When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” As the sun rose on my early morning walk, shafts of light broke through the trees to light the path ahead. By the time I got to the end of the trail all the shadows were gone and everything was bright. Jesus spoke these words to a people who were walking in the shadows of oppression from a foreign power, poverty, and despair. Still he invited them to follow him out of the darkness into light. He didn’t promise to suddenly take all their problems away. Instead he promised that following him meant that they would always have his light to guide them. No longer would they walk in shadows but now they could walk with him in the light. Jesus still calls today for anyone to walk with him out of the darkness into the light of life. His promise is still true, when we walk with him we no longer walk in darkness.
Prayer Lord of Light and Life Help us to accept your invitation to follow you. Give us clarity of purpose today to follow where you would lead us. Amen
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The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. As I sat on the lakeshore in the early morning, I saw Mt. LeConte rising above the clouds. I have only climbed halfway up the mountain to Alum Cave. I want to climb all the way to the top one day. It will take work and the help and guidance of a friend who has climbed to the top.
“Further up and further in” these are the words of C. S. Lewis from the Last Battle book of the Narnia Chronicles. They are spoken as the children follow the great lion, Aslan, as he leads them into his country. In these beautiful stories Aslan is the character who represents Jesus. As the children follow him further up and further in they find and experience beauty all along the way. I have come to love these words as they have become a description of what I want my life to be - one who follows Christ further up and further in. Unlike my desire to climb Mt. LeConte, which might not happen, I know that the LORD is faithful and he will lead me further up and further in - and along the way I will see and experience his beauty. He hears me and he will bring me near to him. In your own way will you join me as we go further up and further in? Prayer Lord of All Things Lead me further up and further into your love. Amen I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; We had gone to the top of the mountain to see the sunset. Since we got there in plenty of time I found a good position and sat down to wait. I hadn’t come here with any thought of taking images of butterflies, but a Monarch landed right in front of where I was sitting. Most of the time butterflies never stop moving so getting an image of one is not that easy. This clover must have been just what the Monarch needed and so it stayed on the clover for quite awhile. As I looked through my camera with my lens zoomed in, I was amazed at its intricate design of this butterfly. It reminded me that the God who made this beautiful small creature loves and cares for me. Not only does God love us but he promises to teach us his ways. He always counsels us and looks at us, no matter how small or unimportant we feel, with loving eyes.
Prayer Great God Today may we seek your instruction, trust your love and be open to your counsel. Amen For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; It was time to go find the spring wildflowers in the mountains. As soon as I stepped on the trail this little scene greeted me, raindrops from the previous night’s rain still sitting on the leaves. They glistened as they reflected the morning sunlight catching the water that gives life to the plant.
After a long winter, spring rains bring the promise of new life to the mountains. The water on the leaves became for me a sign of hope. It reminded me of the promise in the vision of John that Jesus, both our lamb and shepherd, will lead us to springs of living water. We all have times when the sadness and hardness of life seem to leave us thirsty and parched. In those times we can trust that Jesus will lead us out of the desert to springs of living water that only he can provide. If you magnify the image and look very closely you will faintly see an image of me with my camera reflected in the raindrop. I think that we need to remember that Jesus also called us to reflect his love. Is there someone day with whom you can share a cup of living water in Jesus’s name? Prayer Lord Jesus Shepherd and Lamb, Refresh our souls with your living water and give us hope to share with others we meet this day. Amen The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him. We had seen many beautiful things on our road trip but that last drive out of Theodore Roosevelt National Park just seemed to take forever, no cities, no houses, just prairie. Then we arrived at Spearfish Canyon filled with golden Aspens along Spearfish Creek. It was so good to see this new landscape. We knew that the wilderness would come again but for now it was just good to see trees and water.
Our life’s journey takes us through times of wilderness and times of abundant, golden joy. Each place is different and in each we find a new purpose. There was a time when I was a teacher, the purpose God had for me. In these days of retirement God has been reworking the purpose he has for me. God will use all the clay he gave me, all the years of teaching, to make me into his vessel. I must stay soft clay for him to rework me. If I resist and harden my way of being, sticking to only the vessel that I was, I will never find that new purpose. Spearfish Canyon was beautiful but the wilderness would come again as we made our way through the Badlands and prairies to home. I was thankful for the golden days there but I knew the journey wasn’t finished. We still had more wilderness to go through before we were home. For now my camera and my writing are my purpose and as much as I love these things I will try to keep the clay soft and my life open to his purpose. How do you stay open to God’s purpose? Prayer Lord God, Master Potter Keep me soft and pliable to your will. Make me into the vessel you want, the purpose you have for me. Amen After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. Our trip through the wilderness was possible because someone before us had built roads. They kept us from getting lost in scenery that can look so much the same. They allowed us to see beauty in a place that can seem desolate. Not only did we have these special roads we had maps to help us find our way in a place we had never been.
