Friday Devotional...He’s All I Need

                                    ...Who could ask for anything more?

Isn’t it funny how things come back to your memory when you weren’t necessarily even thinking in that direction. That’s what happened to me as I was thinking about what I was going to write for this weeks “Devotional” a Christmas memory came floating across my mind.

I remember a Christmas when I was probably about eight or nine years old. Me and my brother always opened our Christmas presents from Santa Clause on Christmas morning. I remember this one particular Christmas morning, Rod and I got up probably real early so excited to see what Santy Clause had brought us. It’s still so clear and fresh in my mind….I remember getting a plaid red jacket with a hood with fur around the hood. Rodney and I would tear into our presents like there was no tomorrow.

Mom of course would turn the ole floor heater on real high to warm the living room up…she’d plug in the tree lights that sparkled through the angel hair that was draped across our Christmas Tree from top to bottom.

This one particular Christmas morning though, Mom tried to get my Dad to get out of bed so he could see us kids open our presents from Santa…..but my Dad for what ever reason wouldn’t budge out of his warm covers…..as he was I’m sure snug as a bug in a rug. Mom would walk down the hall to their bedroom and say “Glenn, for Pete Sakes, Get up!” But Dad wouldn’t budge.

It didn’t seem to bother me that Dad wasn’t there to see me and my brother open gifts, because we had Mom, and that’s all that mattered…. Mom was all we needed at that moment. Rod and I screamed with delight at each and every exciting thing that we opened.

My thought now as I’m all grown up (kind of sort of…ha) is that Jesus is all we need. No matter who else is with us, realistically “He” is all we need. There was a chorus that we used to sing in church that simply said:

“He’s all I need, He’s all I need, Jesus is all I need

He’s all I need, He’s all I need, Jesus is all I need.”

Such a simple plain little tune, but oh so heart felt and oh so true….a song that you could close your eyes and pour your heart out to the Lord….singing “Jesus, you’re all I need.”

So if we can at this Christmas season with all the hustle and bustle, our hours stretched with every weekend planned….just remember “Jesus is all we need”

Written by :
Glenna Williamson

Thursday Devotional...12/6/12...ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS

                                          
                             ...not guilt but memories for others

We were laughing, cooking and setting the table when my mother suddenly became very quiet. She was visiting and we were taking pleasure in the process of working together and strolling down memory lane. I was enjoying her company and her help.

“Do you remember that one Christmas?” she asked trying to sound casual. There was just a hint of a catch in her voice. So I quickly searched my memory to see what she might be remembering. I looked at her questioningly.

“Which Christmas are you thinking of, Mom?” I asked back.

“The one where I had to pay an extra bill and I couldn’t buy you or your brother any presents,” she answered with a clear lump in her throat and tears threatening to spill onto her cheeks.

She continued, “I had that car, and it needed a big repair, so you only got a few gifts from relatives and your Dad sent a new television because ours had broken. Remember? “

I remembered receiving the television one year but I had no recall of any missing gifts. This conversation was enlightening to both of us. My mother gave herself permission to let go of the regret that had been nagging her in the back of her mind. And I realized how much I worry over the very same issue when trying to make my vision of a good Christmas a reality for my own children.

There was a king in the Old Testament that God said was a “Man after God’s own heart” (see Acts 13:22). King David committed adultery, had someone murdered, and was an imperfect dad. Yet, it wasn’t because King David was perfect, but that he would humble himself and depend upon the Lord. He isn’t preaching in the following scripture, he is remembering what he knows to be true.

Psalm 37:23-25 (NLT)

The LORD directs the steps of the godly

He delights in every detail of their lives.

Though they stumble, they will never fall,

for the LORD holds them by the hand.

Once I was young, and now I am old.

Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned

or their children begging for bread.

Dear Lord, thank you for watching over each one of us. Please give us ears to hear and a heart that understands we are not alone or abandoned. Please help us to recognize Your blessings both large and small. Please help us to remember that it is not good for anyone to get everything they want. In Jesus name, amen.

Written by Mary M. Wilkins

Wednesday Devotional..."Triumphant In Praise"

                                                         ...Best medicine for the spirit of heaviness     

Have you ever had those days you were down and out and felt blah and ready to go home to be with Jesus? I certainly have and it is no fun. What I have discovered is that my whole focus is inward. I began to dwell on my past mistakes and all the stupid things I have done and said. As I do that things began to spiral down very quickly and a deep heaviness sets in.

God's word tells us in Isaiah 61:3

"The garment of praise

for the spirit of heaviness."

