DAY 119 | April 29, 2011

Fear and pride distort our ability to see the world from God’s perspective. When our own interests loom larger than God, our thinking becomes too narrow; focusing solely on other people can lead to worry. We need God’s Spirit and His truth to bring clarity to our vision and perspective to our thinking if we are to see as He sees and lead like Jesus. What difference will seeking God’s perspective make in your life today?

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path…. The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. Psalm 119:105, 130

Prayer

Lord, I confess that fear and pride cloud my vision. Thank You that Your words bring light and understanding when I look at the world from Your perspective. Help me to see beyond myself and see others as You see them. Most of all, help me see You in every situation, so that I can lead like Jesus. In Your Name, Amen.

Moving is almost always a difficult thing for me. I pour so much of myself into my current appointment that it is very hard to let go, especially when there have been so many successes and milestones. Such is the case with Woodbine. At Woodbine:

• I have grown a great deal as a preacher and communicator
• I have learned much about leadership and administration (I still do not like administration but I can do it better)
• I have built great relationships and have mentored and been mentored by people here.
• I have learned to be a much better pastoral counselor.
• I have learned to back away from things and not feel guilty, or should I say I am getting better at it.
• I have learned to use technology more effectively (Ben would say I am not a real Jedi master until I get a Mac).
• I have learned to rely on the gifts of many great lay people and I have been inspired by them as well.
• I have learned what teamwork is by working with great leaders and a great staff.

These are just some of the reasons I hate leaving this place, but I have answered the call to ministry in the United Methodist Church and the appointment system is the system we use to provide pastoral leadership to our congregations.

My daughter said it best. She was having a conversation with a co-worker who just could not understand why a Methodist minister could be sent to another church when her pastor was called to her church. Charity said, “My dad is called to the ministry, and not to a particular church.” In the end that is it, I am called by God to serve God and his people wherever the Bishop sends me.

My grandfather used to constantly remind me that Baptist ministers are called and Methodist ministers are sent (implying that Methodists were sent by people and not God). One day after I had heard that over and over again I finally said, “Papa Methodists are called too, the difference is Baptists are called my the local church and Methodists are called by God.” I never heard that phrase again from him.

I am called by God with certain gifts and abilities and so is the person who will come after me in this wonderful place called Woodbine. I wonder what the future holds for each of us.

So what about the future? I will have to write about that later.

O Love of God, descend into my heart;
Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling,
And scatter there Your cheerful beams.
Dwell in the soul that longs to be Your temple;
Water that barren soil overrun with weeds and briars
And lost for lack of cultivating.
Make it fruitful with Your dew.
Come, dear Refreshment of those who languish;
Come, Star and Guide of those who sail amidst tempests.
You are the Haven of the tossed and shipwrecked.
Come now, Glory and Crown of the living,
As well as the Safeguard of the dying.
Come, Sacred Spirit;
Come, and fit me to receive You. Amen.

St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo A.D. 354-430

Scripture

Monday, April 18           Luke 22:1–38

Tuesday, April 19          Luke 22:39–71

Wednesday, April 20     Luke 23:1–43

Thursday, April 21         Luke 23:44–56

Friday, April 22             Luke 24

Click the image below to go to the website and sign up for these devotions and other information.

DAY 105 | April 15, 2011

What does God expect of you as a leader? He doesn’t keep it a secret. First and foremost, He asks for your wholehearted devotion, a devotion that flows out in a life of obedience, love and service. He looks for men and women who fear Him alone, who do what He tells them to do, and who serve Him wholeheartedly. As God seeks someone for His next leadership assignment, will He find someone who meets His requirements when He looks at you?

And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? Deuteronomy 10:12-13

Prayer

Lord, I want to be a leader You can use, like Moses, like Jesus. Shape my heart and my soul to meet your standards. Help me keep first things first today, fearing, loving and serving You, walking in Your ways and observing Your commands. Thank You for remaking me in Jesus’ image. In Jesus; Name, Amen.

Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do your will.

