The Holy Way - by Rev. Tom East

Read: Isaiah 35:1-10

“And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it shall be for God's people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray” (Isa. 35:8)

Can you believe Christmas is almost here? Last weekend Pat and I went to the mall. While there I heard some young people walking around cheerfully chanting, “SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP! SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP!” I don't know what got into me, I guess it was the preacher in me. But all I could think of what about those who don't have the funds to shop....what about those who have lost a loved one and can't seem to get motivated to shop...what about those who have gone through a terrible divorce...what about the lonely residents in care home or those who are home bound?

“SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP!” Isn't something those who are in a wilderness want to hear. Some don't even want to get out of the house much less go to a mall and hear “SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP!” What they want to hear is, WHAT IS THE WAY OUT...how do I get out of this mess?

When one is in a wilderness time we can even feel abandoned by God.

For all those who are lonely, frustrated, anxious, and bewildered by the wildernesses in their lives, they don't want to hear “SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP!” But what they and us need to hear is:

GOD CHANGES THE WILDERNESS IN OUR LIVES BY REVEALING

HIS PRESENCE TO US ….AND BY CHANGING THE WAY WE SEE

THE WILDERNESS.

It is a pool of water in the desert; it is the blossom on the desert cactus; it is the way, the truth, and the life. It's what really makes it a Merry Christmas...NOT SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP.

For in Christ, we travel God's Holy Way through any wilderness journey! Christ has come! Christ is coming! Christ will come again!

Prayer: Prepare our hearts and remove the sadness that hinders us from feeling the joy and hope which his presence will bestow, for he is Lord for ever and ever. In Jesus' name. Amen. 

Mother Like Mary - by Heather Church

1 John 4:4  You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 

The world was taking her. Daughter was slipping through my fingers and I couldn’t hold on to her. She was funny and fearless. She flipped and she fiddled. But she lost herself and let it all go. Her fierce flame wasn’t burning like it used to. Daughter was removed and introverted. Her faith was questioned and broken.   I prayed. I stood bold. I cried in the night and loved hard in the day. Keep guiding her. Be her beacon. Be the wall she swims to and when she swims away still be the strong wall for when she decides to swim back. It will hurt and a mother’s heart will break. Look forward to the day she hugs you and mends your heart. I will overcome. We will overcome.  

Daughter began walking her new path that was revealed to her. She found art. She found music. She found a reason to go against the world and be her own beautiful true self. We shared devotionals. We shared prayers. We shared disappointments, anger, let downs, and tears.   Now, here we stand mother and daughter. Sharing a new love. Sharing a mended heart and hugs. Sharing a stronger faith and our true colors shining. The world did not win this time. A mother’s love for daughter won.   

Mother like Mary. Mary is a beautiful role model for mothers. Mary was humble, faithful, strong, and gave great love. What a gift from God to be a faithful, sacrificing mother. To give your best every day for your child. Mary has a lot to teach mothers as we reflect on her unshakable faith. Just like a braided cord, we weave three strands: 1 our child’s faith, our faith, and God’s love. The braided cord will not easily break.

Lost But Found - By Rev. Dr. Rick Brooks

Jesus told stories about what was once lost being found. Just check out the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15, and his stories of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son/brother. In every case, whenever what was lost is found, it is cause for great celebration and rejoicing. This is the way of God’s kingdom, Jesus says. This is the way of God’s heart toward his wayward children.

When you think about it, most of the stories of the season that we love so much, A Christmas Carol, It’s a Wonderful Life . . . and even The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, pick up on this theme of something lost or missing that is found. More often than not the thing “gone missing” is something in the heart that prevents the person (or Grinch) from seeing the miracle of life right before his eyes.

All of these stories seem to tell us: It isn’t necessary to lose something of value before we begin to value, appreciate, and even treasure it. And beginning to value the gift of  “ordinary life” right before us is the pathway to “being found” – that place where celebration and rejoicing are waiting to begin.

Prayer:

Lord, open my eyes this day that I may see your fingerprints in everything and everyone around me. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Letting God Handle It - by John Bush

Deuteronomy 4:12 Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.

In late January of 2001 I tore the rotator cuff in my right shoulder. A week or so later as the physicians were putting me to sleep my heart quit. When I opened my eyes after this encounter, I was startled that a nurse was holding a respirator tightly over my mouth and the rest of the staff there in the operating room were all white as sheep and appeared to be very upset about something. It was then explained to me that as they were administering the anesthesia my heart had quit.

Three days later after extensive testing it was determined that there were no heart problems and the reason for my heart stopping was due to a slow heart rate, which I’ve had all my life. This was not adjusted when putting me to sleep. The surgery was then performed and all went well.

Fast forward four days, it’s Monday morning and my wife goes to work. I have not been by myself since the heart stopping and now here I am all alone. It hit me, what if my heart stops, what will happen; I could die all alone and no one would know. I couldn’t sit still, I was simply terrified and spent several hours going from inside the house to wandering around out in the yard.

