What's That?
Had a conversation with my buddy William Hobbs the other night. It's always fun to talk to William, because at just past two, he's still working out this whole communication deal. You have to listen really intently, and be aware of what he's trying to tell you, and then just maybe you'll get it.
But friends, William doesn't miss a thing. He wanted to see inside the water meter Wednesday night, so naturally I had to make that happen. When he saw the dial for the meter he said "What's that?" Trying to explain what the meter was and how it works was beyond my ability. So I handed him a baseball. (My sales training kicked in- don't know the answer? Distract them!)
He looked at me, grinned his biggest William smile, and said "Ball!"
You'd think we didn't do this every week. :)
I was reading today and came across this verse.
Psalm 118:23-25 (Msg)
This is God's work.
We rub our eyes—we can hardly believe it!
[24] This is the very day God acted—
let's celebrate and be festive!
[25] Salvation now, God. Salvation now!
Oh yes, God—a free and full life!
If you stop, really stop, and consider all God's blessings in your life, you'll have trouble believing it too. Take a minute and remember what it was like to be a child - full of wonder and amazement at the world God created.
Now listen...
What's that?
Another heartbeat, another testimony of God's love for you.
Grace!
David Wilson
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
Friday, May 28, 2004
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Do You Have Any Identification?
As I grew from boy to man on 40 acres of undeveloped land, I enjoyed the finest in entertainment activities.
I could ride a bike, climb trees, have nuclear war with my brother (using the approved weapons of course - the dirt clod, the chinaberry or plum, and the dreaded hickory nut), shoot BB guns, play baseball and football, and just have a good time. Later on when we were older, we rode motorcycles, played church softball and basketball, and went hunting and fishing.
We have few if any pictures to look at and reflect on those times we had. We had school pictures, Easter and Christmas pictures, but none of the two of us just living.
But I do have a physical way of remembering many of the things that happened in my life through the years. They are always with me. During the time of the Vietnam war draft, they served as my identification - what made me different than any of the other 18 year old boys worried about going off to war. Of course I've added new ones since then, life goes on after all. Now every now and then I happen to rub or scrape one and I'm brought back to the day it happened - to exactly what I was doing, just how it felt, what others did to help me, and how it all turned out. What were they?
My scars.
If the draft board had come looking for me, they'd have picked me out of a crowd by my scars.
We're looking at ministry this week as we study the Purpose Driven Life, and so I picked up on Paul's reluctance to be drawn off into side issues - issues of practice, not of faith. People had come to the church in Galatia saying that faith in Christ wasn't enough. You needed a "badge" to let the world know.
Paul let them know how they could tell he followed Christ.
Galatians 6:17 (Msg)
Quite frankly, I don't want to be bothered anymore by these disputes. I have far more important things to do—the serious living of this faith. I bear in my body scars from my service to Jesus.
Scars.
Jesus had said, "They will know you are my disciples by your love for one another." But loving one another is risky business. Even in ministry, people can hurt one another so deeply it leaves scars. Someone once told me "I've never been hurt as badly or as often than at church."
Friends, I've been there and done that. I could dwell on those, keep rubbing those scars, and get nothing done. Or I could thank God that He counted me worthy to be His ambassador for Christ and stay in the game.
I won't be called on to write any New Testament books, but in the serious living of this faith, I'm with Paul. If you've been hurt, wounded, even scarred while trying to serve Christ, just count your scars as a measure of identification.
When the Master comes looking for His disciples, you'll be easy to spot.
Grace!
David Wilson
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
As I grew from boy to man on 40 acres of undeveloped land, I enjoyed the finest in entertainment activities.
I could ride a bike, climb trees, have nuclear war with my brother (using the approved weapons of course - the dirt clod, the chinaberry or plum, and the dreaded hickory nut), shoot BB guns, play baseball and football, and just have a good time. Later on when we were older, we rode motorcycles, played church softball and basketball, and went hunting and fishing.
We have few if any pictures to look at and reflect on those times we had. We had school pictures, Easter and Christmas pictures, but none of the two of us just living.
But I do have a physical way of remembering many of the things that happened in my life through the years. They are always with me. During the time of the Vietnam war draft, they served as my identification - what made me different than any of the other 18 year old boys worried about going off to war. Of course I've added new ones since then, life goes on after all. Now every now and then I happen to rub or scrape one and I'm brought back to the day it happened - to exactly what I was doing, just how it felt, what others did to help me, and how it all turned out. What were they?