So the remedy for that spirit of heaviness is to began to focus outward onto Jesus praising Him and thanking Him for all that He has done. As we do that wholeheartedly the spirit of heaviness is replaced with joy, peace and righteousness. So look onto Jesus with great praise and thankgiving and throw off that spirit of heavinesss!!

In His Radical Love,

Sandy Billingham

Tuesday Devotional...Holiday Exhaustion

                                                ...for some of us it has already started

We are in the season of Advent which is a four week period of preparation for the celebration of Jesus birth. It is in recognition of the four hundred years from the end of OT prophesy to the coming of Christ. It is good to center ourselves and prepare spiritually to rejoice about the fact that the Savior of the World was sent with His gift of salvation.

We are preparing all right!

• decorating the house...lights inside and out and the tree and other little baubles adorning the tables and shelves or our house
• Buying gifts
• Wrapping said gifts
• Planning menus for parties and the big day
• Cleaning house (over and over)
• Almost forgot, writing Christmas cards and mailing them
• Last...but should not be least...Spiritual preparatiom

By the fourth day (today) into the hype of prepariing...if you are anything like me...you are probably already running out of steam if not exhausted. Last weekend we had three parties to attend and spent four hours in the car on Saturday going to, between, and back while attending two of the parties.

This is a link to a song that was in the play, Jesus Christ Superstar. please click on it and listen to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wvhbRxXltf4

I wish I had some answers for you as to what you should do. If I had them for you, I would have them for myself as well. I was talking to a friend who said she would pray for me, but I would need to be still enought to hear the small whisper of God in my ear. The best thing she said to me was that I need to listen to the song (linked above) She told me that I should understand that even Jesus needed to rest.

Heavenly Father, We are waiting for You to whisper Your wisdom into our ear. There are so many claims on out attention and time at a time when we should be centered on your Son's Advent and the blesings of salvation that His birth has gifted us with.

Written by
Coinne Mustafa

Monday Devotional...ADVENT...

This is a writing by Connie Clark who is in my writing class. She has had her own challenges during the past year which she shares herself in this writing. I chose to share it here because Connie chose the title, ADVENT,  a season into which we have just entered. We are celebrating that the time for deliverance is coming. Some synonyms for the word itself include arrival, start, dawn, initiation,  beginning. This period of four weeks before the celebration of the birth of Jesus is a time of preparation.

In any situation that we are facing and going through it is an important and inspiring to remember that this time of challege is a different kind of Advent. We can know with certainty that all is in place and is, in fact, happening to bring dawn into our darkness of our trials. He is on His way.

Corinne Mustafa 

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                                                                              ADVENT ...He is on His Way

I love it when something happens and I think to myself, “Synchronicity,” there she is. A time when you are at a particular place or attending an event and something takes place unexpectedly that gets your attention; it seems like it happens just when you need a little nudge towards God’s arms.

A friend of mine showed me some photographs she had taken on a trip to Newark, New Jersey. She had taken the time to visit an area where Albert Holtz, a Benedictine Monk, lives and describes in his book, “From, Holidays to Holy Days.” A Benedictine Walk through Advent.

We read this book two years ago in our weekly Bible Study Class at our church. Everyone loved the stories and it holds the perfect reminders for the Advent Season.

Synchronicity. Being reminded of this book is a special blessing to me this year. Six months ago my husband of 32 years died. I have been in and out of what I term “The cave.” I have felt many times over the last six months like I just wanted to stay in the dark. To withdraw from everything and everyone.

The loneliness I feel seems like a monster is in the dark waiting to pounce on me. A true time of testing my faith. Slowly I am stepping out of my cave and into the sunshine or rain to open my heart and mind to God’s presence and love.

Reading the first few pages of Brother Holtz’ book feels like someone has sprinkled a fine mist of love and caring over me. He reminds us that Advent is a time for us to prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas, a time to remember that Christ is present in every single person we meet, a time for quiet reflection and contemplation.

May your Advent Season be a special time, and may each of us be reminded of God’s love and caring, and the deeper meaning of the Holiday Season.

