Category: First Steps

As you begin this new year, focus on the words of Brother Lawrence.  In his book, The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence stated:

“There is nothing in the world as delightful as a continual walk with God.  Only those who have experienced it can comprehend it.  And yet I do not recommend that you seek it solely because it is what God wants.  Do it because of love, and because it is what God wants…Please get started now.  [It doesn’t matter how old you are] It is better late than never… For my part, I spend as much time as possible alone with him at the very center of my soul.  As long as I am with him, I am afraid of nothing, but the least turning away from him is unbearable…Don’t be discourage if you find this hard to do.  If you just try it a little, you will consider it wasted time.  Stick to it!  Resolve to persevere…”

Make this a goal for 2020.  Devote this year to growing in faith, seeking God in all that you do.  God will not let you down.  You will be strengthened and find greater fulfillment in all that you do.  

This week’s reading:
Monday –  Matthew 18
Tuesday – Matthew 19
Wednesday – Matthew 20
Thursday – Matthew 21
Friday – Matthew 22

Please Pray for:
The Ministers and St. Paul UMC family.
Those who are unwillingly absent.
Those who are grieving and depressed.
The United Methodist Church.
Our nation and our leaders.
The World.

I like the story of a man who heard that his friend, Sam, quit his job.  The man then called the manager of the company to apply for Sam’s vacancy.  The manager responded, “Sam didn’t leave a vacancy.”
 
We could interpret this story in strictly “work” terms.  However, I think there is a broader interpretation, one more meaningful, if we see it in “life” terms.  Our life should be lived at a level that when our time is complete, there is a vacancy.  I think this type of life is not tied to production or bottom lines but in terms of people. 
 
Jesus was more concerned with people than anything else.  That is the currency of the Kingdom of God.  Your task this week is to invest in the people around you.  Pray for them, encourage them, love them, and be kind to them.  Live a life worthy of the gospel.  That is how we leave a vacancy. 

 


 

This week’s reading:

• Monday –  Matthew 13
• Tuesday – Matthew 14
• Wednesday – Matthew 15
• Thursday – Matthew 16
• Friday – Matthew 17

Please Pray for:

• Ukraine Missions Team as they travel abroad.
• Traveling mercies for all.
• The Ministers and St. Paul UMC family.
• Those who are unwillingly absent.
• Those who are grieving and depressed.
• The United Methodist Church.
• Our nation and our leaders.
• The World.

How do you think most people spend Christmas Day?  Perhaps surrounded by friends and family, opening gifts, eating a scrumptious meal, and relaxing afterwards would be our best guess.  Unfortunately, that isn’t the case for so many.  For many people, the holidays are something dreaded because they are alone.
 
Before the days of streaming TV, the movie theatre was the “happening” place on Christmas Day.  The parking lot was filled with people.  One can watch a movie as a respite from the painful reminder of what isn’t.  ‘Tis the season to be jolly, and at the same time, ‘tis the season to be lonely. 
 
This year why not think of someone who may be alone and reach out to them.  If you don’t know whom that might be, consider those in nursing homes, divorcees, single folks, people who have children who live in different cities, immigrants, or the new neighbor who just moved next to you.  We are created as relational beings—part of the way God made us.  When we are not in relationships, we hurt.  All that is needed is someone who will reach out, walk across the room, or send an invitation. 

Dr. Elie Wiesel, 1986 Nobel Peace Prize winner, once described an epiphany moment in his life and what gave him vitality was the realization that the knowledge he gained must not remain imprisoned in his brain. He said, “I owe it to the women and men who want to learn from me. And because I owe, I must pay back what has been given to me. I call that gratitude.”

Think about his epiphany. Imagine a life where one gives what they have received. Imagine such a person who sees his/her life’s mission as to leave the world a better place. Perhaps we all have a similar task: to pass on that which we have received.

Incidentally, what do you perceive to be your mission in life? How much of it is to leave a legacy of goodness? That is a debt we all need to pay.

My first introduction to C. S. Lewis was through The Chronicles of Narnia series.  Although these books are children’s stories, I must admit that I was an adult when I read them.  In the second book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the inhabitants of Narnia are waiting for the return of Aslan, the lion.  Upon his return, the rule of the evil White Witch, will come to an end.  There is a part in the book where the Beaver told the children, that “Aslan is on the move!” (Granted if you are unfamiliar with the story, this might be a little confusing).  Though the children have never met Aslan, the moment they heard of his moving, they became hopeful because something stirred inside of them:  courage, peace, and happiness.   The world around them begin to look differently because they knew in the end, all things would be set right.

This is Advent for us.  For today’s follower of Christ, we are anxious for His return.  We long to see him.  We look for signs that He is on the move.  We await his coming.  If we stop for a moment and listen to voice of The Spirit, we allow the hope of his return, the promise to make all things right fill our hearts.  We will have a similar experience as the children in the story.  We will be encouraged, hopeful, and peaceful.  Today, here those words, “Aslan is on the move!” 

Lately I’ve been asked a few questions about morality, personal and societal. Those questions made me think of a segment from Mere Christianity, by C S Lewis. He wrote this and it is worth reflection:

“A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world—and might even be more difficult to save.

There are…occasions on which a mother’s love for her own children or [one’s] love for own country have to be suppressed or they’ll lead to unfairness toward other people’s children or countries. Strictly speaking, there aren’t such things as good and bad impulses. Think of a piano. It has not got two kinds of notes on it, the right notes and the wrong notes. Every single note is right at one time and wrong at another. The moral law isn’t any one instinct or any set of instincts: it is something which makes a kind of tune (the tune we call goodness or right conduct) by directing the instincts…

The most dangerous thing you can do is to take any one impulse of your own nature and set it up as the thing you ought to follow at all costs. There’s not one of them that won’t make us into devils if we set it up as an absolute guide. You might think love of humanity in general was safe, but it isn’t. If you leave out justice, you’ll find yourself breaking agreements and faking evidence in trials ‘for the sake of humanity,’ and becoming in the end a treacherous [person].”

Morality, for the follower of Christ, is not a solo project. It is a duo between Christ’s will and our will. Together, we walk the path of life following His lead, not the other way around. We follow His impulse, not our own.