Author: Cindy Lee

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First Steps – August 12, 2019

A saint of the church once said:

“Each day is unique. There are cloudy days and sunny; wet days and dry; windy days and calm. The seasons roll by as day turns into night and night into day. This variety makes beauty. It’s the same way with your life. There are ups and downs; no two days, no two hours, are ever exactly alike.

“A compass needle always points north regardless of the ship’s course. If we will aspire toward God, the confusing changes of life will not unsteady us.”

I can appreciate that times of change can be beautiful, but they can also be stressful. It is in these seasons of change that something fixed or permanent is needed. By focusing on God as your compass, you are able to sustain any changes of life.

Regardless of what season you find yourself in today, everyone needs a fixed point. Everyone needs something permanent, particularly in an ever-changing world. This week, focus on what is permanent – God’s love and care for you.

This week’s reading:

  • Monday – Luke 16
  • Tuesday – Luke 17
  • Wednesday – Luke 18
  • Thursday – Luke 19
  • Friday – Luke 20

 

Please Pray for:

  • Students, Teachers, and Parents as the 2019-2020 school year begins.
  • The St. Paul Church family.
  • Those who are unwillingly absent.
  • Those who are grieving and depressed.
  • Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications.
  • The United Methodist Church.
  • Our nation and our leaders.

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First Steps – August 4, 2019

This week’s prayer, pray this with me each day:

Lord, you are always near, waiting on me, even when I’m too busy to find time for you. Today, I pause for a moment to think about your love and grace that is always available to me. It is like a summer shower that brings nourishment to the ground. Teach me, convict me, and burden me so that I continually make time for you.  

Lord, I remind myself that there are things you want to teach me. Lord, I ask for grace to hear them, and for them to fully work your acts of salvation. Finally, I remind myself that I am in your presence and I take refuge in your loving heart. Lord, you be my strength in times of my weakness. Lord, you be my comfort in times of sorrow.  Lord, you be my light in times of darkness.  In the end, I am yours and you are mine, so be it forever.  Amen.

      

 

This week’s reading:

  • Monday –  Luke 11
  • Tuesday – Luke 12
  • Wednesday – Luke 13
  • Thursday – Luke 14
  • Friday –  Luke 15


Please Pray for:

  • Students, Teachers, and Parents as the 2019-2020 school year begins.
  • The St. Paul Church family.
  • Those who are unwillingly absent.
  • Those who are grieving and depressed.
  • Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications.
  • The United Methodist Church.
  • Our nation and our leaders.

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First Steps – July 29, 2019

Each day, you probably do something that is a reminder of what growing in God’s grace is like:  Changing Clothes.  In Colossians, the Apostle Paul used this analogy to help Christians understand faith maturation. 

Colossians 3:10 says, “…Since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of the creator.”

Notice, “taken off” and “put on.”   The image is that of changing clothes.  Word pictures can aid us in understanding the complexities of how grace works helping us become like Christ.  Often at the beginning of each day, as I prepare for the day and get dressed, I think about “putting on Christ.”  How about you?

During this week, every time you change clothes, imagine putting on Christ and trust in the Holy Spirit’s work of transformation.

This week’s reading:

  • Monday – Luke 6
  • Tuesday – Luke 7
  • Wednesday – Luke 8
  • Thursday – Luke 9
  • Friday – Luke 10

Please Pray for:

  • The St. Paul Church family.
  • Those who are unwillingly absent.
  • Those who are grieving and depressed.
  • Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications.
  • The United Methodist Church.
  • Our nation and our leaders.

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First Steps – July 22, 2019

Luke 14:15 says, “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready’.”

A person lost to history once wrote this in reflection to the above passage:

“A King puts a poor man in charge of his treasury. The individual who receives this responsibility does not think that the wealth belongs to him. It remains the king’s. Because he needs the job, he is careful to protect the royal treasury. He wastes nothing. He oversees it carefully.

