Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. These are just the regular wildflowers you see in abundance in fall meadows. Some would even call some of them weeds. Most people drive the loop in Cades Cove in hopes of seeing wildlife or to see historic buildings. They drive right past the fields of these small wildflowers. This day I stopped to just look at both the beautiful clear blue skies and the fields filled with the nothing special but still beautiful wildflowers.
We all experience times in our lives when we feel small and unimportant. I think that maybe this is how the early Christians of Asia Minor felt. They were probably small in number and living a lifestyle that was radically different from their society. Peter wrote to remind them that even though they were looked down and even persecuted they each were important enough to have been given a gift - not a gift for themselves but a gift to use to serve others. They and we are useful in God’s eyes. We each have been given gifts to use to serve others. Our service may not ever been noticed but each small act of love makes a difference. Prayer Lord Jesus Speak to our hearts and show us how we can use the gift you have given us to serve others today. Remind us that we are loved and important in your eyes. Amen
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He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” I stooped down to take a picture of this ordinary blade of grass, coved in dew, on my ordinary morning walk at the dam. On this morning this ordinary blade of grass, transformed by the dew and light, served the purpose of reminding me of the beauty of God’s world in even the smallest things.
Jesus was a storyteller of ordinary things - a mustard seed, sower of seeds, and shepherds of lost lambs. His used these stories, based on these ordinary things, to tell the world he was the Messiah, Son of God. We all have stories that seem ordinary. Most of us aren’t famous or well known for some great accomplishment. Yet still we have a story that is part of a bigger story of God’s story of love and grace. Each day we do ordinary things that, if we let him, God will use to tell the story of his love for his world. What ordinary thing can you do this day that will show God’s love? Prayer Extraordinary God Show us the small ordinary thing we can do this day to share your love with our ordinary world. 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 View the post for March 2 for an explanation of my theme for Lent. And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” I could tell that it had been there a long time and it wasn’t the first one that I had seen on the trip. I just didn’t know that sagebrush bloomed as it beamed like fire in the warm, golden-hour sun. I found it there by the shelter that early morning in the wilderness.
As I found my ‘burning bush’ that morning, the Lord found Moses in the wilderness through something common yet transformed. Moses was in the wilderness because he had run as far away as he could leaving the ways of Egypt and his people behind. He had married and started a new life here in the wilderness. On this day he was out doing his ordinary job of shepherding when he noticed it, that common bush now transformed. This encounter with God in the wilderness was the beginning of a new way of life for him. It meant that he would have to go back and face his old one. He did not want to go and made many excuses for why he wasn't the one God should choose. Even with the miracle of the burning bush and hearing God’s voice he still tried to say no to God. Ultimately he did follow God’s call out of the wilderness and accepted the mission God had for him. And with the call came a promise that he would make a return trip to this very place, Sinai. On this return trip God would be leading Moses and the people of Israel to freedom through the wilderness. Prayer Lord of the Wilderness Break into our lives this day with the mission you have for us. Lead us through the wilderness to the place you have promised, the place where we will live with you. Amen The LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. Then Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform. The rock formations of the Badlands stand clear and distinct from the sky. Their cliffs are sharp and dangerous. The vegetation is sparse and water is hard to find. This is the wilderness - not a place we want to visit. That is what I thought until we took our last road trip to the Dakotas. Surprisingly, while the land was harsh I found beauty there. I also found quietness and time to think. In the scriptures the wilderness many times is a place of clarity, a place of finding a sense of mission and purpose.
Sometimes people found themselves in the wilderness not of their own doing; but other times we read God led people into the wilderness. Such is the story of Aaron and Moses. Moses had meet God in the wilderness and was on his way to fulfill the mission God set for him there. Now God was sending Aaron to meet his bother Moses in the wilderness to find the mission that God had for them. During this season of Lent I want to explore what it means to be in the wilderness. My posts during this season will include scripture about being in the wilderness and images of the wilderness I found in the Dakotas. I pray these images and scripture will help us see the beauty and clarity that can only be found in the wilderness. What does being in the wilderness mean to you? Prayer Lord God of the Wilderness Clarify our vision of you and the purpose you have for us this day. Amen When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” It was just another daily walk, nothing special until I saw the morning sunlight shining through the trees. This was a moment of seeing for me. I now see why God gave me my camera. He used it to draw me into his world. I began to see things, common things like trees, that I never really paid much attention to before. At the same time he was sharpening my eye he was teaching me to see scripture in new ways. When I walk in the world God created, I see him. I see him especially now in trees. If you look long enough you will see trees all throughout the Biblical story, from creation to the Garden of Eden to the cross and to Revelation. Tress give us life and beauty and it was on a tree that Jesus gave us new life. In the words of Martin Luther, “Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.”
