Full of It

Posted on by Betsy

To tell someone that they are “full of it” is not a kind thing. You are in essence saying that they are full of nonsense, consumed with poor thinking, outright lying, or in colloquial words, full of “bull stuff.” (You got scared there for a minute, didn’t you?) But there are times when being full of it can be a good thing. Being full of compassion, wisdom, and grace are things we aspire to as Christ followers.

Our lectionary passage today brings us to a familiar tale of the temptation of Jesus. This is a good lesson for this first week of Lent, as it sets our Lenten practices into motion. If you have decided to give something up for Lent or adopt a new spiritual discipline for the next 40 days, this passage will give you inspiration. Watch how Jesus deals with the devil’s temptations and be encouraged.

Luke 4 (Common English Bible)

4 Jesus returned from the Jordan River full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. 2 There he was tempted for forty days by the devil. He ate nothing during those days and afterward Jesus was starving. 3 The devil said to him, “Since you are God’s Son, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

4 Jesus replied, “It’s written, People won’t live only by bread.”

If you have decided that your Lent practice includes a change of diet that emphasizes reducing your carb consumption, take heart! You don’t live only by bread!

5 Next the devil led him to a high place and showed him in a single instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 The devil said, “I will give you this whole domain and the glory of all these kingdoms. It’s been entrusted to me and I can give it to anyone I want.7 Therefore, if you will worship me, it will all be yours.”

8 Jesus answered, “It’s written, You will worship the Lord your God and serve only him.”

I hope that the thing you gave up is something you worshipped. That is the point. When you miss that thing, turn your thoughts to the Lord. He will help you depart from it for your own good.

9 The devil brought him into Jerusalem and stood him at the highest point of the temple. He said to him, “Since you are God’s Son, throw yourself down from here; 10 for it’s written: He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you 11 and they will take you up in their hands so that you won’t hit your foot on a stone.”

12 Jesus answered, “It’s been said, Don’t test the Lord your God.”13 After finishing every temptation, the devil departed from him until the next opportunity.

Jesus was able to resist Satan three times because he was full of it: Full of the Holy Spirit. Luke wants us to understand this, mentioning it twice in the first verse. Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and led by it. So, too, are you. So when you feel weak, turn your attention to the power of the Holy Spirit within you and ask for an increase. You will not be disappointed.

The Perfect Lent Dessert

Faster

Posted on by Betsy

Today is Ash Wednesday and many believers will commit to a form of fasting for the next 40 days of Lent. (Sundays, being the celebration of the Resurrection, are not counted in Lent.) Some might fast from food or drink. Some might fast from Social Media. Some might fast from behaviors or actions that are harmful and unproductive. Are you a Lent faster? What are you giving up this year?

Today’s lectionary passage is a fascinating look as what God desires in our fasts. The people were complaining that God did not honor or recognize their fasts. Here was God’s response. Read it through: I think you will be surprised.

Isaiah 58 (New Revised Standard Version)

Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of injustice,
    to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them
    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you;
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.”

Wowzers. All the chocolate/fast food/alcohol fasts have no place on this list. Are you surprised? I think God’s mandate is clear here. Surely that’s not to say that giving up a fixation isn’t valuable, good for you, or a proper response to the call to practice disciplined self-sacrifice. Those types of commitments have great value. But focusing on these things in addition to your usual Lent habits would surely honor the type of fast God desires.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
    the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
10 if you offer your food to the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be like the noonday.

Acting decisively to remove the yoke of oppression and injustice. Feeding the hungry. Tending to the needs of the afflicted. Bringing the homeless poor into our homes. Clothing the naked. Stop pointing the blame finger at others. Ceasing evil talk, gossip, and hate speech. These are the things that would please the Lord this season.
11 The Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your needs in parched places
    and make your bones strong,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water
    whose waters never fail.
12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
    the restorer of streets to live in.

May we have a holy Lent together and heed Isaiah’s words, making a real difference in our communities and our world for the next 40 days. Are you in?