On one of the trips inside the telephone rang. I answered and it was Linda, a devout Christian lady, that I worked with. She was calling to just to check on how I was doing.  I will never forget her response when I told her about my fear of being alone. It will be ok she said, stop and talk to God and let Him handle your fear.

I vividly remember after she hung up, I lay down on the couch and prayed to God to take away the fear and anxiety. And then it happened, an unseen voice but a voice as clear as it could be said “it’s o.k.” Instantly the fear and anxiety was gone. I had heard the voice of God telling me that “it’s o.k.”

Prayer: Father thank you for your understanding and guidance that you provide if only we ask.  Amen!

The Goodness of God - by Judy Brehm

Deuteronomy 1:31  Common English Bible

³¹ and as you saw him do in the desert. Throughout your entire journey, until you reached this very place, the Lord your God has carried you just as a parent carries a child.

We all know the poem, Footprints in the Sand, where a woman has a dream of walking on the beach with Jesus.  Then she notices that during the darkest times in her life there is only one set of footprints.  She asks, “How could you desert me at the times I needed you most?”  Our Lord responded, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.” 

It really happened to me!  When my daughter was only 6 months old she was hospitalized for more than a month with life threatening illness.  We were a thousand miles from the nearest relative, we didn’t have a church, we had very little money.  I was with my sick child in the hospital 24 hours a day.  I was scared and lonely.  I didn’t know how I would make it.  It was only years later that I realized it was my dormant faith in the Goodness of God that got me through those times.   Realizing how important it had been me to have been brought up in the church is what brought me and my family to St Paul so that they might have the same benefits of knowing the Goodness of God.

The Serenity Prayer –  God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. AMEN.

Thought for the day  –  “Keep trusting God. He will lead you in every step of the journey.”  ― Lailah Gifty Akita

A Good Thing - by Walt Brehm

Scripture for today – John 3:16-18 The Living Bible

     ¹⁶ For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.  ¹⁸ “There is no eternal doom awaiting those who trust him to save them. But those who don’t trust him have already been tried and condemned for not believing in the only Son of God.

     I spent some time in the Army.  After nearly a year of training I learned that soldiers do many things other than fight.  As a mechanized infantry platoon leader I was ready to fight but was never called upon to do so.  As the Chemical School security officer I sat in an office and shuffled papers.  One of those papers was to prepare a response to the Army Suggestion Program.   I read the suggestion, thought about it for a minute or two, wrote a short paragraph of rejection and forwarded it to my boss.  The next day the colonel came to my office with the paper in his hand.  He said, “Lieutenant, you took the easy way out, anyone can say ‘no.’ This is a good thing, think about it and find a way to say ‘Yes.’ ”

     What God has offered us is a good thing, eternal life.  All we need to do is think about it, believe and say “YES!”  And then the most amazing things will happen.

     Prayer – Our Father in Heaven, we praise Your holy name and seek Your forgiveness for the times our thoughts and actions have failed to meet Your approval.  We pray that You will open our eyes and hearts to the opportunity of eternal life with You that You have offered through Your Son.  In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ we pray.   AMEN

God's Mercy Endures Forever - by Jude Williams Howell

"I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." Exodus 33:19  NIV

I  read this Bible verse many years ago, and I thought, doesn't God have mercy on everyone?

The Bible says, "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children." Ps. 103: 17 NKJV

My Father, Morris C. Williams, was selected for service in the Air Force and trained as a fighter pilot under the Southeastern Training Command. Because he had spent his junior and senior years at the Columbia Military Academy in Columbia, Tennessee, he was advanced to the rank of Cadet Officer and then to Platoon Lieutenant during his nine-month training period.

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In April 1943, he was assigned to the 36th squadron of the 361^st fighter group at Bottisham, England. After flying 45 combat missions between October and May of 1944 and 150 combat hours, he was shot down on May 24,1944 while flying over a German airport near Munster, Germany. He bailed out of his P51 Mustang after the plane burst into flames.

Following his capture by civilians, he was taken to a Dulag POW Camp for interrogation. He was then moved to Stalag 3 at Sagan, Germany. Next, he was moved to Moosberg for the remainder of his captivity. The camp was liberated by George C. Patton on April 29, 1945.

The Williams family were recipients of God's mercy and compassion! Not only did my father survive the crash, but he survived captivity as well. Soon after he arrived at the POW camp, he saw his childhood friend, Joe Covington, who was also from Meridian, and they both rejoiced in this Blessing from God.

My dad was presumed dead, and the word got back to Meridian that he had perished in the mission.  Imagine the joy and thankfulness they shared when they learned he was alive!

In the Bible, the virtues of mercy and compassion are mentioned in various forms hundreds of times, especially in describing God's nature. Instead of giving us what we deserve, God has shown mercy again and again to give us a chance to repent and be saved. What a Mighty God we serve!

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for not giving us what we deserve!