Morning Reflections - Nudged by God

Herschel Walker once said, "Being a born-again Christian, I believe God actively and directly influences me to action."  I believe he is right.

The challenge is that we have to slow down long enough, stop running long enough, turn down the white noise of our lives long enough to hear and be nudged by God.

The psalmist in Psalm 46:10 reminds us, "Be still and know that I am God."

In my experience, it is only in that stillness, only in those moments of deep knowing that we can best sense the nudging of God. 

Today's prayer - Holy God, break through all the noise and activity of our lives that we may have deep, tangible, transformative moments of knowing you.  And in those moments Lord, direct our thoughts and actions for your glory.  Amen.

Morning Reflections - Christian Leaders

"The Christian leaders of the future have to be theologians, persons who know the heart of God and are trained - through prayer, study, and careful analysis - to manifest the divine event of God's saving work in the midst of the many seemingly random events of their time."

                                                                         -Henri Nouwen

 

Today's prayer - Holy God, today we pray for our Christian leaders in every capacity and office in which they serve.  We pray for their private time of devotion and prayer with you; that it may be fruitful and draw them closer to you.  We pray for their study time; that wisdom and knowledge - not for its own sake, but for the sake of your Kingdom - would be the fruits of their labors.  And God, we pray for their analysis; that you would gift them each with discernment beyond their normal capacity that they may put into action the fruits of the other two disciplines.  Amen.

Morning Reflections - Love Christ

Sometimes I just get a spiritual two by four right between the eyes.  Take for example these words:

 

"Christian, learn from Christ how you ought to love Christ. Learn a love that is tender, wise, strong; love with tenderness, not passion, wisdom, not foolishness, and strength, lest you become weary and turn away from the love of the Lord."

                                                                    -Saint Bernard

 

Today's Prayer - Lord, teach us again (and again, and again, and again) how to love as you love.  Amen.

Morning Reflections - The impact of our words

There is so much to say about the impact of our words, but instead of speaking directly, I want to invite you to consider these two quotes.  The first is from Scripture and the second is from Billy Graham:

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. ¹¹ Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹² My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."
                       -James 3:9-12

"A real Christian is a person who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip."

                       -Billy Graham

 

Today's Prayer - Holy God, we admit that our tongues get away from us at times.  We pray that we would see your children as you see them.  We pray that our hearts would be so full of you, that that would be the resource from which our words spring forth.  Allow our words to one another to be life giving this day and always.  Amen.

Morning Reflections - A Whole Christian

Early in my faith journey as a Christian (remember I am an adult convert), I used to pick and choose my favorite passages of scripture to read.  If the words were too hard, the thoughts too violent, or the ideology to difficult to understand, I would pass it by.  Thankfully, this stage didn't last very long.  I had some really great teachers that taught me the importance of the entirety of the scriptures.  While these words belong to someone I have never met, they contain the premise that was shared with me in many small groups and inductive Bible study sessions:

"The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian."

                                                            -Aiden Wilson Tozer

Today's prayer - God, be with us in our reading of your word.  Itndifficult and challenging places in your texts, grant us wisdom, knowledge and discernment beyond our normal capacity that we may be drawn deeper into the story and closer to you.  Grant that your Holy Spirit would be with us in each and every reading and that we may leave our times of reading and study with you changed by the texts we have encountered.  Amen.

Morning Reflections - Christian Calling

So many times I think we get really messed up about the terms "Christian Calling."  We always seem to think that this means that God has placed a dramatic call on someone's life to be a paid minister, priest or preacher.  Or we think in these terms only when someone is coming forward to be set apart, consecrated, commissioned and ordained to do full time missionary work.

Consider these words from Charles R. Swindoll: "When you have a sense of calling, whether it's to be a musician, soloist, artist, in one of the technical fields, or a plumber, there is something deep and enriching when you realize it isn't just a casual choice, it's a divine calling. It's not limited to vocational Christian service by any means."