Exodus tells us the story of the Israelites journey through the wilderness. It is the story of how a tribe of people were ransomed, freed from slavery, by their God and how he led them through the wilderness to the Promised Land. It isn’t always an easy story because it required that the people trust God. Even though they had a pillar of cloud and fire they, like we do, failed many times to trust Him. Still God led them through the wilderness. On the last night that Jesus was with his disciples he tried to prepare them for what was coming. He knew that there was so much that they needed to understand to face the wilderness of his death and resurrection that was to come in the next three days. He promised them and us that He will not leave us alone in the wilderness but will send his Spirit. There will be times when we must walk through the wilderness of doubt and tragedy, but Jesus has promised a way through. Like the roads and maps that we followed through the Dakotas, we have the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit to lead us through our wilderness to home with Jesus. Prayer Lord Jesus Help us to trust you to lead us through the wilderness to you. Amen Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in. On our recent trip to the Dakotas I I learned that this part of Badlands National Park is called “The Wall.” You can follow it for 60 miles. Which each new view I saw more of its beauty and also its danger. At the beginning of each trail were prominent signs warning the hikers to beware of rattle snakes. It made me think of the story of Joshua facing the walls of Jericho. The people had just entered the promised land and the large walled city stood before them. The instructions God gave Joshua for how to face the walled city were downright strange. Who fights a military battle by only walking around the enemy in silence for a week? Joshua had a choice to trust God or fight the battle in his own military strength. When you read the rest of the story you will see that God did what he promised and the walls fell.
Prayer Lord God When we face walls in our life that seem overwhelming and dangerous, teach us to trust you and walk where you lead. Amen View the post for February 17 for an explanation of my Lenten Project When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. The crowds were gone from the park. The starkness of the cloudy day brought a kind of sadness. The tide was low and the blue skies and crashing waves we came to see were not to be seen. In the distance was the light house, so far away and so small. Yet there it was on the point, doing its job to guide the boats safely into the cove and home. I still took the picture even though it was not the image that I had come to take.
So many of us are experiencing stark and lonely days. We wonder if we will ever feel safe again; if we will ever see blue skies; if God is still there. God doesn’t promise that there will always be clear, blue sky days. Instead He promises to be the lighthouse that guides us through stark days and safely home to him. His promises are true. If we keep our eyes on him we will see His beauty even in lonely places. Prayer Lord God, Even on our cloudiest days be the light that shines through the clouds. Help us to see your beauty even on days without clear, blue skies and to trust you to guide us safely home. Amen In their hearts humans plan their course, I am a planner - of lesson plans, road trips, and photography outings. Planning is my way of bringing order out of chaos. Things in our world right now seem disordered and chaotic. We don’t know what will happen next. Planning is almost impossible. It is like we are walking down an unknown path not sure of where we are going or what will be around the next curve. What we do know is that the Lord is there to establish our steps. He knows what is around the next corner. His light will show us the way. When we can't plan we can trust God bring order to our chaos.
Prayer Lord, We are plan-less right now. Shine your light on our path this day and bring order from the chaos that we face. Calm our fears and help us to walk in the confidence of your love. Show us your purpose and direction for this day. Amen But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” While scientists know many things about clouds there are still some things that are a mystery to them. I have spent some time learning about clouds in order to determine the possibility of a beautiful sunrise or sunset, but still the process is mysterious.
In the gospels and Acts we read the stories of the risen Christ. We see how his disciples struggled with understanding the mystery of resurrection. I wonder how long they stood there staring into the sky. They now must learn how to follow their Christ who was no longer physically with them. Like the disciples we too must walk into the mystery of following Christ. Jesus gives us a mission to be his witnesses and in unexpected ways he works out with each of us how we will accomplish his mission. Even though we do not know exactly how we accomplish our mission of being his witnesses we can walk with security as we follow him. One of my favorite hymns, Christ The Lord Is Risen Today by Charles Wesley, describes for me the mystery of following Christ. We take up our cross and follow Jesus through death into life, Alleluia! Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia! Following our exalted Head, Alleluia! Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia! Prayer Lord Christ, Our Exalted Head Keep these words on our hearts and in our minds throughout this day as we seek to follow you, “Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!” Amen Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, This boardwalk makes it possible to walk through swampy land to see a beautiful lake. It forms a boundary line that keeps you safe. Every so often there is a place to stop and sit and just consider the beauty before you. God’s law, like this boardwalk, provides boundary lines for us. When we follow God’s law we find his blessing in the beauty he provides along the way. His law keeps us safe while leading us to his beauty.
