#dailydevotionals

Start your day with morning coffee and a devotional.

Last, But Not Least

Posted on by Betsy

Today we will finish our look into Psalm 63. You’ll recall that King David wrote this in a wilderness of despair, as he was fleeing from his son’s attempted coup. In this bleak situation, he sought God and was able to praise him despite his situation. Perhaps it was easier for David to do this because he had come to know God’s lovingkindness first hand:

Psalm 63 (Common English Bible)

3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

The Hebrew word for lovingkindness in this passage is hesed. Hesed is one of the most fundamental characteristics of God, consistent with what we know about His covenantal nature. Hesed is “wrapping up in itself all the positive attributes of God: love, covenant faithfulness, mercy, grace, kindness, loyalty–in short, acts of devotion and loving-kindness that go beyond the requirements of duty,” elaborates Bible scholar Darrell L. Bock.

Throughout the Hebrew Bible, we see hesed translated in a number of different ways; steadfast love, mercy, kindness, and goodness. While these synonyms develop our understanding, they only just skim the surface of this multifaceted, rich word. It isn’t a romantic kind of love: indeed it is love in action, love given to the undeserving, love that is loyal to the point that it will never leave you. 

David learned about God’s deep well of hesed for him over the many trials and tribulations of his life. This “man after God’s own heart” pretty much broke all the 10 commandments during his lifetime, including adultery and murder, and yet could say in this moment that God’s hesed/lovingkindness is better than life itself, providing a feast of marrow and fat in the barren wilderness. 

Hesed was a mark of the early church. In the early times, there was a growing recognition of the uniqueness of the church in the general population because of the way Christians treated one another. Tertullian, who is called the Father of Western Theology, said, 

“It is our care for the helpless, our practice of lovingkindness, that brands us in the eyes of many of our opponents. ‘Look!’ they say. ‘How they love one another! Look how they are prepared to die for one another’ ”

It was the same reaction of the unbelieving Greek writer Lucian (a.d. 120–200) upon observing the warm fellowship of Christians: 

“It is incredible to see the fervor with which the people of that religion help each other in their wants. They spare nothing. Their first legislator [Jesus] has put it into their heads that they are brethren.”

I have a question for you this morning. Do you think that the church is still known for its extreme lovingkindness today? Do you think the secular world looks at us and can see how we help each other, sparing nothing, acting like brethren ready to die for one another? Or does the world see our in-fighting, our angry, accusing social media posts, and our schisms instead? Would they know we are Christians by our love today?

Church, this is a challenge to pick up the mantle of lovingkindness that David was writing about. We have received the greatest gift of God’s lovingkindness in the form of Jesus, who poured out hesed on the cross so that we might receive his love and his forgiveness of sins.

That is who we need to be to the world.

Ready to Hatch by Becca Ziegler

Next Things Next

Posted on by Betsy

Our last devotional focused on Psalm 63, a “psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.” Scholars estimate that David wrote about 73 psalms, so in addition to his other gifts of shepherding, leading a country, slaying giants, and establishing Jerusalem as the center of religious authority in Israel, he also was quite a proliferate poet. This particular psalm is striking in that it was written after he had fled Jerusalem when his son Absalom organized a coup and tried to have him killed. David had been king of Israel for over 30 years at this point, but when Prince Absalom raised an army against him, he fled east from Jerusalem to the other side of the Jordan river and ended up in the arid desert.

This isn’t David’s first time in the wilderness. As a young shepherd boy, he would drive his flock in the spring to graze on the grass and flowers that grew there during the brief rainy season. It was in this wilderness period that David practiced his rock-slinging and his hunting skills. He also meditated on the beauty of God’s creation and practiced his poetry, penning such phrases in Psalm 23:

“the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures he leads me beside the still waters.”

His second time in the wilderness was when crazy King Saul was trying to kill him. He found protection and solitude there, writing in Psalm 57: 

Be merciful to me, O God; be merciful to me,
    for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
    until the destroying storms pass by.
2 I cry to God Most High,
    to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
    he will put to shame those who trample on me. 
God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness.

So here he is on his third venture to the wilderness. He is totally cut off from the sanctuary in Jerusalem, where he longs to be. His need to worship makes his soul thirst and his flesh long for God’s presence in the sanctuary.  See verse 2:

Psalm 63 (Common English Bible)

O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.

