2013.11.19 - Live so others give glory to God

Monday

He's LOOKING at me!

1 Peter 2:22

"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."

Hymn 363. Let others see Jesus in you. 

Verse 1). While passing through this world of sin, and others your life may view, be clean and pure, without within, let others see Jesus in you.   

Have you ever started out with high hopes and a full car on vacation with your family?  The precious little darlings are going to have a memorable opportunity to be with mom and dad and do fun things. And things do go great; until they wake up.  Usually you discover this as your perfect and precious daughter screams out: "He's LOOKING at me!!'  As her older brother looks both guilty and puzzled.  At least that's how it was for us.   There's another family story on my wife's side where the evil younger sister dumps a bowl of milk and cereal on the sweet precious older sister just for "looking at her" at the breakfast table.  (And you can guess which was my innocent wife and which was her mean sister Tresha). 

Truth is, we are all being watched.  Over ten years ago in Brazil, I got a traffic ticket from a camera, and in today's world of terrorism and cyber fears, there are cameras everywhere.  Many broadcasting inappropriate and shocking content over the internet, and in some cases without the person in the video even knowing it.  And we get so acclimated, we don't even think about being watched by others.  Friends in social settings. Coworkers in the office.  Other parents in the schools. Other drivers on the road. Family at home.  Strangers in the airport.  Non-Christians everywhere.  

And I realized anew today, that I don't always behave in a way I'd like to be watched.  I'm sure that my actions often fail to reflect Christ.  This week, our lesson is living so others give God the glory for what they see us do.  Wow - that's a high bar, but let's look together for ways to grow closer to the desired lifestyle.  

Tuesday

What's your book about?

1 Peter 2: 16-17. 

Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover–up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

Hymn 363. Let others see Jesus in you. 

Verse 2). Your life's a book before their eyes, they're reading it through and through;  say, does it point them to the skies?  Can others see Jesus in you? 

How many bibles have you worn out?   I remember as a child my grandmother's bible always being in taters. And not from just laying on the dash of her car all week.  Her notes filed the margins; words were circled and phrases were underlined on pretty much every page.  The covers were stained in the middle from the hours spent in her aging but well lotioned hands.  I often saw her reading it as I watched tv at her house.  She always had it out for a story at bed time before we physically knelt beside the bed for prayers.  We always said the blessing, even at the Blue Circle drive in.

Today, I am blessed to own a library of bibles.  Different versions.  KJV, NIV, NASB, TLB, MSG, GN, NKJV, etc.   And different study versions. Thompson Chain Reference.  The Open Bible, the Chronological Bible.  And that's just the paper ones.  I have three Bible Apps on my iPad with more versions in so many languages - some that will even read to me - I could never get through them all. And while I've adopted my Grandmother's habit of making notes and underlining in my paper bibles, I have not used them to the point of the covers disintegrating.  I often use the electronic versions if I'm in public so as not to draw attention to my readings.  I may silently bless my food with my eyes open at lunch, and even skip this discipline in public, and even at home if we don't do a formal meal at the table.  I have much room to grow here. 

Now I'm not suggesting that you should start carrying a 20 pound bible everywhere you go.  Nor that you should read it aloud in every public place you visit. And not even that you should always say grace in restaurants.  But I am saying, that I believe that if I spend more quality and quantity time in God's word - reading, studying, listening to sermons (aren't podcasts great?), thinking, asking questions - that I will learn more about God. More about myself. More about His will for me.  And by doing that, as others see the book of my life unfold before them, God's presence will be noticeable and others will see the difference.  And lead them to look to Jesus as the reason for that difference.   How about you - want to try and be a better book for others to read?  Start today.  

Wednesday.  

Thank you.  

1 Peter 2:18-21

Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

Hymn 363. Let others see Jesus in you. 

Version 3). What joy 'twill be at set of sun, in mansions beyond the blue, to find some souls that you have won; let others see Jesus in you.  

I've often been blessed through music.  This is not the first series of devotions I've written where I've used the words to a hymn to help me understand or illustrate a point.  I have enjoyed making joyful noise in more than one choir where they could find someone willing to stand by me.  I'm one of those people you see on the road at times singing loudly in the car alone with the windows all rolled up. In sacred music, I like most of the traditional hymns (there's an iPad app that  consists of the entire. Baptist Hymnal!), southern gospel, Bill Gaither, Sandi Patti, Michael W. Smith, and even some praise choruses.  But several years ago, I remember hearing a song by Ray Boltz called Thank You.  

