Walk the Talk - by Betty Oates

Read 1 John 3:17-18

“But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?  Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.”  (ESV)

St. Paul UMC (East Campus) sits on 16+ acres of land.  Our church building occupies the southeast portion of the property, but in the northwest portion is a large open field.  In 2012, a group of individuals got permission from the trustees to create a garden in this area.  The fields were plowed, huge stones were removed (creating a pile 5’ in diameter and 4’ tall), and artifacts from the past were unearthed (old medicine bottles, ax heads, horseshoes and old tools).  A water system was installed.  Because the soil was very poor, Earthboxes (containers with growing medium and water) were used for the produce.  Over time, the soil has been enriched by the generous donation of wood chips by one of our members.  The purpose of doing all of this was to grow vegetables for the needy.  Yes, in our beautiful coastal town of Ocean Springs, MS, we have a homeless population!  Those of us who had never been involved in gardening learned a lot!  A few seeds, when given soil, water, sunshine and a big dose of God’s love and grace, will grow into beautiful plants and produce vegetables!  The produce that came from the garden (tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, squash, eggplants and okra) was abundant and was donated to our local feeding operations, Samaritan Ministries and The Lord Is My Help.  What a great feeling this was!  St. Paul members have always had a heart for those in need.  The garden area requires a lot of labor to maintain, but the rewards are great!  It is a worthwhile ministry! 1 Corinthians 3:6-7,

“So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow”.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank you for all you have done for us.  Help us have a heart for those less fortunate, and a desire to be a part of making life better for them.  These things we ask in Thy name. Amen.

The Tip - by Dr. John Drake

The “Tip” or Itipini is a shantytown in South Africa in the black Township of Transkei. It is the town dump for the city of Umtata and it was a series of lean-to cardboard and plywood shacks that served as the home for the poorest of the poor of Umtata.  I had traveled nearby to work as a volunteer at the Bedford Hospital in 2005.   Approximately 14 years prior to my arrival Dr. Chris McConnachie and his wife Jenny had moved to the area as medical missionaries in 1991.  He had gone about building and developing a first rate orthopedic center and she established her healthcare facility in the "Tip" to provide care for her patients. These included children and adults, many with the diseases associated with poverty, neglect, and poor life choices; not only every day maladies, but also tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and alcoholism.   Active tuberculosis was rampant when she started her work at Itipini.  Approximate 25% of young adults were also HIV/AIDS positive.

Jenny McConnachie was a special kind of person, probably much like mother Theresa, who also was a caregiver to the poorest of the poor. Nurse Jenny gave wholly of herself for many years to care for others at the city dump of Umtata.  She and her husband unselfishly lived to care for thousands of people over the years at Bedford Hospital and the "Tip". The volunteers, like myself, who worked at both Bedford and Itipini were feted and fed every Wednesday night at her home in Umtata. She prepared a large but simple meal, provided a glass of wine, good conversation and Christian fellowship. Usually 6 to 8 volunteers worked there and most would attend the Wednesday gathering at Jenny’s house.

I worked at the hospital and did not usually travel to Itipini however Chris (also an orthopedic surgeon) encouraged me to go work with his wife before I left. The last day of my volunteer assignment I rode to the town dump and shantytown village of Itipini where Jenny had an excellent system for treating every day injuries, aches and pains, and common communicable disease such as cold and flu for the residents of Itipini.  Major injuries were not usually treated there. She also was the person in charge of procuring and dispensing daily medications in the community for the severe communicable diseases of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

I had been there less than an hour when Jenny's car approached me with her in the backseat clutching a young thin black man in her arms.  He was a victim of a stabbing in the neck and she was holding pressure on a lacerated artery in his neck. Blood ran down from the compression bandages she was holding on his neck. The patient was in early stages of blood loss induced shock and was embraced in Jenny's arms. I was asked to drive them to the hospital in town.  As I drove to the hospital, I watched in the rearview mirror as this diminutive white female held tightly to the poor young black whose life was maintained by the pressure from Jenny's hands on the lacerated artery.  She held him in her arms, talked to him, comforted him and reassured him.

As Christians we do not speak much of the physical presence of angels or the devil or audible conversation with God or his messenger. As I drove and watched I actually felt then and continue to believe Jenny McConnachie was an angel on earth holding this man.  It was the epitome of Christian love and sacrifice for your fellow man.