Prayer Lord God Open our eyes to find the boundary lines in your Word that we need to make decisions and walk blamelessly with you this day. Amen Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ Since we retired my husband and I have taken two long road trips. Before we left we made sure that we had the maps that we needed, both print and digital, to keep from getting lost. There were a few times when we were a little unsure about which way to go and those maps came in handy. It is a scary thing to be lost on a scenic highway far away from any town and few cars. We will all travel down dark, difficult, scary roads at some time during our lives where it can be easy to get lost. God’s word is a map and resource to keep us on the road, but we have way more than that. We have a Savior who looks for us.
Prayer Great Shepherd Bring us back when we wander away from you and get lost. Thank you for seeking and finding us. Amen You are my hiding place; I think we all have days when we just want to run away - to ride off into the sunset and leave the pain and anxiety behind. But where do we run to find rest and peace we seek? The best place is into the hands of a loving God. From his word we learn the way we should go, the road we should take.
Prayer Loving God Thank you for being our hiding place and surrounding us with songs of deliverance on days when we just want to run away. Show us the road that will lead to you and counsel us with your word. Amen I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. In some ways I have always been afraid of hiking in the mountains - of getting lost, of getting caught in a sudden, strong storm, or bears and other wildlife. My desire to hike has been fueled by my desire to take pictures of God’s beautiful world. So I started learning about hiking and the hiking trails of the Smokies. One thing that I haven’t mastered, though, is the ability to use a map and a compass to find your way. So I stay on the well-marked and well-traveled trails. I am grateful to the trail makers who carve steps out of rocks and make it possible to go to places that I would never have the ability to go by myself.
In our lives we also have a trail maker, the Holy Spirit. Jesus wanted his disciples and all those who follow him to know that he wasn’t leaving them without a trail to follow. Sometimes that trail can get a little hard to climb but Jesus promised his disciples and us that the Holy Spirit would guide us into truth, even when that truth is hard to understand. Prayer Great Triune God When we come to times when we no longer understand, give us the courage to accept your guidance. Open our ears to your words and keep us on the trail you have laid out for us. Amen For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Last fall we got to take a road trip to the Great Lakes. One of the places we wanted to find was Lake Itasca State Park in Minnesota. It is here where the Mississippi River begins, yes this mighty river begins as a creek flowing out of Lake Itasca so small you can rock hop across it.
Our road trip was a journey to find new places of God’s world, like Lake Itasca. Today I found a wonderful book by the Australian photographer, Ken Duncan, “Where Jesus Walked.” He took pictures of the Holy Land and wrote about them. These are words from this book about Jesus’s journeys: “People often take journeys to find themselves. Jesus journeyed to find us.” So as the mighty Mississippi begins as a small creek so our journey begins with a rock hop across a small stream all the while knowing that Jesus is seeking us and he will find us. Be amazed at such love. Prayer Jesus, Seeker of the Lost Thank you for finding me. Open our eyes to see you and journey forward knowing that when we walk with you we will never be lost. Amen. This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God's way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities. When I read this verse from the lectionary this week it made me stop and ask myself, what is my life’s work. Paul knew his purpose, but it wasn’t always his purpose. Remember the first thing we read about Paul is that he was passionate about stamping out the apostasy of followers of “the Way,” Christians. For 36 years my life work was teaching. Seven years ago I purchased my first DSLR so that I could take pictures at my son’s wedding. I would never have imagined that God would use that purchase to write an “almost” daily devotional blog with my pictures. It has truly been a real surprise. I have never considered artist expression to be one of my natural abilities. But God has equipped me for this my new life’s work. I believe, I know, that he has given me the right books and YouTube videos to learn this art of photography. He has developed in me a desire to hike and be in his world that I never really had before. He has taught me to write something besides lesson plans.
I offer you today one of my favorite pictures that I have taken this year. It is a sunrise, the beginning of a new day, in a place far away from where I live, a place I never really thought I would go. I still have so much to learn about photography and even more to learn about God’s word, but I am trusting a God who will equip me and use me in his way. The lesson is that this is what God does. He gives each of us a life’s work and he uses this to share the gospel. And sometimes, as with me, the thing that you never thought would be your life’s work becomes a way to share the gospel in ways you never could have predicted. And also like me you stop and think I am so in over my head, but that is the time that God can use you the most. As Paul learned, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Prayer Great Master Open our hearts to your calling. Come to us in a fresh way. Give us a new day. Guide us to our life’s work and equip us to share Jesus with all we meet. Amen I will keep your law continually, forever and ever, Several of my favorite trails in the Smokies are wide trails. Since many were at one time roads the incline is more gradual, there are fewer rocks and roots to trip on, and I can see further ahead. It is also easier to walk beside someone which can’t always be done on a single wide path. Keeping God’s precepts and laws means that I have his guidance in my life. He walks beside me and keeps me from stumbling. He will walk by me forever on beautiful wide trails.
