drinking water, I am reminded to try conserve while at the same time providing for all around me who need it. There is a thirst that is greater than being a bit dehydrated, it’s the thirst for righteousness. To be in right standing with the God who created each of us in His image and longs for us to seek His will and His way. Jesus spoke boldly to a crowd who had gathered for the Feast of Tabernacles, a crowd of thirsty people; “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow through him”. That’s what God wants all his children to be; pipelines of cool, clear, living water. Jesus was speaking about the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to bring life, help and hope to a dying, thirsty people.

Today marks a time of reflecting upon the many who have been left to go thirsty, who must have felt abandoned because of slavery. Many who had heard people preaching but didn’t see the reality of God’s love and provision through the preachers. It is hard to imagine that there were slaves who were emancipated, but didn’t know it, I understand that it would take nearly 2 ½ years after the emancipation proclamation for the slaves in Galveston Texas to be free. The sad truth is that there are untold numbers of people in bondage in many ways not due to their own making but do to an unjust culture. We need to bring them cool, clear, living water-a free gift that can bring true freedom.

Today, consider taking a bit more time to be thankful for the cool, clear, water you may have to sip on. Consider seeking how we all might be a better witness of forgiveness, justice and love. It can be refreshing.

Amen!


 

My Father's World

Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
June 12, 2024
Psalm 40:4-5

This morning as I was sitting at our kitchen table, feeling a gentle breeze from a nearby window and listening to the birds chirp and the squirrels chatter, my eyes landed on Psalm 40 and I knew this might be a good place of meditation today.

The Psalmist writes; “Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to falsehood. Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare”.

The first thing I am reminded of in this reading is the fact that I live with a wonderful husband who does indeed put his trust in the Lord, and who does not turn to false thinking. He truly seeks wisdom from God, and helps me to deal with current events in our world, family and church and then prays with me over it all. The second nugget of wisdom I find in our passage for today is the reality that no matter how rough things are here on this side of heaven, there is so much for which to be thankful; “many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare”. Are you still counting your blessings?

This weekend we will celebrate Father’s Day at home and at church. It is a wonderful day to remember what a good, good Heavenly Father we have and to appreciate the men who are good fathers to us and our children here. Some may not have the same blessings I have shared with you, but we all have the same Heavenly Father, who created us lovingly in His own image and longs for us to recognize his goodness and find joy in praising him. Indeed; This is my Father’s world.

Still counting.

Amen!