#dailydevotionals | At Water’s Edge

Trapped

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Betsy

I recently flew on Southwest Airlines and discovered the world’s smallest airplane lavatory. I’m talking really, really small. I’m not a large person, and I banged my shoulders on the walls as I tried to maneuver around. As I washed my hands, I had to breathe deeply, move fast, and concentrate on what I was doing to hold my claustrophobia at bay.

Claustrophobia is not just a fear of small spaces, it is a fear of getting trapped. As I reached for the door handle, the inevitable thought flashed though my mind: what if it doesn’t open? What if I get stuck in here? What if panic takes over?

We get trapped in all kinds of places and situations by all kinds of things and people. I have a friend who is trapped in a bad relationship and can’t find her way out. Another is trapped by addiction. A third is trapped in his credit card debt. Our world is trapped by a pandemic that caught us by its teeth and won’t let go as it shakes us back and forth in an effort to snap our collective neck. Bad choices, bad luck, bad friends, and bad timing can make us feel immobilized and helpless.

What can you do when you feel trapped?

Our psalm today addresses this issue, and reminds us that the Lord is FOR us. This concept is so important, the psalmist repeats it twice:

Psalm 124 (Common English Bible)

If the Lord hadn’t been for us—
    let Israel now repeat!—
²    if the Lord hadn’t been for us,
        when those people attacked us
³then they would have swallowed us up whole
        with their rage burning against us!

Remembering that the Lord is for you is crucial when it comes to finding the strength to pry open the steel jaws of what has you trapped. God can overcome the raging waters and the enemies’ teeth when we are too weak to help ourselves.

⁴Then the waters would have drowned us;
the torrent would have come over our necks;
⁵ then the raging waters would have come over our necks!

⁶Bless the Lord
because he didn’t hand us over
like food for our enemies’ teeth!

What has you trapped today? Your help comes in the name of the Lord. He made heaven and earth! He surely can reach down and release you from the hunters’ snare. All you need to do is ASK. Prayer makes all the difference in an imprisoned life.

⁷We escaped like a bird from the hunters’ trap;
the trap was broken so we escaped!

There is nothing in life that you can’t escape if you turn yourself over to the Lord. In fact, there is nothing in death that you can’t escape either. When Jesus was crucified, died, was buried, and then on the third day arose from the dead, he opened up an escape hatch that can never be shut. Do you believe that? I do.

So no matter what has you by the teeth, cry out to the Lord of all creation and ask for freedom. It will be hard. You will have to do your part and make the difficult and exhausting changes that are required. But the good news is, God has come to deliver you, and he will walk beside you toward your freedom. You are never alone.

He is the Truth, and the truth will set you free.

⁸Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.

Thanks be to God.

Anointing

Posted on September 22, 2021 by Betsy

I remember my first healing service like it was yesterday. I was a very young pastor, fresh out of seminary, and the prayer ministry had asked the pastoral leadership to do a healing service for the church. There is a service in our United Methodist Book of Worship that involves prayer, the laying on of hands, and the anointing with oil.

I had never experienced a healing service growing up in the Methodist church as a child, and I was very curious about what would happen and how we would proceed. Visions of dramatic and overblown ”healings” from pentecostal television filled my imagination, and I tried to reconcile those images with how we methodical/Anglican-based Methodists would do such a service.

The service began, and after a homily, people were invited to come forward to kneel at the altar and be anointed with simple olive oil from a bowl. The pastors made a sign of the cross on the foreheads of those who came, and offered a prayer for each. As I laid hands on the people who were directed to me by the ushers, I felt the power of God in the words and the anointing as they knelt and received. There are very few moments in a worship setting that can be as powerful as a healing service.

James 5 (Common English Bible)

¹³If any of you are suffering, they should pray. If any of you are happy, they should sing. ¹⁴If any of you are sick, they should call for the elders of the church, and the elders should pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.

This is where churches receive authority to offer healing services. James lays it right out: Call out the leaders. Pray. Anoint. Do it in God’s name.

¹⁵Prayer that comes from faith will heal the sick, for the Lord will restore them to health. And if they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶For this reason, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous person is powerful in what it can achieve.

So here was my conundrum. If we all gathered and prayed from our collaborative faith for healing, surely the Lord will restore the person to health. That’s what it says, right? So what happens if healing doesn’t happen after a healing service?

My thoughts were immediately put to the test as a woman in her final days of terminal cancer was brought over to my side. Her husband pushed her wheelchair to the altar, and as I leaned over to anoint her and lay hands on her head, I realized she was wearing a wig. Of course she was. Chemo had stolen her hair many months before that. But that detail has remained in my memory for decades. I can still feel the surprise of that false hair under my fingers and palms.

Two days after the healing service, she died.

So what did that mean? Why wasn’t she healed? What happened to her anointing? Did our prayers not work?

A few days later, her husband sent us a note to thank us for the healing service. He said it was the first time his wife had been out of the house in over a year, and her first time back in the sanctuary since her diagnosis. He went on to thank us for allowing her to receive healing that night. When she got home that evening, she was filled with joy, peace, and hope in ways that she hadn’t felt in years. Her appetite was back and they shared a late night supper. She had confessed her sins at the altar, and knew exactly where she was going the minute the oil touched her forehead. Right before she passed two days later, she told her husband that she was finally healed.

Prayer had healed her. Hope had healed her. Jesus had healed her. Death had healed her.

¹⁷Elijah was a person just like us. When he earnestly prayed that it wouldn’t rain, no rain fell for three and a half years. ¹⁸He prayed again, God sent rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

I am glad that this happened early in my ministry, as it taught me to never be afraid to boldly ask for healing in the name of Jesus from that point on. It also taught me that Jesus will ALWAYS heal….and it may not look anything like what you were expecting.

What aspect of your life needs healing? Remember that the prayer of the righteous person is POWERFUL.

Handling Truth

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Betsy

Sometimes in life, you just have to speak the truth. Nobody does this better than children. They will tell you point-blank to your face things you don’t want to hear, like your elbow wrinkles look funny, or that you are old. Case in point: we were asking the four-year-old twins what they want to be when they grow up. Ryan immediately said he wants to be a paleontologist…which he slowly and carefully pronounced PAY-LEEE-ON-TOL-OH-GIST. He will make an excellent one….he teaches me something new every day. Nora at first said she wanted to be a princess, then changed her mind for something ”more real.” She chose to be a unicorn.

I’m with her. I want to be a unicorn, too. So I said, ”Oh, that sounds great! Do you think Nana could be a unicorn when she grows up, too?” She instantly replied, ”Noooooo, Nana! You’re too old! You’re already growed up.”

Rats.

Well, maybe it’s a good thing that Ryan wants to be a paleontologist, since apparently his Nana is a dinosaur.

Our passage from Mark today is in two parts. In the first, Jesus explains to his disciples that anyone who is for them cannot be against them, so a man who was exorcising demons in Jesus’ name was an ally:

Mark 9 (The Message)

³⁸John spoke up, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group.”

^39-41Jesus wasn’t pleased. “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath slam me. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.

Then he goes on to deliver hard truths and harsh words against anyone who would be a stumbling block for any of God’s children to come to know Jesus. In essence, he says that if you mess with them you mess with me…and there will be consequences that you won’t survive:

⁴²“On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.

^43-48“If your hand or your foot gets in God’s way, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

Yikes! Jesus is not playing. This invites us to stop and take an internal inventory. Is there anything in our attitude or behavior that might be a negative witness to the power of Jesus in our lives? People are watching. People are reading our posts. People are observing our actions. This passage is a call to wake up and be aware.

^49-50“Everyone’s going through a refining fire sooner or later, but you’ll be well-preserved, protected from the eternal flames. Be preservatives yourselves. Preserve the peace.”

Jesus’ call is clear: preserve the peace. Only by following him closely will we survive the refining fire. Remember that with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can be Christ’s ally in this world and not a stumbling block to his kingdom.

Do you need to clean up your act?

Refiner’s Fire Sky by Michelle Robertson

Teamwork

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Betsy

Football season is well underway, and after a year of COVID closures, college games are back in full swing. The coach from my Alma Mater made an interesting comment after the first game of the season. We beat a team that was ranked higher than ours and was expected to win. All of the pundits had called the game for the other team, yet our team pulled off an upset. The coach gave credit to all the fans. He stated that the level of audible and visible support for the team that came from the stands made all the difference. The cliche for this is ”teamwork makes the dream work.” Like most cliches, it is true.

