Day 10: Saturday, March 11, 2017, #Lent Devotion

Posted on Mar 11, 2017 in BLOG, Devotions | Tags: 

Day 10: Saturday, March 11, 2017
Rev. Sela Finau

Spiritual Discipline

Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:7b-8 (NRSV) Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
 
Devotion: I learned over the years that spiritual discipline is a necessary element of the Christian faith. Yet it is not an easy thing to do or practice. It requires discipline until it becomes a habit. Spiritual discipline can be a variety of things. In the beginning of Lent, the Church invited us to observe a holy Lent: by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; by worship, reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word.
 
Spiritual discipline should lead us to a life that is more godly and Christlike. It is supposed to help us trust our personal experience with ourselves, which is, in a way also an experience of God. Sometimes we are amazed that the two experiences coincide. However, when we practice a spiritual discipline and seek to know God whether through repentance, praying, fasting, worship, or reading Scripture, we also come to know and accept our own humanity; when we meet and understand ourselves at deeper levels, we also meet and know more of God. Thus it can be said that we don’t have any real access to who we are except through God, and we don’t have any real access to God except through knowing ourselves through our humanity.
 
During Lent, may we find the time to practice spiritual discipline by spending time away from our everyday work, our everyday surroundings, and allow space for God to clear our mind, relax and simply be at peace with God and with ourselves. May this Lenten Season allow us to refocus and be renewed in our faith for an overall healthy mind, body, and spirit.
 
Prayer: Gracious God, when it seems like we’re drifting away, help us to find our way back to you through spiritual discipline. Amen
✚✚✚

Day 6: Tuesday, March 7, 2017, #Lent Devotion

Posted on Mar 7, 2017 in BLOG, Devotions | Tags: , , ,

Day 6: Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Rev. Sela Finau

Stillness

Scripture:
Psalm 46:10 (NRSV) Be still, and know that I am God!

Devotion:

A few years ago, I participated in a retreat at the Still Water Lodge in Glen Rose. This is just down the road from Glenlake Camp and Retreat Center, a familiar site for many youth and adults in our conference since ongoing church events take place at Glenlake, and it’s owned and operated by the Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. This was my second gathering with this particular group at the Still Water Lodge. It was early fall, and the facility and grounds were very serene.

Early the next morning, I woke up and went to spend some time sitting on a wooden bench swing looking over the water. It dawned on me that morning, of why they may have named that place Still Water Lodge. The water in the river behind the lodge seemed to be very still, thus the name Still Water. Whether or not that was the meaning behind the name remained unverified. Regardless, I have not been around many rivers, so I am uncertain and know very little of its behavior as opposed to oceans. But the stillness of the water connected me to the stillness of that morning. It was very peaceful and very serene, and the weather was perfect, fog slowly moving over to cover the skies and meet the morning dew. The mist from the fog softly dropped on my bare skin and I could feel its refreshing coolness. I could hear the birds chirping all around, a very pleasant sound. And even though I could hear the sounds of traffic in the background, I meditated on the present. It was as if God was saying to me, “Be still, Sela, for I am here.” I would have stayed in that space, that sacred space, with God all day if I could.

Prayer:
Oh God, may the peace that I experienced that morning be something that I continue to seek not only for myself but for others around me as well. In this season of Lent, help us to find a place of stillness where we might experience your presence and peace. Amen
 
✚✚✚

Day 5: Monday, March 6, 2017, #Lent Devotion

Posted on Mar 6, 2017 in BLOG, Devotions | Tags: , , , , ,

Week 2

Day 5: Monday, March 6, 2017
Robin McKinley
Blessed Are the Peacemakers
 
Scripture: Matthew 5:9 (KJV) “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”
 
Devotion: This verse always makes me think of my Grammy. I adored her and she adored me. In truth, everyone adored Grammy. She most definitely was a child of God, and she believed her grandchildren were children of God, too. She found little daily ways to make peace, and she taught me through her deeds about unconditional love.
 