My scars.
If the draft board had come looking for me, they'd have picked me out of a crowd by my scars.
We're looking at ministry this week as we study the Purpose Driven Life, and so I picked up on Paul's reluctance to be drawn off into side issues - issues of practice, not of faith. People had come to the church in Galatia saying that faith in Christ wasn't enough. You needed a "badge" to let the world know.
Paul let them know how they could tell he followed Christ.
Galatians 6:17 (Msg)
Quite frankly, I don't want to be bothered anymore by these disputes. I have far more important things to do—the serious living of this faith. I bear in my body scars from my service to Jesus.
Scars.
Jesus had said, "They will know you are my disciples by your love for one another." But loving one another is risky business. Even in ministry, people can hurt one another so deeply it leaves scars. Someone once told me "I've never been hurt as badly or as often than at church."
Friends, I've been there and done that. I could dwell on those, keep rubbing those scars, and get nothing done. Or I could thank God that He counted me worthy to be His ambassador for Christ and stay in the game.
I won't be called on to write any New Testament books, but in the serious living of this faith, I'm with Paul. If you've been hurt, wounded, even scarred while trying to serve Christ, just count your scars as a measure of identification.
When the Master comes looking for His disciples, you'll be easy to spot.
Grace!
David Wilson
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Take Over!
Weak. I'm feeling pretty weak today. Maybe I should have gotten a hint of what was ahead when as I walked down the road away from our home this morning, a dryer sheet fell out of my pant's leg. Then later, the sinus infection that plagued me the day before reacquainted itself, and a recurring kidney problem reminded me it still knew my name.
Yep, I'm feeling pretty weak.
I sort of feel like the young lady on her first solo after winning her driver's license. She came around a corner and was immediately confronted by a mass of spinning and smoking cars all across the road ahead of her. Being a Christian, she knew she had to rely on God to take care of her, so she took her hands off the wheel and said out loud, "You take it Lord!"
Never did hear how that turned out.
But since I have work to do, I did ask God to take over. To use my weakness today to teach me about Him - about His mercy and His grace. And He lead me to this passage.
2 Cor. 12:9 (Msg)
...He told me,
"My grace is enough; it's all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness."
Paul had a physical problem that wouldn't go away, no matter how much he begged God to remove it. Finally, He realized that the ailment was the least of his problems. Paul understood that he couldn't let himself focus on what was wrong with him. Instead, he had to focus on what was right with God.
He just let God take over.
It's the end of the day here, and everything except the dryer sheet is still with me. But you know, it's been especially good to be with God today in the study of His Word.
What about you? Are you spending all your energies focusing on what is wrong? Why not take a minute right now and begin thanking God for all the things that are right in your life? Go as deep as you need to. But don't stop until your focus has shifted to Him. Then let Him take over.
Grace!
David Wilson
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
Weak. I'm feeling pretty weak today. Maybe I should have gotten a hint of what was ahead when as I walked down the road away from our home this morning, a dryer sheet fell out of my pant's leg. Then later, the sinus infection that plagued me the day before reacquainted itself, and a recurring kidney problem reminded me it still knew my name.
Yep, I'm feeling pretty weak.
I sort of feel like the young lady on her first solo after winning her driver's license. She came around a corner and was immediately confronted by a mass of spinning and smoking cars all across the road ahead of her. Being a Christian, she knew she had to rely on God to take care of her, so she took her hands off the wheel and said out loud, "You take it Lord!"
Never did hear how that turned out.
But since I have work to do, I did ask God to take over. To use my weakness today to teach me about Him - about His mercy and His grace. And He lead me to this passage.
2 Cor. 12:9 (Msg)
...He told me,
"My grace is enough; it's all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness."
Paul had a physical problem that wouldn't go away, no matter how much he begged God to remove it. Finally, He realized that the ailment was the least of his problems. Paul understood that he couldn't let himself focus on what was wrong with him. Instead, he had to focus on what was right with God.
He just let God take over.
It's the end of the day here, and everything except the dryer sheet is still with me. But you know, it's been especially good to be with God today in the study of His Word.
What about you? Are you spending all your energies focusing on what is wrong? Why not take a minute right now and begin thanking God for all the things that are right in your life? Go as deep as you need to. But don't stop until your focus has shifted to Him. Then let Him take over.
Grace!
David Wilson
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
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