To Love - To Life
To love at all is to be vulnerable.
Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.
But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable...
The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers...of love is Hell. C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves
Anastasia Elizabeth Wilson entered heaven three years ago this week. She never drew a breath outside her mother's womb.
She was our first grandchild.
It hurt. Dreams were crushed. Hearts shattered. Tears flowed.
To this very day, there's a heartache. If Bunny and I discuss those days, it's in tears. As we talked about it last night, we agreed the events were a sad story, with no joy anywhere within.
But we live on. We love on.
We could do so timidly, like a child venturing out over a frozen lake who knows he shouldn't be doing it at all.
We could do so blindly, like someone who doesn't want to hear the truth and so sticks his fingers into his ears and screams la la la la la at the top of his lungs.
Or we could live each day in love with life, just as it is, with all its hopes and dreams, joys and sorrows.
Why? Or maybe more importantly, how?
Paul writes in Corinithians:
"Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it--because it does. " Cor 14:1 The Message
Life includes the highest of joys and the deepest of heartaches. That's just life. Nothing I've ever experienced was as heartbreaking as the events around Ana's death. But God has shown us His love directly again and again and through many, many people. We are surrounded at New Hope by children, some of who need love so badly they'll beg to be held, or work to catch your attention, or will just sit next to Bunny when she's on the floor teaching, and lay their head on her shoulder.
Friends, to make it through the valley of the shadow of death, you need to know that God is with you, and that there is life on the other side of the valley. Our lives depend on receiving God's love through His Son Jesus and the Spirit's presence with us AND on giving love to others as God has given to us.
Hurts never become happy.
But we can find joy when we live to love.
Grace!
David
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, April 29, 2005
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Is It In You?
Psalm 105:2 (The Message)
Sing him songs, belt out hymns,
translate his wonders into music!
In December 1989 the United States Army deployed the use of High Voltage Rock Music to force General Noriega out of hiding. Noriega who was wanted by the USA to face charges of violating racketeering and drug laws and money laundering.
After failed diplomatic pressure on Panama and the Panaman dictator President Bush deployed his troops to capture Noriega. It was at the Nunciatura that the General seeked refuge from the army. The US troops surrounded the building and in an attempt to force the dictator out they played rock music constantly.
In 2002, the Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority police also used music.
When students gather each afternoon at the end of the Orange Line, often a time for teen tensions to flare, they’re now greeted not just with the shouts of their peers, but tunes played by the Pops floating from newly installed speakers.
.... “We tried arresting the kids last year. That didn’t work at all. We just wanted to try something different,” said William Fleming, acting chief of the MBTA Police.
.... On a recent afternoon, as the delicate strains of Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” drifted from the speakers, commuters, police, and teens milled about, their movements taking on an almost choreographed quality.
Just a few days into the experiment, it appears to be working, despite the fact, said MBTA officials, that several teens have issued critiques of the music in terms that cannot be reprinted.
.... “Ever since this music’s been playing, people are leaving earlier,” said Devante Jones, a senior at West Roxbury High. Guess that tactic worked.
And for two weeks now across the street at Valparaiso Elementary, PE teachers have been playing square dancing music for three hours a day. Enough! You can have Panama, I'll leave the bus stop, just don't make me alemand and dosie do any longer!
If they continue, I'm going to have to go back to my roots and set up my speakers and blast some Stylistics, Temptations, Four Tops and Otis Redding at them, and if it still continues - I'll go nuclear with the Bee Gees at full blast. "You should be dancing...... yeah."
Funny how music effects us, isn't it.
Last night New Hope hosted a senior adult choir from Georgia. Just hearing English spoken with my native accent was heavenly. They presented "Singing With the Saints" a program chock full of the music that was popular in the church 30 years ago when I became a believer. Times have changed, and so has the music we sing in worship.
But one thing hasn't - the Holy Spirit still uses music to move people closer to God. It's a heart -language that transends generations and cultures. And if we can get past the date the music was written, and the accompanying notes, we'll frequently find that the music we sang and the music we sing today both glorify God.
So for an hour last night, I watched as those senior saints sang their hearts out for God's glory. Watching their faces I knew their hearts were fixed on God. Awesome!
Now when we get to heaven, just to be fair to my new friends, I've got an hour of Matt Redmond, Steven Curtis Chapman, Third Day, and Casting Crowns they get to listen to - or whatever music I'm worshipping with when I come home.
It's the language of the heart, of praise to our Loving God. Is it in 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.
Psalm 105:2 (The Message)
Sing him songs, belt out hymns,
translate his wonders into music!
In December 1989 the United States Army deployed the use of High Voltage Rock Music to force General Noriega out of hiding. Noriega who was wanted by the USA to face charges of violating racketeering and drug laws and money laundering.
After failed diplomatic pressure on Panama and the Panaman dictator President Bush deployed his troops to capture Noriega. It was at the Nunciatura that the General seeked refuge from the army. The US troops surrounded the building and in an attempt to force the dictator out they played rock music constantly.
In 2002, the Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority police also used music.
When students gather each afternoon at the end of the Orange Line, often a time for teen tensions to flare, they’re now greeted not just with the shouts of their peers, but tunes played by the Pops floating from newly installed speakers.
.... “We tried arresting the kids last year. That didn’t work at all. We just wanted to try something different,” said William Fleming, acting chief of the MBTA Police.
.... On a recent afternoon, as the delicate strains of Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” drifted from the speakers, commuters, police, and teens milled about, their movements taking on an almost choreographed quality.
Just a few days into the experiment, it appears to be working, despite the fact, said MBTA officials, that several teens have issued critiques of the music in terms that cannot be reprinted.
.... “Ever since this music’s been playing, people are leaving earlier,” said Devante Jones, a senior at West Roxbury High. Guess that tactic worked.
And for two weeks now across the street at Valparaiso Elementary, PE teachers have been playing square dancing music for three hours a day. Enough! You can have Panama, I'll leave the bus stop, just don't make me alemand and dosie do any longer!
If they continue, I'm going to have to go back to my roots and set up my speakers and blast some Stylistics, Temptations, Four Tops and Otis Redding at them, and if it still continues - I'll go nuclear with the Bee Gees at full blast. "You should be dancing...... yeah."
Funny how music effects us, isn't it.
Last night New Hope hosted a senior adult choir from Georgia. Just hearing English spoken with my native accent was heavenly. They presented "Singing With the Saints" a program chock full of the music that was popular in the church 30 years ago when I became a believer. Times have changed, and so has the music we sing in worship.
But one thing hasn't - the Holy Spirit still uses music to move people closer to God. It's a heart -language that transends generations and cultures. And if we can get past the date the music was written, and the accompanying notes, we'll frequently find that the music we sang and the music we sing today both glorify God.
So for an hour last night, I watched as those senior saints sang their hearts out for God's glory. Watching their faces I knew their hearts were fixed on God. Awesome!
Now when we get to heaven, just to be fair to my new friends, I've got an hour of Matt Redmond, Steven Curtis Chapman, Third Day, and Casting Crowns they get to listen to - or whatever music I'm worshipping with when I come home.
It's the language of the heart, of praise to our Loving God. Is it in 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, April 22, 2005
No Stairway to Heaven
Some of you know I love to play guitar. It's a great relaxer and gives me another creative outlet. If I was any good at all at it, that would be a huge plus, but I'm approaching mediocrity at a snail's pace.
The other night, I was trying to learn the acoustic part to a Led Zeppelin song, "Stairway to Heaven." I had stumbled across the music and tabs to it and so started trying to learn to play it. Never having been a big Zeppelin fan when they were big and I was young, now I really have begun to appreciate their music more, and in particular, "Stairway." So I was fumbling around, making noise.
My son Sean, an accomplished and self-taught guitarist, walked in behind me. When he heard what I was trying to do, he laughed and said "what are you trying to do, get ready to go to the guitar store?"
Let me explain what he meant.
One of the most common songs people play at a guitar store, when trying to impress everyone with how well they play is, you guessed it, "Stairway to Heaven." It has so become so bad that Sean stated some guitar shops put signs up saying "No Stairway to Heaven."
I guess everyone gets tired of seeing people try to be something they are not.
The Bible has a lot to say about people who fake it, but one of my favorite verses perhaps says it best.
9Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. 10Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Romans 12 - The Message
When we "clean up our act" around some people, when we "watch what we say" if the pastors around, when we have one set of ethics for business and another for church...
We are faking it.
If we are to love from the center of who we are, Jesus has to own our heart. He has to be our treasure. We cannot be Christ-followers any other way. There are no short-cuts, no "stairways" to heaven. It takes loving Christ more than yourself, and it takes doing that every day.
The good news? Stay after it - after Him! Over time, as you continue your journey with Christ, you'll look back one day and find you've made progress. There'll be more of Christ and less of you.
Gotta run, Purple Haze is next on my list of songs to learn. :)
Grace!
David
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.
Some of you know I love to play guitar. It's a great relaxer and gives me another creative outlet. If I was any good at all at it, that would be a huge plus, but I'm approaching mediocrity at a snail's pace.
The other night, I was trying to learn the acoustic part to a Led Zeppelin song, "Stairway to Heaven." I had stumbled across the music and tabs to it and so started trying to learn to play it. Never having been a big Zeppelin fan when they were big and I was young, now I really have begun to appreciate their music more, and in particular, "Stairway." So I was fumbling around, making noise.
My son Sean, an accomplished and self-taught guitarist, walked in behind me. When he heard what I was trying to do, he laughed and said "what are you trying to do, get ready to go to the guitar store?"
Let me explain what he meant.
One of the most common songs people play at a guitar store, when trying to impress everyone with how well they play is, you guessed it, "Stairway to Heaven." It has so become so bad that Sean stated some guitar shops put signs up saying "No Stairway to Heaven."
