A Night Light

I look at the calendar and realize that it has been over a week since I've written about Scripture. This coincides with the start of teacher workdays and students coming back to school!  At this point I have several choices:  I can feel guilty that once again I have failed to keep up with a Bible-reading and reflecting habit.  Or I can give up. Or I can ignore it ("nobody's perfect") and start again.

Let me give you a peak into the thoughts that I had about this devotional time early this morning.  I was watching the wind whip through the trees as gusts from Hurricane Irene blew rain across our county.  Should I turn on the computer or would we have more power surges and flickers?  As long as I have electrical power my night light will work and that is enough light to at least get through the house. I needed to get back to my blog with daily (!) Bible reading. Was I really so undisciplined that I couldn't read the Bible and write about it every day?  "Your Word is a lamp to my feet," and I need to be sure I have enough light to follow in Christ's footsteps. 

And then I realized:  all the days and months and years that I did read the Bible regularly and study it for Sunday School and teach about it in Bible Study have become a "scriptural nightlight!"  In my memory there is enough Scripture to help me see -- although dimly -- to follow the Way.  The path is illuminated enough to know the direction I should be going for now. There isn't enough Light to avoid stumbles.  For that I will need a strong flashlight -- or searchlight!  But, when my life is so hectic and my routine is being rearranged, my Scriptural Nightlight can get me through.

Thank you, Lord, that you have given me a night light when days are dreary and dim.  Thank you for the voice of your Holy Spirit that speaks a word in my ear: "Here is the path I want you to take. So walk on it." (Isaiah 30:21, New International Reader's Version)

August 17

Today's readings: Jeremiah 46:13-47:7; 2 Timothy 3:1-17 [reflection]; Psalm 94:1-13; Proverbs 21:17-18

When Paul writes this letter to Timothy Paul is in prison.  He has been preaching, traveling, starting churches, training elders, and writing letters for a l-o-n-g time.  This letter may be the last he wrote.  

The first 9 verses in chapter 3 are a sober reminder to Timothy that you can't trust everyone.  Verse 5 is especially cautionary: "They (people) will act as if they are religious..."  

By contrast Paul offers his own life as an example of someone Timothy can trust.  "You know what I teach... and how I live, and what my purpose in life is.  You know my faith and how long I have suffered.  You know my love and my patient endurance.  You know how much persecution and suffering I have endured."

And then, in case Timothy missed the point, Paul tells him "Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution."  Wow, Paul, way to encourage someone in ministry!

Hmmm, acting religious vs. living a godly life (with expected persecution).  Which side am I on?  Have I shown faith, love, and patient endurance such that anyone watching my life can tell?  Or is my religion an act that I discard in some situations, excusing myself by saying, "no one's perfect"?  Have I been persecuted for the way I live?  Have I endured suffering because of my faith?  Certainly, not in the way Paul was.  

So I need to look again at the way the first verses describe people and do a mental inspection of my life:  "People will love only themselves and their money.  They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful.  They will consider nothing sacred.... they will love pleasure rather than God."

Some of those things I can say "no" to quickly.  Others make me stop and consider.

I think that is the point of Scripture.  It holds a mirror up to my life and invites me to look in it.  The ugly parts need to be faced and worked on, like a blemish that needs extra attention.  I need to follow Paul's example and strive for faith, love, and patient endurance.  My goal should be that, at the end of my life, I can look in the mirror... and see Jesus.

August 16

Jeremiah 44:24-46:12, 2 Timothy 2:22-26 [reflection], Psalm 93:1-5, Proverbs 21:14-16

 "Run from anything that stimulates youthful lust." (2 Timothy 2:22a)  Wow!  If there was ever a timely challenge for today this is it!  

We live in a stimulating time.  Television, movies, internet, magazines, billboards -- all are designed to stimulate us in the direction that the owner wants us to go.  "Spend money!" "Indulge yourself!" "Upgrade today!"  The calls to "youthful lusts" surround us.  How can we resist?

The answer is in the next sentence. "Follow anything that makes you want to do right." Especially, "Pursue faith and love and peace, and enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts." (vs. 22b)  We resist the stimulation around us by knowing what is right and pursuing it with others who love God.  

The lie of the enemy is that you won't have any fun if you don't "have it your way."  But the Truth says, "Pursue faith and love and peace [at their Source]" and "all these things will be added to your life."  A frantic dog runs around in circles chasing its tail.  At the end of the day the dog is panting and exhausted -- and still just as far from its tail!  

Are you exhausted today?  Perhaps you've been chasing your tail, stimulating youthful lusts that won't satisfy.  It's time to stop, breathe deeply, and embrace the truth.  "Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts."  Your longings will be satisfied.

Time for a Fresh Start

It is ironic (and hilarious) that in this year of living by myself (without adult children or growing grandchildren) I have not managed to add any posts to this blog!  I thought this would be the year for monthly or even semi-monthly blogging.  The old adage says: work expands to fill the time allowed.  That has certainly been true for me.  So, it's time for a fresh start.

