We Are God's Hands and Feet - by Bill McLarty

A month or so ago I decided to take an additional part time job as a school bus driver for Ocean Springs. So far, in my short tenure, I have learned a couple of things.

1. Middle School and High School students are not nearly as happy about Monday mornings as I am. 

2.Elementary students have absolutely scary amounts of energy….. ALWAYS. 

I had the opportunity to replace a driver who was retiring after twenty or so years of service. Stepping in to fill Mrs. Jewel’s driver’s seat has been quite the undertaking. She is the only bus driver that my students have ever known, and in their eyes, the best bus driver that has ever existed. 

My first two weeks were mostly about learning the route and getting know the students. I made my fair share of mistakes, making wrong turns, missing stops, etc. I also had to set some ground rules for some unruly students and assign seats. To say the least, these things did not make me “awesome” to some of the students. 

After a week or so, a couple of my 5th & 6th graders were frustrated that I instituted these rules so they started a chant in the back of the bus....”We want Mrs. Jewel”...”We want Mrs. Jewel!” This was followed by some of the younger kiddos chanting “No! We want Mr. Bill.” 

It would be fair to say that I was a little frustrated. I drove through the route, and a couple of stops later I was letting students out and a little girl gave me a small note as she was getting off. On the note was a sketch of me driving and her sitting in a seat, with the caption “I  ❤️  Bus Driver!”

It absolutely made my day! The encouragement from that simple little note gave me what I needed to have a much better week.. 

As Christians, we are given plenty of encouragement in the Bible. My favorite is found in Hebrews. 

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”

Hebrews 10:35-36 NIV

While there are lots of words of encouragement in the scripture, let us remember that we are to be the hands and feet of Christ as well as the shoulder to lean on, the ears to hear and the mouth that speaks encouragement to those who are struggling this Christmas season.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV

Hungry? By Donna Wilkerson

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.  Mark 6:34 

As I’m writing this, our Monday night ladies Bible study group is reflecting on the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. Mark sets the stage for a story in Mark 6:30-44 by telling us that Jesus and the disciples were tired and hungry. I know what tired and hungry looks like for me and it’s not pretty, in fact, if I’m honest, it’s very ugly. You know the Snickers commercial “you’re not you when you’re hungry”? I completely identify. Now back to Mark 6, Jesus had compassion on the people while the disciples urged Jesus to send them away. Typical human response, as is mine, just dismiss the problem and not deal with it.

This Advent season I’m going to lean on Jesus and work to have compassion instead of complaints.  Our true character is displayed when we are under stress.  Hebrews 4:15 tells us we have the Role Model for behavior when we are tired and hungry and under stress: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”

If you find yourself tempted, tested, and tried today, stop and ask Jesus for help.  He has been tempted in every way we can be, yet He resisted them all.  We can trust in His goodness, faithfulness and love.

Prayer: Dear God, I am tempted every day to be self-sufficient, trying to provide for all my own needs and resisting the vulnerability of sharing my desperation with others.  Help me today to lay my needs at Your feet, and show me the ongoing miracle of how you provide. Amen.

Adoring Christ the Lord Daily - by Rhonda Pepper

Has anybody had an earworm?  I mean an earworm that lasted for ten years or so? When you have a song that is stuck in your mind and you sing it over and over and over again?  My son, Tate, had the one of the most chronic earworm cases that I have ever heard tell of from the age of around 7 until he left for college over a year ago.  It was not an annoying song, but a rather well-loved one.  I don’t even think he was aware that he was belting it out most days. Going up or down the stairs or walking in the hallway upstairs it was almost inevitable that I would hear the first line of the same song, day in and day out. 

“O come all ye faithful” set on repeat for days and weeks and months and years.  Sometimes he added the “joyful and triumphant” part if he was in a particularly good mood.   I was always so happy when we would get to sing it in church at Christmas because he loved it.  And I did, too.  And then, it made me think.

 “O come let us adore Him.”

 Mr. John Francis Wade must have known the importance of adoring Christ, or worshiping him, because he repeated it THREE times in the chorus.  The rest of us might have used the same line three times because adore and Lord sorta kinda rhyme and I gotta get this thing finished!! No, he was really on to something.

The shepherds really got to go and adore the real live, with skin and bones, tiny baby Jesus at the urging of the angels.  Nothing in their lives could ever top that! They weren’t told to come and see the baby Jesus or come and look at the baby Jesus or go and take a casserole to your pals, Mary and Joseph because they are too tired to cook.  They were called to ADORE HIM!  Adore can mean love, esteem, glorify, or revere.  They were called to honor Him.  To be passionate about Him.  To sing his praises and to worship Him.

Christmas can be such a stressful time for many of us.  Instead of feeling joyful and triumphant, many times we are so bogged down in the parties, presents and poinsettias that we lose sight of what we should really be celebrating.  That the little tiny baby whom the shepherds were called to exalt was sent here as God in the flesh.  He deserves every last drop of our praise during this season, and throughout the whole year.  Maybe my own personal choir boy will keep reminding me of this on a daily basis.

Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord - by Soni Buckalew

Read Matthew 3:1-3

The year was 1971. A black vinyl 33-rpm album spun round and round on a portable record player. In my hand the abstract cover proclaimed in a groovy font- “GODSPELL – A Musical Based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew ” The phrase, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord,” circled my middle school mind. Each time I dropped the needle on that portion of Act One, a shofar reverberated off the walls of my bedroom and ushered in a dozen repetitions of the one and only lyric of that song. “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.”