2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

I have to say that when I read that verse, I was immediately reminded of how much we all longed for our sanctuaries during the pandemic. My church worshipped in a lot of weird places back then. Our first time worshipping over at an elementary school ball field parking lot was so hot, my cell phone stopped working and the live Facebook feed cut out. Then we moved over to the front lawn of our church and ladies wearing sandals discovered how many ant hills we have over there.

Probably my favorite non-sanctuary place was when the other pastor and I drove over to Island Farm on Roanoke Island, a working farm of horses, cows, and sheep. We filmed our Christmas Eve service there. I read a children’s story I had written for the service with the sheep gathered all around me, which was great until the handler worried that they were wandering out of the camera frame, so she threw some sheep food at my feet. Have you ever been rushed by 10 hungry sheep? On camera?? Boy was I longing for the Sanctuary on that day! And then there was the pre-dawn taping over in the creepy cemetery for the Easter Sunday service … suffice it to say, I missed the four walls of my church and I bet you missed your church, too. But those months taught us how to worship anywhere. David missed his sanctuary, and did you notice what he did? He immediately began to worship and praise exactly where he was.

This is something we all learn in the wilderness. Sometimes you experience a wilderness in your soul where joy and praise seem impossible. Some of you are in a wilderness right now. It may be a wilderness of confusion. It may be a wilderness of addiction. It may be a wilderness of extreme disappointment, physical ailments, loss of hope … we’ve all been in that dry desert at one point in our lives. But like David, you have to learn how to worship and praise exactly where you are.

I talked with a relative this week who is in a desert like this. Her 88-year-old parents are both suddenly failing. For months now she has been running from one hospital to another, from nursing home to hospice, and battling red tape and Medicare systems that offer no help. She is in a desert of despair. 

I spoke with one of my daughter’s friends who is struggling with a recent miscarriage and a life-long estrangement from her mother. She has no mother to turn to as she deals with her loss. She is in a desert of loneliness.

A former church member got in touch with me recently to seek advice about her crumbling marriage. Her husband struggles with an addiction to pornography that has completely eroded their intimacy. She is in a desert of mis-trust and insecurity.

David’s ability to worship in his desert is an inspiration and a challenge.

What is your wilderness today? Can you pause for a moment and seek God, even in the bleak dry place you are in?

Remember that God is even in your harshest moments. Just go find him.

Early I Will Seek Him by Faye Gardner

First Things First

Posted on by Betsy

I want to start today by taking a little survey. I am interested to know what the first thing is you do every morning. Not about multiple trips to the loo, but when you are finally up and about, what is the first thing you do?

I get coffee. My first act of the day is to tumble out of bed, stumble to the kitchen, pour myself a cup of ambition, then yawn and stretch and try to come alive. From that point I usually write for a few hours, walk the dog, go for a run, etc. but nothing happens until I have consumed that first cup of joe.

Apparently I am in good company. According to a survey done in January, over 73% of Americans drink coffee first thing in the morning. 51% purchase coffee from a coffee shop, 48% report that Starbucks coffee is their favorite brand, followed by Dunkin and Folgers. The survey also noted that 25% of people like to sip on espresso martinis, although maybe not first thing in the morning!! And weirdly, 16% of coffee drinkers prefer decaf, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. It’s like eating a reduced fat Oreo. Why?? Just why??

We’re talking about early morning habits this morning because today we are reading Psalm 63. David the poet-king clearly stated his early morning habit at the very beginning of this beautiful psalm. Early in the morning, David rises and seeks God:

Psalm 63 (NKJV) A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.

2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

6 When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
7 Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8 My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.

9 But those who seek my life, to destroy it,
Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10 They shall fall by the sword;
They shall be a portion for jackals.

11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
Everyone who swears by Him shall glory;
But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

This reference to seeking God early in the morning has made Psalm 63 a daily morning reading in the Eastern Orthodox Church for centuries.

I want to ask you something. What would your day be like if you sought God first thing every morning? Do you think the day might take shape differently? And what if those 73% of Americans reached for the Word of God first thing every day instead of coffee? What if we thirsted and longed for God the same way we thirst and long for coffee? Do you think that would make a difference in how people behave? I do. Perhaps we could be like our Eastern Orthodox friends and get up every morning and read this psalm aloud to start our day.

We’ll unpack this psalm over the next two devotionals, but for now, go back and read this psalm out loud. Perhaps we could make a practice of reading it out loud every morning and see how it shapes our day.

Are you in?

Early Rising by Michelle Robertson

Spirited

Posted on by Betsy

Canadian geese are mean. These beautiful, majestic creatures return to the waters of the Outer Banks every year and make their home here. When they come in great number, the “residue” of their presence is all over our docks, driveways, and lawns. Every spring I watch the parents teach their fuzzy babies how to swim and it brings me joy. But I know better than to get anywhere near them. Geese can be aggressive, territorial, and visicous. When my dog was smaller, a mother goose chased her across her own yard to keep her away from the nest, honking and pecking at her backside until she ran into the house. Like I said, they’re mean!

Did you know that the Celtic symbol for the Holy Spirit is the wild goose? While the descending dove is prominent with other faith systems, the Celts adopted the wild goose as their symbol for this part of the trinity. I think there is some genius in that. The mighty, fiery, powerful presence of the Lord of Creation truly is more like a strong-willed goose than a mild dove.

Luke describes the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in three different places in his Gospel. The first was when Jesus received the Spirit at his baptism, when he was named and claimed by God:

Luke 3 (Common English Bible)

21 When everyone was being baptized, Jesus also was baptized. While he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit came down on him in bodily form like a dove. And there was a voice from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.”

Then we see the Spirit again as Jesus, filled to the brim with baptismal Spirit, was led to the wilderness to combat the devil’s temptations over 40 lonely days:

Luke 4 (Common English Bible)

1 Jesus returned from the Jordan River full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

And now tested and tried, he returned in power to begin his ministry on earth in earnest:

Luke 4 (Common English Bible)

14 Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside.

The image of a strong and unrelenting wild goose resonates with these three passages, doesn’t it? When I consider how hard God came after me to correct me, woo me, and save me from my sin, I see how much of a wild goose chase I put us both through. Thankfully, I am caught.

Are you still running away? Are you being chased by his Spirit, thinking you can outmaneuver God? Take it from one who knows … you can never outrun, out love, out give, or out power the God who loves you so much, he sent his only son to die on the cross for you.

It’s time to get caught.

Geese on the Move by Michelle Robertson

Answered in Thunder

Posted on by Betsy

The master bedroom of my house is situated on a corner of the third floor, which faces due west. There is almost nothing but water between our room and the Albemarle Sound. There is nothing to block the winds except a tiny sand hill at the other side of the harbor, and then it’s just water. This means that we are treated to incredible sunsets, but whenever a storm comes across the sound, there is no protection to this side of the house. There have been many nights when the thunder and lightning wake me up and keep me awake until the storm finally heads out. A recent storm was so strong, the thunder shook the windows in their casings and rattled pictures on the wall. It was nerve-wracking, to say the least!

Can you imagine camping in the wilderness and suddenly hearing thunder so loud that it makes your teeth rattle? And then on top of that, smoke begins spewing out of the nearby mountain, followed by a very loud horn? That conjures up scenes of science fiction movies for me. I think the visions and sounds of fire, wind, smoke, lightening, and thunder would at least have some grounding in natural phenomena. but then to hear a trumpet sound that kept getting louder and more insistent would surely signal the super-natural.

And indeed, that is exactly what happened to the Israelites during their third month of wilderness wandering.

Exodus 19 (Common English Bible)

16 When morning dawned on the third day, there was thunder, lightning, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud blast of a horn. All the people in the camp shook with fear. 17 Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord had come down on it with lightning. The smoke went up like the smoke of a hot furnace, while the whole mountain shook violently. 19 The blasts of the horn grew louder and louder. Moses would speak, and God would answer him with thunder.

God’s presence had been with them throughout this entire journey. He had been with them from the miraculous deliverance from Egypt, the mind-boggling parting of the Red Sea and subsequent destruction of Pharaoh and his army, the outpouring of sustenance in the form of food and water, and even a defeat of the Amalekites. The nation knew that God was leading them through every moment, and so coming to them in smoke, fire, and thunder was yet another demonstration of God’s power.

But did you notice that even in this incredible display, Moses spoke, and God answered. God’s voice was audible and discernible in the midst of the thunder, and in a double moment of power and grace, he had conversation with Moses.

