Monday March 15, 2021 Let's Talk About Faith Hebrews 11:1-12 Years
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Monday March 15, 2021 Let’s Talk about Faith Hebrews 11:1-12 “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance of what we do not see.” (vs. 1) Years ago, I was participating in a ropes course with a group of youth. I was very close to this particular group of youth and they really wanted me to be able to conquer my fear of heights. I participated in all the elements with them, but when we got to a thirty-foot pole I was to climb and jump from, all my fears began to creep in. As I climbed the pole, my legs began to shake. When I got to the top, they were shouting from below, “you got this!” There is video of this moment that demonstrates the way my fears kept me from the “leap of faith,” which is what this element of the course was called. I eventually jumped, but I missed the trapeze and hung suspended in the air. Afterwards, I processed this reality of being held suspended. I was never in real danger. I was always going to be caught by either the trapeze pole or the rigging that held me safe. The Hebrews text captures us in the story of the faithful. God meets those who dare to take leaps of faith and catches us up in a grand story of participating in the ongoing work of bringing wholeness and healing to the world. In our leap we get to we witness that we can do far greater things together with God, than we ever could on our own. In our leap, we get to witness God weaving together all of humanity into God’s people of faith, trusting in the power of God over every other power in the world. It is important for us to work to conquer the things that hold us in fear and doubt, for in doing so, our confidence grows, and our trust grows. The thing God desires from us is trust in this way he marks out before us that leads to life, eternal life for all. Each time we take a step in this way, we live more and more into our faith, into what we say it is we believe. I am still afraid of heights. I still get a little shaky looking over tall ledges. Yet, I try and remind myself when I experience fear, “Why am I so afraid right now. Is this a moment where God is inviting me to take a leap in my faith?” There is no better place to be caught, than in the hands of God. Prayer: Holy God, You meet us in our point of need and wait with us there, even till we take needed steps. Continue to strengthen our ability to work through our fears, so that we find our way to you. Amen Tuesday March 16, 2021 Hearts on Fire Jeremiah 31:31-34 “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on my hearts; and I will be their God and they will be my people.” (v. 33) The very first scripture that I memorized, was memorized unintentionally. During my early years as a child, I loved sitting with my grandmother at her kitchen table in the mornings. She would make me a cup of coffee to share with her, only my coffee had a lot of milk and chocolate and a little coffee. I always say she made the original café mochas! As we sat and talked in the mornings, she would share things with me and sometimes she would say the same things over and over. “Trust in the Lord, with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him and God will make your paths straight.” I always thought these were my grandmother’s thoughts, her words. Later, when I began to read the bible, I found that my grandmother’s words were words that flowed from her to me. Those words had been etched within her heart; through the living she did in the word of God. There is a point in God’s relationship with all of humanity, where God no longer wants a people who are working to be obedient in all that they do. God communicates a longing for God’s people to be swept up into the heart of God, by allowing themselves to trust that the word of God, the law of God is meant to unite their hearts to God. When our hearts change, our wills re-orient to God’s ways, not because of a desire to follow rules, but because of an awareness that God’s ways are what are good and right and true. The second scripture I memorized was intentional. I woke one night from sleep and opened a bible in a bed side drawer and opened it. The pages landed on the 23rd Psalm. I remember reading it over and over and over again until the words could flow from on my mouth on their own. When I preach on that psalm now, it is alive in me, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” We are not left alone to find our way; we have a Shepherd who guides us every step of the way into the light. Prayer: God of goodness, mercy, and grace, Meet us on the journey, fill our hearts with love that lights a fire in our lives for you. Grow that love, so that it is our guide. Amen Wednesday March 17, 2021 Clean Hearts, Clean Hands Psalm 51:1-12 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” (v. 10) Anyone who has children, has watched them make a mess of things. I love getting pictures of kids with spaghetti all over their faces, birthday cake smashed in their hands, or chocolate all over them. It’s cute. Our mess is not as cute, but God is willing to do for us the same thing that any parent would be willing to do. God is willing to help us clean our mess up. God does not need us perfect, God invites us to come into a relationship, with all our mess and do the work with God, to clean it up. The thing about our mess is, it is similar to children with their chocolate covered hands. It is not only their hands that need to be cleaned up, but all of the places they went with those dirty hands also have to be cleaned up. Parents walk around the house with a wet cloth cleaning all the little chocolate smudges off of tables and walls and glass. It can take hours to clean and once the cleaning seems complete, the chocolate is like pine needles from Christmas trees, it appears in places no one would think a child’s little hands could find. God does not need us to be perfect, God needs us to be moving towards perfection in God. The psalmist today cries out for a clean heart. There is an awareness that without God, they will live a messy life. The psalmist cries out for a new spirit, recognizing the disconnect in themselves from God. There is never too far for us to travel, for God’s hands. God searches for God’s children. God leaves the ninety- nine to find the one. God’s love is a searching love, that seeks to draw us into the wholeness and healing of God’s love. God has the power to deliver us a clean heart and a new spirit. It is important that we understand with our minds, the ways of God. It is important that we seek to make right decisions, moving our will into the will of God, but all of that becomes easier for us when our hearts are broken open in love for God and all the world, for that love is the fulcrum that leverages us to the place we need to be. Love reminds us that we are God’s children. Love reminds us that we are family with all those we share this earth with. Love reminds us of the good that God calls us into. God of Love, Draw us into your great love and like the psalmist cries out, we cry out, make us clean hearts and give us new spirits that are lost in love with you. Amen Thursday March 18, 2021 Meditation is a good thing Psalm 119: 9-16 “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.” (v. 15) One of my favorite ways of meditating on the scriptures is a practice called Lectio Divina. There are many websites that can teach you the practices more succinctly, but most will open up four movements to travel through in reading the scriptures. This practice can be done individually or in a group setting. The movements are as follows: Lectio (Read) As I practice Lectio Divina, the first movement for me is a gentle reading of the scripture, that is open to words or phrases that might rise from the text, but not focusing to much on this. I enter in, simply allowing the words of the scripture to become a living thing of beauty for me. Meditatio (Reflect) The second reading of the scripture passage, I listen to which words or phrases begin to rise, as if they are speaking directly to me. As the words or phrases rise, I don’t try and figure out what they mean, as much as I begin to listen for what God might be saying to me personally.