It tells the story of a man's dream of going to heaven.  There he goes walking with a friend on golden streets by crystal blue seas.  An unknown voice calls out his name.  He doesn't recognize the person, but he finds out that the person had learned of Christ when he was leading a childrens' Sunday School class.  Another calls out to him who was saved because of his donation to a mission offering.  "And one by one they came, far as the eye could see."   All blessed by actions he had taken on earth that may not have even been noticed.  Small sacrifices that had huge eternal effects.  

It is obvious to me that as a sinful man in a sin filled world, I'll never be able to perfectly reflect the God who saved me.  But I am who He makes me to be.  I can do things, and many times things that no one else can or will. And if I try, I can grow to be more like Him.  I may never do large things in the eyes of mankind, but I don't think there are any small things in God's plan. 

So today, I'm going to look for something small and not too difficult to do for someone else.  Things like praying for one of my staff who has a father who is ill.  Doing the dishes to give my wife a break.  Emailing an elderly friend to let him know I'm praying for him and his wife. Asking my daughter what she thinks about a bible passage I read.  Sending my pastor a note of encouragement.  Buying a traveling soldier a Red Bull at the airport pretzel shop.  Maybe there's a way to let others see more of Jesus in me after all.  

Thursday 

What does a Christian look like?

1 Peter 2:23 

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 

Hymn 363. Let others see Jesus in you. 

Verse 4).  Then live for Christ, both day and night, Be faithful, brave and true, and lead the lost to life and light.  Let others see Jesus in you.  

If I am going to try and live, so that others will see Jesus in me, I need to know what that looks like.  I need to try and make choices that move me on His direction.  I've actually asked and answered the question of what does a person look like who is sold out, living for God and reflecting His character many times in my life.  And my answers change, usually reflecting my increased understanding of the nature of God.  

As a child, the answer was probably my parents.  As I grew and noticed that we were not a perfect family, I bet I decided our pastor was like God.  In retrospect, that's a hugely unfair burden to place on a minister, for he, or she, is a flawed human who is also seeking to be Christlike.  As I grew, I realized that many of God's people carry His traits in their lives, and it comes out in many varied ways as people ministered to me.  

• CM was an elderly widow gave an almost single mom and her son a ride to church. 
• GH was college aged when he gave a broke high school kid a ride to church, to roller skate, to football games, and even to just cruise.
• S&VB opened their house to so many youth for activities as varied as playing board games to developing a puppet ministry. 
• HH had owned a grocery store until becoming a welder - he guided his nephew to choose a secular career because God uses laymen as well as ministers. 
• GH was a businessman gave a young college student a pay it forward "loan" when he lost his job.  
• J&JS gave a young professional whose family was a thousand miles away a home away from home.  
• CP told his racquetball partner that even if he divorced, that God would still love him - and so did he.  

And I've even been blessed to watch Godlike characteristic grow in others I've had a chance to lead in small ways.  

• GM went from a boney shouldered high school student playing an angel in a church drama to lead college bible studies and now to the senior pastor position at one of the largest Baptist churches.   
• I met CH when he was a middle schooler, and he now plants churches in Washington state.  
• DSK looked like a smurf in a puffy blue ski suit when she skied the first time as a youth. Now she works for a company that helps churches needing new ministerial staff.  

I have come to realize that God looks a lot like us, when we are doing what we can to accept the sacrifice He made for us and let Him guide our daily lives.  Join me in looking for opportunities to allow Him to work through us.  

Friday.  

My tribute. 

1 Peter 2:11-12. 

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Matthew 5:16

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Hymn 577.  My Tribute,

... Just let me live my life; let it be pleasing, Lord, to Thee.  And should I gain any praise, let it go to Calvary. ...

It's hard to live as Christ would have us live.  I've heard people say take it a day at a time, but for me that's too long a time period.  I have tried to live moment by moment, but I think maybe impossible is a better description.  In my own efforts, I know that's true.  And if we stop there, there's no hope and we may as well give up. 

But as I sit here, about 35,000 feet above the ground and a hundred miles or so south of Chicago, I look out my window into the winter blackness.  And I see lights.  Not a brilliant glow like Houston or Chicago, but small dots of blinking light.  That's how I think we do it. Not by huge miracles of perfection.  Not even by large brilliant lights.  We do it as small, blinking lights.  A few brighter than others on any given day, but no one able to light everything up.  A single light is seen in the dark, but groups are brighter and easier seen than singles.  It takes a lot of us, and we blink out sometimes leaving it to someone else to be the light.  And my prayer for myself becomes "Lord, let my light shine."  As often as possible and as bright as I can to help others, so that when my light is dim, or even out, there will be another near me to light my way.  