Moses went up the mountain and God came down. This truly is a foretelling of Jesus’ coming to earth to have a conversation with humanity. We, too, are called out of thunder to experience the power of forgiveness, grace, and the authority of God-on-the-mountain. But you have to be willing to climb. God will meet you there, as soon as you turn away from the world and take the first step toward the holy mountain. So don’t get too rattled! An answer in thunder is still an answer from a loving, mighty God.

Peace Before the Storm by Peggy Bryson

Why Are You Standing Here?

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever been seated on an airplane next to a person who turned out to be the chattiest, most loquacious passenger ever to travel in the history of air travel? Like, since 1903 when the Wright brothers talked through the first flight? How did you handle it? I enjoy a brief friendly conversation with my fellow passengers when I sit down, but relish the opportunity to travel quietly with my book or a movie and just experience some downtime. Being a mother, grandmother of six, and a church pastor, I feel like all I do is talk to people. One of my running partner’s husbands labeled us “Toggers” since we talk and jog through all those miles. Even as an extreme extrovert, too much talking can wear me out, so I take deliberate efforts to signal to my seat-mates that I am going to be quiet for the flight. Earphones go in, eye contact stops, book or iPad opens, and I’m off in my own world.

Except that one time when my seat mate just wouldn’t stop talking. And talking. And talking. I resigned myself to a five-hour talkfest and prayed that either the gentleman would eventually shut up, or God would use that time for His good. Sure enough, as soon as I opened up to the possibility, God turned it into an opportunity to witness to this man. He was returning from his brother’s funeral, and he shared a lifetime of family dysfunction and regret with me. By the end, we had thoroughly explored the nature of Christ’s forgiveness and said a prayer together before we deplaned. As he expressed his thanks for my attentive listening, I explained that God had deliberately seated us together, as I was a pastor. That was a moment of discovering God’s prevenient grace, and I believe his eyes were opened up to how much God loves him.

Our Scripture today is a solid reminder of our responsibility to bear witness to what we know about God’s love every time we get the chance. Luke wrote to Theophilus about Jesus’ resurrection and his promise of his Second Coming. He recounted what happened at Jesus’ ascension. Take note of what the two angels said to the disciples as Jesus was taken up into heaven:

Acts 1 (Common English Bible)

1 Theophilus, the first scroll I wrote concerned everything Jesus did and taught from the beginning, 2 right up to the day when he was taken up into heaven. Before he was taken up, working in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus instructed the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he showed them that he was alive with many convincing proofs. He appeared to them over a period of forty days, speaking to them about God’s kingdom.4 While they were eating together, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised. He said, “This is what you heard from me: 5 John baptized with water, but in only a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

6 As a result, those who had gathered together asked Jesus, “Lord, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now?”

7 Jesus replied, “It isn’t for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 Rather, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

9 After Jesus said these things, as they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going away and as they were staring toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood next to them. 11 They said, “Galileans, why are you standing here, looking toward heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you saw him go into heaven.”

“Why are you just standing here?” Why, indeed? Why do we go about our daily routines, overlooking the opportunities to share the Good News with our friends and neighbors? Why do we look heavenward instead of looking around our communities to see the needs and hurts that sharing Jesus could alleviate? Why do we put in our earphones and ignore people around us?

The next time you are tempted to avoid conversation, take a minute and pray. See if God is actually sending that person to you for help and hope. May we bear witness to the good things God has provided and share his goodness with the world. Even on a long flight.

Long Night

Grow in Grace

Posted on by Betsy

Did your high school require you to study a foreign language? Mine did. I took four years of French with Madame Viola, a lovely, bubbly, cheerful teacher who loved the French language and its people. She was one of my favorite teachers, and in my junior year, eleven of us traveled with her to France for a week of full language immersion. It was an incredible experience, and one of my best friends from band was on the trip and was my roommate. She ended up becoming a French teacher herself.

We studied and practiced the language daily. In our fourth year, the class was quite small and so we were able to read novels in French together and really advance our skills. When I entered Penn State the following fall, I tested out of (and received credit for) the first two levels of college French, all thanks to our incredible high school experience.

Do you think I can speak much French today? Not a chance. Non, mon ami. Je ne parle pas Francais maitenant. And oui, I had to Google that in French to get it right. When I stopped studying and growing in my ability to speak French, my language skill diminished.

