Tag Archives: Wholeness

The Lord’s Hands and Feet

Living in the Spirit

Living in the Spirit

November 7, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 65:17-25
For I am about to create new heavens
   and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
   or come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
   in what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,
   and its people as a delight.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
   and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,
   or the cry of distress.
No more shall there be in it
   an infant that lives but a few days,
   or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
   and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
   they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
   they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
   and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
They shall not labor in vain,
   or bear children for calamity;
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
   and their descendants as well.
Before they call I will answer,
   while they are yet speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
   the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
   but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
   on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.

We are the hands and feet of the Lord. Our goal is to develop the beautiful community God envisions today in everything we do. I truly think the Lord would love to return and find that we had gotten our act together and saved the Lord a lot of work on creating that new heaven and new earth maybe even just invite The Lord to join us all in a wonderful Sabbath.

Prayer: Lord, makes us doers of the Word and not just wait on you to come and clean up our messes. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

What is Truth

Living in the Spirit

November 4, 2022

Scripture Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word. –2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

Pilate’s response to Jesus “What is truth?” in his trial (John 18:38) is the question of the day in our society. Many people seem to believe if they say something it is true.

In ancient Greek culture, [the word for tuth] 225 (alḗtheia) was synonymous for “reality” as the opposite of illusion, i.e., fact*.

I found it interesting that Merriam-Webster does not use the word fact in its definition of truth and spends more time describing something in alignment.

1: something that is true: ultimate truth: reality —usually used with the

2: the quality or state of being accurate (as in alignment or adjustment) —used in the phrases in true and out of true**.

I understand alignment regarding building tools or hanging a picture. I live in an older house with a crawl space foundation. I bought two tall bookcases and set them up next to a wall in my living room. They made a perfect V shape because my floor was not flat. You cannot see it with your naked eye, but it was self-evident when the bookcases skewed in opposing directions. Small pieces of wood were slipped under the slopping sides until the tops of the bookcases were even.

I think Paul is trying to tell the people of Thessalonica that they need to make sure that they are following the foundation described by Paul and not be attracted by skewed ideas that stray from the foundation established by Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord, help us seek the facts and sources of information when we are making decisions about how to follow you more nearly. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/225.htm

**https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/true

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Being a Sanctuary for Others

Living in the Spirit

November 3, 2022

Scripture Reading:

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you? –2 Thessalonians 2:1-5

I have been aware of cults since I was a child from Jim Jones’ People’s Temple to QAnon today. I worked with a person several years ago who did not come to work one morning without notice. We found out later that she had traveled to a designated place for the Rapture and did not find it necessary to file for vacation time to be away. In her mind the world as we knew it would no longer exist.

When we look at the work of Jesus, we see authentic events with very real people being guided in loving themselves and loving one another—no mass suicides and no perverted sexual behavior, and no cabal of Satanic cannibalism. When I consider such cults, I think of the song title, Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places*. While the song addresses looking for a life partner, I think we all have an innate need to know God, our creator, and live in fellowship with God. Part of our calling is to share our experience of God with others so that they can know there is more to life than negative patterns of behavior. I am sorry to say that I have observed people who moved further away from God because of misguided, judgmental experiences pressed on them in childhood that turned them off from seeking a relationship with God. Jesus never crammed God down anyone’s throat and neither should we. Jesus lived his love and so should we.

Prayer: Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and holy, tried and true
With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living
Sanctuary for You

It is you, Lord who came to save
The heart and soul of every man.
It is you Lord who knows my weakness,
Who gives me strength, with thine own hand*. Amen.

*Chorus and the first verse of Lord, Prepare Me to be a Sanctuary by John Thompson, Randy Scruggs

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

I Know that My Redeemer Liveth

Living in the Spirit

November 1, 2022

Scripture Reading: Job 19:23-27a
‘O that my words were written down!
   O that they were inscribed in a book!
O that with an iron pen and with lead
   they were engraved on a rock forever!
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
   and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;
and after my skin has been thus destroyed,
   then in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see on my side,
   and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
   My heart faints within me!

and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. (2 Timothy 1:12)

I know not why God’s wondrous grace
  To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
  Redeemed me for His own.