Prayer Maker of Wide Paths Thank you for your laws and precepts that guide me to you. Amen Because of the tender mercy of our God, My husband and I have just entered a new day and time in our lives as we are now retired after many years of teaching. It is this retirement time that have allowed us to have adventures and do things that we never could while we are working. It is a new day for us.
In his latest album Ken Medema captured exactly where I find myself right now. Since his words say them so much better than I can, here are the words from his song, Ocean Beach, on his album, Nothing Like the Rain. (You should go to his website or purchase the album from iTunes.) Ocean Beach I stand by the ocean, looking back at the land I remember my childhood when I played in the sand Heedless of danger, I ran to the sea to leap in the whitecaps that set my soul free Now I am older and cautious in so many ways But I know there are beaches and whitecaps and journeys for these my best days This is my choice I want to leap into this strange new day To taste and to turn, to love and to learn what I could not know yesterday No turning back, yesterday’s gone I’ll relish this day, I’ll treasure this dawn What a romance taking the chance of life I walk in the city, down the streets I have known I remember my young days when these streets were my own I knew I was called here, this place held my heart And now when I walk here I feel like a stranger, it tears me apart I will not return here, that die is cast But I’ll run to the present and love it as much as I treasure the past I will run with a stranger and I will walk with a friend I will dance til I stumble and I’ll get up again I will not run for shelter when the path is unknown For I am surrounded by friends and companions, I am not alone I want to love the night, I want to seize the day I want to run the race, don't want to dream my live away This is my choice I want to leap into this brand new day To taste and to turn, to love and to learn what I could not know yesterday No turning back, yesterday’s gone I’ll relish this day, I’ll treasure this dawn What a romance taking the chance of life I stand at the ocean, I look back at the land Prayer Lord of Sunrises and New Days Thank you for the beauty of a sunrise on a new day. Give us courage to treasure each day as we walk into new adventures you have prepared for us. Amen After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” It was getting a little late in the day and we only had time for one more hike at Tettegouche State Park in Minnesota. We decided to take the hike to Cascade Falls. We had a little trouble getting started because the signs in the parking lot were confusing. We finally figured out which trail to take. The trail followed the river so there were lots of little side paths that went to down to the edge. After we got to one of them a couple coming the opposite direction asked if these were the falls. They had been walking for a while and they said that they didn’t see any sign of a waterfall so they had decided to turn back. We were pretty sure that we had not been hiking for 1.2 miles, the distance to the waterfalls, but there were fewer and fewer people on the trail. So we kept going, the trail got harder until it just seemed to stop at this large rock. We were on the shore of the river and could hear waterfalls but now no trail. We climbed over this large rock which took some maneuvering, and there they were, what we had come to see. We knew that we might not ever come this way again so we kept going and in the end were rewarded with these beautiful falls on this clear blue-sky day.
In these verses from John we learn that after hearing these words of Jesus many disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. Many times we think only of the twelve disciples and forget that there were others who followed him in the beginning. The twelve were the ones who kept following him. Peter knew Jesus teachings were hard and he didn’t always immediately understand them. So like us on our hike that day, Peter knew that there was no where else to go but to keep following the difficult path walking with Jesus. Peter knew these hard words of Jesus were the words of eternal life and there was no where else where he would find them. Like Peter and the other disciples, walk on when the path seems hard knowing that the only place where we will find life is walking with Jesus. Prayer Jesus, When the way is difficult and we find your Word hard to understand, give us the insight and courage to keep going, to keep following you. Speak your words, even when they are hard, into our lives. Amen Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; When the sun is low in the sky, like after a sunrise, it changes the color of things. Rocks that are gray and black now reflect a beautiful golden glow. The water reflects the blue of the sky and the clouds reflect the light of the sun. To see this beautiful light you must get up in the dark, make your way to a place to see the eastern sky, and wait patiently for the sun rise over the horizon. Then when you think it is time to pack up, look around and you and see the way the sun lights up the surroundings.
We need to look for God’s light and his truth like a photographer looks for the golden light after sunrise. When we do we will see beautiful things that can only be seen when we seek him. His light will lead us to a holy place, a place where we live and walk with him in our lives. Prayer God of Light, Shine your light and truth in our lives today. Help us to follow your truth to a holy place where we can dwell with you. Amen |
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Soli Deo Gloria,
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan