Tag Archives: Jesus

Crocheted Cactus

crocheted cactus

I have a crocheted cactus in my office since I am not the best at keeping plants alive. I am so bad, apparently, that I require a fake version of one of the easiest plants to care for! I point this out because we often try to make the care of our “potted plant” of faith as easy as possible.

Is there some way that we can “put it on a shelf” and forget it? That may be our wish. But the reality is that our calling as Christians is to be always involved in the care and nurture of our faith that it might grow and flourish. Faith is never stagnant or immovable or fake. It does not stop growing when we are confirmed or become an adult or a parent or retire. Faith is always something for us to be engaged in and be attentive to. St. Paul tells us why growing in our faith is so important:

We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. 2 Thessalonians 1:3-4

A growing faith helps us to grow closer to one another in love, allows us to boldly witness to the world around us about the power of Christ in our lives even in hard times and causes us to draw closer to our Savior in the process—all good things to make us thrive as plantings of the Lord. Grow on, my faithful friends.

Be Open

outstretched hand

[Jesus] went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. … Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. Matthew 12:9-10, 13

I like the idea that Jesus asked the man with the withered hand to stretch out his hand. It is like Jesus is saying, “Show me everything that is wrong with your hand.” The man completely revealed his problem. He was not afraid to open and share his ailment with Jesus. And in that moment, the hand was healed.

How many times do we try to hide our problems from Jesus? How often are we not completely honest with him (or ourselves) with the trouble we are having? We don’t like to be vulnerable and weak in front of others, let alone Jesus. But that is exactly what Jesus asked this man to be. And that open hand (and open heart) served as the platform for Jesus’ healing.

This man’s willingness to be open and to “lay it all out there,” stretched out for all to see, reminds me that I need to be open and honest with Jesus when I come to him with my problems, difficulties and woes. There’s no need to back away from hard things. We need to face them head on and let Jesus know exactly what we are dealing with, and then we just need to let him do the work to help us.

Icy Walks

icy walk

When I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. Micah 7:8

We have been dealing with very icy sidewalks, steps and streets in the last few weeks here in St. Louis, and recently the inevitable happened: I fell on my back stairs carrying my groceries inside. Fortunately, I was not hurt in any way, maybe just a little shaken up. I laid there for a while before I made the move to get up and carefully walk back inside my house.

The experience reminded me that in this “fallen” world we will fall literally and figuratively at some point. Don’t ever be surprised by that or too shaken up by that. But remember that in Jesus, we will rise, as he did on Easter. We will, by his grace and power and strength, get back up and return to life, led and guided by him and his protection.

Blue Mind

person and water

There is a phenomenon that scientists call “blue mind.” It is the state of having a clear mind, improved health, and better sense of overall well-being when being on or near a body of water. This is the reason many like the beach, boating and lake houses.

The idea of the blue mind comes to mind for me when I think about milestone moments in the ministry of Christ. For instance, he recruited fishermen to be his disciples as they were in the midst of doing their work on the Sea of Galilee. With clear and determined minds, those men dropped their nets and followed Jesus.

Then I think of how Jesus used a boat as a pulpit and spoke as “the whole crowd stood on the beach” (Matthew 13:2). Perhaps Jesus’ words resonated more to the people there because of their proximity to the water.

Of course, Jesus came to the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist. And it was there in a instance of clarity, John declared as Jesus came near, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

Then there is the time when the resurrected Jesus met the disciples on the shore and served them breakfast. It was there where Jesus and Peter had a heart-to-heart conversation and Peter’s mission to spread the Gospel was made clear when Jesus said to him: “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17).

You may not be anywhere near a body of water at this time, but if you are, consider spending some time there in prayer. And if you aren’t, imagine yourself on a shore somewhere with the sound of waves hitting the sand, and let the Word of the Lord wash over you and bring you peace.

Tell (and Re-tell) the Story

Jesus saves

A couple months ago, I became familiar with the game Telestrations. In this game, players are given a word or a phrase that the next player must draw a picture of. Then the next player must write a word or a phrase based on what they think was drawn in the picture. This continues for several rounds until at the end of each player’s pad, you can see the progression of what was the original word or phrase to what the word or phrase became at the end. The difference between the two can very often be quite shocking.

This game, while funny to play, only goes to show that messages can get off-track sometimes. People often don’t hear what was initially stated because of miscommunications along the way. That is just a fact of human life.