Will you join me in in prayer as we say...  

... Just let me live my life; let it be pleasing, Lord, to Thee.  And should I gain any praise, let it go to Calvary. ...

Devotions Q2 2013 final

Devotions Q2 2013
Testifying of God's security and deliverance.


MONDAY
Psalm 91. NIV
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

As I sit today in the cancer center of the local hospital and look at our verses, I can't help but feel for those who don't know our Lord.

Those of you who have been reading my devotions for the last couple of years have shared Tracy's cancer journey. I owe you an update, and it fits our topic well. Today we started a monthly IVIG treatment that is supposed to boost her immunity, helping her to feel better and to keep her from catching every virus that passes by. It's a very good thing. An even better thing is that as of a month ago, her leukemia is still considered in full remission. We are richly blessed!

And as if leukemia wasn't enough...

But what you have missed was her 15 days in the hospital in March and April with necrotizing faciitis, or flesh eating bacteria, throughout her abdomen. I almost lost her, but God answered our prayers with good doctors and other hospital staff as well as good insurance. After 5 surgeries in 7 days, renal failure, pneumonia, a wound vac, and home care, she is on a path towards being even better than she has been in a long time.

And we rest in the knowledge that as we walk this journey, we aren't alone.

We have friends in several states who love, pray, and even feed us (Haley really likes it when she doesn't have to eat my cooking), and a God who is with us. We aren't alone, and while we have opinions of how we want this to come out, we know too that God has a plan, and sometimes all we can do is to trust Him. Easier some days than others, for sure, but I am finding myself more aware than ever of those around me who don't have this refuge. Who don't know or choose to call out to Him for shelter in life's storms. And I pray for them, and try to tell them what God is doing for us.

Are you keeping your eye on Him as you take your own journey of ups and downs? Are you noticing those who don't. Are you praying with me for them?



TUESDAY
Psalm 91. NIV
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

Our home menagerie includes a yellow and orange cockatiel we inherited from some good friends. Sunny is an awesome pet. He greets me excitedly when I open the door each evening with whistles and calls as he struts back and forth on the perch in his cage. He even dances when I whistle the Aggie war song. When I walk over to him, he lowers his head so I can rub the back of his neck. Sometimes I take him out and he'll sit on my shoulder or walk back and forth leaving presents on my tee shirt. He'll sit on my finger sometimes, and I've come to appreciate how fragile he really is. Small talons and beak. Wings that are mostly feathers on a lightweight structure. And his neck seems so small, I wonder how it holds his head.

Now we don't have any fowlers in our house, but a couple of cats have auditioned unsuccessfully for the role. I can tell you about the time Bandit jumped on the bird cage and the top opened which led to Sunny escaping to fly in mad circles around the kitchen until I could recapture him. Or the time he was out on the screened lanai in Florida, and flew in circles until he dropped into the pool, with his wings deploying like living life rafts to support him until we could rescue him as both cats watched intently from the poolside. Or the time he got out when no one was home, and we found him perched safely on the chandelier over the dining room table staring down at Smoky who was intently Looking up. In every case so far, Sunny has been kept safe from those who might harm him.

As I read our verses today, I think of Sunny, and a contest I once read about. The challenge was to paint a picture reflecting peace. There were beach scenes, mountain vistas, sunsets, and sleeping toddlers. But the one that won was a bird's nest on the edge of a precipice with small birds inside and a momma bird covering them with her wings. All around, the storms were fiercely raging - lightning flashing, rain pouring, and winds blowing. I could almost hear thunder just looking at the picture. But in the nest, the chicks were sound asleep. Momma had them under her wings, and that was good enough for them.

When God covers us in the midst of our stormy lives, do we recognize His protection and relax in that knowledge? I don't always, but I'm working on it.



WEDNESDAY
Psalm 91. NIV
5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

Picture a long weekend on a near tropical island with sun, sand, warm blue water, jeep trips, and no cell phone service. We planned it for weeks. I took off work at lunch, picked up the family, loaded the car, and started off on the 3 hour drive expecting dinner on the beach. And everything went exactly according to plan, except the 3 hour part (can you hear the theme from Gilligan's Island playing now?). Inexplicably, we went the wrong direction for a while after missing a turn. After driving for over four hours, I came to a place I knew I wasn't supposed to be near, and decided to stop for gas and directions.