In our passage from the book of Numbers today, we see Moses hitting a wall of oncoming linebackers and feeling overwhelmed, defenseless, and alone. But God reminded him that he, too, was surrounded by a team, even in the bleak desert of nothingness:

Numbers 2 (The Message)

¹⁰Moses heard the whining, all those families whining in front of their tents. God’s anger blazed up. Moses saw that things were in a bad way.

^11-15Moses said to God, “Why are you treating me this way? What did I ever do to you to deserve this? Did I conceive them? Was I their mother? So why dump the responsibility of this people on me? Why tell me to carry them around like a nursing mother, carry them all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people who are whining to me, ‘Give us meat; we want meat.’ I can’t do this by myself—it’s too much, all these people. If this is how you intend to treat me, do me a favor and kill me. I’ve seen enough; I’ve had enough. Let me out of here.”

Have you ever been so frustrated, exhausted, and overwhelmed that you wanted to just run away? I know I have. Sometimes work, home, illness, family, the pandemic, and even the larger political system that we all living under can suddenly overwhelm us to the point of paralysis. We can find ourselves so tired of it all we just want to drop the ball and walk off the field. Luckily for Moses, God had another play to call from his playbook:

^16-17God said to Moses, “Gather together seventy men from among the leaders of Israel, men whom you know to be respected and responsible. Take them to the Tent of Meeting. I’ll meet you there. I’ll come down and speak with you. I’ll take some of the Spirit that is on you and place it on them; they’ll then be able to take some of the load of this people—you won’t have to carry the whole thing alone.

You won’t have to carry the whole thing alone.

This burden of responsibility, this grief, this tragedy, this unexpected death of a loved one, this failed marriage, this out-of-control teenager, this job loss….YOU WON’T HAVE TO CARRY THE WHOLE THING ALONE. Can you find comfort in those words today?

^24-25So Moses went out and told the people what God had said. He called together seventy of the leaders and had them stand around the Tent. God came down in a cloud and spoke to Moses and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy leaders. When the Spirit rested on them they prophesied. But they didn’t continue; it was a onetime event.

²⁶Meanwhile two men, Eldad and Medad, had stayed in the camp. They were listed as leaders but they didn’t leave camp to go to the Tent. Still, the Spirit also rested on them and they prophesied in the camp.

God came to Moses’ aid and provided other people to carry the load with him. This is a good lesson for those of us who think that we are indispensable. Guess what? We’re not.

²⁷A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”

²⁸Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ right-hand man since his youth, said, “Moses, master! Stop them!”

²⁹But Moses said, “Are you jealous for me? Would that all God’s people were prophets. Would that God would put his Spirit on all of them.”

This is a great reminder today that God provides others to step alongside of you and help. When the burden of life becomes too great, LOOK AROUND. There are helpers everywhere. Ask God to rest his spirit on someone who can truly take a load from your shoulders and carry it with you. And when he does, let go. That might be the hardest part…letting go of control and allowing someone else to share a problem…but when you do, God is there.

What do you need to let go of today? Trust God, for he is able.

Year-End Report

Posted on September 17, 2021 by Betsy

It is that time in United Methodism when we produce something called the ”State of the Church” for the District Superintendent and the Bishop. A committee thoughtfully evaluates the condition of the church in terms of ministry, growth, discipleship, etc. for the last twelve months.

Think about what we have been through the last twelve months. I think the committee should submit a two-word report: ”We survived.” It is ONLY through the grace of God that we have gotten through the last year. We’ve worshipped in ball fields, front lawns, graveyards, beaches, and everywhere in-between. We’ve mastered technology….okay, that is a fib. None of us have mastered technology. But with God’s help we have continued to be a worshipping body of Christ.

As strange as these twelve months have been for us, we have nothing on God’s people in King David’s time. They wandered the wilderness for years, obediently following the Ark of the Covenant as it traveled throughout the Promised Land in a movable tent. That tent was their church.

David built a palace, and after he had made himself comfy and cozy there, he remembered that God had no home. He began to think about that.

(Hmmm. Were David’s priorities in the right order?)

2 Samuel (Contemporary English Version)

7 King David moved into his new palace, and the Lord let his kingdom be at peace. ²Then one day, as David was talking with Nathan the prophet, David said, “Look around! I live in a palace made of cedar, but the sacred chest has to stay in a tent.”

³Nathan replied, “The Lord is with you, so do what you want!”

Sometimes even well-meaning friends give you the wrong advice. God set Nathan straight.

⁴That night, the Lord told Nathan ⁵to go to David and give him this message:

David, you are my servant, so listen to what I say. Why should you build a temple for me? ⁶I didn’t live in a temple when I brought my people out of Egypt, and I don’t live in one now. A tent has always been my home wherever I have gone with them. ⁷I chose leaders and told them to be like shepherds for my people Israel. But did I ever say anything to even one of them about building a cedar temple for me?

⁸David, this is what I, the Lord All-Powerful, say to you. I brought you in from the fields where you took care of sheep, and I made you the leader of my people. ⁹Wherever you went, I helped you and destroyed your enemies right in front of your eyes. I have made you one of the most famous people in the world.

¹⁰I have given my people Israel a land of their own where they can live in peace, and they won’t have to tremble with fear any more. Evil nations won’t bother them, as they did ¹¹when I let judges rule my people. And I have kept your enemies from attacking you.

God is so much more than a building. He is greater than four walls and a roof. The trouble with buildings is that they need constant repair, and sometimes donors end up worshipping the structure more than the Lord. Think I’m exaggerating? Look around. How many little brass “people-plaques” do you have in your sanctuary?

God’s “building” was going to be so much greater. He looked at David and decided to build a lineage that would run straight to Jesus. And Jesus would come to build a church of love, compassion, justice, hope, and peace.

Now I promise that you and your descendants will be kings.

If we’ve learned one thing from this pandemic, it is that God is wherever his people are. That is the whole point of being the church for the world. We are charged with carrying the message of how God came to us to inhabit our world, our lives, our hearts, our hopes, and our dreams for the future.

So no matter where you gather, you must proclaim the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection everywhere to anyone who will listen. We not only survive, we thrive. Thanks be to God.

I Hope You Dance

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Betsy

“Now is the time; now is the best time. Now is the best time of your life!”

Fans of Walt Disney will recognize the theme music to the wonderful attraction called “The Carousel of Progress.” This iconic moving-theater experience was originally built for the 1964 World’s Fair, and then disassembled and reconstructed in Tomorrowland in 1975. The cheerful message of progress through the century is a reminder that the best time we are living in is right now.

Do you believe that you are in the best time of your life? I imagine for many of us the answer is no. If you are dealing with addiction, undergoing chemotherapy, incarcerated, going through a rough divorce, dealing with rebellious children, caring for elderly parents, etc., you may not consider this the “best time of your life.” And that’s not even adding a global pandemic to the mix. This could hardly be considered our best time…and that’s OK.

The writer of Ecclesiastes has an important reminder for us about the nature of time:

Ecclesiastes 3 New International Version (NIV)

A Time for Everything

3 There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

There is something comforting in realizing that there is a season for EVERYTHING under the sun. Everything has a place, everything follows an order, and everything has an appropriate and proper point on the space-time continuum. Even the things we dread have their own place. Death, war, mourning, plagues, and hate all have an allotted measure in the grand scope of our lives.

The best part is that it’s an allotted measure, i.e. something that happens for a specified period of time. This scripture teaches us that time is God-ordained and controlled and we should just relax and let life flow accordingly.

Does that work for you? Yeah, me neither.

When this doesn’t work for me is when MY timing doesn’t jive with God’s timing. Either I am being too slow to respond to his bidding, or (more likely the case) rushing into things with great enthusiasm without waiting for his direction.

Godly direction is the key to this whole thing. When we pray, discern, and yield ourselves COMPLETELY to God’s timing, he ushers us into the best time of our lives. Setting aside our preconceived notion of when something should begin or end allows God to act as Timekeeper, and sets life into motion according to his plan.

Is it time to do something? Is it time to change? Time to move? Has the time come to speak up, or be quiet and let others sort things out? Is it time to end something? Maybe you are entering a season of growing, re-inventing yourself, and leaving all kinds of heavy things behind.

This beautiful passage assures us that there is indeed a time for everything, and God is in each moment.

“A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”

I hope you dance.