I have no doubt that if we are rigorously honest with ourselves, we can bring to mind folks from every imaginable field that fit this bill.  That special teacher that just had a gift to be able to teach us that subject that we had a hard time grasping when no one else could.  That mechanically gifted individual that was able to help us by quickly and accurately diagnosing the issues with our vehicles.  That doctor or nurse that treated us like a real human being rather than just another number on a list.  We could go on indefinitely, I'm sure.

How about today we give thanks for all of those folks who live into their callings.

Today's prayer - Holy God, we give thanks that your callings are individual.  While we all are called to faithfulness and Christian service, your individual divine calling is as diverse as the cosmos itself.  Today, Lord, we give thanks for all those living into their divine calling.  We thank you for the police officers, firefighters, teachers, plumbers, machinists, construction workers, engineers, accountants and all that we can bring to mind who are living out their divine calling in your grace.  We give you thanks, praise your faithfulness, and celebrate the generosity of gifts you pour into our lives.  Amen.

Morning Reflections - Not So Easy

A few weeks ago I was flipping through the television stations and saw Alice Cooper in an interview.  I was surprised to discover that he was talking about his Christian faith.  Being fascinated by peoples' stories, I listened with amazement to hear about how God had transformed Cooper's life and what impact that had on him and how difficult it made sojourning in the music industry for him.

Today, I came across this quote from Cooper:

"Drinking beer is easy.  Trashing your hotel room is easy.  But being a Christian, that's a tough call.  That's rebellion."

So simple, yet so true.  It is easy to do what the world wants us or expects us to do.  It is often times much more challenging to do what God calls us to do.  It is truly holy rebellion.  Jesus was a holy rebel.  Just remember what he did in the temple courts in turning over the tables of the money changers.  Or recall how he put a stop to his disciples violence when the Romans came to arrest him.  Jesus always seemed to graciously, but rebelliously, go against the grain.  He turned everything up on end so that we might understand in Kingdom terms rather than worldly terms.

My hope is that we will take this thought provoking quote to heart in each of our own contexts.  That we will go and cause all the holy trouble we can.  And that the Kingdom would be better served by our holy rebellion, and that the world would see Christ in us and through us.

Today's prayer - God, we realize that your ways don't always seem easy.  But we give you thanks that in accordance with your word to us you lead us in paths of righteousness for your sake, not for ours.  Grant us this day the discernment, strength, courage and grace that we need to be the fullest reflection of you that we can be.  Let us live according to your will, rather than the demands and expectations of the world.  And allow these actions, grounded in you, to transform our little part of the world.  Amen.

Morning Reflections - God's Protection

This morning, as I have sat for the last hour and a half reflecting, I keep thinking about all the people that are traveling.  You see, in my household,this begins a season of travel for my family.  My wife and daughter are getting ready to travel out of state for my sister-in-law's wedding.  I will be traveling out of the country in just a couple of weeks.  Our friends and extended family members just ended a vacation that included traveling to spend some time with us.  And the longing of my heart this morning is simply for their safety; for their protection.

I am reminded of the psalmist who says, "But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you."  And that is my hope this morning; that my fellow travelers would rejoice in God and experience God's protection along their journeys.

Today's Prayer - Holy God, you go before us, are behind us, and come along side of us until we are completely hemmed in.  Today we ask for your protection and travel mercies for our friends and families as they travel.  Let them rejoice in you on their journeys and keep them safe.  Your grace, your mercy and your protection are sufficient.  We give thanks and ask these things in Christ's name.  Amen.

Morning Reflections - Friendship

This morning I thought I'd share a reflection that a friend shared with me:

"Friendship improves happiness and abates misery by doubling our joy and dividing our grief.  Proverbs 17:17 says, 'a friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.'"

Today's prayer - God today we thank you for our friends.  We thank you for the brothers and sisters in the faith that you have called to come along side us; especially during times of adversity.  We recognize the grace and sustenance that this provision of yours is to our lives.  May our friends, brothers and sisters all be blessed today, 100 fold.  Amen. 

