Letting Go to Take Hold

By Rosemary Flaaten –

Letting go is hard for me, especially with something precious or significant to my life.  It seems like only a few sleeps ago that I chose to let go of my first born so the neonatal nurse could take him to the nursery.  Then there was his first day of preschool.  As I walked to the parking lot, my arms felt heavy in their emptiness.  My “baby” had left my embrace for the big world.

Tears dripped down my cheeks as I commiserated with a mother’s emotions as she described her sense of loss as she pinned her son’s corsage on his wedding tuxedo.  She realized that no man can be held by both his mother and his wife.  It was her job to let go so he could grasp onto what lay ahead of him.

This truth permeates our lives.  We must move our belongings out of an old, familiar house in order to move in and live in our new home and neighbourhood.  We must let go of the emotional ties to our old job and move with conviction and perseverance into new opportunities.  We must leave our old life, ruled by sin, in order to take hold of the grace and love that God offers through Jesus.

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13, 14 NIV).

Has God put before you a new goal for the fall of 2011?  There may be something that has brought you pleasure or significance last year, last month or even yesterday, but today God is saying He has a new thing.  “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history.  Be alert, be present.  I’m about to do something brand new.  It’s bursting out!  Don’t you see it?” (Isaiah 43:18, 19 MSG)

May we have open hearts that can hear and discern the movement of God’s Spirit that is propelling change in our lives and in our church.  Be alert.  Be Present. Let go of the old.  Take hold of the new.

PRAYER: Lord, shift my focus onto the goal that You have set before me.

BIBLE VERSE:  “I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward – to Jesus.  I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back” (Philippians 3:19 – 20 TM).

God Power and Light

By Cheri Cowell –

Several years ago we went without power at our Florida home for just a few days during our “hurricane summer.” I didn’t realize how dependent life had become on having electricity until we were forced to live without it. Not only is it the big things like A/C and lights, but it is also the little things, like a night light in the bathroom. Without power our whole lives were turned upside-down.

As Christians we talk about Jesus being our power source, but how many of us really live that way? One woman in the Bible did.

This woman knew in her heart Jesus held the power to heal her, so much so that she knew if she could simply touch the edge of His garment, she would be healed. She also knew touching Him would cause Him to be made unclean in the eyes of the religious rulers. She was afraid her sins would sully Jesus, yet her belief in His power caused her to push through her fears.

When we say Jesus is our source of power, are we really saying we believe He holds the power to cure us from all disease and free us from all bondage? When we are willing to risk it all, and push past our fears, just to touch the hem of His robe, then we will hear Him say, “Go in peace and be free.”

PRAYER: I praise you, God, for the power You hold and Your willingness to restore the power in life by the touch of Your hand. Help me become more bold in reaching out to secure the power for my life that You so freely give.

BIBLE VERSE: “At once, Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering”  (Mark 5:30 – 34 NIV).

Living in Context

By Donna McCrary –

Forest Gump said, “My mama always says, ‘life is like a box of chocolates.’”

Renee Zellweger romantically confessed, “You complete me” in the movie, Jerry Maguire.

Martin Luther King shouted, “I have a dream!”

All of these famous quotes bring a smile to our face and an immediate reaction to the context in which they were stated. The context provides the punch. Many people claim, “I have a dream.” However, the context (position, person, and particular moment) of these spoken words are the cement that places them into the fabric of our culture. Same with the movie lines, it is the context (emotion, story line, and setting) that breeds recognition in the expressions.

Context is what gave new life to a powerful scripture for me. Context is what made it stand apart with a new and fresh perspective. “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). Pull this out of context and it appears to say, “Ask for your wants, desires, dreams and all the things that will bring you temporary joy and I, Jesus, being in complete control will fill you with abundant joy just because you asked.” I must admit my prayers at times resemble this logic. However, after reading this in context of the setting, the Person, the emotion of the moment, I grasped a deeper understanding in Jesus’ Words.

In context, Jesus was speaking to His closest followers, His disciples; the people who walked away from normal to live radical. The people willing to forsake all they knew to exist daily trusting in Jesus to provide, teach, protect, and direct their steps. Jesus didn’t say these words to the miracle spectators. He said them to the dedicated men and women willing to walk by faith, take up their cross, and follow Him. In context, He proclaimed these words to the very people He called friends.

When I looked at the context of Jesus in my daily life, I had to ask myself some tough questions. Am I dedicated to living the radical life of a disciple? Do my actions resemble great miracles and mountain moving prayers? I know Jesus is true to His word! Will I put myself in the right context to experience His joy for me?