Jesus told us “love your neighbor as yourself” and “no greater love has a man than to lay down his life for another”  Our neighbor in Christ often may not look like us or be from our same country or even be of our religion.  Jenny McConnachie did not ask if this man was HIV negative as she held the bloodied compressive dressing or the results of his tuberculosis skin test prior to holding him close and whispering to his face to comfort him; reassuring him she would be with him all the way to the hospital.  Jenny McConnachie was an angel trying to save a fellow human being.

To learn more about Itipini and Umtata (currently called by its original African name of Mthatha) see the Time article at this link:   http://world.time.com/2013/12/13/the-eastern-cape-mandelas-homeland-still-suffers-from-neglect-and-misrule/

The Gift of Rest - by Kim Bos

If God doesn’t build the house,

    the builders only build shacks.

If God doesn’t guard the city,

    the night watchman might as well nap.

It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late,

    and work your worried fingers to the bone.

Don’t you know God enjoys

    giving rest to those he loves?  (Psalm 127:1-2)

When I was a college student, I used to babysit for this family who has three kids. The older two were 7 and 9, but the youngest was a curly haired three year old named Nona. The thing about Nona is that she wants to do everything her older siblings do. Everything. She has what the internet would call “Fear of Missing Out.” Even though they are much bigger than her, faster, and stronger, she wanted to go everywhere they went and do everything they did. And most of the time, it was fine, they were good sports and she loved being with them. 

The real trouble came at nap time.  Nona would be so dedicated to staying with her siblings, who had outgrown naps, that she would struggle to stay awake, insisting, “I no sleep!”  Putting her into her bed would be met with crying, and screams.  But the longer she fights to stay awake, the uglier her attitude gets, the more she fights with the big kids, and the worse time we’re all having.  Until sleep finally wins her over and she drifts off, usually somewhere weird (next to her toy box, on the dog bed, halfway under the couch, etc).

           

It wasn’t until recently that I realized that too often, I am like Nona, and maybe you are too. Too often I am so determined to do it all, to be the perfect spouse, employee, student, daughter, sister, and friend that I work hard and drive myself to always be thinking about what more I could be doing. Whether God’s blessing is on my labor or not, is often left out of the consideration. Instead I am ruled by fear, of letting people down, of missing out, of not doing enough or being enough for the people who love me. And in those moments, as I wear myself thin, and begin to get an ugly attitude to the people around me, it is often that I have forgotten the truth.

I have forgotten that rest is a gift God loves to give us. The same tenderness that we feel when that screaming toddler turns into a sleeping cherub, is the way that God looks at us. Like “I wish you would stop doing this to yourself. This will be better, easier, more tolerable after you sleep.” God wants us to fight courageously for the things that are righteous, and to work hard to build the kingdom of heaven on Earth, but at the same time we are meant to receive the good gift that is rest. Today, find some time, even just a minute, to really rest. 

Take Up the Cross - By Mildred Dickson

"If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him....take up his cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24

Jesus doesn't say "Make a cross" or "Look for a cross."  Each of us has a cross to carry. There is no need to look for another one. The cross we have is hard enough for us!  But are we willing to take it up and accept it as our cross?                                               

Maybe we can't study, maybe we are ill, maybe we suffer from depression or a terrible personal loss, maybe we experience conflict in our families, maybe we are victims of violence or abuse. We didn't choose any of it, but these things are our crosses. We can ignore them, reject them, or hate them.  Or we can take up these crosses and follow Jesus with them.

Father, give us the strength, insight and grace to grasp your love for us as we shoulder our crosses for your glory. Amen

Stingy - by Robin Boswell

           

 THUD. My mom’s vacuum hit a long-forgotten object under my bed - the brownies I baked months earlier and then hid to keep my brothers from eating them. STINGY. She labeled me quite accurately. Those moldy brownies spoke the ugly truth of my greed.

We are all stingy at times. If I don’t want to find the Peanut M&M’s bag empty, I better hide it, right? Look around you and you’ll find that being stingy has become our way of life. The average size of an American home has nearly tripled in the last 50 years in an effort to house all of our stuff. Inside of an average American home, there are about 300,000 items. If we can’t fit all of it inside our homes, we’ll solve that by renting an extra storage unit!