Did I mention this was part of our Brazilian odyssey? And that it was early in our assignment and we were not exactly conversant in Portuguese? And we had no map? And that no cell phone service is not always a peaceful blessing?

After a frustrating half hour trying to communicate with kind Brazilian locals whose English was on par with my Portuguese, we head off on a "short cut" to Illha Bella. Without any goodies for the road, we are all getting hungry and rapidly losing our good spirits. (I don't know why we didn't eat when we stopped for gas, but I believe I was asked that more than once in the coming hours). Then it gets dark. Really DARK. And the road cuts through mountains - a small, barely two lanes wide road - and then the fog appears. The road get narrower and twistier as we go, and the darkness and ever thicker fog consume everything. The kids are quiet in the back recognizing dad was stressed. Then the road turns to gravel. I expected a tree or cliff to appear in my windshield at any time now. I remember thinking, but hopefully didn't verbalize "I've been divorced and had both parents die, and those things were more fun than this". Eventually, the road led to a hard surface road and soon thereafter we saw a sign that indicated we were very close to our destination. We made the midnight ferry, and woke up the hotel operator arriving safely at our destination only a few hours late.

In retrospect, I know we were in God's hand the entire way. Nothing happened to us as we journeyed through foreign terrain to a wonderful destination. There was no reason to fear.

Now as then, there are times when I fear a perceived darkness closing in around me. I don't have control. I don't know what to do. I feel responsible for others, and inadequate to care for them. But in our verse today, we are told we need not fear.

I'm trying to be aware of the darkness when I encounter it, so I can trust God to bear me through it. Won't you join me?



THURSDAY
Psalm 91. NIV
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling — even the Lord, who is my refuge — 10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

In the last few months there have been some terrible things happen in our country. A man murdering his mother, stealing her guns and killing school children in Connecticut. Bombs explode near the finishing line of the Boston marathon result in death and crippling injuries. A fertilizer plant explosion in Texas leaves many dead. A mile wide tornado levels a small Oklahoma town for the second time including a school full of children. An interstate bridge used daily by thousands of cars falls into the river below.

I've personally experienced a diverse list of catastrophic type events. A tornado jumped over our house in Sugar Land in the mid 90's. A national blackout left two thirds of Brazil in the dark (1999). A category 4 hurricane (Charly in 2005) went over the building I was in, and I wondered ifI would get to see my family again. An earthquake in 2008. A hurricane in the heartland (Ike in 2008). A "once in a lifetime" ice storm in 2009. Haley said once that we've been through everything but a tsunami.

I don't know why we came through our experiences with nothing more than memories when other people in similar or even the exact same events experienced severe consequences and even died. I believe the verses we have today, but I know there were people who have had their lives turned upside down, lost family members, and died who were probably more faithful and trusting than I am.

All I can read into this is that this world is not our home. And the things that happen here, though important to our eternal development, are not able to harm our soul. I don't have to understand to trust Him.



FRIDAY
Psalm 91 NIV
14 "Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

I love my iPad. I've had it nearly a year now, and it was my first foray into Apple products. It's introduced me to so many apps, they don't all fit at one time. I have two bible apps with multiple versions, study resources, and one even reads the scriptures to me. I have a couple of news and weather apps, and my company just released one to keep track of power outages. I hope I don't have to use it very often. Another app I keep on there all the time is Pandora. It's introduced me to new music that's similar to old music I like, and led me to rediscover songs I'd forgotten. For instance,

Amy Grant sings El Shaddai, and Sing Your Praises to The Lord.
Sandi Patti sings How Majestic is Your Name, the Via Delarosa, and Upon this Rock.
The Imperials sing Sail On, and The Trumpet of Jesus.
Michael W. Smith sings Agnus Dei, Friends, and Great is The Lord.
(George Strait, Alan Jackson, Jimmy Buffett, Simon and Garfunkel, Journey, the Righteous Brothers, Arlo Guthrie, Steppenwolf, REO, and Queen are there too, but I digress).

And as I listen to music I've known for decades now, I sing along (when I'm alone so no one else has to hear). I feel more connected to my Lord through music than I've experienced in any other way. I sail on in my earthly journey singing praises to His majestic name, grateful for my earthly friends and realizing anew how great my Lord is. And I know from today's verses that He is taking care of me in ways I never even see. And all I have to do is love Him and call out to Him. It's a pretty great deal if you ask me. If you haven't already tried it, I recommend it!





Sent from Jim's iPad.