I guess everyone gets tired of seeing people try to be something they are not.
The Bible has a lot to say about people who fake it, but one of my favorite verses perhaps says it best.
9Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. 10Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Romans 12 - The Message
When we "clean up our act" around some people, when we "watch what we say" if the pastors around, when we have one set of ethics for business and another for church...
We are faking it.
If we are to love from the center of who we are, Jesus has to own our heart. He has to be our treasure. We cannot be Christ-followers any other way. There are no short-cuts, no "stairways" to heaven. It takes loving Christ more than yourself, and it takes doing that every day.
The good news? Stay after it - after Him! Over time, as you continue your journey with Christ, you'll look back one day and find you've made progress. There'll be more of Christ and less of you.
Gotta run, Purple Haze is next on my list of songs to learn. :)
Grace!
David
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.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Hiding In Plain Sight
When I heard the learn'd astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and
measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much
applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out, I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars. by Walt Whitman
There has never been a generation with more tools with which to find God.
Radio stations fill the airwaves with praise and preaching. TV channels are exclusively devoted to the same. The average American household contains 7 Bibles. When you Google Jesus Christ, 19 million websites are ready to deliver the information.
We've been MasterLife'd, Experience God'ed, Purpose Driven, and still, how many of us really know God?
Whitman's poem caught me today at a needy moment. Frustrated because I wasn't happy with the way my message for Sunday morning was going, I took a break and pulled a literature book off the shelf. I felt like the poet had been looking over my shoulder all morning as I tried to fit God into my purpose, instead of spending time listening to His Word. I was looking for points to deliver, for principles to teach. That's all there in the Scriptures to be sure. But just like Whitman had to leave the lecture to find the stars, sometimes you really need to step back from the Scriptures and embrace the wonder of God's love.
More than anything else, the Bible is given to bring us to God through His Son, Jesus. Jesus put it this way, when confronted by some people who memorized the words without getting to know the author...
"You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! John 5:39 (The Message)
Friends, it's wonderful to know the Bible, and awesome to be given the opportunity to teach it. Just remember, it's not about information - it's about Jesus. Teach someone biblical truths without helping them find love for Jesus, and you've hidden God's love for them in plain sight. Help them find Him, and His love will lead them into the Scriptures.
It's always about Jesus.
Grace!
David
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.
When I heard the learn'd astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and
measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much
applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out, I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars. by Walt Whitman
There has never been a generation with more tools with which to find God.
Radio stations fill the airwaves with praise and preaching. TV channels are exclusively devoted to the same. The average American household contains 7 Bibles. When you Google Jesus Christ, 19 million websites are ready to deliver the information.
We've been MasterLife'd, Experience God'ed, Purpose Driven, and still, how many of us really know God?
Whitman's poem caught me today at a needy moment. Frustrated because I wasn't happy with the way my message for Sunday morning was going, I took a break and pulled a literature book off the shelf. I felt like the poet had been looking over my shoulder all morning as I tried to fit God into my purpose, instead of spending time listening to His Word. I was looking for points to deliver, for principles to teach. That's all there in the Scriptures to be sure. But just like Whitman had to leave the lecture to find the stars, sometimes you really need to step back from the Scriptures and embrace the wonder of God's love.
More than anything else, the Bible is given to bring us to God through His Son, Jesus. Jesus put it this way, when confronted by some people who memorized the words without getting to know the author...
"You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! John 5:39 (The Message)
Friends, it's wonderful to know the Bible, and awesome to be given the opportunity to teach it. Just remember, it's not about information - it's about Jesus. Teach someone biblical truths without helping them find love for Jesus, and you've hidden God's love for them in plain sight. Help them find Him, and His love will lead them into the Scriptures.
It's always about Jesus.
Grace!
David
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, April 12, 2005
A Scrap of Blue
It wasn't really all that big, the scrap of blue plastic that lay in the road ahead of me, as the Great Dane and I made our morning rounds. But in the middle of the road, it stood out, and made me wonder what it was and where did it come from.
Lifting my eyes as we continued, I found its source - a home near the water, with roof damaged from Ivan, had been temporarily protected by the blue FEMA tarps. In the weeks that followed the hurricane, everyone's efforts had been to clean up and protect what was left. With the shortage of material and labor to repair, many homes are still not back to the way that they were before. The tarp was tattered, and sections of the roof were uncovered again.
But the rain comes.
Last week, we received a foot and a half of rain, accompanied by pretty fierce winds. Temporary measures to fix permanent problems only work so long. A scrap of blue tarp told me that. I walked on praying that not too much damage had been done.
What about you? Have you tried to make do, instead of making things right?
You see, I'm convinced that people suffer a lot of needless pain, for a lot longer than God would have them do, simply because they would rather hide from the problems, or paper over them, than fix them in a God-honoring way.
And friends, sooner or later, your "tarp" will tear, and there will be more than a scrap of blue in your life. The rains will come, and damage will follow, that could have been avoided if only you turned to God.
Why not take action today to mend broken relationships, to cease sinful behavior, to make things right between you and God and you and your fellow men and women. It's not too late, as long as you have breath in your lungs, you can say "Forgive me."
Here is what the Master Builder has promised to do if you will:
If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.1 John 1:8-9 (NLT)
God will make it right. Trust Him.
Grace!
David
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.
It wasn't really all that big, the scrap of blue plastic that lay in the road ahead of me, as the Great Dane and I made our morning rounds. But in the middle of the road, it stood out, and made me wonder what it was and where did it come from.
Lifting my eyes as we continued, I found its source - a home near the water, with roof damaged from Ivan, had been temporarily protected by the blue FEMA tarps. In the weeks that followed the hurricane, everyone's efforts had been to clean up and protect what was left. With the shortage of material and labor to repair, many homes are still not back to the way that they were before. The tarp was tattered, and sections of the roof were uncovered again.
But the rain comes.
Last week, we received a foot and a half of rain, accompanied by pretty fierce winds. Temporary measures to fix permanent problems only work so long. A scrap of blue tarp told me that. I walked on praying that not too much damage had been done.
What about you? Have you tried to make do, instead of making things right?
You see, I'm convinced that people suffer a lot of needless pain, for a lot longer than God would have them do, simply because they would rather hide from the problems, or paper over them, than fix them in a God-honoring way.
And friends, sooner or later, your "tarp" will tear, and there will be more than a scrap of blue in your life. The rains will come, and damage will follow, that could have been avoided if only you turned to God.
Why not take action today to mend broken relationships, to cease sinful behavior, to make things right between you and God and you and your fellow men and women. It's not too late, as long as you have breath in your lungs, you can say "Forgive me."
Here is what the Master Builder has promised to do if you will:
If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.1 John 1:8-9 (NLT)
God will make it right. Trust Him.
Grace!
David
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.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Do We Really?
So his master said, 'Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. Luke 14:23 (NLT)
Had lunch today with my bride. Parked my trusty Fiero out towards the end of student parking, because the visitors parking is limited to 30 minutes. Enjoyed my lunch, but when I returned to the car, found a parking ticket because I didn't have an OWC sticker. Drat.
So where is a visitor supposed to park? Or are all visitors limited to 30 minutes on campus? Inquiring minds would ask if visitors were expected or welcomed. I know that's not the case, but apparently someone never thought through the problem, probably because it wasn't a problem to them.
Rode back to the church, and on our sign was this statement: "Turned off by church but not by God? Check us out"
After my experience at OWC, I'm a little afraid of that quip. What if they come? Will they be turned off again?
The average church-goer thinks about as much about the barriers that churches put between seekers and God as a fish thinks about water. Since they have always been there - they know where everything is. Since they've always worshipped in a particular fashion - they can't understand why newbies don't get it. Since they've always used "Christian-ese" to describe the things of God - they are dumbfounded when someone says "but what does that mean?"
Do we really want seekers to "check us out"?
If we do, then we'll have to be true to deliver the message of the apostles delivered once and for all, while making sure the places and methods we deliver it with don't confuse, frustrate, or obstruct God's desire to bring them to Him.
Grace!
David
Postscript:
5 minutes after I wrote this, I got an email from a lady on the mailing list who works for the president of OWC. She asked to be dropped from the list.
There's a message there somewhere. :)
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.
So his master said, 'Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. Luke 14:23 (NLT)
Had lunch today with my bride. Parked my trusty Fiero out towards the end of student parking, because the visitors parking is limited to 30 minutes. Enjoyed my lunch, but when I returned to the car, found a parking ticket because I didn't have an OWC sticker. Drat.
So where is a visitor supposed to park? Or are all visitors limited to 30 minutes on campus? Inquiring minds would ask if visitors were expected or welcomed. I know that's not the case, but apparently someone never thought through the problem, probably because it wasn't a problem to them.
Rode back to the church, and on our sign was this statement: "Turned off by church but not by God? Check us out"
After my experience at OWC, I'm a little afraid of that quip. What if they come? Will they be turned off again?
The average church-goer thinks about as much about the barriers that churches put between seekers and God as a fish thinks about water. Since they have always been there - they know where everything is. Since they've always worshipped in a particular fashion - they can't understand why newbies don't get it. Since they've always used "Christian-ese" to describe the things of God - they are dumbfounded when someone says "but what does that mean?"
Do we really want seekers to "check us out"?
If we do, then we'll have to be true to deliver the message of the apostles delivered once and for all, while making sure the places and methods we deliver it with don't confuse, frustrate, or obstruct God's desire to bring them to Him.
Grace!
David
Postscript:
5 minutes after I wrote this, I got an email from a lady on the mailing list who works for the president of OWC. She asked to be dropped from the list.
There's a message there somewhere. :)
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.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
It Was A Dark and Stormy Night
Charles Shultz, the creator of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and all the gang, had success as a cartoonist because he wrote life into his characters. Each one of them was so human - even Snoopy, that we could readily identify with them. The title of this devotional comes from Snoopy's continual attempt to write the "Great American Novel", always with the same opening words - "It was a dark and stormy night..."