Morning Reflections - Gratitude

Last night, our long time friends arrived from out of town.  We enjoyed a meal together and lots of laughter as our girls played together.  Over the next couple of days (namely Monday and Tuesday) we are going to enjoy some vacation type activities with them while they are visiting.

I share all of this with you simply for the fact that I am grateful that this other clergy family is such an integral part of our lives.

Paul in his letter to the Philippians says that we are to bring all things before God with prayer, petition and thanksgiving (my paraphrase).  The 12 step groups I run in say to have an attitude of gratitude.  My experience tells me that as trite as these words of Paul's and 12 steppers may seem, they are invaluable wisdom to a spiritually Christ centered life.

So let me ask you, what are you grateful for today?  I'd love to hear your gratitude lists, so please feel free to share them in the comments section below.

Today's prayer - gracious God, today we give thanks.  We thank you for what you did to eliminate the gap that we placed between you and us.  We thank you for the rich blessings do people and provision that you have placed in our lives.  And God, we especially thank you today for ________________.  Help keep us grounded in gratitude, humility, and wisdom, this day and always.  Amen.

Morning Reflections - Abide in Him

Billy Graham said, we are the Bibles the world is reading; we are the creeds the world is needing; we are the sermons the world is heeding."

I think about this quote and I wonder what Bible, what creed, and what sermon I am portraying to the world around me.  Are these things the world is seeing from me consistent with my faith?  Am I being a God honoring reflection of what God's done for me?  Put another way, am I practicing what I preach?

I think when we are rigorously honest with ourselves, we can admit that there are times when we can answer in the affirmative and of course, there are times when the answer is no.  It really comes down to the question of whether or not we are abiding or remaining in grace; if we are abiding in Christ.

The Gospel of John reads, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15:1-4

Today's prayer - God take away from me everything that stands in the way of my relationship with you and with others.  Fill me up to the point of overflowing.  Allow us to remain in you so completely that we no longer can distinguish where we end and you begin.  Then use us for the glory of your Kingdom.  For it is in the name of the one who remains in us, in Christ's name, that we pray.

Morning Reflections - Image

The world says, "Image is everything."  I think the world gets the statement right, but not the meaning.  Image is not about what we wear, where we live, or who we know.  I think image is more about who we really are, whose we really are, and who we reflect.  Is our image created by us, or by the one who created us?  That's the question.

Iranaeus writes,"Lord Jesus Christ, the word of God, of his boundless love, became what we are that he might make us what he himself is."


Today's Prayer - Lord, help us to leave the trappings of this world alone.  Helps us to better reflect the image that we were created in; your image - the image of our creator.  Do this not for our benefit or blessing, but rather do it that others might be drawn to you because that is who they see in us and through us.  Amen.

Morning Reflections - God's joy for us

This morning, as I sit on the back patio and watch the light begin to filter through the trees, I am looking at the days that have gone by and the day that lies ahead of me.  As I sit here, different people drift into my thoughts, and I say a little prayer for them.  And in the midst of this morning time of meditation, I am reminded of words that were once written to me on a note of encouragement very early in my ministry.

Here are those words:
The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.”

This comes from chapter 3 verse 17 of Zephaniah.  When I first saw these words, I remember the challenges of those early days and for me this was just a reminder that the God I serve, whose face is Jesus, loves me and rejoices over me.

I have many friends and acquaintances who are going through trying times today for a variety of reasons.  And for some who read this devotion, I may not know exactly what you are going through.  But my hope is that these words might bring comfort to you today and in days to come.

Today's prayer - God we give you thanks that you are with us.  We give you thanks that when our strength is not enough, yours is always sufficient.  It is hard for us to believe, sometimes, that you would delight in us to the point of rejoicing over us in singing.  Lord, help us to see ourselves and others as you see us.  Help us to delight and rejoice over your children as you do.  Draw us close in your embrace and hold us through all that we will face in the days to come.  Amen.