Queen Anne’s Lace by Becca Ziegler

The Shelter of Lent

Posted on by Betsy

It’s that time of year again, folks, where we are invited to deepen our faith, expand our discipleship, increase our discipline, and enlarge our response to God’s will and God’s word. Yes, Lent is upon us. In two days many will gather to observe Ash Wednesday, the quiet, dark, formal beginning of the season. Lent is the 40 days of preparation for the Easter celebration, and we are invited to practice a Holy Lent by fasting, repenting, studying, examining, praying, worshipping, self-denying, sacrificing, and focusing our whole attention on becoming more faithful in our ways, words, and deeds.

There have been many years when the oncoming of Lent made me silently groan. It is an intentionally dark season, and it is intentionally hard. We do this in contemplation of Good Friday, when Jesus hung on the cross for our sins in an intentionally dark and hard moment. He did that for us. How can we turn away from the Lenten disciplines that are intentionally dark and hard so that we emerge on Easter stronger, better, and more committed?

As much as we groan, we must.

Today’s lectionary passage gave me pause. It signals our transition into Lent, and it offers a completely new idea: Lent is a shelter, a refuge, and a safe place.

Think about the previous Lent seasons. Did you benefit from that special Lent study? Did giving something up for 40 days bring clarity of mind? Did your prayer life grow? Did you emerge stronger?

I hope the answer is yes. But in the meantime, let us contemplate the safe and secure fortress that Lent can be if we give ourselves over to it completely.

Psalm 91 (New Revised Standard Version)

1 You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
    who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
2 will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
    my God, in whom I trust.”

9 Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
    the Most High your dwelling place,
10 no evil shall befall you,
    no scourge come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
    so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
    the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

14 Those who love me, I will deliver;
    I will protect those who know my name.
15 When they call to me, I will answer them;
    I will be with them in trouble;
    I will rescue them and honor them.
16 With long life I will satisfy them
    and show them my salvation.

Focusing our attention on Lent will help us take our eyes off the troubles, trials, and temptations of the world. God dwells in Lent, and wherever God dwells, there is protection. May we enter joyfully, expectantly, and hopefully.

Shelter by Michelle Robertson

GodArt

Posted on by Betsy

If you have ever stood outside and watched the sunset on a clear evening, you have likely seen God’s artistry at its finest. I have never seen the Northern Lights, but the sun setting over the Albemarle Sound is a masterpiece of color, technique, and artistry unlike anywhere else. We are so blessed in the Outer Banks to behold such beauty on a nightly schedule. I can imagine God with a palette and paintbrush, deciding which colors he will use each night to delight his children.

What would we give, if we were to return the favor? Ever wonder what would delight God? What does God want from us that would give him the immense pleasure we get from a full-color sunset?

Psalm 147 New International Version (NIV)

1 Praise the Lord.

How good it is to sing praises to our God,

    how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;

    he gathers the exiles of Israel.

3 He heals the brokenhearted

    and binds up their wounds.

4 He determines the number of the stars

    and calls them each by name.

5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;

    his understanding has no limit.

6 The Lord sustains the humble

    but casts the wicked to the ground.

7 Sing to the Lord with grateful praise;

    make music to our God on the harp.

8 He covers the sky with clouds;

    he supplies the earth with rain

    and makes grass grow on the hills.

9 He provides food for the cattle

    and for the young ravens when they call.

10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,

    nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;

11 the Lord delights in those who fear him,

    who put their hope in his unfailing love.

God delights in those who fear him. I learned in seminary that the word ‘fear’ in such cases is not the same as being afraid or terrified. No, indeed, this use of fear refers to “reverential trust.” God delights in those who have a reverential trust in him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. When you come straight to him for everything, it brings him delight.

You are God’s delight! Imagine that.

We paint our own sunsets of beauty for God whenever we sing to the Lord with grateful praise. In this sense, though, it is not literal singing but leading a life of grateful praise. Serving one another as Jesus did, being generous to a fault, taking second place, praying without ceasing, encouraging the downtrodden … each of these things paints a beautiful scene for God to behold. And in those things, he is delighted.

A man approached me in a store parking lot when I was in Atlanta recently. He was gentle and apologetic. He only spoke enough English to say, “Sorry.” He indicated the grocery store from which I had just come and said, “Sorry (followed by a lot of Spanish) taco.” Taco may be the only word he knows for food, and his humility in saying sorry repeatedly touched my heart. When he opened his hand and pointed to the few coins he had and said, “one dollar,” I realized he was asking for money. One dollar.

One dollar won’t buy you a taco in this part of Atlanta, so I gave him a ten.