Now my challenge is the same one the shepherds faced. They had an amazing experience with the angels, now what were they going to do about it. They decided to go and see. How will I go and see? I have lived most all my life within 60 minutes or less of the mountains, yet I never had the desire to walk in them until my camera drove me to them. Now walking in nature has become more than a desire; it is a need. God can speak to us anywhere but I have found that I listen better when I walk in his world. It is when I walk in God’s world I see light . . . and trees. How will you go and see Jesus? Prayer Dear God Thank you for trees and the beautiful things you teach us through them. Open our eyes and our ears to listen to you as we walk in your world. Amen But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. This is one of my favorite pictures of our first road trip through South Dakota. It happens to be in Custer State Park in the Black Hills. I have actually printed this image and it hangs in my sunroom. I love to look at it and come back to it again and again. Each time I look at it I remember the story behind it - how I wanted to get to a certain place for a sunset but a buffalo traffic jam kept us from getting there; how we found this random wide spot in the road to turn around and give up; how I walked up this little path and saw this tree and wide open valley before we turned around; how God gave me this image instead of the one I had wanted.
We all have experiences like this, experiences we treasure in our hearts. The visit of shepherds was an experience that Mary treasured in her heart. It must have been hard to have this incredible story of being chosen to be the mother of the Messiah. It was quite a different story than most people expected. It was even hard for her to believe at first when she asked the angel, “how can this be?” Maybe it was these experiences, the things she treasured in her heart, that kept her going at times when things were not as she expected. On our recent trip to Custer State Park in South Dakota I wanted to go back and find this little spot again. However there was a road closure on that part of the loop road. I was disappointed that I wouldn’t see this view again, but God gave me new experiences, new images. I will still go back to places that I treasure but I will also pick up my camera and walk into God’s world to see new things that he has for me to treasure - new experiences with him. What are some experiences that you treasure? How can you be open to new experiences of God breaking into your life? Prayer Lord God Break into our lives and give us new treasures of your love that we can share with those we meet this day. Amen View the post for February 17 for an explanation of my Lenten Project As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. While the crowd of disciples joyfully sang praises, blessings, and hosannas as they entered Jerusalem, Jesus wept. He saw the storm that was coming. He grieved for those who had closed their eyes to him. He knew that even his disciples would all abandon him for a time before they would understand who he was. He grieved for the world lost in sin. We also need to grieve for the world. For only when we truly grieve like Jesus did we will have the courage to share the story of Jesus to those who need to know the way through their storm to the light of dawn.
Prayer Jesus Give us eyes to grieve as you did that day and the compassion to share your love with those who don’t know you. May our lives and our words show them the way through the storm to your peace. Amen When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” When I see the sun rays shinning through the clouds I think of heaven. Like the sun, we know heaven is there but it is mysterious, unknown. One of the early sources for my understanding of heaven comes from the story of Jacob’s dream described in the song, “We are climbing Jacob’s Ladder.” I never really thought much about what it meant. I just knew that Jacob had this dream of a ladder going from earth to heaven with angels going back and forth. The pictures impressed on my memory from my childhood Sunday School class show winged beings dressed white.
Now as I read this story again I see that it was a pivotal time for Jacob and his understanding of who he was and his purpose. He describes his emotions of fear and amazement. Like Jacob we are often unaware of the presence of God in our lives. Then he breaks through the clouds and we see him. We experience the awesomeness of God and here at the Gate of Heaven we worship God and find our identity in him. Prayer Great God Break into our lives this day and bring us to the gate of Heaven. Show us your purpose for our lives. Amen When he [Jesus] had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. We started our third road trip last September on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Since we have driven on the parkway many times it was a good place to start our sightseeing. We would travel from the familiar to the unfamiliar, leaving the mountains where we live and traveling through New England to the coast of Maine. When we left that day we were filled with excitement of the beauty and adventure before us. Things we had read about and seen pictures of we were now going to see in person.