We have those. Nights when we can't sleep because worry prods us awake. Nights when we lie awake in fear, wondering if we are going to make it - if it all is going to be okay. Despite every outward appearance of tranquility, maybe even a spouse fast asleep beside us, the light races away and the storms come.
Few have had a night worse than Abraham.
Later on God tested Abraham's faith and obedience. "Abraham!" God called. "Yes," he replied. "Here I am."2 "Take your son, your only son--yes, Isaac, whom you love so much--and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you."3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son Isaac. Then he chopped wood to build a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place where God had told him to go.
Gen 22:2-3 (NLT)
I was reading this today in preparation for tonight's Bible study, and it jumped out at me: "The next morning..."
That meant Abraham was told the day before, and spent a dark and stormy night in advance of his departure. What follows in the remainder of the chapter is one of the pinnacles of faithful obedience in all of the Bible. How did Abraham do it? How could someone endure such a trial?
Lots of people go through tests every day - a doctor delivers bad news, a spouse says goodbye, the boss hands you a pink slip. Life has its share of everyday troubles, this we know well. In watching people over the years, one trait has stood out for me in those who overcome such difficulties..
They have a Big God.
By that I mean that their God can do whatever He chooses to do - there are no limits to His power, no barriers to His love. He's a Big God.
So when trials come, they turn in trust to God and think "I can't wait to see how He gets me out of this one." That's not to say that they don't stumble at first - shock affects everyone. But when they get their "feet" back under them, they start believing God is able to take care of them.
Abraham had a BIG GOD.
We read this and take great logical leaps. "Well, Jesus raised Lazarus, and Paul raised Eutychus, and besides, Jesus rose from the dead. No sweat.
Might I point out to you that Abraham had absolutely no experience with resurrection?
THUD - (preconcieved notions hitting the floor)
But he believed God.
I'm not going to tell you that a living faith in Jesus Christ will mean that you avoid any of the troubles known to man. But I will tell you this - when you've trusted God with your whole life, He'll take care of you. Nothing will separate you from God's love.
So if it's dark and stormy where you are right now, move closer to the Light.
Grace!
David
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.
Charles Shultz, the creator of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and all the gang, had success as a cartoonist because he wrote life into his characters. Each one of them was so human - even Snoopy, that we could readily identify with them. The title of this devotional comes from Snoopy's continual attempt to write the "Great American Novel", always with the same opening words - "It was a dark and stormy night..."
We have those. Nights when we can't sleep because worry prods us awake. Nights when we lie awake in fear, wondering if we are going to make it - if it all is going to be okay. Despite every outward appearance of tranquility, maybe even a spouse fast asleep beside us, the light races away and the storms come.
Few have had a night worse than Abraham.
Later on God tested Abraham's faith and obedience. "Abraham!" God called. "Yes," he replied. "Here I am."2 "Take your son, your only son--yes, Isaac, whom you love so much--and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you."3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son Isaac. Then he chopped wood to build a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place where God had told him to go.
Gen 22:2-3 (NLT)
I was reading this today in preparation for tonight's Bible study, and it jumped out at me: "The next morning..."
That meant Abraham was told the day before, and spent a dark and stormy night in advance of his departure. What follows in the remainder of the chapter is one of the pinnacles of faithful obedience in all of the Bible. How did Abraham do it? How could someone endure such a trial?
Lots of people go through tests every day - a doctor delivers bad news, a spouse says goodbye, the boss hands you a pink slip. Life has its share of everyday troubles, this we know well. In watching people over the years, one trait has stood out for me in those who overcome such difficulties..
They have a Big God.
By that I mean that their God can do whatever He chooses to do - there are no limits to His power, no barriers to His love. He's a Big God.
So when trials come, they turn in trust to God and think "I can't wait to see how He gets me out of this one." That's not to say that they don't stumble at first - shock affects everyone. But when they get their "feet" back under them, they start believing God is able to take care of them.
Abraham had a BIG GOD.
We read this and take great logical leaps. "Well, Jesus raised Lazarus, and Paul raised Eutychus, and besides, Jesus rose from the dead. No sweat.
Might I point out to you that Abraham had absolutely no experience with resurrection?
THUD - (preconcieved notions hitting the floor)
But he believed God.
I'm not going to tell you that a living faith in Jesus Christ will mean that you avoid any of the troubles known to man. But I will tell you this - when you've trusted God with your whole life, He'll take care of you. Nothing will separate you from God's love.
So if it's dark and stormy where you are right now, move closer to the Light.
Grace!
David
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, April 05, 2005
Verily, Verily
"Expedition V. Rhinoplasty", "Fractious S. Lineart", "Stargazing F. Propensity" all know my name.
I'll open my email inbox and there they are, along with a few of their other brothers and sisters, trying to sell me something I don't want or need. Bunny and Sean get emails like that too, and we've begun comparing names every now and then to see who has the most outrageous.
It didn't take but a couple of those emails to figure out that someone has a computer and a lexicon and knows how to use them. They randomly generate names just so you won't know who is sending them. The names are meaningless. Cool, quirky, but meaningless.
I'm reading through the early New Testament today, sort of hit and miss. The idea was to read only the words of Jesus, and immerse myself in the scenes and people around Him. Thank God for red letter Bibles.
What I found was this - Jesus loved people like no one ever has.
Sure you can read His words to the religious fakes and catch a real edge to His voice - even anger. He did that out of love too - for the people who needed to know God loved them. And in the final week of His life on earth, knowing that His message of love would be rejected by those fakes as God's messages to them had always been - He wept. That's amazing love.
When I reached the end of my Bible journey, I was in the book of John. It was there I noticed another name that was different. Just like those email names in a way, since the person had a name, but used a phrase to replace it.
"The one Jesus loved..."
She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. John 20:2 (NLT)
What made John stop using his name? Was he doing that to say to others "Jesus loves me best?"
No, I don't believe so. I think John grasped what it means to know that God loves us. I think the love Jesus showed the people around Him convinced John that the greatest thing in the world was to be known as someone Jesus loves.
Well friends, verily verily I tell you the truth, you are one Jesus loves too. And when you love Him back with everything you've got to give, gradually, little by little, you'll learn just How much you are loved. Toward the end of His life, after decades of following in Jesus' way of love, John wrote this. He was still amazed by Jesus' love.
See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! 1 John 3:1 (NLT)
Are you amazed? Try calling yourself "the one Jesus loves."
Go live it!
Grace!
David
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.
"Expedition V. Rhinoplasty", "Fractious S. Lineart", "Stargazing F. Propensity" all know my name.
I'll open my email inbox and there they are, along with a few of their other brothers and sisters, trying to sell me something I don't want or need. Bunny and Sean get emails like that too, and we've begun comparing names every now and then to see who has the most outrageous.
It didn't take but a couple of those emails to figure out that someone has a computer and a lexicon and knows how to use them. They randomly generate names just so you won't know who is sending them. The names are meaningless. Cool, quirky, but meaningless.
I'm reading through the early New Testament today, sort of hit and miss. The idea was to read only the words of Jesus, and immerse myself in the scenes and people around Him. Thank God for red letter Bibles.
What I found was this - Jesus loved people like no one ever has.
Sure you can read His words to the religious fakes and catch a real edge to His voice - even anger. He did that out of love too - for the people who needed to know God loved them. And in the final week of His life on earth, knowing that His message of love would be rejected by those fakes as God's messages to them had always been - He wept. That's amazing love.
When I reached the end of my Bible journey, I was in the book of John. It was there I noticed another name that was different. Just like those email names in a way, since the person had a name, but used a phrase to replace it.
"The one Jesus loved..."
She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. John 20:2 (NLT)
What made John stop using his name? Was he doing that to say to others "Jesus loves me best?"
No, I don't believe so. I think John grasped what it means to know that God loves us. I think the love Jesus showed the people around Him convinced John that the greatest thing in the world was to be known as someone Jesus loves.
Well friends, verily verily I tell you the truth, you are one Jesus loves too. And when you love Him back with everything you've got to give, gradually, little by little, you'll learn just How much you are loved. Toward the end of His life, after decades of following in Jesus' way of love, John wrote this. He was still amazed by Jesus' love.
See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! 1 John 3:1 (NLT)
Are you amazed? Try calling yourself "the one Jesus loves."
Go live it!
Grace!
David
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, March 18, 2005
Throw the Stone
3The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone 4and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. 5Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?" 6They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. 7They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." John 8:3-7 The Message
Preparing like thousands of other pastors this week for Holy Week coming Sunday, I've been reading the account of the ministry of Jesus in John's gospel. Today I stopped here. Or I guess I should say "it stopped me."
It probably was easy for the religion scholars to get all worked up over the woman in this story's sin. She was guilty of breaking God's law - no doubt. They could point and yell and grab and drag her to justice. It's always easier to see someone else's sin, and we've got an incredibly powerful ability to get angry when we can do that while keeping our moral distance from those we catch.
If we think about it, our lives are full of those instances. Growing up in the South, I heard about "those blacks. On a trip to Texas, someone wanted to talk about "those Mexicans." Even in church, we have a tendency to try to take the same moral high ground when we talk about "those abortionists" or "those homosexuals".
Feels good too.
Until God shows up.
This day, the men in their ignorance had made the mistake of bringing their feigned outrage to the only one Who had a right to be angry. They turned their attention from her to Him as they kept hounding the Son of God to agree that they were better than the woman they had caught.
Instead, He turned toward them and hurled their words back with brute force. "Throw the stone."
He only made one condition, but it was one neither they, nor you and I can ever hope to meet.
I wonder what it sounded like as the stones dropped into the dust?
I know what it sounded like here as I threw my stone away.