Morning Reflections - Sufficient Grace

There are so many ways that we operate out of a place of scarcity rather than abundance.  One of those ways I have witnessed relates to our desire for the goodness of God's grace.  Sometimes, looking ahead, we fear we are going to need more grace than God will have available on a given day for a given situation.  We feel like we simply don't have enough grace to get us through that next hurdle or event.  We begin asking God for more grace.  We seek out the ability to bottle it or some how store it up for future circumstances.

Dwight Lyman Moody made this observation:

"A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months, or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God's boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it."

We need to remember that God's grace is sufficient for our every need.  We need to daily approach God and seek out the grace we need for that moment from his boundless stores.  I wonder if others have a built in "forgetter" like I do.  I wonder if we remember the promise of Scripture that reminds us that God's storehouse of grace is boundless and waiting on our approach.  I wonder if we deeply remember that that grace is available to us not because of the circumstances we find ourselves in, but because of who Jesus is and what he has done for us?

The writer of Hebrews says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16)."

Today's prayer - Gracious God, thank you for the gift of grace that is your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Remind us through a prompting of your Holy Spirit that all the grace we need, for any situation we find ourselves in, is available from you if we would just approach your throne with our needs.  Grant us today the portion of grace we each need for the tasks at hand.  Keep us humble and so deeply connected to you, that we long to return each day with confidence in Christ that we will once again receive the grace we need.  We give thanks for the sufficiency of your grace and ask these things in Christ's holy and precious name.  Amen.

Morning Reflections - Serenity Now!

One of my favorite Seinfeld episodes revolved around the words "Serenity now!"  I won't belabor the plot of that particular episode, as I am sure that you can find it on YouTube, Hulu, or some other video service.  Instead, I want to just relate the message that sometimes we have so much going on in our lives that the oceans of our spirits our kept constantly churning. 

Now there are some things on our plates that we can change.  There are other things going on in our lives that we have absolutely no power over.  The key is distinguishing the two from each other correctly.  When I have days or moments like this, a single simple prayer (sometimes repeated over and over again) can help to refocus me.  That's the prayer I offer up to you today...the Serenity Prayer.

Today's Prayer - God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.  Amen.

Morning Reflections - Who am I Following

Lee Strobel writes, "In short, I didn't become a Christian because God promised I would have an even happier life than I had as an atheist. He never promised any such thing. Indeed, following him would inevitably bring divine demotions in the eyes of the world. Rather, I became a Christian because the evidence was so compelling that Jesus really is the one-and-only Son of God who proved his divinity by rising from the dead. That meant following him was the most rational and logical step I could possibly take."

Some of us, myself included, didn't come into a relationship with Jesus until we were well along in our adulthood years.  I remember doing my own searching and evaluating of the Christian faith, and while I may have taken different paths than Strobel did, in the end I came to the exact same conclusion - following Jesus was the most rational and logical step I could take next.

I remember all the things that the Holy Spirit worked on me about.  This transformation was quite radical; at least from my perspective.  One by one, the Holy Spirit said, "Russell, let's take a look at this."  Inevitably, with everything that I am willing to allow God to work on me with, I am changed for the better.

The more time I have spent as a Christian, the more I have had the opportunity to work on.  But I have also had plenty of opportunities to lose sight of who I am following.  The pace of our lives, the demands of our families and jobs, all add to the white noise that can sometimes blur that solid connection with Jesus.  We find ourselves following people, success, ideas, or some other tangent and neglecting our first love.  We, however, were made to love, made to worship, made to follow.  Everybody follows something or someone.  The question I have to continuously ask myself is who am I following.

Jesus' command was a simple one, "Follow me."  Today, let us endeavor to better follow the one whose life was given so that ours would be spared.