I wonder if the disciples felt like we did that day we began our adventure. Jesus had been with the disciples for 40 days teaching them and preparing them for the new journey ahead. As he prepared to leave them he took them to a place near Bethany. It was a familiar place, the place where he began his final entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. This time instead of leading them into Jerusalem he was leading them out into the world. Prayer Risen Christ Open our hearts to desire the adventure of following you. Lead us out from the familiar and comfortable to be witnesses of your grace and love to out world. Amen So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” I have many memories of visiting my grandparents in Gatlinburg and hearing stories of mountains. I remember going to the Ogle Cabin and hearing my grandmother tell me about visiting her cousins here when they still lived in this house. It is a familiar place and reminds me of important times. The mountains are to me a homeplace.
If we are fortunate, we have a homeplace, a place that brings memories of safety and security. Jesus lived most of his life in Galilee. He grew up there and spent most of his ministry with his disciples there. So after the resurrection he told the women to go tell his disciples to meet him in Galilee, the homeplace. He was no longer needed in the temple in Jerusalem for he had become the temple. Life was forever changed and he knew they needed a place to regroup so he sent them to Galilee. But going to Galilee was just the beginning. In the words of N. T. Wright in his book Lent for Everyone: Matthew, Year A: From the very start, the news that Jesus is risen contains a command: ‘Go!’ Go, first to Galilee; go back to where it began, back to your roots to meet the risen Jesus there and watch him transform everything, including your oldest memories. And, as you obey the command of the angel, Jesus himself may perhaps meet you in person (verse 9). Take hold of him. Worship him. This is his day, the Day of Days. Make it yours too. My grandparent’s home was destroyed in the fires of 2016, but I still go to the mountains. I still go to visit the Ogle cabin, which my mom always called Junglebrook; but now I go and find new places in the mountains that I haven’t been before. Each time I go there is something new to find, some new word from the Master spoken to me in the mountains. From the familiarity of our time with Jesus, meeting him first at home wherever that is, we go forward to worship and serve our Lord. Prayer Lord Jesus Help us find new places and new ways to serve you in the spaces of old places. In the security of your love which will never go away, we go forward. 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 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. This one-way road is one of my favorite roads in the mountains. When you pull off for a view you don’t have to wonder which way to turn you just have to follow the road. The road ahead is narrow and moves out of sight and it ends in a different place from where it starts. It is filled with beauty all along the way. All you have to do is follow the road.
Jesus’s call to Simon Peter and Andrew was as straightforward as driving on this one-way road, “Come, follow me.” They didn’t know where it would end but they did know who they were following. Jesus called them from where they were and told them that he would make them into different kind of fishermen. Following Jesus begins where you are now. You only must decide to follow the road he lays out for you. You won’t always see the road in front of you. You must trust Jesus to lead the way. Prayer Lord Jesus Give us the courage to follow you this day. Remake us into what you would have us be. Amen Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, repaired. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. The book of Nehemiah tells the story of how the Israelites who had been in exile rebuilt the walls and temple in Jerusalem under the leadership of Nehemiah. It has become one of my favorite books because of the lessons there are to learn in its pages. When I have read this book I will have to admit that I usually just skip chapter 3 because it is just a list of people with names I can’t pronounce who helped rebuild the wall. Until I read it again, really read it closely, and noticed something new about those people. It seems that Uzziel and Harhaiah were goldsmiths and Hananiah was a perfume maker. These artisans were known for their talent and trade, not exactly the skills needed for wall building. Still they worked on the wall and I think they probably got a lot of on-the-job training in wall building. By using these new skills they helped to restore Jerusalem so that the people once again could worship and renew their covenant with God. Rebuilding the temple was an important part of God’s plan. It took lots of people who worked outside of their talent and skill.