"Lord have mercy on me a sinner."
Grace!
David
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.
3The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone 4and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. 5Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?" 6They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. 7They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." John 8:3-7 The Message
Preparing like thousands of other pastors this week for Holy Week coming Sunday, I've been reading the account of the ministry of Jesus in John's gospel. Today I stopped here. Or I guess I should say "it stopped me."
It probably was easy for the religion scholars to get all worked up over the woman in this story's sin. She was guilty of breaking God's law - no doubt. They could point and yell and grab and drag her to justice. It's always easier to see someone else's sin, and we've got an incredibly powerful ability to get angry when we can do that while keeping our moral distance from those we catch.
If we think about it, our lives are full of those instances. Growing up in the South, I heard about "those blacks. On a trip to Texas, someone wanted to talk about "those Mexicans." Even in church, we have a tendency to try to take the same moral high ground when we talk about "those abortionists" or "those homosexuals".
Feels good too.
Until God shows up.
This day, the men in their ignorance had made the mistake of bringing their feigned outrage to the only one Who had a right to be angry. They turned their attention from her to Him as they kept hounding the Son of God to agree that they were better than the woman they had caught.
Instead, He turned toward them and hurled their words back with brute force. "Throw the stone."
He only made one condition, but it was one neither they, nor you and I can ever hope to meet.
I wonder what it sounded like as the stones dropped into the dust?
I know what it sounded like here as I threw my stone away.
"Lord have mercy on me a sinner."
Grace!
David
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.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
After the Doubt
"I doubt it."
Those might be the words you live by.
People have let you down so many times that when you catch a glimpse of hope, or someone seems to come into your life that gives you an indication that things might be different - that your life could change, the first words that come to your mind are "I doubt it."
You aren't alone in that.
One thing I am constantly thankful for are the realistic pictures I get when I read about people's lives as shown to us in the Bible. Despite all the people we sometimes see in church making constant efforts to present a plastic "front" to their lives, when we look at the Bible, we see a quite different person emerging. One who is real in their fears, in their worries, and in their doubts.
I'm preparing for tonight's Bible study, and I come across Abraham and Sarah. "God bless them", my mother would have said. They were so mixed up at times and made so many mistakes along the way. An example:
Then one of them said, "About this time next year I will return, and your wife Sarah will have a son." Now Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent nearby. And since Abraham and Sarah were both very old, and Sarah was long past the age of having children, she laughed silently to herself. "How could a worn-out woman like me have a baby?" she thought. "And when my master--my husband--is also so old?"
Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, 'Can an old woman like me have a baby?' Is anything too hard for the LORD? About a year from now, just as I told you, I will return, and Sarah will have a son." Sarah was afraid, so she denied that she had laughed. But he said, "That is not true. You did laugh." Gen 18:10-15 (NLT)
And that's where it ends. We are left with a picture of a woman who doubts that God can do what He says He will do, who laughs almost in His face - is caught doing it, then denies it to His face. Not a pretty picture.
We have several slogans around here at New Hope, but perhaps my favorite is a quote from an old saint named A.W. Tozer. I'm convinced it helped all of us as a church look past our doubts and focus on God's promises. Tozer wrote:
"Anything God has ever done, He can do now. Anything He has ever done anywhere, He can do here. Anything He has ever done for anyone, He can do for you."
Would Sarah have said that? Maybe not at first, but she did grow to believe God could. After the doubt, came a time of reflection, and a realization that God was able. Later we read:
Sarah, too, had faith, and because of this she was able to become a mother in spite of her old age, for she realized that God, who gave her his promise, would certainly do what he said. Heb 11:11 (Living)
Friends, I'm sending this to you today to tell you that God has not changed. But some of us need to. Embrace the idea that God loves you, and that He can do whatever He needs to do to help you see that. He can lift you when you are weak. He can still your heart when you are fearful. He can demonstrate His power anyway He chooses.
He can do that in your life, in the life of those around you, in your community, in a church.
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Grace!
David
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL.
"I doubt it."
Those might be the words you live by.
People have let you down so many times that when you catch a glimpse of hope, or someone seems to come into your life that gives you an indication that things might be different - that your life could change, the first words that come to your mind are "I doubt it."
You aren't alone in that.
One thing I am constantly thankful for are the realistic pictures I get when I read about people's lives as shown to us in the Bible. Despite all the people we sometimes see in church making constant efforts to present a plastic "front" to their lives, when we look at the Bible, we see a quite different person emerging. One who is real in their fears, in their worries, and in their doubts.
I'm preparing for tonight's Bible study, and I come across Abraham and Sarah. "God bless them", my mother would have said. They were so mixed up at times and made so many mistakes along the way. An example:
Then one of them said, "About this time next year I will return, and your wife Sarah will have a son." Now Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent nearby. And since Abraham and Sarah were both very old, and Sarah was long past the age of having children, she laughed silently to herself. "How could a worn-out woman like me have a baby?" she thought. "And when my master--my husband--is also so old?"
Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, 'Can an old woman like me have a baby?' Is anything too hard for the LORD? About a year from now, just as I told you, I will return, and Sarah will have a son." Sarah was afraid, so she denied that she had laughed. But he said, "That is not true. You did laugh." Gen 18:10-15 (NLT)
And that's where it ends. We are left with a picture of a woman who doubts that God can do what He says He will do, who laughs almost in His face - is caught doing it, then denies it to His face. Not a pretty picture.
We have several slogans around here at New Hope, but perhaps my favorite is a quote from an old saint named A.W. Tozer. I'm convinced it helped all of us as a church look past our doubts and focus on God's promises. Tozer wrote:
"Anything God has ever done, He can do now. Anything He has ever done anywhere, He can do here. Anything He has ever done for anyone, He can do for you."
Would Sarah have said that? Maybe not at first, but she did grow to believe God could. After the doubt, came a time of reflection, and a realization that God was able. Later we read:
Sarah, too, had faith, and because of this she was able to become a mother in spite of her old age, for she realized that God, who gave her his promise, would certainly do what he said. Heb 11:11 (Living)
Friends, I'm sending this to you today to tell you that God has not changed. But some of us need to. Embrace the idea that God loves you, and that He can do whatever He needs to do to help you see that. He can lift you when you are weak. He can still your heart when you are fearful. He can demonstrate His power anyway He chooses.
He can do that in your life, in the life of those around you, in your community, in a church.
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Grace!
David
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL.
Friday, February 25, 2005
Grey - Go Away!
It was grey today. In a place that gets over 300 days of mostly sunshine.
Everything was wrapped into a big grey package that you kept waiting for the sun to rip open.
But he never did.
I'm not really into grey. (Understatement alert!!!!)
And I'm ready for winter to be over.
The earth around me is beginning its annual revolt against the forces of greyness. Pink azaleas have begun to appear, along with daffodils. Soon the rebellion will be all around me, as each flower, each tree competes to see who can contribute the most to the banishment of all things grey to wherever grey goes until next winter.
Good riddance. Old Man Winter can pack his bags and leave any time. In the meantime though, I've got to look forward, not back, just as I have to look forward to what God has for me, not back through my old grey life without Him.
Listen to how expectantly Paul of Tarsus writes about what's ahead for believers. It's like Spring!
12So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it--yourself life one red cent. 13There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. 14God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!
15This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" The Letter to the Romans, chapter 8 The Message
Call me "Adventurously expectant" about what God's going to do around us and in us beginning again tomorrow - rain or shine. :)
There are things to do and places to see with our loving God. I can't wait to see what's next.
Grace!
David
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.
It was grey today. In a place that gets over 300 days of mostly sunshine.
Everything was wrapped into a big grey package that you kept waiting for the sun to rip open.
But he never did.
I'm not really into grey. (Understatement alert!!!!)
And I'm ready for winter to be over.
The earth around me is beginning its annual revolt against the forces of greyness. Pink azaleas have begun to appear, along with daffodils. Soon the rebellion will be all around me, as each flower, each tree competes to see who can contribute the most to the banishment of all things grey to wherever grey goes until next winter.
Good riddance. Old Man Winter can pack his bags and leave any time. In the meantime though, I've got to look forward, not back, just as I have to look forward to what God has for me, not back through my old grey life without Him.
Listen to how expectantly Paul of Tarsus writes about what's ahead for believers. It's like Spring!
12So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it--yourself life one red cent. 13There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. 14God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!
15This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" The Letter to the Romans, chapter 8 The Message
Call me "Adventurously expectant" about what God's going to do around us and in us beginning again tomorrow - rain or shine. :)
There are things to do and places to see with our loving God. I can't wait to see what's next.
Grace!
David
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, February 15, 2005
Light In Dark Places
I saw the first daffodil of spring today.
And every robin within 5 miles showed up in front of my office to remind me that Old Man Winter is on his last legs here. I needed to hear that, because after being down here almost six years, apparently my blood has thinned to the point that a 50 degree morning has a real chill to it.
Remember, I was born and raised in Middle Georgia, where a winter just isn't winter unless you have a good old fashioned ice storm, and at least a couple of days without electrical power. When I left there, I gave away all my cold weather gear - my parka good to 5 degrees, my leather gloves, my scarf and stocking hats. I kept one coat, and grumbled about having to do that. I was moving to Florida - why would I need a coat?
But it gets cold here sometimes. Gray days happen, seeming to drag along one after another, until they pull down your spirit with it.
So God sent me daffodils and robins.
As our church has grown, we've embraced so many awesome people. Those families added to the ones who originally dreamed the dream that became New Hope make Sunday each week a celebration of just how good God is.
But there are gray days for some at times.
Today I visited one in the hospital, talked to several going through trials on the phone, and visited with one saint who may be headed home soon. That wasn't an easy visit. Even though she was in good spirits, thankful for her family and church, and confident in her God's love and care, when I left I was touched by sadness, knowing we might not have many more conversations.