“Anyone who has been given God’s grace is in a similar situation. With humility we can admit our poverty. We can understand that our king has given us the responsibility for something valuable. If we begin to think of it as our own and become arrogant and proud…We will remain spiritually poor.

“Remember, then what God is doing for you.  Let’s continue to think through our illustration.  What if the king finds a very sick poor person by the roadside? He would be glad to treat his injuries with the best royal medicines available. He might bring the person to his castle, dress him in royal clothing, and feed him at his own table. This is exactly the way Christ came to us, found us sick, and healed us. He invites us to be companions at his table. He does not twist our arms in order to force this upon us. He invites us with great dignity and appeal.”

There is much to remember from this reflection:
1.    God has given us more than we can imagine.
2.    Our response is one of gratitude.
3.    Gratitude is a constant state of being.

As you begin this week, remember what you have been given by God and be grateful.      
 

This week’s reading:
  • Monday –  Luke 1
  • Tuesday – Luke 2
  • Wednesday – Luke 3
  • Thursday – Luke 4
  • Friday –  Luke 5

 
Please Pray for:
  • The St. Paul Church family.
  • Those who are unwillingly absent.
  • Those who are grieving and depressed.
  • Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications.
  • The United Methodist Church.
  • Our nation and our leaders.

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First Steps – July 15, 2019

During these Dog Days of summer as the sun beats down on us all, the words of François de Fénelon come to mind:

“There is a spiritual sun that illumines the soul with an even greater intensity than the physical sun illumines a body on earth.  This spiritual sun casts no shadows and never leaves half of the earth in darkness.  It is as bright at night as it is in the day.  It exists within us.  No one can block any of its light.  There is no place we can go to escape it.  It never sets.  The only clouds that can obscure it are our emotions.  It is a glorious day.  It shines on a primitive person in a dark cave.  Even a blind person can walk its light.”

This summer, when the heat from the sun becomes too much, think of the light from the Son.  Bask in His light.


      

 


This week’s reading:

  • Monday –  Rev. 1, Rev. 2, Rev. 3, Rev. 4
  • Tuesday – Rev. 5, Rev. 6, Rev. 7, Rev. 8, Rev. 9
  • Wednesday – Rev. 10, Rev. 11, Rev. 12, Rev. 13, Rev. 14
  • Thursday – Rev. 15, Rev. 16, Rev. 17, Rev. 18
  • Friday –  Rev. 19, Rev. 20, Rev. 21, Rev. 22


Please Pray for:

  • The St. Paul Church family.
  • Those who are unwillingly absent.
  • Those who are grieving and depressed.
  • Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications.
  • The United Methodist Church.
  • Our nation and our leaders.

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First Steps – July 8, 2019

In the aftermath of July 4th, the thoughts of freedom still loom in the air. Freedom is a topic much discussed in the New Testament. Below are a few examples:

John 8:36
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Romans 6:22
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

1 Corinthians 6:12
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.

2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Galatians 5:13-14
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Ephesians 3:12
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

The Bible assumes people are slaves — bound to sin, but the work of Christ sets one free from the hold of sin on a life. This doesn’t mean absolute moral perfection, as if to say a person will never sin again. It means that the propensity or desire to want to sin is broken. At the same time, freedom from God is meant to be shared in service to others.

Freedom in all forms is valued and stems from the heart of God. As you continue to reflect on the many freedoms you enjoy, I hope that you will offer prayers of thanksgiving to God for the gifts that are given.

      

 

This week’s reading:

  • Monday –  John 11, John 13, John 14
  • Tuesday – John 15, John 16, John 17, John 18
  • Wednesday – John 19, John 20, John 21
  • Thursday – 1 John 1,  1 John 2, 1 John 3, 1 John 4, 1 John 5
  • Friday –  2 John, 3 John

Please Pray for:

  • St. Paul children and youth ministries.
  • The Ukraine Mission Team.
  • Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications.
  • Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
  • Those who are unwillingly absent.
  • Those who are grieving and depressed.
  • The United Methodist Church.
  • Our nation and our leaders.

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