Category: Devotions

How many of us go through our days parched and empty, thirsting after happiness, when we’re really standing knee-deep in the river of abundance? – Sarah Ben Breathnach from Wake Up Grateful

I am currently reading a book by Kristi Nelson called Wake Up Grateful – and once again my eyes are being opened. I am normally a glass-half-full guy so I tend to look at the positives during my daily walk. But while reading the book, I began to question the depth of my “gratefulness”.

Let me share a defining moment that impacted me with you. Recently my son, Andrew, and I were watching a fun, action-packed movie together. During one scene, the protagonist was hanging on a rope underneath a moving helicopter that was flying through a very mountainous area. Andrew questioned why the people in the helicopter couldn’t see the man hanging underneath the helicopter. I explained that they were flying the helicopter at a high speed and their concentration was there – focusing on flying the helicopter at the high speeds. However, Andrew quickly responded with an astute remark that made me think; he said “but look at the magnificent views they are missing if they aren’t looking around”!

Andrew got it even when I did not. He saw the beauty of the world when I only saw the people (and helicopter) moving. How often are we unable to see the forest through all the trees?

Do you take the time to be truly grateful for all the positives in your life? Think about a bad time in your life and all you want to do is make it the next step. Make it that next minute. And then … you are past it and you a flooded with GRATEFULNESS! But … you soon forget that gratefulness and move on back to normal.

Paul spoke to the Thessalonians thusly;

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV

Give thanks always. Be grateful. Your family. Your church. Your car. A soft chair. Beautiful music. A bird chirping. Clouds. A sweet smell. A wonderful taste.

A quote from Mary Jean Irion in Wake Up Grateful really caught my eye.

“Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure that you are. Let me learn from you, love you, savor you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.“

Wow. Just re-read that passage one more time and think about how blessed you really are. Every day may not be filled with sunshine or moments of the spectacular, but if you take a moment to breathe in the fresh air and look around, I think you will agree that we are ALL very blessed. I am definitely going to wake up every morning with a prayer of thanksgiving and gratefulness. And then I am going to try to spend each and every minute of every day being more grateful.

That’s what I am going to do. I hope you do too.

Steve Thomas

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I don’t know about your family culture, but in our little DeLaune family, we like to match.  Not every day of course, but occasionally we will wear matching clothes or color coordinate. I have to say that this comes naturally to me. You see, I am the oldest of three girls. One sister, Samantha is 4 years younger than me and Amy is 6 years younger and I can vividly remember holidays, especially Christmas and Easter where we would match each other for church and family photos. Sometimes my mom would sew the dresses by hand and work tirelessly to have us all in matching Sunflower print dresses for Easter with a matching tie for my dad. We would wear frilly dresses at Christmas time, with curled hair and matching bows. I loved it until probably around 4^th grade and then I was over it.

But without even trying, I have passed that love of matching on to my kids. Even Charlie has gotten into the spirit of things recently. Just yesterday Ryan and Charlie matched shirt patterns and pants and then this morning Emmaline saw what her Daddy was wearing and immediately changed her outfit so she could match him (pictured below). And this is the season for it, am I right? You can’t walk into a store these days or scroll through social media without seeing opportunities to put your entire family, and dog for that matter into matching Pajamas for the holidays. I assume that the marketing is geared more so towards women, because I have yet to meet a father who initiates these kinds of things, but it does make for a cute picture and a fun family memory, does it not?

But at the heart of the cultural pressure to buy into these things is a deeper and more innocent love that we develop as children. When we are young, we want to mimic our parents and be like them. And if we were honest, us as parents like it too when our children want to be like us. As I was thinking about my own children wanting to match their father earlier this week, I thought about how we are called, as followers of Jesus to match our Heavenly Father. Let me explain.

Ephesians 5: 1-2 says this:

“5 ¹ Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, ² and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

 Another word for imitators is “Follower”, which is what all of us are called to be. We aren’t the leader, the co-leader, or the caboose, but we are invited to be a follower; an imitator of God as seen through Jesus Christ. When the Apostle Paul was writing to the church at Ephesus, he is using the metaphor as a beloved child imitating her gracious Father. From that assurance of security and that example of love, more love is acted upon as we follow Jesus. We want to be like God as seen through the example of Jesus. When we know that we are beloved, we want or we strive for our actions to match those of Jesus. We want our words to mirror Him as well and we want to carry ourselves, in the good and in the bad, the way Jesus would.

If we take the metaphor of matching a step further, we don’t match our parents every day; that would just be strange and I would be praying for you. And yet, after we say yes to following, we are asked to match Jesus every day, not just around Christmas and Easter time. The metaphor of matching breaks down as all incomplete metaphors do. But let me tell you, the joy of a 2-year-old or 4-year-old who knows that they are matching with their Daddy is pretty special. For that moment, they want to do and be like their Father.