But “I know Whom I have believed
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
  Unto Him against that day.”*

Scripture often reminds me of hymns, many from my childhood that are no longer popular. When I read the line from Job For I know that my Redeemer lives quoted above, I immediately flashed back to a favorite hymn; I know not why God’s wondrous grace. My first thought was that I did not know it was mentioned in Job long before it was inscribed into 2 Timothy. I identify it with Christ. I wonder if the author of Timothy, thought to be Paul, had the same experience of remembering a scripture from his childhood. Paul quoted the Hebrew Bible extensively.

I then set out to find the words to the hymn I remembered and stumbled onto an avalanche of hymns that pick up on that theme, including I Know My Redeemer Liveth by George Frideric Handel.  God is with us yesterday, today, and forever and we are blessed to celebrate God’s love with our ancestors. At the same time, we pass it forward to our descendants with the understanding that Christ was and is, indeed, present in all generations.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1-2)

*First verse and chorus  of the hymn I know not why God’s wondrous grace by Daniel Webster Whittle see at https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/333

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for being present with us always. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

The Power of Love

Living in the Spirit

October 29, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 19:1-10
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. (1 Timothy 6:10)

From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded. (Luke 12:48b)

As he sat in that tree, Zacchaeus was caught in the crossfires of the above two scriptures whether he knew it or not. The first tells him that in his eagerness to be rich he could wander away from the faith that Jesus, the man who drew his interest after seeing the crowd’s response, professed. Regarding the second scripture, he is called to take responsibility for being trustworthy with the wealth he had accumulated.

I cannot help but think of Jesus’s very act of inviting himself in front of that crowd to the home of one of the most reviled members of that community touching a tender spot in Zacchaeus made his choice clear. God’s love is like that. Ours should be too.

Prayer: Lord, help us see and help develop the value in those people from whom we turn away. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Sin Is

Living in the Spirit

October 26, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 32:1-7
Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
   whose sin is covered.
Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
   and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

While I kept silence, my body wasted away
   through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
   my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
   and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’,
   and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Therefore let all who are faithful
   offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters
   shall not reach them.
You are a hiding-place for me;
   you preserve me from trouble;
   you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.

Sin is a transgression of religious law: an offense against God*.

Sin is missing the mark. who are always being instructed and can never arrive at a knowledge of the truth. (II Timothy 3:7)

Sin is being separated from God.

Sin is A condition of dreadful estrangement from God, the sole source of well-being**.

*https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/sin

**The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, page 361

Most people of faith in God may consider sin as the dictionary describes it breaking religious laws. We get more serious about missing the mark or being separated from God. But I had never considered sin as dreadful estrangement from God who is the sole source of well-being. That just makes me want to cry. God wants the very best for all of God’s children as the sole source of well-being. That is something to meditate about.

Prayer: Lord, help us recognize your love in our lives and know you as our source of well-being. Protect us from those who try to divide us from your love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Getting in Sync with God

Living in the Spirit

October 25, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 1:10-18

Hear the word of the Lord,
   you rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the teaching of our God,
   you people of Gomorrah!
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
   says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt-offerings of rams
   and the fat of fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
   or of lambs, or of goats.

Come now, let us argue it out,
   says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
   they shall be like snow;
though they are red like crimson,
   they shall become like wool. –Isaiah 1:10-11, 18

Have you noticed that the people who do not want anyone to tell them what to do in life are the same people who want to tell others what they can do? That seems to be what Isaiah is challenging. The people of his day brought all kinds of burnt offerings etc. to gain God’s blessings when God wants his followers to change their way of being. My Sunday School class just finished a study of the Ten Commandments. None of them mentioned burnt offerings or fatted calves. They talk about how we should love and respect God and treat one another.