His eyes welled up and his head dropped in gratitude as he quietly and profusely thanked me. I don’t know if he went off to buy baby formula or beer, but as I put my cart away, I saw him walking into Publix with his head held high, and I saw God’s artistry in that moment.

Where are you being called to delight God today? Can you be generous? Encourage someone who is down? Pray for a hurting neighbor? Take a casserole to a lonely person? Help a man buy a taco?

Go ahead. Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Live out your life of grateful praise by painting something beautiful with your actions. God will be absolutely delighted.

Holy Art

Ohana

Posted on by Betsy

My husband and I recently re-watched a clever Disney movie called “Lilo and Stitch.” It is one of my niece’s favorite movies (her cat is named Lilo!) and when it popped on our screen one day a few weeks ago, we realized we didn’t remember anything about this 2009 movie. It is a story about family. It is a story about love. It is a story about “Ohana”, the Hawaiian word for family. “Ohana means family. No one gets left behind or forgotten.”

I got to experience true Ohana last week when I got snowed in at the Norfolk airport. I was trying to get to Atlanta to speak at a women’s event and a sudden 10 inch snowfall resulted in one Atlanta plane returning to the gate two hours after it had taxied out and the rest of the flights being canceled. That same Lilo-loving niece is an officer in the Navy who is stationed in Norfolk. Her house is a few minutes from the airport and as I was making my way back to my car to drive to an airport hotel, I called her to ask about the road conditions since I had been inside the airport since before the first flake fell. “Oh, Aunt Bets, we don’t plow very well here. I will come and get you in my four-wheel drive jeep and take you there.” She showed up with a bag of snacks, heated seats, and a welcoming smile. Ohana!

I think that is the vision Jesus had for his followers when he was preparing to leave them. I think he hoped we would be “one” in our love for each other and our love for God. The unity of the Father, the Son, and believers was what he prayed for at the end of his life.

John 17 (New Revised Standard Version)

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Paul’s letters to his churches reinforce this: Most of his writings to them emphasized cooperation, collaboration, mutual love, and acceptance.

Ephesians 4 (Common English Bible)

 2 Conduct yourselves with all humility, gentleness, and patience. Accept each other with love, 3 and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together. 4 You are one body and one spirit, just as God also called you in one hope. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all.

How do you think we are doing with that? As followers of Jesus Christ, as people who continue the mission and vision that the Bible lays out for the modern day church, are we Ohana for one another? And more importantly for us today, are you Ohana in your own circle of family, friends, neighbors, and the strangers God sends to you?

Ohana means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. Where is God calling you to reach out to someone today and offer your love?

“Ohama” by Kathy Schumacher

Unbreakable Cord

Posted on by Betsy

Last week I wrote a few devotionals about the famous “love passage” in 1 Corinthians 13 and its prominence at weddings. You remember that one: “Love is patient, Love is kind…love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” … It certainly is a lovely choice for every wedding-type occasions!

But to be honest, I actually prefer a different scripture when I officiate a wedding. It comes from the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 4 New International Version (NIV)

9  Two are better than one,

    because they have a good return for their labor:

10  If either of them falls down,

    one can help the other up.

But pity anyone who falls

    and has no one to help them up.

11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.

    But how can one keep warm alone?

12 Though one may be overpowered,

    two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken

It is that last verse upon which a strong homily, and relationship, can be built. The way it applies to relationships is this: There are two people in a relationship who are bound together spiritually by adding the “third strand” of Jesus Christ. Couples who come to the altar to make a covenant with each other and with Christ are inviting and including the power and presence of the Holy Spirit to provide strength and beauty to their relationship.

Think of a braid. Two strands alone are weak. Three strands woven together are ironclad.

Does this mean Christian relationships are impervious to disruption? Sadly, no. When one or the other partner unbinds themself from the relationship, or from Christ through sin, the cord indeed can fall apart. In decades of marriage counseling I’ve heard the same story told with different characters. At some point of tiredness, ennui, boredom, or temptation, one pulled away from the braid and the relationship unravels. When “self-importance” overtakes the importance of “us,” that single strand elects to go wayward and the grip is loosened enough for the Enemy to pry in and pry it apart.