Fwd: Devotions Q1 2013 FINAL

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jim Cox
Date: Sunday, February 3, 2013
Subject: Devotions Q1 2013 FINAL
To: "Walter @WTBC" <kay-walter@sbcglobal.net>, jcvtx1800@gmail.com


Here you go Walter.  Edit if you need to.  Thanks again for the honor of writing.
Jim...


Devotions Q1 2013 FINAL



Monday
Topic:  "Tradition, tradition.  TRADITION!"  (Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof)

Scripture: Mark 7. NKJV
1 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. 2 Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.
5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"

Devotion:
As I'm pretty sure I've said this here before:  I was Baptist 9 months before I was born. Sunday School, worship, big lunch, nap for grown ups, training union, and worship again on Sunday.  Youth meetings and visitation on Tuesday nights. Church dinner, RAs and prayer meeting on Wednesday nights before choir practice.

And on Sunday mornings, I could write the order of service for the bulletin.  You start with music to talk over.  Announcements and welcomes, call to worship, deacon prayer, hymns (very seldom to include the third verse), prayer, offering, special music, scripture, note passing (I mean sermon), invitation hymn (almost always Just As I Am), introduction of new members and rededications, closing prayer, and more music to talk over.

Then one summer I worked at a Baptist camp, and experienced worship differently. I felt the Holy Spirit and was moved by the lyrics and the music. I heard God speak to ME through a minister and learned to pray during the invitation - for the lost, the struggling, the leaders.  But one Sunday after camp, I was back at my home church when I made the mistake of putting my foot on the pew during the invitation while I was praying.  My conversation with my Lord was interrupted by the man sitting behind me shaking my shoulder and whispering loudly that I needed to get my foot off the pew NOW.

Now I'm the man in the pew seeing things going on around me in church that bother me. I see young parents allowing too young children to cry for several minutes as the minister tries to preach. I see youth make three or four trips in and out of the sanctuary during the church service and brining open soft drinks in with them.  I watch adults talking loudly and laughing during a call to worship that I know the choir has been rehearsing for six weeks. I see deacons wearing jeans and even shorts and sandals to church sometimes. And I wonder...  Where is the line between worship and disrespect?  Where is the balance between holy honor for Almighty God and his church and the need to attract peoples of all kinds to our Savior?  What if anything should I do?  I don't want to be the man someone uses 40 years from now as an example of an impediment to someone's worship.

I wish I could say "stick with me this week, and I'll tell you the answer", but I can't. I struggle with this today and all I can do is ask you to journey with me this week and let's listen together to Jesus.



Tuesday
Topic:  Keeping the kitchen clean.

Scripture:  Mark 7 NKJV
6 He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
'This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men —the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do."

Devotion:
Once upon a time, long long ago, in a church family far away, a husband got a phone call from his beloved wife.  It went something like this:

Him:  Hello?
Her:  This is not a call from me. (He recognized her voice - and her tone.)
Him:  Yes dear?
Her:  This call is from the church hostess to the chairman of the deacons.
Him:  Yes dear?
Her:  It's NOT my job to come in on Wednesdays and clean up the communion mess from last Sunday.
Him:  Yes dear.
Her:  It is YOUR job to make SURE the cups, bottles, and trays are cleaned promptly and put away the same night and before they ferment and mold.
Him:  Yes dear!
Her:  And you assure me this will NEVER happen again!
Him:  Yes dear!
Her:  You know I can't cook dinner for 200 people in a kitchen full of gross smelly dishes.
Him:  Yes dear.
Her:  So you will be at church tonight in time to help me finish up and serve, right?
Him:  Yes Dear!
Her:  Love me?
Him:  Yes dear!
Her:  See you soon.  Love you most! Click.  (She still never says "bye".)

Well, maybe it wasn't exactly like this, but you get the picture. It was funny to me when it happened, I mean the first time I heard it, and it's funny to me now.  But today, I think beyond the phone call to the communion service.  I love communion. It's a time to think about ourselves.  Our relationships with others. Our sins and the price of forgiveness and eternal life. And as important as clean kitchens are, my relationship with God is so much more important.  And I pray that you will join me in trying to remember the sacrifice God made through Jesus, and don't worry too much about what happens to the cups.

Wednesday.
Topic:  Fried shrimp and backlight posters.

Scripture:  Mark 7
9 He said to them, " All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. 10 For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.' 11 But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban"—' (that is, a gift to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, 13 making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do."