Today's Prayer - Holy God, we admit that sometimes we let things get in our way of our relationship with you.  We can lose the true north of our compass.  We can lose sight of you, our Lord and Savior.  God, help us to be better followers.  Lead us in the paths of righteousness and all that is good for your namesake.  Bless us and protect us.  Allow us to fully follow you to where those that are following us, might come to follow you too.  We ask this in Christ's name.  Amen.

Morning Reflections - Cheap Grace

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our church. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjack's wares. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession."

Since this Sunday is Holy Communion Sunday at our church and thousands of others around the world, I thought that this quote from Bonhoeffer was quite appropriate.

As we prepare for worship this morning, let us confess our sins and seek repentance that we may night cheapen the grace that was purchased as so high a price.

Today's prayer - Gracious God, we admit that we have not always been an obedient church.  We have failed to hear the cry of the needy.  We have not always loved your children the way that we are called to love them.  God, if we are honest with ourselves, we haven't always loved ourselves the way that you love us.  This morning, we lay our character defects and sin before you.  Grant us grace in today's communion, that we might be drawn closer to you, and then, empowered by your Holy Spirit, let us go forth from worship as bearers of your love and light.  In Christ's name we pray.  Amen.

Morning Reflections - Faith

Oswald Chambers once said, "Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time." 

Deliberate, intentional confidence.  Not in the things of this world, but rather in the character or nature of God.  The God of Abraham, Noah, Moses, Joshua, David, Paul, and us.  The unwavering character and nature of a creator and sustainer that has reminded us throughout history, "I know the plans I have for you."  Plans to prosper us.  Plans to bless us.  Plans to bring us into the fullness of God's goodness and not to harm us.

We need only a cursory glance at the scriptures to realize that God is faithful to his word.  In each of the lives of those named above, God has been faithful to the promises he made to them.  As I look back over the course of my life thus far, it is easy to see that when I allow God to lead, God was at work in and around me.  This is often easier in hindsight, I think, because we do as Chambers says, have difficulty in understanding God's ways.

The writer of Hebrews defines faith this way, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1)."

Now if I hope for a Vector or a Lamborghini, I am pretty sure that God is not some kind of cosmic vending machine that is going to cater to my every whim.  Unless these two ultra fast cars have some purpose in God's kingdom building, I seriously doubt that I will get one.

So it seems to me that what we hope for and what we long to see has great importance.  If I hope for the things of God, I can be certain that they will come to fruition.  So perhaps today, we can lean more fully into the one that created us, the one that sustains us, and the one that redeems us.  I believe that by drawing closer, we will better hear and know the voice of God.  We will better discern and understand the will of God.

Today's prayer - Holy God, we give thanks for the day.  We give thanks for your faithfulness and the calling you have on our lives.  Help our thoughts to be your thoughts.  Shape our visions and dreams to be yours.  Grant us such clarity in the things that we hope for, that we can know in certainty their fruition though we may not yet see them.  May none of this be for our glory, but solely for yours God.  Amen.

 

Morning Reflections - Healing

I must apologize for the delay in getting this morning's reflection posted.  It seems that I am fighting off a sinus infection.

I guess that makes today's text especially significant:

James 5:13-16 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. ¹⁴ Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

While I sit here and wrestle with a minor physical ailment, countless others are wrestling with issues of much greater significance.  The beauty of God's word is that no matter what our hurt, habit or hang up is that we need freedom from, healing is from God and available to all.  Trouble and peril cannot separate us from God's great love in Jesus Christ.  So today, let us be in prayer for all those who are sick, in trouble, in bondage or hurting.

Today's prayer - Holy and gracious God, today we pray for all in their need.  To those who are ill, grant them your healing and wholeness.  To those who are hurting, grant them your peace and your fullness of presence.  To those who are in bondage, grant them your freedom.  To those who sin, grant them your mercy and grace.  We know that you are our redeemer, healer, sustainer, rock, fortress, and strength.  Grant these requests, we pray, in the name above all names, in the name of Jesus.  Amen.