That is also why we as Christians continue to tell the story of Jesus and his love over and over to people. We do not want the message to get confused or garbled in any way. We want the truth that Jesus died on the cross for our salvation to be perfectly clear to all if you are the first person or the one thousandth person to hear it. That is why we have church every week: to bring the message home again and again. So tell the story of Jesus and keep telling it. Then let the Word take root in the hearts and souls of all who hear it.

A Merry Little Christmas

little Christmas 2

”Have yourself a merry little Christmas,” I say to you today, in the words of that familiar song. Why the word little? Perhaps it is because we each have our own personal ways of celebrating in our individual families. Maybe it is because our celebration is just one of millions taking place in homes all over the world. Or it might be that the first Christmas was very little: just Mary, Joseph and the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay in a stable hidden behind a small-town Bethlehem inn. Not many people knew about this miraculous birth when it happened. But soon word would spread through angels and shepherds and wise men. And we are glad today that the news has come to us that a Savior has been born to little ol’ you and to little ol’ me, and that is the bigggest news there ever could be. Ponder that in your heart today.

Every Need

Wish list

 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

“What do you want for Christmas?“ we ask our children and one another in these weeks of December. But later, perhaps in hushed tones, we say to each other with compassion in our voices: “What do you need?” The difference between what we want and what we need can be quite shocking. God is the only one who really knows what we absolutely need, regardless of what we tell him we want. Even in this Christmas season, when we say that dreams comes true, the reality is that not everything we want is actually what God sees that we need.

That is not to say that we are deprived. The gifts that God supplies us come from “his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” We are made rich in Jesus through his birth among us and the forgiveness, love, peace and joy he brings that we are in need of most of all. In the end, all we really need is Jesus. Our every need is found in him.

The Kids’ Table

kids’ table

Did you ever have to sit at the kids’ table at your family Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner? It’s always off to the side somewhere, often a little lower in height to the main table, and regularly reserved for the smallest among us.

Some people think of the kids’ table as the last place you want to be. But Jesus wouldn’t think so. Listen to these words:

“But when you are invited [to a banquet], go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted (Luke 14:10-11).

Metaphorically speaking, the kids’ table is the place for us to be in the kingdom of God. Why? Because we are to be humble in our approach to God and to one another. We are never to think of ourselves more highly than we ought, St. Paul tells us (Romans 12:3). Only the host, who is Jesus, can invite us to be near him at the head table. Only Jesus can make us worthy of a seat with the saints. Only his suffering, death and resurrection for our sake give us VIP status at the feast of heaven. In honor of him, we graciously await that beckoning forward by our Savior.

Here Again?!

Christmas

There is a line from a Beach Boys song that my siblings and I always laughed about growing up. The line goes, “Christmas comes this time each year.” Yes, it does. Pretty obvious, right? But with each passing year, I do have to say that I find myself a little bit surprised when December rolls around. “Here again?!” I say to myself somewhat incredulously. But the calendar does not lie, and Christmas is something that comes regardless if we are ready for it or not. Some wish it would come quicker. Some hope it comes late. But every December 25, it arrives.

The holiday itself is a symbol of Christ’s arrival in our lives each and every year. He comes to us, ready or not. He comes to us, busy or not. He comes to us, happy or not. His arrival is sometimes long-awaited and sometimes a surprise to us. No matter what is going on in your life right now, let Christmas come to you. Let its meaning sink into you. Let the Son of God born as a baby in Bethlehem warm your heart, soul and mind this time each year…and always.

Candle Making

candles

I recently visited a living history farmstead that showed what life was like in Colonial days in America. One of the common household chores at the time was dipping candles. It was a laborious task that required dipping a cotton wick into a kettle of melted wax and hot water approximately 25 times to make one candle. Why go through all this work? Because candles were an absolute necessity at the time and the primary way to light a home at night.

Today we take light at night in our homes for granted, but imagine if you had worked all day making candles so you could have light at night. You would appreciate the flickering light of a candle in the darkness much more. You would be more careful with your candle use and make sure you got the most out of your time by candlelight.

God has created us to be lights in this dark world. So what should we be doing as the lights God has made? The Bible gives us some hints: We shouldn’t put our lights “under a basket” or out of sight in any way, but “on a stand,” where the light can extend to the farthest corners of the room (Matthew 5:15). Our lights should be used to help others: illuminating the words of Scripture to someone who has not read the Bible before, for instance, or guiding someone to a decision, and brightening the life of a person who is sad or lonely.

So savor your light. Use it wisely. Consider the work of the Creator. Then shine!