As I was walking to the car, I prayed that God would shine His love into that home for all to see. One day, He's going to do that for everyone. One day His light will shine into the darkest places.
7 In that day he will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. 8 He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears. He will remove forever all insults and mockery against his land and people. The Lord has spoken!
Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 (Is 25:6-8). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House.
One day our Loving Father will end all our pain and heartache. And His own hand will wipe away every tear.
Friends, it may be dark where you are too, but the Light that came into this world through Jesus Christ is as close as you'll let Him be. Take heart! Have hope! If God is for us, who can stand against us?
Grace!
David
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.
I saw the first daffodil of spring today.
And every robin within 5 miles showed up in front of my office to remind me that Old Man Winter is on his last legs here. I needed to hear that, because after being down here almost six years, apparently my blood has thinned to the point that a 50 degree morning has a real chill to it.
Remember, I was born and raised in Middle Georgia, where a winter just isn't winter unless you have a good old fashioned ice storm, and at least a couple of days without electrical power. When I left there, I gave away all my cold weather gear - my parka good to 5 degrees, my leather gloves, my scarf and stocking hats. I kept one coat, and grumbled about having to do that. I was moving to Florida - why would I need a coat?
But it gets cold here sometimes. Gray days happen, seeming to drag along one after another, until they pull down your spirit with it.
So God sent me daffodils and robins.
As our church has grown, we've embraced so many awesome people. Those families added to the ones who originally dreamed the dream that became New Hope make Sunday each week a celebration of just how good God is.
But there are gray days for some at times.
Today I visited one in the hospital, talked to several going through trials on the phone, and visited with one saint who may be headed home soon. That wasn't an easy visit. Even though she was in good spirits, thankful for her family and church, and confident in her God's love and care, when I left I was touched by sadness, knowing we might not have many more conversations.
As I was walking to the car, I prayed that God would shine His love into that home for all to see. One day, He's going to do that for everyone. One day His light will shine into the darkest places.
7 In that day he will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. 8 He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears. He will remove forever all insults and mockery against his land and people. The Lord has spoken!
Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 (Is 25:6-8). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House.
One day our Loving Father will end all our pain and heartache. And His own hand will wipe away every tear.
Friends, it may be dark where you are too, but the Light that came into this world through Jesus Christ is as close as you'll let Him be. Take heart! Have hope! If God is for us, who can stand against us?
Grace!
David
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, February 11, 2005
"When You Get the Chance"
A friend and I were finishing a conversation the other day, and right before we ended it, he said "when you get the chance, come see us." It's one of those things you say full of more hope than substance, knowing that in this busy world, it might happen, but likely as not it won't. Good thing to do? Absolutely. Gonna get done? Pretty doubtful.
Call it a hunch, but it seems that's the nature of human interaction - Good intentions.
We so often fail to act on them that we just accept such a lack of love as "just the way it is." After all, we are all busy. "Who has time?", we'll say.
Yet we are the same people who say that we seek to pattern our lives after the One Who in His essential nature is love.
It hurt me to write that.
God's example is so clear.
43"You're familiar with the old written law, "Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, "Hate your enemy.' 44I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, 45for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best--the sun to warm and the rain to nourish--to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. Matthew 5:43-45 The Message
God loves. He loves those who refuse His love, and those who embrace His love. Even before any one of us now alive drew our first breath, or committed our first sin, God had already paid the price Himself for those wrong-doings.
God put His love on the line- on the cross, so that whoever decided to turn away from their old life of lies and embrace the new life of love would have a home to come to, arms to run into, shoulders to cry on. And the Bible says that was His plan from the beginning.
He didn't wait until He "had a chance."
Friends, there are days like this that make me re-evaluate just who I am and what I'm doing. Right now it's busy here. Things are jumping, and I'm doing a lot for God. But am I doing it in love? Purposeing to let God's love flow through me? Letting Him use my hands, my feet, my speech to love others?
So the preacher opened his Bible and His heart this morning friends, and God whacked me upside of the heart. Maybe you are there too. Maybe you are doing a lot, but loving a little. Or maybe you are living and loving on your schedule, and giving the people around you only that love you "get a chance" to give.
I don't know. But I know this - I want to be like Jesus.
Don't 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.
A friend and I were finishing a conversation the other day, and right before we ended it, he said "when you get the chance, come see us." It's one of those things you say full of more hope than substance, knowing that in this busy world, it might happen, but likely as not it won't. Good thing to do? Absolutely. Gonna get done? Pretty doubtful.
Call it a hunch, but it seems that's the nature of human interaction - Good intentions.
We so often fail to act on them that we just accept such a lack of love as "just the way it is." After all, we are all busy. "Who has time?", we'll say.
Yet we are the same people who say that we seek to pattern our lives after the One Who in His essential nature is love.
It hurt me to write that.
God's example is so clear.
43"You're familiar with the old written law, "Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, "Hate your enemy.' 44I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, 45for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best--the sun to warm and the rain to nourish--to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. Matthew 5:43-45 The Message
God loves. He loves those who refuse His love, and those who embrace His love. Even before any one of us now alive drew our first breath, or committed our first sin, God had already paid the price Himself for those wrong-doings.
7We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. 8But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. Romans 5:7-8 The Message
God put His love on the line- on the cross, so that whoever decided to turn away from their old life of lies and embrace the new life of love would have a home to come to, arms to run into, shoulders to cry on. And the Bible says that was His plan from the beginning.
He didn't wait until He "had a chance."
Friends, there are days like this that make me re-evaluate just who I am and what I'm doing. Right now it's busy here. Things are jumping, and I'm doing a lot for God. But am I doing it in love? Purposeing to let God's love flow through me? Letting Him use my hands, my feet, my speech to love others?
"If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing." 1 Cor. 13:2 The Message
So the preacher opened his Bible and His heart this morning friends, and God whacked me upside of the heart. Maybe you are there too. Maybe you are doing a lot, but loving a little. Or maybe you are living and loving on your schedule, and giving the people around you only that love you "get a chance" to give.
I don't know. But I know this - I want to be like Jesus.
When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. 29It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying--quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard. Matthew 7:28-29 The Message
Don't 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.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
A Wee Little Man and a Great Big Question
Below is an encounter Jesus had with Zacchaeus. As I read it today, I thought about all the other "Zacchaeus people" I've known over the years. I've tried to put myself in the shoes of one of his neighbors. Maybe you can too.
Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. 2There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. 3He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way--he was a short man and couldn't see over the crowd. 4So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home."
Zacchaeus would have been someone who lived down the street from us. We worked hard, paid our bills, tried to raise our kids the right way, and went to church. We were good people. But people like Zacchaeus - we couldn't understand them - or really, what God was up to.
While we were doing all the right things, Zacchaeus wasn't. But far from being punished by God, he prospered. Even when we had to scrape by to make ends meet, or borrow money to pay our taxes, Zacchaeus had money. He had it all it seemed, and that made it harder.
6Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. 7Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, "What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?"
"That's right!", we would have said. "Who does he think he is? Doesn't he know who he's getting mixed up with? He should be spending his time with us church folks." After all, that's what a rabbi is supposed to do.
But instead, Jesus not only noticed that the guy everyone thought had it all was empty inside, but he made Zacchaeus feel something he hadn't felt for a long time - love. You see Zacchaeus had been playing the game too. If he couldn't be respected, if he couldn't be loved for who he was, he'd be feared for how much he owned and what his power could do. It had been a long time since he'd let his guard down for a moment. But this man... Jesus made him remember how it felt not to measure his life by coins and gold and silver bars. Jesus stood there in a simple robe, and was everything Zacchaeus in his rich silks and gold jewelry wanted to be.
8Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, "Master, I give away half my income to the poor--and if I'm caught cheating, I pay four times the damages." 9Jesus said, "Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! 10For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost."
Now the Great Big Question - would you have loved Zacchaeus?
Could you have seen past the riches to the bankrupt soul?
Whatever means or method you use to share your faith must begin with love. It is that "Jesus-love" that will cause you to look for people like Zacchaeus, and it is that "Jesus-love" that will help you look past their present to their Christ-following future.
Take a look around your neighborhood.
Grace!
David
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.
Below is an encounter Jesus had with Zacchaeus. As I read it today, I thought about all the other "Zacchaeus people" I've known over the years. I've tried to put myself in the shoes of one of his neighbors. Maybe you can too.
Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. 2There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. 3He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way--he was a short man and couldn't see over the crowd. 4So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home."
Zacchaeus would have been someone who lived down the street from us. We worked hard, paid our bills, tried to raise our kids the right way, and went to church. We were good people. But people like Zacchaeus - we couldn't understand them - or really, what God was up to.
While we were doing all the right things, Zacchaeus wasn't. But far from being punished by God, he prospered. Even when we had to scrape by to make ends meet, or borrow money to pay our taxes, Zacchaeus had money. He had it all it seemed, and that made it harder.
6Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. 7Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, "What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?"
"That's right!", we would have said. "Who does he think he is? Doesn't he know who he's getting mixed up with? He should be spending his time with us church folks." After all, that's what a rabbi is supposed to do.
But instead, Jesus not only noticed that the guy everyone thought had it all was empty inside, but he made Zacchaeus feel something he hadn't felt for a long time - love. You see Zacchaeus had been playing the game too. If he couldn't be respected, if he couldn't be loved for who he was, he'd be feared for how much he owned and what his power could do. It had been a long time since he'd let his guard down for a moment. But this man... Jesus made him remember how it felt not to measure his life by coins and gold and silver bars. Jesus stood there in a simple robe, and was everything Zacchaeus in his rich silks and gold jewelry wanted to be.
8Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, "Master, I give away half my income to the poor--and if I'm caught cheating, I pay four times the damages." 9Jesus said, "Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! 10For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost."