Our passage from 2 Peter today is a reminder that we need to be growing in our understanding and knowledge of God every day. He warned of the end times, when heaven and earth will pass away, and cautioned the people to make every effort to be found pure and faultless as they waited for the end.

2 Peter 3 (Common English Bible)

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be? You must live holy and godly lives, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming day of God. Because of that day, the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

14 Therefore, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found by him in peace—pure and faultless.15 Consider the patience of our Lord to be salvation, just as our dear friend and brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him,16 speaking of these things in all his letters. Some of his remarks are hard to understand, and people who are ignorant and whose faith is weak twist them to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures.

I believe we are living in the times Peter wrote about in verse 16. God’s word is constantly being twisted by ignorance and a lack of Biblical scholarship. That is why it is imperative for us to be serious about our daily Bible study routines. Like learning a foreign language, it takes diligence, practice, and serious study to understand God’s Word.

17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been warned in advance, be on guard so that you aren’t led off course into the error of sinful people, and lose your own safe position. 18 Instead, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. To him belongs glory now and forever. Amen.

May our daily devotional work allow us to grow in grace together! Thank you for coming along on this journey with me.

Growing into Nana’s Shoes

Leave

Posted on by Betsy

The first week of July marks the departures and arrivals of itinerate pastors in The United Methodist Church. Many of our clergy sisters and brothers have left their familiar pulpit for a new one this week. This is how our system of pastoral appointments works, and while it is what clergy signed on for, it is extremely disruptive, disheartening, terrifying, and strangely wonderful all in the same moment. A minister friend of mine was packing her U-Haul this week and she wore a t-shirt that read, “War is hell, but moving is a close second.” We hear you, sister! We pray for all those uprooted pastor-families and the churches who will receive them.

Today’s passage is a reminder to those folks and to us as well that sometimes you have to leave in order to do God’s will. Abram became the “father of all nations” but only after he obeyed God and left everything that was comfortable to pursue an unknown destiny. It took a lot of faith, hope, and trust for him to uproot his entire household and leave his land. Eventually, he even left the name given to him at his birth and became Abraham. His name is still revered among Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

Genesis 12 (Common English Bible)

The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your land, your family, and your father’s household for the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation and will bless you. I will make your name respected, and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,
    those who curse you I will curse;
        all the families of the earth
            will be blessed because of you.”

When Abram obediently left Haran for the land of Canaan, he set into motion a missionary seed that would bless “all the families of the earth.” Jesus was born of that same family lineage, and you and I can count ourselves as part of the many descendants of Abraham.

Galatians 3 (Common English Bible)

8 But when it saw ahead of time that God would make the Gentiles righteous on the basis of faith, scripture preached the gospel in advance to Abraham: All the Gentiles will be blessed in you. 9 Therefore, those who believe are blessed together with Abraham who believed.

Do you remember the VBS song about Father Abraham?

“Father Abraham had many sons. Many sons had Father Abraham! I am one of them, and so are you. So let’s all praise the Lord!”

The challenge for us today is to consider what God is asking us to leave in order to follow our destiny. The many children of Abraham are promised a life of freedom in Christ. What do you need to leave in order to be free? Is an addiction blunting your joy? Are you so angry you can’t feel God’s hope? What bad habit or behavior is preventing you from entering God’s promised future?

Whatever it is, just leave it all behind. And then let’s all praise the Lord.

You Will be a Blessing by Mary Anne Mong

Burned

Posted on by Betsy

If you’ve ever had a campfire, you know that the drier the wood, the better the blaze. Indeed, keeping logs dry in rainy weather is a constant challenge in the woods. When the wood gets wet, there will be no lovely evening fire to warm the hands and feet.

The metaphor of dry, dead things being burned up and tossed away occurs several times in the Bible. This word picture would have been very relevant for a nomadic people who depended on fire for cooking and warmth. In Jesus’ great “I am the True Vine” statement, he warns that the vineyard’s branches that have dried up and are useless for producing fruit will be gathered up and burned. Likewise, in today’s passage from Luke, John the Baptizer explains that the true messiah will come and bring a baptism of the Holy Spirit that will consist of a fire that will burn the useless husks so that the wheat might be spared. John said this in response to the people wondering if he himself was the Christ. In a spirit of humility, he tells the people that he isn’t even worthy enough to untie the true Christ’s sandals.