In the second picture above, you see Emmaline eating her waffle right next to Ryan. During breakfast this morning, she scooted her chair over right next to him just so she could more closely be in his presence a little more than normal. I don’t know if it was because of the matching clothes or not, but it serves to make a point. It is indeed a holy moment when we decide that we want to be like Jesus. When we choose to forgive over seeking revenge, when we give sacrificially rather than horde and protect, when we courageously give voice to justice over powerful systems or when we put our reputation on the line to elevate the vulnerable.  However we might be striving to match our Heavenly Daddy in the good and in the bad, it really helps if we took some time to scooch up next to Him for a while and just BE there in His Presence. It won’t always be easy, or comfortable, or cute or photogenic; but it will, little by little expand God’s Kingdom on Earth.

I invite you this week to reflect on The Message version of this Scripture below and think about one way in the season of Advent you would like to Match your Heavenly Father more and then let the Holy Spirit do the rest.

“5 ^1-2 Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.”

Ephesians 5:1-2 The Message

AMEN

For today’s devotion, please take time to meditate and reflect on the first 2 verses of our Stewardship hymn, Count Your Blessing. What are you grateful for this week?

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When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done. 

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by.

Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

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Click here to watch our choir sing verses 1 & 2.

I don’t know about you, but music has always been my time machine. When I listen to music, it often evokes a memory, a moment, a story from my past that takes me back. It was that same experience that I had on Monday morning, waiting in the service line at the Car Dealership for maintenance. Mondays are my day off and so after taking the kids to school, I took the car in for an oil change. I was 10 minutes early (which is a rare thing, for me) and drove in line behind everyone else. At first, I was listening to NPR and catching up on the weekend’s news, but then I suddenly had an inclination to listen to some music from my past.

There was a band that basically got me through my college years called Shane and Shane. I was first introduced to them in my Senior year of High School, listened to them every summer at Warren Willis camp, and used them a lot for the Interpretative Moment skill for Campers. I was blown away to see them perform live and hear their faith story, and then I promptly bought several, if not all of their CDs and was determined to learn not only the melody but selective harmony parts for most of their songs. One song in particular, called The Answer, has the ability to move me to tears every time I worship to it. Monday was no exception, so yes, I was that girl, in a drive-up line for an oil change, just jamming out to Jesus music with the windows up. Here are the words of the part of the song that moved me so intensely that I had to share them with you.

I’ve tried more of me
And I come up dry
Trading you for things
Things that go away

My happiness is found in less of me
And more of you
My happiness is found in less of me
And more 

I have found the answer is to love you
And be loved by you alone
Alright
You crucify me and the world to me
And I will only boast in you

Often times, the lyrics to these Shane and Shane songs are taken straight from Scripture. More of you and less of me is a theological truth articulated across both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament and it reminds us that God must increase and we must decrease. One particular Scripture found in John 3 shares the tense exchange between John the Baptist and his disciples when they see Jesus over on the other side of the Jordan River also baptizing. The jealousy grows in the hearts of John’s disciples because Jesus has more people on his side than they did. Here is how John the Baptist responds to them:

^“30 He must become greater; I must become less.” ³¹ The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³² He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. ³³ Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.”                             John 3:30-33

Not that the number of people you baptize in a month should ever be a competition, but these disciples get a firm talking to because they have made religion about worldly things. They have turned religion into the numbers game and have missed the point. In John’s response, it seems at first that he is stating the obvious; Jesus is from above and John is from the earth. This is something they can all agree with. But then John, the teacher, the prophet humbly bows down and steps back. As he decreases, Jesus increases. As John makes it less about himself, then God, through Jesus can become more.

This Shane and Shane song that I worshipped to on Monday morning reminded me that I too must decrease so that God can increase in my life. That the earthly standards with which I normally judge my worth and significance matter, not in the Kingdom of God. I don’t know what in your life has become greater in these uncertain days. Maybe it has been worry, pride, diminishing health, broken family dynamics, doubts about your faith, anxiety over finances, lack of patience, bitterness, or a fear about tomorrow. Whatever it might be, would you consider with me today what needs to be decreased so that God can live through your weakness and burst forth in a way that only God can? Are you contented to have less of you and more of God in your daily schedule, thoughts, and actions? Are you ready to spend less time worrying and more time being loved on by God this week? I pray that as you and I decrease, God, through the power of the Holy Spirit may increase in our lives, in our church and in this world that so desperately needs to know that they are loved and set free!