Now the Great Big Question - would you have loved Zacchaeus?
Could you have seen past the riches to the bankrupt soul?
Whatever means or method you use to share your faith must begin with love. It is that "Jesus-love" that will cause you to look for people like Zacchaeus, and it is that "Jesus-love" that will help you look past their present to their Christ-following future.
Take a look around your neighborhood.
Grace!
David
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, January 07, 2005
Who Do You See?
Macon, GA - sometime in the mid 1960's. Vietnam is only beginning to be a household word, civil rights aren't right and in a few short years the fight for them won't be very civil. My mom is busy on a Saturday morning, returning Christmas presents. Since this is pre-mall era, we are downtown on the corner of Cherry and First streets - in other words, on the busiest corner in town.
My brother and I come to a proper halt beside our mother as we wait for the light to change. Something causes me to look to my right, and there I see an older black man, sitting, and strumming a beat up guitar. He's wearing a suit jacket, a pork-pie hat, and as he sings, he rolls his head side to side. In front of him sits a tin cup.
I turn to my mother and ask her, "who is that man?"
She immediately grabs our hands and walks us over to "Blind Willie", fishes in her cavernous purse, and produces a five dollar bill, which she places in his cup. Then she says to the man, "Willie, these are my boys, David and Bruce. They noticed your playing and wanted to meet you." He had stopped playing, and now his hand extended outward, unsure as to where to reach, but reaching nonetheless. "Pleased to meet you boys."
We shook his hand. It was warm and smooth and rough at the same time.
Then we went on our way.
In later years, we would see him again and again, and my mother never failed to greet him, and to give something, even if coins were all she had.
I thought about Willie today for the first time in a long while. And I wondered how long he had been there before I noticed.
Reading the gospels this week, what Clarence Jordan described as Jesus' doin's, I was stuck over and over again by how often he noticed people that others did not - and not only noticed them, but gave them respect.
Have you ever noticed this passage?
Not long afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby cities and villages to announce the Good News concerning the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, along with some women he had healed and from whom he had cast out evil spirits. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples. Luke 8:1-3 (NLT)
Luke names several women as members of Jesus' traveling group, and then he writes "and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples."
When "credit" is given for what happens in a church, often it is the most visible who receive it. Most often it is the pastor, sometimes the teachers, or worship leaders, or perhaps a deacon. They are visible - obvious even - but what about those not named, those "many others?"
I'm here today to say thank you.
Thank you for giving to the Lord to support children's ministry, even though your children are grown.
Thank you for supporting the work of your staff, even though they preach from the wrong version and sing the wrong music.
Thank you for digging deep, way past your tithe, time and again, to help your church continue to reach out to people for Jesus' sake.
Thank you for bringing coffee, or paper towels, or crayons, or a hundred other items to church, and never caring whether anyone knew or not.
Thank you for cleaning, and mowing, and painting, and another hundred other things you did though no one saw you do it.
Jesus saw you, and I thank you.
You know, sometimes we have to be taught to see -to know that it is not about us. Look around you and see who has been a help or an inspiration to you and let them know how much you appreciate it.
Grace!
David
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.
Macon, GA - sometime in the mid 1960's. Vietnam is only beginning to be a household word, civil rights aren't right and in a few short years the fight for them won't be very civil. My mom is busy on a Saturday morning, returning Christmas presents. Since this is pre-mall era, we are downtown on the corner of Cherry and First streets - in other words, on the busiest corner in town.
My brother and I come to a proper halt beside our mother as we wait for the light to change. Something causes me to look to my right, and there I see an older black man, sitting, and strumming a beat up guitar. He's wearing a suit jacket, a pork-pie hat, and as he sings, he rolls his head side to side. In front of him sits a tin cup.
I turn to my mother and ask her, "who is that man?"
She immediately grabs our hands and walks us over to "Blind Willie", fishes in her cavernous purse, and produces a five dollar bill, which she places in his cup. Then she says to the man, "Willie, these are my boys, David and Bruce. They noticed your playing and wanted to meet you." He had stopped playing, and now his hand extended outward, unsure as to where to reach, but reaching nonetheless. "Pleased to meet you boys."
We shook his hand. It was warm and smooth and rough at the same time.
Then we went on our way.
In later years, we would see him again and again, and my mother never failed to greet him, and to give something, even if coins were all she had.
I thought about Willie today for the first time in a long while. And I wondered how long he had been there before I noticed.
Reading the gospels this week, what Clarence Jordan described as Jesus' doin's, I was stuck over and over again by how often he noticed people that others did not - and not only noticed them, but gave them respect.
Have you ever noticed this passage?
Not long afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby cities and villages to announce the Good News concerning the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, along with some women he had healed and from whom he had cast out evil spirits. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples. Luke 8:1-3 (NLT)
Luke names several women as members of Jesus' traveling group, and then he writes "and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples."
When "credit" is given for what happens in a church, often it is the most visible who receive it. Most often it is the pastor, sometimes the teachers, or worship leaders, or perhaps a deacon. They are visible - obvious even - but what about those not named, those "many others?"
I'm here today to say thank you.
Thank you for giving to the Lord to support children's ministry, even though your children are grown.
Thank you for supporting the work of your staff, even though they preach from the wrong version and sing the wrong music.
Thank you for digging deep, way past your tithe, time and again, to help your church continue to reach out to people for Jesus' sake.
Thank you for bringing coffee, or paper towels, or crayons, or a hundred other items to church, and never caring whether anyone knew or not.
Thank you for cleaning, and mowing, and painting, and another hundred other things you did though no one saw you do it.
Jesus saw you, and I thank you.
You know, sometimes we have to be taught to see -to know that it is not about us. Look around you and see who has been a help or an inspiration to you and let them know how much you appreciate it.
Grace!
David
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.
Monday, January 03, 2005
Aha!
"If any of you wants to be my follower," he told them, "you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.35 If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life. Mark 8:35 (NLT)
They call them aha moments.
Maybe you've had one too.
I remember reading about Hank Aaron,who grew up just west of me in Mobile, AL. Seems when Hank was a little boy, he picked up a baseball bat. (And the rest is history... yes, I know... don't jump ahead of me.)
He picked up the bat and put his right hand at the bottom and the left hand on top. Then he proceeded to learn to hit the baseball far and often. But not as far as he did when one day a coach convinced him to try the more conventional way of left hand on the bottom, right hand on top. Aha! (Okay, now you can say "and the rest is history.")
Today, I was explaining to a little girl about Jesus and His love for her. Haylee is a bundle of energy wrapped in a determined little girl. She's a red haired, freckled example of the kind of work God does when He wants to show us just what kids are supposed to look like. And Haylee wanted to know Jesus "in her heart."
So my wife, (the incredible Miss Bunny) and I made plans to meet with Haylee and her mom this afternoon and try to explain the mysteries of God. I was well into that explanation (after Bunny had laid the groundwork), when I looked down at Haylee and she looked up at me, and I worried for a second that in spite of all the efforts our family of faith had done or would do, Haylee might not understand what it meant to follow Jesus.
So I asked her if she loved Him.
She said yes.
Friends, it was as if a flashbulb illuminated my soul. Aha!
We need to teach people how to fall in love with Jesus, and help them learn what will help them make their love for Him grow!
Maybe it's just me, but it seems that far too much of what we do in our gatherings is rehash the same facts we've known for years, and rarely if ever speak of our love relationship with Jesus. The danger in that, is we wind up knowing an awful lot of Bible, but miss the author, or if we do meet Him, we regard Him as one would a learned professor, rather than someone whose passion caused Him to die well before we ever even noticed He existed.
Then we give people guidelines on what to do each day - how much to read, how long to pray, what to listen to. We teach them self-discipline. Well, I'm pretty disciplined, but I fall off the exercise wagon regularly, because I don't like to exercise - I just know it's good for me.
But love - love will make you want to do whatever it takes to make the object of your affection happy. You want to give them joy. So you forget about yourself, and every day you do whatever it takes - go wherever you need to go.
" 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.'
Can you do that?
If you can, then following Christ will be as natural as breathing. And the pressure, the guilt, the anxiety - will be gone forever.
It's called,
Grace!
David
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.
"If any of you wants to be my follower," he told them, "you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.35 If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life. Mark 8:35 (NLT)
They call them aha moments.
Maybe you've had one too.
I remember reading about Hank Aaron,who grew up just west of me in Mobile, AL. Seems when Hank was a little boy, he picked up a baseball bat. (And the rest is history... yes, I know... don't jump ahead of me.)
He picked up the bat and put his right hand at the bottom and the left hand on top. Then he proceeded to learn to hit the baseball far and often. But not as far as he did when one day a coach convinced him to try the more conventional way of left hand on the bottom, right hand on top. Aha! (Okay, now you can say "and the rest is history.")
Today, I was explaining to a little girl about Jesus and His love for her. Haylee is a bundle of energy wrapped in a determined little girl. She's a red haired, freckled example of the kind of work God does when He wants to show us just what kids are supposed to look like. And Haylee wanted to know Jesus "in her heart."
So my wife, (the incredible Miss Bunny) and I made plans to meet with Haylee and her mom this afternoon and try to explain the mysteries of God. I was well into that explanation (after Bunny had laid the groundwork), when I looked down at Haylee and she looked up at me, and I worried for a second that in spite of all the efforts our family of faith had done or would do, Haylee might not understand what it meant to follow Jesus.
So I asked her if she loved Him.
She said yes.
Friends, it was as if a flashbulb illuminated my soul. Aha!
We need to teach people how to fall in love with Jesus, and help them learn what will help them make their love for Him grow!
Maybe it's just me, but it seems that far too much of what we do in our gatherings is rehash the same facts we've known for years, and rarely if ever speak of our love relationship with Jesus. The danger in that, is we wind up knowing an awful lot of Bible, but miss the author, or if we do meet Him, we regard Him as one would a learned professor, rather than someone whose passion caused Him to die well before we ever even noticed He existed.