When I was six, I had a terrible case of hives for no known reason. Later, the hives reappeared when I was slicing tomatoes, so my father determined that I was allergic to tomatoes. This was sad for me because I loved tomatoes. And, my grandfather was a tomato farmer. Whenever we would go to visit Papa and Grammy, we would tour whatever new development they had on their farm. Soon after the discovery of my allergy, we went for a visit and began to take a tour of his tomato greenhouses. Being one of five children, I was mostly invisible, but suddenly someone noticed I was there and I had to leave the greenhouse. I didn’t want to be left alone, but I never said a word. My angel Grammy took me by the hand and said “Come on, let’s go look at the flower garden.”
 
Around the same age, Grammy taught me to sew, and I had many hours of fun with her. Grammy would patiently show me how to keep the seams straight and how to put an applique on the front of a top. We invented appliques from the scraps of other cut out projects, like a fish that Papa teased was just a sucker. When I was too tired to go on, Grammy would notice before I did, and took me lovingly to bed.
 
Grammy died when I was 15. The only thing that brought me any peace was knowing that she was in the arms of God, as a child of God. I was given her Bible, and out dropped a piece of paper upon which was written the scripture “Blessed are the peacemakers.” That verse describes her life. Grammy was a peacemaker, and she made peace by giving her 18 grandchildren all the unconditional love it was possible to give.
 
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Spirit, Thank you for the peacemakers that show unconditional love. Please help me be a peacemaker in my daily life. Help me notice what others need so that I can add to their peace. Amen
✚✚✚

Day 4: Saturday, March 4, 2017, Lent Devotion

Posted on Mar 3, 2017 in BLOG, Devotions | Tags: ,

 
Day 4: Saturday, March 4, 2017
Tylor Cavender
 
The Greatest of These is Love

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:4-17 (NIV) “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Devotion: What would the world look like if we could all show love? Not the kind of love found on MTV. Not the kind of love that found in a romance novel. But patient, selfless, humbled, and kind-hearted love. What works could be accomplished if we all showed love, instead of immediately judging? With social media and cell phones saturating every aspect of society, we are presented with a multitude of opportunities to show others what it looks like to truly show love.

How many times have you heard someone say something like, “I love football!” If you are from or in Texas, the answer to that is surely more than you can count. Now, think back to the times you’ve heard someone say something like, “I love football!” How many of those statements were said by someone who actually played football, or helped other to play football, or truly wanted to get better at playing football, or didn’t misplace their calm when their team wasn’t as good as they wanted?

I think the word love is too commonplace. Do we really mean the things we say? The word love is used so much that it seems to have meaning at both ends of the spectrum. I know I’ve heard some toddlers say they love chicken nuggets. But, that’s not what it means to really love. I also see movies or TV shows where people are afraid to say “I love you.” It isn’t a huge commitment and should be taboo to show love.

Paul tells us that love is patient, self-sacrificing, modest and kind-hearted. If we truly showed love towards someone the way that Paul describes, wouldn’t we live enormously different? We should live our lives in a way that, at the very least, attempts to replicate this kind of love. It is important to do this for everyone we encounter, not just our family and our friends. We should show this kind of love to complete strangers. We should show this kind of love to people who we don’t agree with. We should show this kind of love to the people who come from different faith backgrounds. We should always strive to be patient with each other. We should demonstrate kindness in every interaction that we have. We should always do anything within our abilities to make sure other’s needs are our first priority. We should make sure that we do not pursue attention for ourselves in these actions, but for Jesus.

Imagine what life would be like if everyone did that? Imagine the kinds of conversations we could have, the kinds of progress that could be made. The amount of arguments, protest and judgment would drop at astonishing rates. Imagine how many people would find faith if we showed them that kind of love.

Prayer: Awesome God, help us to remember these words from Paul’s letter. Help us to remember that these words can still be useful today. Help us endeavor to be a living example of Love so that we may glorify you. It is in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

✚✚✚