It's time for a fresh start in Bible reading too.  I recently preached a sermon about "the B-I-B-L-E."  God's Word is written for daily use, not just Sunday review.  How many times I have started with a daily Bible reading habit, only to have it fall by the wayside due to sickness, or commitments, or exhaustion, or neglect.  

So why not accomplish two goals in one?  Blog on the Bible!!  I have a Two Year Bible, published by Tyndale and using the New Living Translation.  Each day there is a selection from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs.  It usually only covers 2 pages so the selections are obviously short.

My challenge is to read all 4 entries each day and write a reflection on whatever hits me that day.  Want to join me?  I'll list the 4 Bible references, then choose one to respond to.  You can just read the one I wrote about and comment, or read all of them and pick one to respond to.

Not What I Imagined

When I think about my life, over the past year or the past forty years, a theme that arises over and over again is: It's not what I imagined.  As a youngster in sixth grade I wrote an essay (class assignment) about "Where I'll be in 20 years."  I wrote that I would be 32 years old, married with 2 children, living in Australia, working with my husband as missionary doctors.  The reality was very different.

At the age of 32 I was married with 2 children.  But I was neither a doctor nor a missionary nor living in Australia.  Instead, I was a stay-at-home mom, married to a maintenance man, living just outside Detroit, Michigan.  And a dozen years later I was a divorced mom of teenagers, trying to start over as breadwinner and sole parent.  Not what I imagined.

This story is not a story of woe, however.  Many things in my life have been better than I could have imagined.  I went to seminary and earned a masters of Divinity degree with all my tuition and books paid for by gifts and grants from individuals who believed in me... or believed in what God was doing in me.  My dream to be a pastor of a church by the time I was 50 was met with six months to spare.

As I think about my life, I find the theme of "not what I imagined" brings a wry smile to my face as well as hope to my soul.  The visions of my future never included the pain of divorce.  But neither did they include the joy of preaching every week as pastor.  They did not include teaching my two children for nine years at home.  They certainly never included teaching 91 children as a middle school teacher (which is my current occupation).

Perhaps this is the message that God wants me to hear:  God's plans for me are "not what I imagined."  They are what God imagined.  God knew the surprises -- good and bad -- that were waiting for me in life.  God knew the decisions I would make -- good and bad.  And God knew the plans that he has for me.

When the road of life takes a turn that "I never imagined" I can be sure that God is not surprised.  The Master Imaginer is steering this vehicle.  Detours are part of the plan.  The journey is the plan.  I don't have to fret that the route has changed.  I don't have to jam my right foot through the floor board trying to stop the ride.  My job is to relax; enjoy the scenery; let God guide.  Even if it takes me along a path that I never imagined.

Summertime Changes

This summer has brought changes to my life that threaten my identity.  For eight years I have been the sole (soul!) pastor of a rural church.  For six years I've been raising grandchildren.  I've had adult children sharing my house, my driveway, and my refrigerator. 

This summer all of those identities have changed.  My children have moved to their own separate places.  The grandchildren are living with their mother in a different town.  I am no longer pastor of that church.  Who am I now? 

Blessedly, God's Word answers the question of "Who am I?" without reference to roles, jobs, or human relationships.  God says, "I have called you by name; you are mine."

What a relief: my identity is centered in God!   God knows my name -- even the nicknames.  I belong to God.  I don't belong to my church, my children, or my grandchildren.  I belong to God.

Despite the summertime changes, my identity is sure.  On the days when I sit alone in a new apartment without toys or picture books or dirty glasses; when there is no deadline to choose a scripture, develop illustrations, or craft a sermon; when there is no list of people to visit or meetings to attend -- I still have an identity.  I belong to Someone who loves me, knows me, and wants me.

This month I plan to take advantage of the summertime changes and fall in love with God all over again.  After all, I belong to God!

The Living Word

I picked up a Bible from my shelf today that I've had for over forty years. It used to have a paperback cover. Now it is bound in red double knit fabric with cardboard inserts. The last few pages are barely held in by yellowing scotch tape. The spine came loose from the cover years ago. The first ten pages don't fasten to anything. The inside pages have markings of yellow highlighter, black underlining, red Flair pen, and pencil notes. This Living Bible, copyright 1971, is the story of my early faith. The verses I marked, the notes I made, as well as the pages without a mark, all tell of my struggles and growth as a Christian.

The freshness of this paraphrase in the 1970's was similar to the clear breeze that The Message brings for people today. I remember drinking in every page as if Jesus wrote it personally to me. This was NOT my mother's Bible! And my faith was uniquely and delightfully my own as well. -- Which was a good thing since I lived 700 miles from home and we didn't have unlimited long distance in those days!

I don't use that particular copy of the Bible anymore. I keep it as a memento of those early days. It is a good thing my faith does not depend on that book. It's too fragile to hold up to the demands of my life now. Preaching, teaching, praying, studying . . . those flimsy pages could never keep up. My faith is not in the printed word, but in the Living Word that the printed word reveals. The Word of God is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword, separating our thoughts and motives (Hebrews 4:12). The Word of God was in the beginning with God (John 1:1). The Word of God became flesh and lived right here among us (John 1:14). That truth is too good to keep on a shelf!