So why the picture of the Queen Ann’s Lace and the waterfall? Even though I have stood in front of this waterfall for many years and taken many pictures I have never noticed the flowers before. I have never gotten down and taken a picture through the rails. This day I saw the whole scene differently. My camera has taught me to see things differently, to use an artistic talent that I didn’t think I had. The images that I have taken and this new way of seeing has led me to write. I am not a trained photographer, nor ever imaged that I would ever give myself that title. I have learned on the job, so to speak, from books and YouTube videos. I also am not a writer. Sure, I had to write in my job as a teacher but not this kind of writing. I am not sure exactly why this writing and photographing came about but it is my prayer that it helps rebuild a wall for you. I don’t write to teach theology, as one can tell from my writings, but I do write to encourage and to share my journey with Jesus with you. Read this list of people in Nehemiah 3 and think about all the people it took to rebuild the wall. Be open to God's call to rebuild the people of God in ways that you never expected to be your talent (and use your talents, too). Prayer Lord God, Giver of Talents Open our hearts and eyes to see things that need to be rebuilt in the lives of people around us. Develop in us the talents we need to do the rebuilding. Amen After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. It is just a barn on the Tipton place. It wasn’t built to be beautiful. It was never intended to be an example of great craftsmanship but to serve its function of keeping the farm productive. Someone had to build it.
Someone had to do it. The sun was getting low in the sky of Good Friday and the Sabbath would soon be here. And there was the body of Jesus on the cross, his life gone; it was finished. So now what do you do. There were a few people who did what others couldn’t. It wasn’t the disciples who did it. Instead it was the silent followers who, with great courage and sacrifice, went to Pilate and requested Jesus’s body. We don’t know why Joseph, Nicodemus, and the women who followed them took this risk. Maybe they were the ones who always did the right thing, the ones who worked behind the scenes to get things done. They did the hard work of carrying Jesus lifeless and beaten body to the tomb. They purchased the burial materials. They wrapped and prepared the body. They did the everyday work, the behind the scenes work, that had to be done when someone died. They were faithful in the everyday things, the utilitarian things that must be done. When they finished the job they had no idea of how big their act would become to the story of the empty tomb. Sometimes we feel that what we do is unimportant, it is only a barn after all and not beautiful art. We may never know how God will use the little, everyday, unimportant things we do to change someone's life. So be faithful in the little things, the everyday things and leave the rest to God. Prayer Lord Jesus, Help us to see and do the things that no one else wants to do, the hard things, the everyday things. Use those things to accomplish your work and bring you glory. Amen For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Today is a kind of mountain-top experience, or maybe a remembrance of 365 little moutain-top experiences. This is my 365th post, a year’s worth of scripture, words, and images. When I began this website on November 11, 2017, I had no plan or really even idea about how often I would post or how long the website would last. I still don’t have any idea about those things. This whole experience has truly been God’s work, from the initial idea about what to do with my images, to the verse from Prsalms 119:130 that became the focus of the website, “the unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple,” to the words that I write today. I look back at the images and the words and I can’t believe that I took those pictures or wrote those words - and then I realize that I didn’t. God gave me the images from his world and the words from his word.
Two years ago I would never have even imagined that creating this website would be the job that God would give me. I would never have planned this myself or even thought it possible that I could create this many images or write these words. God’s ways are truly higher than our ways and this new job of writing has led me closer to him. I see God now in ways that I never did before I picked up the camera. I see the beauty and connection and completeness in his word in greater depth through the commentaries and resources based on the Revised Common Lectionary that I have come to love. I long to walk in God’s world along the trails of the mountains, even if I never take my camera out of my pack. I know there is much more to learn about chasing the light in God’s world and his Word. Wherever God leads me with this website and blog, I want it only to bring glory to him. I am grateful to friends and family who take time to read my posts and send encouraging words. I am grateful for each image and each word he has spoken to me and I pray that you see him in every post for as long as God gives me images and words. Prayer Soli Deo Gloria, to God only be glory, for your ways and thoughts are higher than ours. Amen And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. As I got up to get ready for my morning walk during the break in the rain, I looked out the window and saw some unusual coating on the my Leland Cyprus trees. My curiosity got the best of be so I headed down to the trees to see what this strange coating was. As I got closer I saw that it wasn’t ice or frost but rain drops. There has been so much rain and moisture in the air that the rain drops just held on. I ran back for my camera and tripod and I was amazed at what the camera saw. Each small rain drop was like a crystal ball reflecting everything around the tree. The camera allowed me to see what I couldn’t see any other way.