Are you living in the right context to experience joy in Christ?

PRAYER: Father, help me draw close to You and live my life in the context of Your plan for me.

“Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full”  (John 16:24 NIV).

 

Locusts, Storms and Other Trials

By Hally Franz –

The natural chaos taking place in my yard, and many others throughout theMidwestand southeast, will soon subside. The dull buzzing sound which crescendos to a roar, presumably as the work intensifies, will soon cease. The large, slow-moving creatures currently plaguing us will eventually be no more than mounds of crunchy cicada carcasses.

It is the end of May, and in my part of the country, we have been besieged by locusts for three weeks now. This year marks the emergence of two varieties of cicadas. My limited research on the internet tells me they are called frequently called “locusts,” but, in fact, are not at all the same beast. There are two versions: the 17-year batch and the 13-year brood. They seem as menacing as the Hatfields and McCoys, but evidently aren’t terribly dangerous. My little Chihuahua-Daschund may get sick if he gorges himself on cicada crisps, but sturdy trees and plants will survive the attack. They’re expected to remain through the end of June.

I was relieved to find cicadas don’t linger all season, and, then I remembered a Bible study from a couple years ago. In 2009, one gifted friend from our congregation taught the women’s class about “storms.” Specifically, she examined the temporary nature of hardships in our lives. With biblical support, she addressed the trials that early Christians faced, and we explored those encountered in today’s world, as well as God’s purpose for these events and how to grow through them.

I was going through a struggle of my own at that time. I had resigned my position as a guidance counselor after months of soul-searching and prayer, taking a leap of faith by leaving a well-paying job that I liked. I was experiencing high blood pressure and anxiety. That study was exactly what I needed, and I saved only one thing from the summer lessons—a handout that said “storms don’t last forever.”

Throughout this nation and the world, people are suffering, surviving and rebuilding after literal and figurative storms in their own lives. Some face silly and simple dramas of everyday life, like an outbreak of cicadas. Others, like those inJoplin,Missouri, are recovering from devastating losses. There is comfort in knowing that God sustains us through each trial no matter how long it lasts, and He will be there when it’s over to encourage and strengthen us once again.

PRAYER: Merciful Father, be with those who face struggles throughout our community, country and world. May they find strength and encouragement through You, and may faith grow stronger as a result of those trials.

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17 NKJV).

Next Time, Call for Help

By Robin J. Steinweg –

A boy and his little sister chased down a purse-snatcher at Daytona Beach. The thief, a young woman of twenty, nabbed their mother’s purse and took off with the children in hot pursuit. The ten-year-old girl followed the snatcher into a bathroom and ended up with the purse, while the pilferer ended up in police custody shortly thereafter.

It sounds like a movie script, doesn’t it? I can almost hear kids everywhere cheering and mothers groaning in horror, imagining what might have happened. The children’s own mother said she was proud of them, but told them, “Next time, you call for help!”

Indeed. I wonder if, in the privacy of home, their parents grounded them forever. Still, I can identify with these little heroes. They saw, they conquered. They did it themselves, though everything was stacked against them.

The desire “to do it ourselves” is steeped in us pretty deeply. We assert our independence at a young age. I remember my sons demanding to dress themselves, and coming out in a cacophony of color and patterns, putting everybody’s eyes at peril. We admire the millionaire who started with nothing, the athlete who overcame physical handicaps, and marvel at the log cabin that served as the birthplace for a future president.

We like to do things for ourselves.

What is it that makes me determined to do it on my own?  It might be stubbornness. More likely, it’s simply my old companion, Pride, and his brother Foolishness. “I don’t need to pray about this—I can do it myself.” “Pray? It’s not that bad yet!” “I’m not going to bother God with it; He’s too busy with more important things.” “God helps those who help themselves.”

Pride nudges me and says, “It’ll look great on your resume if you do it alone.”

Foolishness forgets that a God who creates things out of nothing—with just a word— is hardly going to be hindered by time. Busy? Ha!

Wisdom is more likely to say, “God help those who try to help themselves!”

PRAYER: Lord, forgive my stubborn pride and protect me when I go chasing after life without coming to You first. I choose from here on out to chase hard after You instead. You’re with me always, and You know what’s best for me.

” The Lord is near to all who call on Him… He hears their cry and saves them” (Psalm 145:18 – 19 NIV).

 

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