We Do Recover

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Betsy

Two people whom I admire very much are hard-working advocates for addiction recovery. One is in her thirties, and is a recovered drug and alcohol addict. She has turned her life completely around, owns a fitness studio, and produces an addiction recovery podcast that aims to help others recover as well. (Check out Chasing Heroine) The other is a former High School chum who has fought hard to be sober for several decades. His encouragement to other alcoholics to join AA, combined with his own personal testimony, has made him an effective witness to the recovery movement. These two people inspire me and I pray for their continued recovery all the time. They both post under #wedorecover, and every time I see that hashtag, I am compelled to pray for everyone who is working to overcome the illness of addiction. If this is you, congratulations, and know that many people are rooting for you and are proud of you.

Our Psalm today puts recovery in a focused spotlight. The psalmist is recovering from some life-destroying illness or injury, and he lifts his weary head up to offer praise and thanksgiving for God’s intervention.

Psalm 116 (New Revised Standard Version)

¹I love the Lord, because he has heard
    my voice and my supplications.
²Because he inclined his ear to me,
    therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
³The snares of death encompassed me;
    the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
    I suffered distress and anguish.
⁴Then I called on the name of the Lord:
    “O Lord, I pray, save my life!”

Sheol is an Old Testament concept of a type of hell, a place where people went when they died. It is a word for the abode of the dead. Most scholars think that it is derived from a word meaning hollow. To the Hebrew mind, Sheol was a place of destruction and utter desolation. It was believed that Sheol was located deep down in the earth, as hell is often thought of today.

I don’t know a single person who has struggled with addiction who hasn’t experienced Sheol.

⁵Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
    our God is merciful.
⁶The Lord protects the simple;
    when I was brought low, he saved me.
⁷Return, O my soul, to your rest,
    for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

⁸For you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling.
⁹I walk before the Lord
    in the land of the living.

What are you recovering from today? Do you have an addiction? Have you been sick? Suffering from COVID? Dealing with a failed marriage? Trying to pick yourself up from unemployment/disappointment/family estrangements/your own stupidity?

You are not alone. We are all trying to recover from something. So as you struggle, remember this: God will deliver you. He will walk beside you. He protects you and he will save you, but you have to call on the name of the Lord. ”Oh Lord, I pray, save my life!” Say this, and he will flee to you.

Thanks be to God.

A Way Out

Posted on September 14, 2021 by Betsy

A long time ago, in a land far, far away, two men were having a conversation. The wiser one, JC, was attempting to explain to his new friend Nick how the Kingdom of God works. He had begun the conversation by stating that one had to be ”born again” to attain the kingdom, and Nick was thoroughly confused as he tried to imagine his adult self being birthed again from his mother’s womb. So JC took another approach, and shifted the conversation to God’s activity in the process.

He explained that God’s love for the world was so ginormous, he sent a begotten son to save it. That perked Nick’s ears up, as the phrase ”begotten” harkened back to his Jewish roots. Every Jew knew the story of the sacrifice Abraham was willing to make of his begotten son. Every Jew knew the surprise ending to that story. It turned out that the God of Love gives, and does not require, sacrifice. A ram was provided for the offering and Isaac returned home with his father. So Nick was onboard with the notion of a substitute begotten Son being given in sacrifice as an offering. Perhaps this JC fellow was on to something.

John 3 (The Message)

^13-15“No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.

^16-18“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son.

At this point Nick is beginning to realize that the Son of Man is the one who has come to offer eternal life to God’s people. But in his way of thinking, it was just another sacrificial sin-offering that would probably have to be repeated, just as all sin-offerings did. After all, the whole offering system was designed to expiate sinful actions, which of course were going to happen again and again. But JC went on to explain that THIS offering was different:

And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.

Nick was amazed to think that God SO loved the world that he offered up his only son as a once-and-for-all sin offering, whose sacrifice at the altar would put the entire world right again. This life, once taken, would be proof of God’s grace, not his condemnation. God’s love was so great, he created a way out.

Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

JC told Nick one more thing before he turned to leave. It all hinged on belief. Those who believe would never eternally die, but instead they would eternally live. Those who refused to believe have already condemned themselves by their unbelief.

The condemnation comes not from God, but from their unbelief.

Little did Nicodemus realize that this conversation would be recorded by a man named John, and would be repeated millions of times throughout history. It would appear on signs and posters, and become a mantra for believers. It even would show up at sports stadiums with the simple designation ”John 3:16.”