I think it is fair to say that the Enemy, whose job it is to “steal, kill and destroy,” finds the breaking apart of relationships, marriages, and families a veritable playground for the havoc he comes to bring. Couples in jeopardy will spend years in the breaking-apart and putting-lives-back-together process. The grief, expense, overwhelming fatigue, anger, and debilitating soul-exhaustion that can accompany divorce can pull people away from their faith as they negotiate the troubled waters of permanent separation.

Keeping Christ at the center of your marriage, family, and relationships gives you the best weapon against this. When you turn your eyes upon Jesus and partner with him as a couple in your home, work, leisure time, finances, and focus, you stand a better chance of surviving the fiery darts that assault all relationships. And joy.

God invites you to find shelter in him:

Psalm 62 New International Version (NIV)

1 Truly my soul finds rest in God;

    my salvation comes from him.

2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;

    he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

3 How long will you assault me?

    Would all of you throw me down—

    this leaning wall, this tottering fence?

4 Surely they intend to topple me

    from my lofty place;

    they take delight in lies.

With their mouths they bless,

    but in their hearts they curse.

5  Yes, my soul, find rest in God;

    my hope comes from him.

6  Truly he is my rock and my salvation;

    he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

7 My salvation and my honor depend on God;

    he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

8 Trust in him at all times, you people;

    pour out your hearts to him,

    for God is our refuge.

No matter where you find yourself today, whether it is in a strong and committed relationship or in the chaos of one that is breaking apart, pour out your heart to God and trust in him. He is your rock, your salvation, and your refuge.

God is our Rock by Kathy Schumacher

Feeling Seen

Posted on by Betsy

I can play “peek-a-boo” on an airplane for hours. I was once an exhausted young mother trying to soothe two toddlers on long flights, and I cherished that tired businessman who sat behind us and peek-a-booed my daughters into happy giggles. Now it is my turn, and I have mad skills in catching that baby’s eye and playing until they drop exhausted into Mama’s arms. I hide behind my hands, the safety demo card, the seats, and then pop up like a deranged jack-in-the-box. You didn’t see THAT one coming, did ya, little one? Like I said, mad skills.

Did you ever think that life is one long peek-a-boo game with God? We look around, searching for meaning, comfort, and help, and God is there already, looking right at us and saying, “I see you!”

The story of Zacchaeus is one long play of peek-a-boo. That wee little man was hoping to see Jesus one day as the Savior was passing down the street of his town. Being vertically challenged, he climbed up in a tree to get a better view. Images of kids being held on a parent’s shoulders to watch the fireworks at Disney World come flooding into my mind when I read this. Why do I always manage to stand behind the 6’3″ dad hoisting his five-year-old up? Suddenly, I’m Zacchaeus. Peek-a-boohoo, I can’t see anything. Oh, well, better for the child to see than me.

I digress.

So Zacchaeus, going out on a limb as it were, was watching the Jesus parade when the unthinkable happened: Jesus saw him. Peek-a-BAM! Can you even imagine? And immediately, Jesus, being Jesus, invited himself to Zacchaeus’ house for lunch. (That would have propelled me into a deep panic. Is the house vacuumed? Do I have anything in the fridge to eat? What exactly do you serve the Savior of the World for lunch?? Definitely not ham.)

Luke 19

1 Jesus was going through Jericho, 2 where a man named Zacchaeus lived. He was in charge of collecting taxes and was very rich. 3-4 Jesus was heading his way, and Zacchaeus wanted to see what he was like. But Zacchaeus was a short man and could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree.

5 When Jesus got there, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down! I want to stay with you today.” 6 Zacchaeus hurried down and gladly welcomed Jesus.

7 Everyone who saw this started grumbling, “This man Zacchaeus is a sinner! And Jesus is going home to eat with him.”

8 Later that day Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “I will give half of my property to the poor. And I will now pay back four times as much to everyone I have ever cheated.”

9 Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Today you and your family have been saved, because you are a true son of Abraham. 10 The Son of Man came to look for and to save all people who are lost.”

How does it feel to know that you are seen? Sometimes in counseling, the best thing you can tell someone is, “I see your pain.” That acknowledgment of their reality often brings forth a flood of deeply hidden emotions, enabling the healing to begin.