Devotion:
My family once spent Thanksgiving holidays at the beach in Guaruja, Brazil.  Since that is not a Brazilian holiday, and a little early in the spring there to bring out local sun seekers, we had the beach pretty much to ourselves. There was a little kiosk just up from the chairs the concierge at our hotel had set up for us in the sand, and all you had to do was raise your hand and wave, and a young waiter would run down and take your order.  While sitting there, I called home and talked to my brother.  We missed family, even though we were with our good friends Ken and Mary.  My brother shared the challenges of hosting three generations of family. As I remember, he was dealing with cold rainy weather, food logistics, meshing schedules, and maybe a head cold thrown in.  As we talked, the waiter ran up with my fried shrimp basket and a cold drink and I watched my son and daughter building castles in the sand with Ken as Tracy sat by me with a book in her lap chatting with Mary.  And I realized, although I missed the fellowship of extended family, and the traditional meal, my simple beach chair made it easier for me to be thankful for the immensity that God was blessing me with. And after all, isn't Thanksgiving supposed to be more than a turkey dinner?

Sunday school in suits with ties, dresses with hose, the King James Version, hymn books with shape notes, choir robes with a piano and a pipe organ.

Cut off jeans, tie died tee shirts, earth shoes or sandals either outside or in Saturday night coffee houses with black light posters, the Living Bible, and guitars.

Business casual, projected praise choruses and NIV verses, full orchestras, or a praise band, and small groups with lattes.

Is one method really any better for worshipping our Lord and creator?  Or is it all in the heart of the worshipper?



Thursday.
Topic:  External things change.

Scripture:  Mark 7 NKJV
14 When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand: 15 There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"
17 When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. 18 So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"

Devotion:
So many of the traditions I have grown up have changed over the years.  Some maybe for good, but some, not so good.  For example:
*  Opening all Christmas presents on Christmas morning?  We open all but Santa on Christmas Eve, and if anyone wants to know how to slow it down so you actually see what everyone gets, just email me.
*  Sitting together in church as a family?  Seems like today the youth are together and children's church take the short attention span out of the sanctuary.  And if one of the adults sing, or usher, or do media, or...  Then even the adults sit alone.
*  Everyone used to bring their own bible to church, but now there are pew bibles and projected verses.
*  Churches used to have a visitation night, but our privacy based society combined with fear of strangers has shut that down in favor of cards, emails, and fellowship meals.
*  Even Good Friday as a business holiday has been taken away and replaced by a floating holiday to avoid offending people.

But I think in most cases, it's more important how we respond to the things around us.  We usually open packages Christmas Eve after attending church services.  We sit as a family most of the time, and try to have the sermon as a topic of discussion at lunch after church.  I still choose to bring my bible to church with me, but usually now it's an iPad with several versions to choose from, and I'm much more able to read typed notes compared to my handwriting (even with "autocorrect"). I've found email and even Facebook to be a good way to touch guests and new friends, and I use a floating holiday on Good Friday.

It's not about what happens to us and around us, it's about what we choose to do in response.

Be aware of the influences and changes going on around you.  Determine to respond in a positive way instead of ignoring or reacting.


Friday.
Topic:  What's inside?

Scripture:  Mark 7 NKJV
20 And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

Devotion:
This scripture has always been, and continues to be a difficult one for me.  Not to understand, because I think that's pretty clear, but because no matter how many times I read it, I see my failures.  No matter how many times I try and claim it in my life.  No matter how hard I try to fill my life with good things.  I fall so very short.  I'm prideful.  I get angry without proper reason. I run from my problems instead of praying and confronting them.  I waste the many blessings God has given me.  I allow many things to cross my mind and even to dwell there that don't glorify my Lord.  They remind me of the evil nature that is now, has always been, and will always be inside me on this earth.

And when I am reminded, I stop and ask again for forgiveness; I thank God for the sacrifice of His son Jesus on the cross to pay the price for me.  I renew my commitment to try everyday to focus more on the heavenly realm, and less on this world. To fill my life with the things of God and not with the carnal things of the earth.  And I realize - again - that it doesn't matter whether we read the KJV or the NIV or the MSG version.  Or whether the music is a hymn, an anthem, or a praise song.  Whether I have on a suit or jeans.  Whether the carpet is gold or green. Whether the broom handles are red or blue.  It only matters that we are trying daily to be more like Jesus.

Traditions of themselves are neither good or bad. It's what is behind the tradition, and what we do with them. How we use them to reinforce the good without allowing them to limit God's ability to teach us how to be closer to him.

Can you join me in trying to be more like Jesus.









Sent from Jim's iPad.


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