Then we give people guidelines on what to do each day - how much to read, how long to pray, what to listen to. We teach them self-discipline. Well, I'm pretty disciplined, but I fall off the exercise wagon regularly, because I don't like to exercise - I just know it's good for me.
But love - love will make you want to do whatever it takes to make the object of your affection happy. You want to give them joy. So you forget about yourself, and every day you do whatever it takes - go wherever you need to go.
" 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.'
Can you do that?
If you can, then following Christ will be as natural as breathing. And the pressure, the guilt, the anxiety - will be gone forever.
It's called,
Grace!
David
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.
Thursday, December 23, 2004
The Cost of Christmas
Well, it's almost Christmas. The traffic is thicker and our patience is thinner. We're beginning to put one eye on the calendar and the other on the checkbook make sure that one doesn't get ahead of the other. That fear can begin to start - what if we don't have enough? Don't you miss those days as children when you never gave a thought to Christmas' cost?
My family was not wealthy by any means, but neither were we poor. Like many, we lived from week to week, knew our banker or loan officer well, and while we never lacked, we never prospered. Yet every Christmas that I can remember came and went leaving me filled with the belief that I had been blessed. If I wanted a "Johnny 7 One Man Army Gun" badly enough, it seemed to find its way to the tree. If a "Model Motoring by Aurora" racetrack caught my fancy, well, apparently Santa knew that too.
Even though I knew from my trips to the stores that such things had prices, I never concerned myself with the cost.
Yet there was a cost - a sacrifice for my parents - every year. As I grew older, I'd catch snippets of conversations about the bills, and their struggle to pay them. "What are we going to do?", I'd hear my Mother say with worry and fear coloring her voice. "I don't know, but they are going to have Christmas," replied my Father, somewhat more hopefully, but still unsure. And off they'd go to the Western Auto, or to Sears, or to somewhere else they could buy toys and pay on time.
Gradually I realized that my Christmas gifts cost them dearly. In time, in energy, in stress. My mother would cut corners - patch jeans, save pennies. My father would work overtime even after his regular swing shift. So somehow, every year there'd come Christmas. It came with a cost.
It always has.
A few days after the first Christmas, Joseph and Mary went to church to dedicate their son. An old man named Simeon, who had been told by God he wouldn't die until he saw Messiah was there.
Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, "This child will be rejected by many in Israel, and it will be their undoing. But he will be the greatest joy to many others. 35 Thus, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul." Luke 2:34-35 (NLT)
At eight days after his birth, Jesus' 14 year old Mother would just be discovering what it means to have a baby boy - a son. She'd be just like all parents with their first-born - finding themselves looking over at them in amazement, not able to believe what God had given them. Times like that are like the best of Christmas - pure joy.
But Simeon told her of the cost of Christmas too.
And on the way home, as they went past the city gates, they passed those punished for their crimes by the Roman authorities. A peculiar method Rome had picked up from a country they had conquered, and improved to make it even more cruel. It was a very effective public display found outside the city gates of most cities.
Joseph, Mary and the baby passed by, still filled with joy, under the shadow of the cross.
For God so loved... He gave... His one and only Son.
For me... for you, for whoever will believe in Him.
The cost of Christmas has never been higher, or so willingly paid.
Grace!
David
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.
Well, it's almost Christmas. The traffic is thicker and our patience is thinner. We're beginning to put one eye on the calendar and the other on the checkbook make sure that one doesn't get ahead of the other. That fear can begin to start - what if we don't have enough? Don't you miss those days as children when you never gave a thought to Christmas' cost?
My family was not wealthy by any means, but neither were we poor. Like many, we lived from week to week, knew our banker or loan officer well, and while we never lacked, we never prospered. Yet every Christmas that I can remember came and went leaving me filled with the belief that I had been blessed. If I wanted a "Johnny 7 One Man Army Gun" badly enough, it seemed to find its way to the tree. If a "Model Motoring by Aurora" racetrack caught my fancy, well, apparently Santa knew that too.
Even though I knew from my trips to the stores that such things had prices, I never concerned myself with the cost.
Yet there was a cost - a sacrifice for my parents - every year. As I grew older, I'd catch snippets of conversations about the bills, and their struggle to pay them. "What are we going to do?", I'd hear my Mother say with worry and fear coloring her voice. "I don't know, but they are going to have Christmas," replied my Father, somewhat more hopefully, but still unsure. And off they'd go to the Western Auto, or to Sears, or to somewhere else they could buy toys and pay on time.
Gradually I realized that my Christmas gifts cost them dearly. In time, in energy, in stress. My mother would cut corners - patch jeans, save pennies. My father would work overtime even after his regular swing shift. So somehow, every year there'd come Christmas. It came with a cost.
It always has.
A few days after the first Christmas, Joseph and Mary went to church to dedicate their son. An old man named Simeon, who had been told by God he wouldn't die until he saw Messiah was there.
Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, "This child will be rejected by many in Israel, and it will be their undoing. But he will be the greatest joy to many others. 35 Thus, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul." Luke 2:34-35 (NLT)
At eight days after his birth, Jesus' 14 year old Mother would just be discovering what it means to have a baby boy - a son. She'd be just like all parents with their first-born - finding themselves looking over at them in amazement, not able to believe what God had given them. Times like that are like the best of Christmas - pure joy.
But Simeon told her of the cost of Christmas too.
And on the way home, as they went past the city gates, they passed those punished for their crimes by the Roman authorities. A peculiar method Rome had picked up from a country they had conquered, and improved to make it even more cruel. It was a very effective public display found outside the city gates of most cities.
Joseph, Mary and the baby passed by, still filled with joy, under the shadow of the cross.
For God so loved... He gave... His one and only Son.
For me... for you, for whoever will believe in Him.
The cost of Christmas has never been higher, or so willingly paid.
Grace!
David
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.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
It Could Be Today
One of the best things to happen to me this Christmas season is that I've tried to forget everything I already knew about Christ's birth. (Yes, those of you who know me well, forgetfullness isn't much of an effort.) We have the Christmas story so dialed into our conciousness that we go on automatic, like cows headed for the barn, and never think there could be aspects of the events we don't know that would surprise us.
So I have deliberately tried to forget what I knew, and gone back to look at the story with fresh eyes.
Today, our weather here is rainy and seems to be headed toward a cold, cold weekend for Christmas. There's even a chance of snow flurries on Christmas Eve. That will make travel very difficult here in the South. But not as difficult as that of Joseph and Mary.
You see we just arrange the figures in the nativity each year knowing they are all supposed to show up at the stable. But they all got there from somewhere else. The shepherds came from nearby fields, but they had to decide whether to risk their livelihood to see what God had done. Going back the next morning to find the owner of the sheep standing over stacks of wolf-killed sheep rapidly approaching their sell-by date of expiration wouldn't have been pleasant at all. But they were willing - because God had acted!
Joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem after an arduous trip from Nazareth. Going up and down over mountains and hills means that today’s distance of 100 miles might have been double or even triple for Joseph and Mary. The lack of roads meant they had to climb the hillsides along a narrow muddy path in winter. It’s not very safe for a strong carpenter like Joseph. But add a pregnant woman riding on a donkey? How careful they had to be! Joseph wasn’t a rich man. So where did they stay at night? The mother of the Son of God must have slept beside the road. Gangs of robbers on the roads made night traveling dangerous.
And there was no telling when the baby would come. The fear and frustration of not being able to find shelter each night with a baby so close must have made a stable seem much better than it ordinarily would.
I wonder if Joseph remembered a little prophecy from a man called Micah, and reassured Mary?
Micah 5:2 (The Message)
But you, Bethlehem, David's country,
the runt of the litter--
From you will come the leader
who will shepherd-rule Israel.
He'll be no upstart, no pretender.
His family tree is ancient and distinguished.
Friends, I wish I could tell you how many times I've been about to go insane with worry, and a scrap of Scripture popped into my head, telling me exactly what I needed to hear. Calming me, reminding me of God's unchanging promises and unending love.
Maybe you think you know all you need to know about the Bible and what it says. Well, if you still struggle with fear, with worry, with living a godly life, my gut feeling would be that you know more about the words than the Author.
Try this. Pick up a version of the Scriptures you have never used before. Borrow one if you can. Go to God in prayer and ask Him to begin again with your heart as though you had never heard of His love for you. Ask Him to amaze you, to draw you inside the stories of how He worked in people's lives.
Then pray every day that He will work inside yours.
Your greatest day yet lived could be today.
Grace!
David
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.
One of the best things to happen to me this Christmas season is that I've tried to forget everything I already knew about Christ's birth. (Yes, those of you who know me well, forgetfullness isn't much of an effort.) We have the Christmas story so dialed into our conciousness that we go on automatic, like cows headed for the barn, and never think there could be aspects of the events we don't know that would surprise us.
So I have deliberately tried to forget what I knew, and gone back to look at the story with fresh eyes.
Today, our weather here is rainy and seems to be headed toward a cold, cold weekend for Christmas. There's even a chance of snow flurries on Christmas Eve. That will make travel very difficult here in the South. But not as difficult as that of Joseph and Mary.
You see we just arrange the figures in the nativity each year knowing they are all supposed to show up at the stable. But they all got there from somewhere else. The shepherds came from nearby fields, but they had to decide whether to risk their livelihood to see what God had done. Going back the next morning to find the owner of the sheep standing over stacks of wolf-killed sheep rapidly approaching their sell-by date of expiration wouldn't have been pleasant at all. But they were willing - because God had acted!
Joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem after an arduous trip from Nazareth. Going up and down over mountains and hills means that today’s distance of 100 miles might have been double or even triple for Joseph and Mary. The lack of roads meant they had to climb the hillsides along a narrow muddy path in winter. It’s not very safe for a strong carpenter like Joseph. But add a pregnant woman riding on a donkey? How careful they had to be! Joseph wasn’t a rich man. So where did they stay at night? The mother of the Son of God must have slept beside the road. Gangs of robbers on the roads made night traveling dangerous.
And there was no telling when the baby would come. The fear and frustration of not being able to find shelter each night with a baby so close must have made a stable seem much better than it ordinarily would.
I wonder if Joseph remembered a little prophecy from a man called Micah, and reassured Mary?
Micah 5:2 (The Message)
But you, Bethlehem, David's country,
the runt of the litter--
From you will come the leader
who will shepherd-rule Israel.
He'll be no upstart, no pretender.
His family tree is ancient and distinguished.
Friends, I wish I could tell you how many times I've been about to go insane with worry, and a scrap of Scripture popped into my head, telling me exactly what I needed to hear. Calming me, reminding me of God's unchanging promises and unending love.
Maybe you think you know all you need to know about the Bible and what it says. Well, if you still struggle with fear, with worry, with living a godly life, my gut feeling would be that you know more about the words than the Author.
Try this. Pick up a version of the Scriptures you have never used before. Borrow one if you can. Go to God in prayer and ask Him to begin again with your heart as though you had never heard of His love for you. Ask Him to amaze you, to draw you inside the stories of how He worked in people's lives.
Then pray every day that He will work inside yours.
Your greatest day yet lived could be today.
Grace!
David
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, December 14, 2004
Do You Hear It?
I will sing of the tender mercies of the LORD forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness. Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.
Psalms 89:1-2 (NLT)
Last night Bunny and I attended a concert of our local High School chorus. Two of the singers were New Hope's own - Brittany Edwards and Kristin Morton, so we were eager to see the performance, which is an annual event.
The arts center, an imposing facility, was packed. Announcements were made about the night's program and both verbally and through an insert in the program, we were instructed on how to behave. We thought it a little odd to read such explicit information and laughed about how rigid they were.
Once the performance began, the lights were dimmed and we looked forward to an empty stage. The choir risers were empty, and the grand piano sat alone. I watched as a boy of perhaps 7 in front of us squirmed excitedly, then as he realized no one was coming out on stage, he slumped in his seat.
High above in the balcony, each member of the chorus ringed the edges. In the darkness, they each lit individual battery operated candles. The effect was striking, and the child was turning in his seat and pointing out to his mother what he saw. The concert began, and he turned and sat facing forward.
As the concert continued through several classical pieces, the effect of the music and the darkness had different effects on people. Some seemed to really enjoy simply hearing the music without any distractions. Others found that the combination of soothing music and darkness was ideal for a nap.
Our young neighbor though, found the music.
Looking up, he saw the conductor, who stood out against the darkness as he stood behind the lecturn, illuminated for his use. His eyes lit up, and then his hands rose skyward. Tenatively at first, he tried to follow the conductors movements. And as he did, his gestures became more fluid, more delicate - he was hearing the music as if for the first time. It was glorious to watch.
Friends, I thought about you for the next few moments.
My role as pastor means that I'm involved in shaping for a congregation, and to a certain extant through my devotionals for you, an understanding of the miracle of God's "music" of love for you. My passion in that role causes me at times to anguish over how many are surrounded by that "music" and just don't hear it. Some, like my friends at the concert, simply see grace as a reason to relax and enjoy life, never giving a thought to the Giver. Others hear the "music" but never respond by sharing it with others.
But every now and then, the "music" breaks through to ears ready to hear it- breaks through to the heart.
Once it does, you are changed.
My prayer for you is always this - that you come to know just how deeply loved you are.
Yes, people can get in the way of the "music". Even in the child's case that inspired this devotional, when he pointed out to his Mom what he heard, and showed her his response, she stopped him from expressing his joy. I pray he'll try again.
Just as I pray you'll try again.
The miracle didn't stop with Christmas. Do you hear it?
Grace!
David
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.
I will sing of the tender mercies of the LORD forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness. Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.
Psalms 89:1-2 (NLT)
Last night Bunny and I attended a concert of our local High School chorus. Two of the singers were New Hope's own - Brittany Edwards and Kristin Morton, so we were eager to see the performance, which is an annual event.
The arts center, an imposing facility, was packed. Announcements were made about the night's program and both verbally and through an insert in the program, we were instructed on how to behave. We thought it a little odd to read such explicit information and laughed about how rigid they were.
Once the performance began, the lights were dimmed and we looked forward to an empty stage. The choir risers were empty, and the grand piano sat alone. I watched as a boy of perhaps 7 in front of us squirmed excitedly, then as he realized no one was coming out on stage, he slumped in his seat.
High above in the balcony, each member of the chorus ringed the edges. In the darkness, they each lit individual battery operated candles. The effect was striking, and the child was turning in his seat and pointing out to his mother what he saw. The concert began, and he turned and sat facing forward.
As the concert continued through several classical pieces, the effect of the music and the darkness had different effects on people. Some seemed to really enjoy simply hearing the music without any distractions. Others found that the combination of soothing music and darkness was ideal for a nap.
Our young neighbor though, found the music.
Looking up, he saw the conductor, who stood out against the darkness as he stood behind the lecturn, illuminated for his use. His eyes lit up, and then his hands rose skyward. Tenatively at first, he tried to follow the conductors movements. And as he did, his gestures became more fluid, more delicate - he was hearing the music as if for the first time. It was glorious to watch.
Friends, I thought about you for the next few moments.
My role as pastor means that I'm involved in shaping for a congregation, and to a certain extant through my devotionals for you, an understanding of the miracle of God's "music" of love for you. My passion in that role causes me at times to anguish over how many are surrounded by that "music" and just don't hear it. Some, like my friends at the concert, simply see grace as a reason to relax and enjoy life, never giving a thought to the Giver. Others hear the "music" but never respond by sharing it with others.
But every now and then, the "music" breaks through to ears ready to hear it- breaks through to the heart.
Once it does, you are changed.
My prayer for you is always this - that you come to know just how deeply loved you are.
Yes, people can get in the way of the "music". Even in the child's case that inspired this devotional, when he pointed out to his Mom what he heard, and showed her his response, she stopped him from expressing his joy. I pray he'll try again.
Just as I pray you'll try again.
The miracle didn't stop with Christmas. Do you hear it?
Grace!
David
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.
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Holding On To Hope
All who heard the shepherds' story were astonished, but Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and thought about them often. Luke 2:18-19 (NLT)
When you hold an infant, the incredible reality of their innocence and helplessness is obvious. If they are very young, you might be cautioned on just how to hold them, or you might be encouraged if there's a nip in the air to keep them bundled up. Every care is taken to make sure they have everything they need to not just live, but to thrive - to grow.
I love to reach out to their hands and have the baby curl their fingers around mine. Sometimes I'm amazed at just how fiercely they grasp. They hold on tight and at times you have to gently pry your finger from their grasp.
If there's a subplot to the Christmas story, it is in the heart of Mary. For the birth that brought great joy to the world came through pain for her, and at a cost. It was all so different. She had imagined having children with Joseph in her hometown someday, with the birth accompanied by soft music outside which was the custom. If it was a boy, no doubt he would follow in his father's path, becoming a carpenter - respected, but not worshipped.
And yet here she was, far from home, in a stable with animals providing the Muzak - watching shepherds praise her baby as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So she kept her thoughts close and her baby closer. Messiah? Savior? This little one?
Well, until that time He was her baby boy, and as for what might be someday, she'd leave that to the One Who gave her this miracle, and know that as long as she held Him close, she was holding on to hope.
What are you holding onto this Christmas?
Or perhaps I should ask, Who is holding on to you?
Friends, just as I've been amazed at how tightly a baby grasps my finger, there have been times when in trouble I've seen God's hand hold me and keep me secure from harm.
The Bible tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. (Romans 8)
So even when we no longer can hold on - He never lets go.
Remember - no matter what the world might say about you, God spent everything on His gift for you. Do as Mary did - think about that often, it'll bring you hope.
Grace!
David
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.
All who heard the shepherds' story were astonished, but Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and thought about them often. Luke 2:18-19 (NLT)
When you hold an infant, the incredible reality of their innocence and helplessness is obvious. If they are very young, you might be cautioned on just how to hold them, or you might be encouraged if there's a nip in the air to keep them bundled up. Every care is taken to make sure they have everything they need to not just live, but to thrive - to grow.
I love to reach out to their hands and have the baby curl their fingers around mine. Sometimes I'm amazed at just how fiercely they grasp. They hold on tight and at times you have to gently pry your finger from their grasp.
If there's a subplot to the Christmas story, it is in the heart of Mary. For the birth that brought great joy to the world came through pain for her, and at a cost. It was all so different. She had imagined having children with Joseph in her hometown someday, with the birth accompanied by soft music outside which was the custom. If it was a boy, no doubt he would follow in his father's path, becoming a carpenter - respected, but not worshipped.
And yet here she was, far from home, in a stable with animals providing the Muzak - watching shepherds praise her baby as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So she kept her thoughts close and her baby closer. Messiah? Savior? This little one?
Well, until that time He was her baby boy, and as for what might be someday, she'd leave that to the One Who gave her this miracle, and know that as long as she held Him close, she was holding on to hope.
What are you holding onto this Christmas?
Or perhaps I should ask, Who is holding on to you?
Friends, just as I've been amazed at how tightly a baby grasps my finger, there have been times when in trouble I've seen God's hand hold me and keep me secure from harm.
The Bible tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. (Romans 8)
So even when we no longer can hold on - He never lets go.
Remember - no matter what the world might say about you, God spent everything on His gift for you. Do as Mary did - think about that often, it'll bring you hope.
Grace!
David
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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