The blind man set alongside the road, cast off, forgotten, unable to see. When he heard Jesus was coming he called out to him for mercy. Jesus the King of Heaven (let that sink in) stopped and asked him “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man’s reply, "I want to see. " Jesus also asks us what we want. Do you want to see? Jesus will give you sight. He will show you things that you can see no other way. And, like the blind man who received his sight that day, our only response can be to follow him, to serve him as he served the cast off, forgotten, and blind. Prayer God of Light, Help us to see you in your world filled with intricacies and beauty. And help us to see the cast off blind, and forgotten who Christ has called us to serve. Amen On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. . . . . . . . And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. It was an ordinary day, the first time I noticed this tree. It is on the side of a main highway that I have driven countless times. But on this ordinary day I noticed the tree and it became an important part of my story. This was one of the first times that I actually stopped take a picture just because I thought the tree was beautiful. This was the day that I saw that the bare branches of a tree are like graceful, intricate sculptures that you can see so much better without leaves. I saw beauty in something ordinary. God was using my new camera to teach me to see things that I would have never seen before.
It was the end of an ordinary day for the disciples, the day they followed Jesus. They had been fishing all night and caught nothing. They were tired and probably just wanted to go home and go to bed, but Jesus asked to borrow their boat. We don’t even know what Jesus taught that day from the boat. We know that this ordinary day was the beginning of a totally new way of life for Simon Peter, James, and John. Nothing would ever be the same. What ordinary thing is God using in your life to call you? Maybe the call is just to keep on doing what you are doing now even though you have labored all night on a task that is seeming to fail. Maybe he is going to use something ordinary to gradually transform the way you serve him. Listen for his call on ordinary days and when you follow him, nothing will ever be the same. Prayer Lord Jesus Open our hearts to hear your call us out of the ordinary. Give us the courage to follow you in an extraordinary way we never would have seen before. Amen But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. You don’t need a caption under this image to know that it is a rose, even though there is no other rose like it in the world. Each variety of rose shares some of the same characteristics - petals, thorns, leaves - but each one is unique in how these characteristics show up. Christians are like this. We are each unique in who we are and how we come to Christ but we all have experienced the risen Christ in our lives. Still, we all search for our identity and an understanding of who we are in Christ - what is it that makes us a rose. Paul found that identity in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the words of Lewis Galloway from Feasting on the Word, Year C:
Just as Paul did not hide his past, stifle his personality, or suppress his anxieties, so Christians today can recognize that they are who they are by the grace of God. Each person’s struggles, pains, joys, accomplishments, and dreams are stories of the gospel that can light the way for others. We are each saved by the grace of God and it is by this grace that we understand who we are, who God made us to be. Only when you look at your life, your failures, your sin, your personality, from the perspective of Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection will you be able to say with Paul, “but by the grace of God I am what I am.” Because you have received much grace and have much to tell, work hard to share that grace and tell your story to others knowing that you can do this through the power of the grace of God. Prayer Lord Jesus Christ Help us to find our identity, our purpose, in you. Give us courage to tell our stories of grace to light the way for others. Amen Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. Yesterday, after church, we headed to the mountains. It is the only day in the coming 10 days that had a forecast of sunny, so even though we were getting a late start we headed out. We knew couldn’t hike a long trail so we chose an old favorite, the Little River Trail. It was so wonderful just to walk in the mountains; to follow the river as it flows over rocks. As usual when we walk in the mountains we are quiet and it becomes a time for me to be with God in his world and see the beauty of all he has created.
While I was walking I thought of this quote by the famous naturalist, John Muir, that can be found everywhere, from T-shirts to large wall murals, “the mountains are calling and I must go.” The interesting thing though is that this is only the first of the sentence, here is the rest, “and I will work on while I can, studying incessantly.” For John Muir the calling to the mountains was not to relax, but to work, to understand them, so he could contribute to science. As I thought about that quote I thought about how God also calls us to work. It is a good thing to be called, to have a purpose, to find meaning in life. And the wonderful thing is that we are called by more than mountains, we are called by a living God. Not only are we called but we are promised that God will give us everything that we need to do the work. Prayer Lord God Open our ears to hear your call. Make our calling to walk and work with you stronger than any earthly calling. Give us a sense of purpose and vision to see the work that you have set for us. Remind us of your faithfulness when we grow weary. 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