Yes Lord!

Scripture:

“Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15)

Thought for the day:

Tedd Kidd was five years older than Janet, finished college before her, and started to work in a city hundreds of miles from her. They always seemed to be at different places in their lives, but they had been dating for seven years.

Every Valentine's Day, Tedd proposed to her. Every Valentine's Day Janet would say, "No, not yet."

Finally, when they were both living in Dallas, Texas, Tedd reached the end of his patience. He bought a ring, took Janet to a romantic restaurant, and was prepared to reinforce his proposal with the diamond. Another no would mean he had to get on with his life without her.

After salad, entree, and dessert, it was time. Tedd summoned up his courage. Knowing that Janet had a gift for him, however, he decided to wait. "What did you bring me?" he asked. She handed him a box the size of a book. He opened the package and slowly peeled away the tissue paper. It was a cross-stitch Janet had made that simply said, "Yes."

Yes —is the word that God, in his tireless pursuit of the sinner, longs to hear. 

As believers, we know the joy of saying “Yes” to God. We know how great a feeling it is to finally accept God’s proposal to spend life together forever. We know the thrill of falling deeper in love with our Lord. Wouldn’t it be great to have a part in helping another to know that same joy? 

There are people in our lives who have never had the opportunity to say “yes” to God. Might you commit to ensuring that the people in your lives who are still saying “No, not yet,” to God will have still another opportunity to say “Yes?”

Prayer for the day:

Lord, I know the response, "No, not yet!” all too well. Your love brought me to say “Yes!” to you. Help me to love unconditionally so that another will say “Yes!” as well. Amen.

I Am Blessed!

In the quietness of this early Thanksgiving morning I sit near the window looking out upon a windy, gray, early light, with my family sleeping peacefully in their beds. My mind recalls many moments throughout this past year; so many good things have happened! With the words “I am blessed” ringing in my ears from Pastor Willard Morse’s greeting, I know it is true for me as well. I am blessed!

I think about all my “go to” blessings. My reasons for giving thanks on this day of Thanksgiving are many: an incredible wife, great family, great friendships, a beautiful home, a church I love, good health, a wonderful staff with which to work, and a god who loves me. I know that I am blessed!

And then I think about all of the challenges I have experienced this year. There is no need to name them, we all have them in one form or another. For some reason I don’t ever remember thanking God for the challenges I have faced, and yet this year I am especially thankful for those. Certainly I am thankful that I have survived them but it is more than that; I am thankful because pondering those challenges in the wee morning hours of this day, I realize that those challenges are the experiences that have forced me to draw closer to God. I know that I am blessed!

No one wants to face the difficulties of living and loving within this world. It is hard to handle the issues that arise from a lack of finances, it can be heart wrenching to deal with health issues (whether they are our own or our loved ones), it hurts when relationships sour or when work becomes too stressful. And yet those are the moments when we know we can’t do it alone, that in faithfulness we call upon God for help. And I know that I am blessed!

I am most thankful this day because I know I have experienced the ever-present help of a Lord who loves me, will never leave me, and will always help me through the challenges of life. I am blessed!

What are you thankful for?

How Are You?

Scripture:

“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” (James 1:19-20)

Thought for the day:

Have you noticed that a very important question has been down-graded to a greeting? “How are you?” It’s a very important question that is often answered with: “Fine” or “Doing ok.”

Sadly, people have come to realize that few of the people asking the question have the time to hear an honest answer and so an honest answer is rarely forthcoming. How might your day change if you knew that when asked about your day, the person asking was ready to listen, really listen?


Prayer for the day:

Dear Lord, help me to listen, for you and for others. Amen.

Know Thyself!

Scripture:

“…his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” (Luke 15:20-24)

Thought for the day:

“Know thyself!” Without going into the history of the term attributed to, but not coined by, Socrates, it is worth pondering. I am humbled at the extravagance of God’s love when I ponder the secrets of my own heart. How many of us attempt to look good on the outside while there is a mess of turmoil on the inside? Do you have moments when you aren’t proud of your thoughts or actions? I do. Can you think of times when you have lashed out because your heart was hurt by another? I can. Think of how amazing God’s gift of love is in our life. Despite of our treatment of God and others, God still opens his arms love to our embrace. What an incredible God!

Prayer for the day:

Dear God, I am not always (or even often) the person you created me to be and yet you love me. When I am the least lovable you open your arms to me. Thank you, Lord! Help me learn to love as you do! Amen.

What Does God Want?

Scripture:

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:6-8)

Thought for the day:

Have you had those times in life when everything seemed to be going against you; times when it seemed that you were going up stream in a canoe without a paddle? When I have times like that, I tend to think why me? Why does life have to be so difficult?  What does God want?

Well, Micah tells us exactly what God wants. He tells us to act justly with others, not just thinking of ourselves but acting right with others. He wants us to love mercy.  We all want mercy, but we need to be willing to extend mercy to those who do not deserve or ask for it. God also wants us to walk humbly with Him. That is, we are to lay self and pride aside and focus on Him and His direction for our lives.

Prayer for the day:

Father, I often fall short of being just and merciful to others. Often my pride and what I want put distance between others and me, as well as between You and me. Forgive me and help me seek justice, mercy and humility so they may flow through me to others.  Amen!

Written by: Rev. Jim Eaton

Love Your Neighbor

Scripture:

The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:31)

Thought for the day:

Phil Maynard, in his book, The Discipler, as us to “take an honest look at how well you know your neighbors,” asking, How many of the family members can you address by name?
Have you been in each other’s home? Had real conversation?
Have you shared a meal with that family?