Jesus sees you in all of your Zacchaeus-like “short” comings. He sees your current situation and he is waiting for you to look up and see him. Jesus was never afraid to get down and dirty with sinners, even though he was staunchly criticized for it. He had a very clear vision of his own mission: to come to see and save all who are lost.

This is the mission of his followers as well. We have no greater calling than to look for and save all who are lost.

About 20 years ago a man came to me after the 11:00 Sunday worship service, and he was hotter than a Georgia hornet in July. He demanded very loudly that I immediately “cancel his church membership”…like we were the Y or something. I calmly asked him why, and he explained very angrily that he noticed in the bulletin that the couple who had joined that hour had the same address, yet they were not married.

I told him that the Methodist church had no prohibition against unmarried people who lived together joining the church. He fumed that we were condoning sin by allowing them to join, and he would have no part in it. I quietly asked him, if we didn’t allow sinners to join the church, what was the point? I pointed out that if being sin-free was a requirement, all the pastoral staff would have to resign. The next Sunday he joined a small, independent church down the street and is probably still happily there today.

Listen, if you attend a church that excludes sinners from Jesus’ mission to look for and save all who are lost, find a better church. Everyone is lost, everyone has fallen short, and everyone deserves to be seen, heard, loved, cared for, served, included, forgiven, and saved.

Jesus’ call to the sinner Zacchaeus had a great sense of urgency: “Zacchaeus, hurry down! I want to stay with you today.” It is a reminder that we should not delay. The time is now to bring the presence of Jesus into your present reality and let him inspire you to make real, significant change like Zacchaeus did.

So wherever you are today, whether you are mired in sin or sitting high on a lofty tree limb of your own self-righteousness, get off it. Jesus sees you and is calling, ready to come to you. Salvation is at hand. Peek-a-boo! He sees you.

Peek a Boo Sun by Michelle Robertson

Waiting Room Wisdom

Posted on by Betsy

The saying goes that “good things come to those who wait”. I remember a time in the Navy when that saying was replaced with “hurry up and wait.” Going to the Exchange? Hurry up. Then wait. Seeing a doc at the base clinic? Hurry up. Be on time for your appointment. Then wait. The deployment is almost over … hurry up and come home! Then wait.

There are many times in everyone’s life when hurry up and wait comes in to play: College applications are due by a certain date. Hurry up and fill them out! Then wait to see if you got in. Cancer tests are scheduled for this day; hurry up and get ready! Then wait for weeks for the results. Babies come when they want to. Pre-labor beings! Hurry up! Then wait forever.

Waiting is hard. Waiting is wearisome. Waiting slap wears you OUT.

The people of Israel were promised a Messiah. The Messiah would come to rule his kingdom on earth. He would take away their sins and would save them. Under his reign, justice would flow like the waters, and there would be peace on earth. But they were beginning to get tired of waiting:

Isaiah 40 (NIV)

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

    the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

    his understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the faint,

    and strengthens the powerless.

30 Even youths will faint and be weary,

    and the young will fall exhausted;

31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,

    they shall mount up with wings like eagles,

they shall run and not be weary,

    they shall walk and not faint.

And so Israel hurried up. And waited. Centuries passed from the time of Isaiah to the advent of Jesus Christ. And then they had waited so long, many didn’t recognize him as the Messiah. But some did. Perhaps they were the ones who waited with open anticipation. As you wait, are you open to receiving God’s answer in a completely different way than you are expecting? Jesus was not what was expected, but good things came to those who waited for him.

Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. Why? Because God does not faint or grow weary. God gives power to the faint. He strengthens the powerless. You will mount up with wings like eagles if you choose to wait for the Lord.

The challenge is to spend your time in the “waiting room” wisely. What else can you be doing while you wait? Can you be immersed in the word? Shoring up failing relationships? Actively spreading hope to others who are also waiting? Witnessing to God’s presence in the waiting room? Waiting rooms can be places that bear just as much fruit as delivery rooms if we keep our eyes open while we wait.

What are you waiting for right now? While we wait upon the Lord to deliver, we gain strength in knowing that God never grows weary. And so we take this time in our waiting room to grow in our love of God, of family, of faith, and in confidence that in every hurry-up and every slow-down moment, God is with us.

And I just can’t wait to see what he does.