It all hinges on belief. Do you believe?

God So Loved the World by Kathy Schumacher

Wanting Tomorrow

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Betsy

A friend who is undergoing cancer treatment is finally having a good week. He feels good, he can walk without a cane, and he actually drove a car for the first time in three months. So he went out and bought green bananas.

I love that last part. It is a glorious sign of recovery. It is a act of hope. It’s what people do when they realize they will indeed live to see another day.

I wonder how many of us are leading our lives as though tomorrow won’t come. There are times when life can beat us down so hard we don’t have the energy, resolve, or desire to even lift our head off the pillow. Sometimes this feeling is situational, and eventually gets easier. Sometimes darker things are at play and we need help.

I’m sure we can recall a very hard break up with someone we thought we would be ours forever. Relationships ending can leave us feeling tremendously defeated. If you’ve ever been fired, you might recall a moment of sitting in the car with your hands on the wheel, unable to imagine a tomorrow. At the moment when the doctor came out of the operating room and told us that our daughter had cancer when she was a college junior, I could not see her tomorrows for a moment. Not seeing hers made me not see mine. Losing your parents, a spouse, or God forbid, a child, can leave you not even wanting tomorrows.

Hebrews 11 The Message (MSG)

Faith in What We Don’t See

11 1-2 The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

3 By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.

When tomorrows seem hazy and unattainable, it is good to remember what this verse is telling us. We have the firm foundation of a trustworthy God, which gives us a handle on what we can’t see. We can fix our feet firmly in a world called into existence by God. How amazing is it to know that God creates what we see, and what we don’t see. He is the creator of all of the tomorrows yet to come. We don’t need to see it…God does, and that is enough.

The ancestors of our faith were content to allow their tomorrows unfold according to God’s design and will for their lives. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah…they all bought green bananas.

32-36 There are so many more—Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. . . . Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead.

There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection.

Our ultimate tomorrow is found in the resurrection. There is something better. There is hope. There is a reason to get up, get moving, and get on with it. In truth, tomorrow never comes, for each tomorrow turns into today, and each day brings new mercies.

Faith is the reality of what we hope for and the proof of what we don’t see. So let us walk by faith and not by sight, and go forth to buy green bananas.

Screen Saver

Posted on September 10, 2021 by Betsy

Everyone knows what a projector is. A projector is an electronic device that can take images from a source and display them on a screen. Movie theaters use projectors at the rear of the theater to cast moving images on a giant wall screen in the front.

And then there is another type of projecting. This is when someone has a grudge, grievance, anger issue, or mental instability, and projects that onto another person. Projecting is a defense mechanism for coping with undesirable feelings and emotions. People project negative feelings onto others rather than admitting or dealing with the unwanted feelings. A husband constantly accusing his wife of cheating may be projecting his secret behavior onto her. A teenager, frustrated with his lack of accomplishment, may taunt and pick on a younger sibling rather than face his own feelings of inadequacy.

Bullying is a form of projecting. A middle school teacher and I were chatting last week and she talked about how much bullying takes place in school. She is working very hard to have kids understand their own emotions so that they can take ownership of what they are processing internally rather than project those feelings of anger and shame onto others through bullying. Sadly, some of them will grow up to be adult bullies and continue to project their unresolved issues onto others.

Bullies will probably always project. But that doesn’t mean you have to be their screen.

Luke 17 English Standard Version (ESV)

Temptations to Sin

17 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

If your brother or sister sins, rebuke them. Jesus never called us to be doormats. We can stand strong in the full armor of God and stand up for ourselves in his might. When the money lenders were defiling the temple, Jesus didn’t capitulate. He threw them out.

Ephesians 6:10-20 (The Message)

A Fight to the Finish

10-12 God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

13-18 Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life.

God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

If you have someone who continues to project their misery onto you, walk away. Bury yourself deep in God’s word, and pray for strength. Put on the full armor against evil, and stand up for yourself. Projectors need screens, so as soon as you stop being one, the show will be over and you’ll still be on your feet. God has come to be your screen saver! HE is strong, and he wants you to be strong. Take every weapon he supplies, cover yourself in prayer, and STAND FIRM. God’s got you.

Thanks be to God.

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