When we start to take seriously the command to “love your neighbor,” how does it resonate with how we are living it out?

Prayer for the day:

Forgive me Lord, I have not loved as I ought to love. Help me! Amen.

Love God

Scripture:
”’One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’ ‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’” (Mark 12:28-30)

Thought for the day:

Phil Maynard, in the Disicipler, asks us to “Consider the ways you love God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength.”

So often we move onto the next passage that tells us “to love your neighbor as yourself.” What might happened if we lingered on this first part though…
How are we loving God with our heart?
How are we loving God with our soul?
How are we loving God with our mind?
How are we loving God with our strength?

What do our answers reveal about our relationship with God?

Prayer for the day:

Heavenly Father, me to assess my relationship with God through the actions of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Amen.

Doing Good

Scripture:

“For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.” (1 Peter 2:15)

Thought for the day:

“What matters is the quality of your walk, not the quantity of your talk.” - unknown

Prayer for the day:

Merciful God, may the work that I do be a reflection of You. Amen.

Craving the Word

Scripture:

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:2-3)

Thought for the day:

Growing in faith includes yet surpasses church attendance, good deeds, and even faithful service. Growing in faith craves the knowledge and understanding of God’s word. Without a desire to know and understand what God has delivered already to us through Scripture is to stifle one’s understanding of salvation.


Prayer for the day:

Heavenly Father, grant me the desire for Your Word. Help me to know it, understand it, and embrace it, so that I may fully exemplify Your will for my life. Amen.

Father, I Adore You

Scripture:

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, my God.” (Psalm 42:1)

Thought for the day:
This morning I am reminded of an old camp song that speaks to why we worship.

Father, I adore You, I lay my life before You, how I Love You.
Jesus, I adore You, I lay my life before You, how I love You.
Spirit, I adore You, I lay my life before You, how I love You.
Three-in-One, I adore You, I lay my life before You, how I love You.

Worship is about adoration and praise of that which is most important to us. When that something is God, love abounds in ways we cannot begin to imagine.

Prayer for the day:

Dear Heavenly Father, I do adore you. Please use my life to bring You glory. I love You. Amen.

Attend to the Lord Always

Scripture:

Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. (Proverbs 7:2-3)

Thought for the day:

“How can you expect to dwell with God forever, if you so neglect and forsake him here?”
― Jonathan Edwards, Selected Sermons of Jonathan Edwards

Prayer for the day:

Most gracious and glorious God, I do the very things I hate, I do not love as I ought to love. I do not live as I ought to live. Forgive me, I pray. Help me to always remain attentive to You and Your will. Amen.

What Must I Do?

Scripture:

“For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.” (James 2:26)

Thought for the day:
“I asked long ago,'What must I do to be saved?' The Scripture answered, 'Keep the commandments, believe, hope, love.' I was early warned against laying, as the Papists do, too much stress on outward works, or on a faith without works, which as it does not include, so it will never lead to true hope or charity.” - John Wesley

Finding the balance between faith and works is essential to the Christian walk. Faith spurs action. Action confirms faith. Combined salvation is assured.

Prayer for the day:

Gracious God, grant me the faith necessary to labor in love of my neighbors. Amen.

Praise Him

Scripture:

“…I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.” (Psalm 13:6)

Thought for the day:

“Praise and worship shouldn't be a few hour church service entertainment. It should be our heartbeat and should never depart our lips. 'Let us come before him with thanks giving and extol him with music and song' (Psalms 95:2).”
― Euginia Herlihy

Prayer for the day:

Lord of life and joy, open my heart to sing Your praises with the whole of my being. Amen.

Perseverance

Scripture:

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:4)

Thought for the day:

“We will never find enough of God at any single place of prayer to satisfy us for long. Why?
Because He Moves!
We too must journey, ever following the ark, ever holding on to God as we journey toward Him.
We travel toward Him to two reasons.
First, we will find all of Him someday at that glorious place where life’s journey ends.
But second, as we travel toward Him, the journey itself brings Him near.
Jesus is the Emmaus Christ who both walks us along the journey and reveals Himself to us at the journey’s end.” - Calvin Miller

Prayer for the day:

Precious Lord, walk with me along the journey of life and faith. Amen.

Tell Them

Scripture:

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” (Hebrews 13:15-16)

Thought for the day:

"How do you know if someone ran a marathon? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you." - Jimmy Fallon

Funny, right! I think so! But as a runner, I also recognize the truth of the statement. I am, probably, too eager to share running stories. What makes running more interesting to talk about (and brag about) than a relationship with the Lord of Heaven and Earth? Are you willing to talk about your relationship with Jesus Christ? Why or why not?

Prayer for the day:

Forgiving Father, I am not as willing to talk about You as I am to talk about my other interests in life. Instill within me a desire to share Your love in word and deed. Amen.

The Wesleyan Covenant Prayer

Scripture:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

Thought for the day:

“The Wesleyan Covenant Prayer”

Lord, I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by You or laid aside for You,
Exalted for You or brought low for You.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
To Your pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
You are mine, and I am Yours. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

Let Your Light Shine

Scripture:
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

Thought for the day:

“Let your light shine upon others so they may know our God of love’s in the land.

Let your light shine upon others so they may the Kingdom of God is at hand.”

This song reminds us that we have a role to play in building the Kingdom of God. How are you doing?

Prayer for the day:

Gracious God, You are the light that illuminates all things, as I grow in love with You, may my light shine before others, that they may see good in me and give You the glory! Amen.