Let’s shift focus a bit and ask ourselves a serious question. Is our stingy nature spilling over onto our spiritual lives? Soak up these statistics:

·      82% of people are at least “somewhat likely” to go to church if invited.

·     Only 2% of Christians actually invite anyone to church in any given year.

·     7 out of 10 unchurched people have never been invited to church in their whole lives.

Yes, it is sad and clear that we are as STINGY with our spiritual lives as I was with the hidden brownies. These statistics make me feel more ashamed of myself now than I felt back when my mom found those forgotten and ruined brownies. Shame is an uncomfortable emotion, but it is sometimes just what we need to prompt us to change our ways.

Jesus spelled out directions for His followers explaining how to spread the news of salvation and His love. This is Jesus saying to us, “I want you to do something for me.” If Jesus is asking, then our answer is always YES. So, what are these directions that Jesus is giving to us? They are found in the book of Matthew:

            Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 The Message (MSG)

The time is always right to share your faith and to invite someone to worship with your church family. The church exists to make disciples of Jesus - to carry out the directions Jesus gave us. Make your mind up to invite someone to worship. Challenge your church friends to invite someone to worship. Ask in person, make a call, send a text, post on social media- do them all. JUST DON’T BE STINGY WHEN IT COMES TO JESUS.

Staying Between the Lines - by Donna Wilkerson

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.                   Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)    

                                    

New cars today are equipped with sensors that beep when your car veers close or over the lines on the highway.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we had something that would beep when we get too close or over the “line”?  Wait maybe we do!  Spiritual warning beeps have been installed in every believer’s heart. 

In John 16:13, Christ promised that the Holy Spirit would guide us: "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. “(NIV)   The Holy Spirit comforts, teaches, and bears witness to the truth. The Spirit gives us discernment and wisdom to recognize when we are straying and leads us to instead walk with God.

When I ask the Holy Spirit to control my life, the Spirit encourages me to respond lovingly to difficult people and to pray with thankfulness about stressful situations. Throughout the day, the Holy Spirit reminds me of all the ways I want to obey Christ.  God wants to direct our course in life as we strive to follow the true path of righteousness.

May we daily seek the Holy Spirit to guide and sustain us.

Thought for the Day

We can trust God to lead us on the path to righteousness.

Prayer

Dear Lord, sometimes we stray from the truth. Thank you for guiding our lives toward the path of righteousness each day so that we can live abundantly.  May we always seek your will and direction for our lives, and may we have the faith to follow. Amen.

Safety Net - by Jennifer Faircloth

                                                                   

         

In His typical, wonderful fashion, God began preparing me to write this devotion even before I was asked.  Recently he brought someone else’s’ devotion into my hands based on Matthew 11:25-30.  The key verse for me was “Come to me, all you whom are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  You may joke, “Well, y’all are building a house, no wonder you feel weary and burdened at times.”  That’s true!  But this verse spoke to me on a deeper level.  I realized quickly that I often to go Jesus, and definitely when weary, yet I do not always release my burdens, especially old ones. 

The Lord’s had me meditating on this for a while and I’ve wondered how Lent fits in.  Quite well!  Lent is a season of confessing, cleansing and preparing for living into Christ’s resurrection.  Adding a spiritual discipline, like fasting, can be useful.  What if this year for Lent, I commit to a “fasting practice”, i.e. the giving over/letting go of my burdens to Jesus?  Only through the Holy Spirit’s power can I first give thanks for any burden (1 Thess. 5:18) and second, give it to Jesus.

Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?  Yet when I envision 40 days of acting on this commitment, my heart skips a beat.  Why? Because some burdens are familiar.  Yes, when their weight makes me weary, worried, sometimes depleted in body, mind and spirit, but it’s a known load to me.  And, “familiar” is a safety net.  After all, what would replace my safety net?  Exactly: THE UNKNOWN!  Yet, there are no unknowns, for nothing is hidden from my Father, past present and future.  In unconditional love, He declares to me, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans for welfare (peace) and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  (Jeremiah 29:11)

I accepted His Calvary love 56 years ago, so I would hope by now that I could constantly and easily give over old burdens and rest in Jesus’ knowing and His plans for me.  But I don’t, though through recent reflection, I acknowledge I want to want to!

So, here comes Lent, no better time to daily ask for faith to believe Jesus is my only safety net and to practice “fasting my burdens.”  I look forward to the rest that Jesus will provide.