Luke 3 (Common English Bible)

15 The people were filled with expectation, and everyone wondered whether John might be the Christ. 16 John replied to them all, “I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than me is coming. I’m not worthy to loosen the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 The shovel he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out.”

John’s humility was admirable. He had a huge following, was born of a miraculous birth himself, was a powerful preacher, and was fulfilling God’s prophetic destiny for his life. But he recognized the power that was yet to come in the true messiah. This outpouring of the Holy Spirt through baptism would purify and destroy in a way that his baptism of repentance never could. Jesus’ baptism would bring a transforming power that would burn away all falsehoods and divide the sheep from the goats. It was a baptism that would endure from generation to generation as a function of the New Covenant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus warned about the chaff and dead wood that will be burned. God can’t use dead wood. Scripture tells us, “If you don’t remain in me you will be like a branch that is thrown out and dried up. Those branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire and burned” (John 15:6). This Scripture reveals the standard by which the Vineyard Keeper judges the viability of the branch. Can it, or can it not, produce the fruit of love?

That is the standard by which the church is held. Are we a people who grow love, or are we dead weight? Are we good wheat that can produce a bread of life that sustains people, or are we dried up chaff? Good wheat and fruit are the things that God can use for his glory. As a church, and as individuals, may we guard our hearts and minds against becoming dried out and useless for the kingdom.

Dead Wood by Dave Mong


Nicknamed

Posted on by Betsy

Do you have a nickname? I go by Betsy, but that is not my real name. Born Elizabeth Ann, my mother nicknamed me Betsy for several reasons. First, it is a common derivative of Elizabeth, along with Liz, Beth, Eliza, etc. It was also the name of Betsy Palmer, an actress she admired. But the selling point was that my sister, who is four years older, had developed an imaginary friend whom she called Betsy. Parental wisdom suggested that naming me for her friend would ease the transition of a new baby in the house. Unfortunately, it did not.

The name and names of God is a fascinating subject. By understanding the origin of these names, we tap into the different aspects of God’s character. God is our Elohim, our Strength and Power. God is YWYH, the great “I AM.” He is Yeshua and Emmanuel, God with us in the form of Jesus. He is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord Who Provides.

Who is God to you?

In today’s psalm, David wrote that God’s name is “majestic.” Think about that for a moment. Merriam-Webster defines majestic as “an impressive largeness proportionate to scale, without sacrifice of dignity or good taste.” It’s the reference to largeness and scale that piques my attention. David described God’s glory as being higher than the heavens and reminded us that the moon and stars were set in place by God. With the vastness of these images firmly planted in our minds, David then writes “what are human beings that you pay attention to them?” (verse 4). What, indeed?

That God would create the universes and still be mindful of us is nothing short of miraculous.

Psalm 8 (Common English Bible)
Lord, our Lord, how majestic
    is your name throughout the earth!
    You made your glory higher than heaven!
2 From the mouths of nursing babies
    you have laid a strong foundation
    because of your foes,
    in order to stop vengeful enemies.
3 When I look up at your skies,
    at what your fingers made—
    the moon and the stars
    that you set firmly in place—
4         what are human beings
            that you think about them;
        what are human beings
            that you pay attention to them?

God’s care and consideration of human beings comes with the responsibility of caring for all of his handiwork. Indeed, the beasts of the field as well as the field itself are under our supervision. As we look at our policies and practices concerning the meat processing industry, the effects of pollution on our waters, and the increasing threat of climate change due to carbon emission, how well are we doing with the stewardship of God’s gift?
5 You’ve made them only slightly less than divine,
    crowning them with glory and grandeur.
6 You’ve let them rule over your handiwork,
    putting everything under their feet—
7         all sheep and all cattle,
        the wild animals too,
8         the birds in the sky,
        the fish of the ocean,
        everything that travels the pathways of the sea.

Our challenge today is to make one small change that could have a majestic effect on God’s creation. Can you choose paper over plastic bags, or better yet, carry canvas bags for your groceries? Can you refuse a plastic straw? Can you commit to eating a vegetarian meal once a week? Can you bike to work tomorrow instead of drive? How about getting into a carpool so that fewer cars are on the road?

God trusts us with the majesty of creation. May we be worthy of that trust.
9 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!

Majesty in Flight by Michelle Robertson