Advent is the liturgical season when we “Prepare the way of the Lord” by recalling the events leading up to the birth of Christ. Scripture passages about Mary, Joseph, shepherds and wise men fill sermons, Sunday school lessons and Christmas programs.

But before all of those key figures in the nativity we learn about a faithful priest named Zechariah and his elderly wife, Elizabeth. Through angelic proclamation, just like his cousin Jesus, the birth of a child is announced.

“He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just and make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

                                             Luke 1:17 RSV

After Elizabeth gave birth to her son, Zechariah named him John and delivered this eloquent prophecy to those gathered around to celebrate the blessed occasion:

"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, when the day shall dawn upon us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”                               Luke 1:76-79

As a grown man John prepared his people for the ministry of Jesus by telling them to “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus was baptized by John and at once the voice of his Father God proclaimed, “This is my Son, with Him I am well pleased.”

God is pleased with you, too! So much so that He sent Jesus to draw you to Him. Prepare the way of the Lord in your life. Just as we clean and decorate to celebrate Christmas, make time to clear the cobwebs from your heart, move from disobedient to wise and present yourself to the Lord as a person prepared.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending Jesus to be the light in our darkness. We celebrate the birth of your son, our Savior, the Prince of Peace. Amen

Thought for the day:

The composer, Steven Schwartz, commented, “GODSPELL is about the formation of a community which carries on Jesus’ teaching after he is gone.” How is our community of faith carrying on Jesus’ teaching?

No Room

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

This season beginning at Thanksgiving and ending with Christmas has always been extremely difficult for me; you see, I was born to a family with no room for me.

I endured abuse which was unspeakable yet I learned to wear the mask of a smile under ALL conditions. Family became the F-word to me. I learned love and service from friends and church.

Having to pretend to be happy and love Christmas while watching Norman Rockwell images of loving families, the difference between my reality and the images was too much for me. Even now in remembrance I have great difficulty with the season . . . I continue to wait for December 25th when the wait is over.

Jesus was born into a world without love; He brought light into the darkness. As I remember this season, I remember the love and light He brings into my life. May I bring the light into the lives of others. May I remember those who also found “no room in the inn” and open my heart and understanding to them.

Prayer: Lord, us remember those who were born into families with no room in their hearts for them. Amen.

* The author of this precious devotion originally declined to write for this publication, but felt God speak, so the author was obedient! I pray there are others who will be inspired by the honesty.

Waiting - by Will and Ella Faircloth

“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31

            Childhood is a time of impatience. For kids, nothing can come soon enough, and the wait for Christmas is especially intolerable.  And for all its fun and festive preparations, the hot chocolate and garland, Advent is actually a time of waiting. It’s a season of preparation in the life of the church, as we get ready for the Lord’s coming. And even though we know He will come, that Christmas will indeed arrive, we still have to wait for the Lord to move in His time, not ours.

            The people of Israel knew what this kind of waiting meant. At different times in their history, they simply had to wait on the Lord to act: to let them enter the Promised Land, to free them from captivity in Babylon, to send the long-expected Messiah. And the prophets knew that such waiting can be draining. Langston Hughes’ famous poem reminds us that a dream deferred can sometimes shrivel up like a raisin in the sun. The prophet Isaiah, however, says that this doesn’t have to be the case, that waiting doesn’t have to mean losing strength or losing hope.

            In fact, waiting can be a time to regroup, to recharge, to gather strength and be ready, so that when the Lord finally acts, His people are prepared to move where He moves. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, had a particular interpretation of the phrase “to wait on the Lord.” For him it meant not to sit around with our arms crossed until the Lord dramatically acts. Rather, it meant to be like a waiter in a restaurant. To attend to the Lord, to follow His commands, and to be about His work, all while we are waiting for His next move. This is waiting that keeps us agile, keeps our muscles strong and our vision sharp.

            This Advent season, many of us aren’t waiting for Christmas; we know December 25^th will come. Many of us are instead waiting for something else. A better job. A buyer for our house. A loved one to pick up the phone. An illness to be healed. A little more joy in our days. There’s a danger in this waiting, that we would run out of steam and just give up all together. But the prophet reminds us, just as he reminded Israel centuries ago, that if we “wait on the Lord,” if we are faithful to His work and keep our eyes on Him, that even in this waiting we can find strength. And then when He moves, when the seas part, when the star shines, when the baby raises a tiny hand, we will be ready to move with Him. 

(To learn more about the Faircloth's ministry at the Methodist Church of Costa Rica, visit http://www.fairclothcostarica.com/) 

If I Could Be a Mockingbird - by Steve Rusk

“Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also”      John 8:19      

                                                                   I was working in the warehouse and the big garage door was opened when a mockingbird flew in.  I tried everything I could to scare the bird out but he would just sit on the rafters and chirp.  I clapped my hands, yelled and even threw a block of wood, and he would just sit there.  It was late Friday afternoon, and I was going home for the weekend. I knew that the bird would be trapped inside for the weekend if he did not get out.  I finally gave up and put the door down.  If I could just be a bird I could show him how to get out.

When I returned on Monday I did not see the bird.  Time passed and a few weeks later as I moved some pallets I found the dead bird.  My thought returned to the idea of becoming a bird, and it occurred to me that is what Jesus did for me.  He became a physical man so that I might know him and the father.

Prayer

Abba Father,

Thank you for coming to earth to know us.  Thank you for the examples of love you show us through your word.  Help us to live a life that brings honor to you and the father.  Amen