Peace,

Connie I. Clark

CLEAN HOUSE

Sunday devotional for 12/02/12

Advent is a time of preparation.  In some homes, preparation for Christmas includes a thorough cleaning of the house in anticipation of visitors.  When we clean our homes, we can either do a cursory job and simply stash things in an inconspicuous place and  quickly straighten up what is obviously seen.  Or we can completely clean everything, washing windows, cleaning drapes and blinds, dusting, vacuuming, scrubbing floors, washing woodwork and baseboards, and the list goes on and on.  The more comprehensive we are at this cleaning, the more time it takes and the more exhausted we may become.  But the results are a beautiful home and the satisfaction of a job well done.  This "house cleaning" mirrors what we also can do for spiritual renewal.  Either we simply say we are sorry for obvious mistakes we are caught making, or we can do an exhaustive confession with a personal inventory of all our wrongs and issues.  This type of thorough spiritual house cleaning can be emotionally draining, but the results can be an amazing transformation as we ask God to help us change our ways.  God is the one who does the actual cleansing of our hearts and souls and gives us the power to transform our lives.  We do this personal soul searching and confession of our sins, known and unknown, as a response to God's love for us.  We change our ways in thanks for what God has already done for us in his mercy, forgiving our sins and giving us eternal life.  This is how we become good witnesses to others of God's love in his Son, sent to earth as a baby boy, whose birth we commemorate at Christmas.

May you have a completely clean house, physically and spiritually, this Advent/preparation season!

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.  Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin...  Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow...  Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me...   Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.  Psalm 51:1-2, 7, 10, 13  NIV

written by Jan Andersen

Saturday Devotional...Passages.....

                                                   ...Through the Labyrinth of Life

In 1976 Gail Sheehy published a book called PASSAGES which covered the different stages and of life and the challenges and crises built into each stage of passage. At that time I was thirty three and not to concerned about the later stages. Ms. Sheehy had some interesting theories. I felt that some applied and that some were not relevant to life as I understood at the ripe old age of 33. The book was well received and everyone was talking about it. I had a copy of the book, but sometime in the ensuing thirty six years I have lost track of it. Somehow I managed to walk through the stages that were defined with only a few disasters.

In the nineties Gail Sheehy wanted to do a sequel to her book and when she studied the attitudes, beliefs, habits, and practices that were prevalent she found that people were staying longer in each stage. They were not gracefully rushing towards their elder years as defined in the mores of the 70’s. Rather they seemed to be slowing down to smell the roses and enjoy each level longer than before. At this time she added ten years to each stage. That is good news to many of my peers as we reach the last stages of our lives.

Our family could be said to be finished. However, this is not true. On April 20, 1968 a wife came into existence. The earlier years were times of adjustment and compromise. Children came into the max and the marriage was a fluid thing…growing and evolving. This has not stopped even almost forty-five years later.

On June 11, 1973 my son was born. His mother was also born. This is a lifetime roll that we adjust to fit the needs of the changing ages of our children. Then it expands in adulthood to adding in someone else’s adult children who become our “children” by marriage. Grandchildren are added into the mix. If we are blessed enough we might even meet our grandchildren.

I am at a stage when, while I do not dwell on it, I think about death more often. It used to be a thought about the distant future, now it looms closer. I heard a quote once that I cannot repeat word for word. However, it speaks to me. The gist of it is that it is a question asking, “God, if You wanted me to be happy to go to heaven, why did You make the world so beautiful?” I could add lots to a list starting with beautiful world such as grandchildren to watch grow up, travel that now is possible, fellowship that is so wonderful.

While these things are true there are other things that are not so pleasant. As I age I find that my body is weakening. I have poor balance and less stamina. It takes me longer to get things done, and there never seems to be enough time. I get tired easily. I have to tell myself that there were always blessings and challenges at every stage. These are just the blessings and challenges of this later stage.

I am blessed that I am not afraid to die…still I think I would like to be here longer. I know that this is a tad silly and that I need to get a grip…to put things in perspective so to speak. I need to do what is called Carpe Diem, seize the day and all that God has for me. This also includes letting go of things that have become too difficult to engage in as frequently. Life is good; it is filled with God’s blessings at every stage; we must be mindful to run with the things we have. God is orchestrating our lives according to His plan. I need to remember this at every turn in my path and embrace the fact that I will soon see God face to face.

The Bible says:

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived what God has prepared
for those who love him"

1 Corinthians 2:9

Eye hath not seen - This is the same as saying, that no one had ever fully perceived and understood the value and beauty of those things which God has prepared for his people. All the world had been strangers to this until God made a revelation to his people by his Spirit. The blessedness which the apostle referred to had been unknown alike to the Jews and the Gentiles.

True that.

Father, Thank you for your plans and what you have prepared for your people who love You. As I walk through the labyrinth of my life I am grateful for your love and concern for me to get to the other side. Help me to keep sight of the wonder of this and to accept life as You give it to me with joy. Amen

Written by

Corinne Mustafa