It is in the depths of our studies and communion with God that we can discern the ways of God. Daily self-examination will help us find our way. One way to do that is to spend time discerning how we fair at following those Ten Commandments, reviewing the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, or Jesus’s outline of how he judges us found in Matthew 25:31-46. Look for common faults that need to be addressed. Target the issues that are out of sync with God’s teachings and seek God’s guidance regarding how to correct our behavior.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we choose to honor you in ways that do not bring you glory. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Loving Ourselves

Living in the Spirit

October 23, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Luke 18:9-14
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’

Acting holier-than-thou or self-righteous is often the result of people not being comfortable in their own skin. The need to constantly prove that we are better than others tends to grow from not loving ourselves as a person of unique worth. The faith problem with that way of thinking is we cannot fully clasp the idea of loving our neighbors, all our neighbors if we do not love ourselves. Fully accepting ourselves as we are does not mean we do not need to dedicate ourselves to becoming fully the person God created us to be.

Many of the problems in our world today are based on our not loving ourselves enough to be who we can be. We may have received messages that we were inferior. I will never forget asking a judge to authorize our agency to remove children from their home because the children were being severely abused and neglected. The judge finally signed the order, handed it to me, and said, “That family has always been worthless, you are not going to change that but if you want to try go ahead.” I pondered as I left the office that they sure are not going to change if everyone thought as he did. I read in the paper several years later the story of a beloved policeman and all the wonderful things he had done for the community who had been killed in a car wreck. He was one of those children.

Prayer: Lord, help us look for the worth in ourselves and others so we all can model our lives after Christ’s. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

God’s Presence

Living in the Spirit

October 21, 2022

Scripture Reading:

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. –2: Timothy 4:16-18

We find out who our real friends and supporters are when we see who turns up when our lives turn down. I must say I cannot remember a time when I did not have support in challenging situations. Jesus did know how it felt to be deserted in his time of need. Peter denied even knowing him. I appreciated the visits and calls when my father died. When the phone stopped ringing, and all the visitors had left, I sat quietly in my favorite rocking chair, closed my eyes, and felt the full, presence of the Lord. I had the deepest sense that dad had experienced some distress until he too entered the peace of God that passes understanding.

We do need to present for those we love and even those we meet along the way, but the greatest gift we might give them is to share the eternal presence of God with us when we seek God.

But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ` (Matthew 6:33)

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the constancy of your presence. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Burnout

Living in the Spirit

October 20, 2022

Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing. –2 Timothy 4:6-8

A libation is a liquid like wine or water poured out to symbolize total surrender* often to God. I am sure Paul experienced the feeling of being totally poured out as he indicated he had run his race; he was near the finish line. When I was still in my 20s, I experienced what is now called burnout. The word is tossed around rather loosely, but it is a very real condition** that needs to be recognized and treated. Lack of control, unclear job expectations, dysfunctional workplace dynamics, extremes of activity, lack of social support, and work-life imbalance** are causes of burnout in the workplace but they also relate to all of life. The more of these issues that one faces at once burnout deepens.  Our entire world is recovering from these life situations as we crawl out of the grasp of COVID. While it affected all our work lives and school, it also touched on every part of our lives and still is to some extent. I got my third booster shot yesterday along with my flu shot. Just as we seem to be returning to normal climate change rears up to remind us of another major challenge with which we must deal as some of the worst weather in recorded history causes death and destruction.

We need to check our habits: eat right, exercise, avoid alcohol or food overindulgence, get adequate sleep, and if indicated get professional help. More than anything, we must enrich our lives with God. Take time to meditate and pray. I love the story of Paul and Silas singing in prison (Acts 16:16-40). Listen to helpful music. I have a DVD of old favorite hymns that soothes my weary soul when I need it. Intentionally practice loving ourselves and loving others.

Prayer: Lord, life has been difficult for people since the beginning of time, surround us with your fortitude as we fight the good fight and continue to build a better world for all people. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/4689.htm

** For more information about burnout see https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/burnout/art-20046642

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.