December 17, 2009 – Shivering in the Cold
Scripture: Job 31: 16-20 (MSG)
Have I ignored the needs of the poor, turned my back on the indigent,
Taken care of my own needs and fed my own face while they languished?
Wasn't my home always open to them?
Weren't they always welcome at my table?
Have I ever left a poor family shivering in the cold when they had no warm clothes?
Didn't the poor bless me when they saw me coming, knowing I'd brought coats from my closet?
Devotion:
Job tries to justify himself before God. Don't we try to do the same? “Lord, I've preached sermons, I've given money, I've cooked food, I've visited the sick, etc., etc., etc.” But like it or not, there are still people out shivering in the cold.
Now I am not suggesting that we can or should try to take care of every poor family. I don't think we can but I do believe that we can do a better job of giving from the heart. Sometimes we take the easy way out – the way that costs us the least in terms of time, money or effort. Sometimes we take the way that will bring us the most “warm fuzzies” – the way that causes us to look good. And sometimes we take the way that does nothing at all – because we don't know what to do and the task seems too great. I seem to remember a parable that Jesus told about the talents. Remember it? I think if we give of our best, from the heart, the returns will be immeasurable and we won't need to think about justifying ourselves.
Father, show me where I need to be more merciful and generous. Give me a heart of love, melt my heart of stone. Let me be a person after Your heart; Lord, I ask that you give me Your heart for Your people, to love them as You love them. In the powerful Name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.
December 16, 2009 – Do You Know What I Know?
Scripture: Exodus 5:2, Job 37:15-16, Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go."
Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who is perfect in knowledge?
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.
Devotion:
Bill Ward asks me every Sunday, “What do you know?” I usually answer something funny or simply “I know that it's Sunday.”
I ask you “What do you know?” or as the songs asks, “Do you know what I know?” I know this from Scripture, and it's quoted above: to know God, we need to be still. Look at some other admonitions of being still:
Exodus 14:14 – "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."
Nehemiah 8:11 – "The Levites calmed all the people, saying, "Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve."
Psalm 37:7 - "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes."
Zechariah 2:13 – "Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because He has roused himself from His holy dwelling."
Mark tells us that Jesus rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still.” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. The disciples were amazed – even the wind and the rain obeyed Jesus – they KNEW who He was. But I think the rebuke was not only for the storm but for the disciples (and for us). “Quiet! Be still and know who I am.”
Want to know what else I know?
Jesus loves me, this I know, For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong. They are weak but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me; yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me; the Bible tells me so.
Master of the Wind and Waves, quiet the storm in my spirit. Make me lie down in those green pastures, beside the still waters, so that I may be still and know that You are God. I exalt you among the nations, I exalt you here on earth. Amen.
December 15, 2009 – Palace Warm
Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight gath'ring winter fuel
Devotion:
The words to the carol "Good King Wenceslas" were written by John Mason Neale and published in 1853 with a tune that originates in Finland 300 years earlier. Unlike other carols, this one has no reference to the nativity. Wenceslas was a 10th century king of Bohemia. Wenceslas was a Catholic martyr. The feast day of St. Stephen is celebrated on December 26 which is why this song is sung as a Christmas carol.
The rest of the carol tells us that Wenceslas could not stay in his “palace warm” while one of his subjects was having to scrounge for fuel, late on a cold night and he and a young page set out to take the poor man fuel, food, and drink. I'm not sure I would have been so generous; the page may have been sent out and I may have stayed at home.
But the song tells a bit of why Wenceslas was a saint. As the night got colder, the page barely could keep himself warm. Wenceslas told him to walk in his footprints and
In his master's steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
I believe there are times when we step out of our comfort zones and we step out as Wenceslas and the page did. And like the page, we walk in our Master's steps and are warmed.
Master, walk where we can see. Lead us by Your steps and warm our hearts throughout the Christmas season and beyond into the coming year. As we share our gifts, let us do so with pure hearts. Remind us of Your love and compassion for us when we hear “Good King Wenceslas” this season. Amen.