St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556)

Scripture

Monday, April 11          Luke 18

Tuesday, April 12         Luke 19:1–27

Wednesday, April 13    Luke 19:28–48

Thursday, April 14        Luke 20

Friday, April 15            Luke 21

WordPress Tags: Lenten,Devotions,Prayer,Lord,Teach,cost,Ignatius,Loyola,Scripture,April,Luke

At the end of time, billions of people were seated on a great plain before God’s throne. Most shrank back from the brilliant light before them. But some groups near the front talked heatedly, not cringing with cringing shame – but with belligerence.

“Can God judge us? How can He know about suffering?,” snapped a pert young brunette. She ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp. “We endured terror … beatings … torture … death!”

In another group a Negro boy lowered his collar. “What about this?” he demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. “Lynched, for no crime but being black!”

In another crowd there was a pregnant schoolgirl with sullen eyes: “Why should I suffer?” she murmured. “It wasn’t my fault.” Far out across the plain were hundreds of such groups. Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering He had permitted in His world.

How lucky God was to live in Heaven, where all was sweetness and light. Where there was no weeping or fear, no hunger or hatred. What did God know of all that man had been forced to endure in this world? For God leads a pretty sheltered life, they said.

So, each of these groups sent forth their leader, chosen because he had suffered the most: a Jew, a Negro, a person from Hiroshima, a horribly deformed arthritic, a thalidomide child. In the center of the vast plain, they consulted with each other. At last they were ready to present their case. It was rather clever.

Before God could be qualified to be their judge, He must endure what they had endured. Their decision was that God should be sentenced to live on earth as a man.

Let him be born a Jew. Let the legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Give him a work so difficult that even his family will think him out of his mind.

Let him be betrayed by his closest friends. Let him face false charges, be tried by a prejudiced jury and convicted by a cowardly judge. Let him be tortured.

At the last, let him see what it means to be terribly alone. Then let him die so there can be no doubt he died. Let there be a great host of witnesses to verify it.

As each leader announced his portion of the sentence, loud murmurs of approval went up from the throng of people assembled. When the last had finished pronouncing sentence, there was a long silence. No one uttered a word. No one moved.

For suddenly, all knew that God had already served His sentence.

Taken from John Stott’s The Cross of Christ no reference cited.

May God the Father, and the Eternal High Priest Jesus Christ, build us up in faith and truth and love, and grant to us our portion among the saints with all those who believe on our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray for all saints, for kings and rulers, for the enemies of the Cross of Christ, and for ourselves we pray that our fruit may abound and we may be made perfect in Christ Jesus our Lord. AMEN.
- Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna

Born 69AD, Martyred 156 AD (a disciple of St. John)

Scripture

Monday, April 04, 2011         Luke 13

Tuesday, April 05, 2011        Luke 14

Wednesday, April 06, 2011    Luke 15

Thursday, April 07, 2011        Luke 16

Friday, April 08, 2011            Luke 17

Almighty God, we confess that we are often swept up in the tide of our generation.
We have failed in our calling to be your holy people, a people set apart for your divine purpose.
We live more in apathy born of fatalism than in passion born of hope.
We are moved more by private ambition than by social justice.
We dream more of privilege and benefits than of service and sacrifice.
We try to speak in your name without relinquishing our glories,
without nourishing our souls, without relying wholly on your grace.
Help us to make room in our hearts and lives for you.
Forgive us, revive us, and reshape us in your image. Amen.

(LYDIA S. MARTINEZ, HISPANIC, U.S.A., 20TH CENT., ALT.)

Scripture

Thursday, March 31, 2011  Luke 11:29–54

Friday, April 01, 2011  Luke 12

Monday, April 04, 2011  Luke 13

Lord, make ame an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

St. Francis of Assisi – 13th century

Scripture

Monday, March 28           Luke 9:28–62

Tuesday, March 29           Luke 10

Wednesday, March 30,     Luke 11:1–28

Thursday, March 31          Luke 11:29–54

Prayer

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

1979 Book of Common Prayer

Scripture

Wednesday, March 23, 2011     Luke 7:18–50

Thursday, March 24, 2011         Luke 8

Friday, March 25, 2011             Luke 9:1–27

Monday, March 28, 2011          Luke 9:28–62