Bay Drive Nutria

Familiar With His Voice

Posted on by Betsy

I had spotted her at events we both are required to attend and felt her discomfort. An episode in our past that did not directly involve either one of us had created a social divide. I don’t know how she had processed what happened, but I know we both have felt pain and awkwardness since.

I spotted her again at a recent event and knew I had to approach her. I suppose I will never know how it felt on her end, but I felt the strong leading of the Holy Spirit to “break the ice” and hopefully make it so that when we encounter each other again, we can nod and say good morning rather than circle the room to avoid each other.

I cannot say it was a break-through moment. I could feel her body stiffen up as I approached her. I said good morning, asked her how she was, and let her know I was praying for her family. Her responses were polite and minimal, making me fear that my “drive-by compassion” had really caught her off guard and did not bridge the awkwardness that I had hoped it would. Worse, I fear I may have caused her pain by speaking to her, something completely opposite of what I was hoping to do.

So then I did what we all do in that moment. I began to question whose leading I was truly following by approaching her. … God’s or mine?

I talked to a mom in my church last week who expressed the same confusion. Praying for her son had led her to believe that a situation would be resolved in a particular way. When that did not transpire, she naturally began to question whether she was hearing God’s voice or her own as she prayed.

God speaks to us in ways that we do not communicate with others. His Spirit speaks to our spirit and we “hear” what he is saying….but only if we are tuned in with fine precision. This requires spending a lot of time in his presence, so that the voice becomes clearer with each encounter. We tune in every time we pray, serve, worship, meditate, fellowship, and SIT with his word.

John 10 The Message (MSG)

He Calls His Sheep by Name

10 1-5 “Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he’s up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it.”

6-10 Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. “I’ll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

14-18 “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They’ll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd.”

Recognizing God’s voice in the cacophony of all the sounds swirling in our minds and hearts takes practice, discernment, and the constant abiding in God’s word, God’s will and his presence. The good news is he loves his sheep. He is constantly calling, cajoling, rebuking, correcting, wooing, comforting, directing, and saying words of caring to us.

Are you trying to hear God today? Tune in, stay tuned, adjust your dial, and wait. The Good Shepherd is calling.

Determined Pansy by Kathy Schumacher

Don’t Let Go of the Rope

Posted on by Betsy

I have been blessed to serve two churches with outstanding preschools. At both the Peachtree City United Methodist Church and the Kitty Hawk United Methodist Church, I have been able to look out my office window and see kids running around, playing, laughing, and learning. When I moved to the Outer Banks and had my first conversation with my District Superintendent about where I might serve, I emphasized to him that I hoped I could serve a church with a preschool. It is that important to me.

One of my favorite things to see in September is the youngest group of children learning how to walk in a line. Isn’t’ it funny to think that at one point when you were little, you had to be taught how to walk in a line? For safety and for learning, our two-year old class of Seal Pups walks with a rope. The rope has handles for each child, and they go marching along the sidewalk to the playground each holding on tight. Kids-on-a-rope is one of the cutest things you will ever see.

We all need a rope to hang on to, don’t we? We need the security and comfort of attaching ourselves to something bigger and stronger in those times when we feel weak and afraid. We need to attach ourselves to something that won’t let go of us.

Let’s see what Joshua says about it:

Joshua 1:9 New International Version (NIV)

9 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

That, right there, is your rope. The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Every preschool child knows that the teacher will never let go of them. And those kids hang on for life.

So, too, should we hang on to Jesus….for life. One of his strongest promises to us comes in the book of John when he says, “I came that you might have life and have it ABUNDANTLY.” Not just ordinary life, not just plain day to day life, but abundant life. Think about that last word … abundantly. The Greek translation of that word is “pertaining to that which is not ordinarily encountered.” So what Christ offers is something extreme, something extraordinary, something that surpasses everything else. Christ offers true, real, deep and abiding happiness.

But sometimes our happiness, our joy, and our peace get stolen. And we know by whom. It says in the Scripture, “The thief comes to KILL, STEAL and destroy.”  We know that this passage is referring to Satan. And we know what tools he uses … he uses worry. He uses anxiety. He uses fear. He uses distraction and confusion. And when those things are deployed, we lose our grip on Jesus and let go of the rope.

Friends, don’t let go of the rope. Don’t take your eyes off of Jesus. Don’t let worry blur your vision. Do not be afraid! For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Don’t Let Go by Michelle Robertson