Looking for an earlier Watchword?
- Is God in Your Pumpkin? - Is God in Your Pumpkin? Stan Ott is a long-time Presbyterian pastor. Years ago, I attended a conference where he was one of the speakers. Stan told a little story about a time, during the Halloween season, when his three-year-old daughter interrupted his early morning meditation time with the question, Is God in My Pumpkin? Then, later after thinking about that, she whispered again, 'Why is God in my Pumpkin? How about you? With all the blessings that God provides, where is God in the way you live life? Is God in your pumpkin? Continue reading
- Almost There? - Almost There? Thanksgiving is just barely on the horizon, yet the “Season” is creeping in, Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go... We’re all excited because visiting grandpa and grandma was the highest spot of travel we did as/with kids. Ever keep track of all the times you heard the cry from the back seat, ‘Are we almost there, daddy, are we almost there?’ and most of the time we weren’t ‘almost there’ but we were getting closer. Continue reading
- Ruthless Faithfulness - Ruthless Faithfulness: I was reading a commentary on Luke 22 where the writer used the phrase “ruthless faithfulness and unfailing love”, in reference to the atonement through Jesus Christ and the cross. I have a better understanding of “unfailing love”, then I do of “ruthless faithfulness”. How about you? Continue reading
- More Than Enough Part 2 - More than enough Part 2: I’m going to assume that a good number of readers of these devotionals have at some point or another in your lives faced serious medical problems. Sometime as we pray for guidance, healing, help in various ways we get an answer that does not seem to be the answer we think would work. God‘s answer to our plea is perfect. Psalm 16 is David’s prayer for safekeeping, pleading for the Lord's protection against the threat of death. Continue reading
- More Than Enough Part 1 - More Than Enough: When has God blessed you beyond what you imagined? Did you express your gratitude and recognize that it was the Lord moving in your life? Did you share that information with anyone, talk about how Jesus is more than enough for you? That is our roll as a Child of God, you know. Continue reading
- Nine Is Not Enough - Nine Is Not Enough: When he opened his car door, light illuminated a tiny kitten, standing on trembling legs near his front tire. He reached down, scooped it up, and, over the next two weeks, a visit to the vet, a crash course in raising a kitten and kitty-proofing his home, significant purchases at Petco, and the adoption was complete. Chloe was welcomed into the family, a tiny life-saver. She was a one-person kitty/cat, yet she had a way of welcoming all comers to ‘her’ home. My friend found, as we all do, that there is a down-side to pet adoption. In Chloe’s case, nine lives was not enough. Continue reading
- Collect for Purity - Collect for Purity: I think this is beautiful and poetic, reminiscent of scripture passages, such as Psalm 51:10, Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me. Or perhaps, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8. In the Collect we see all three persons of the Trinity. Continue reading
- Signs of a Christian - Signs of a Christian: Over the centuries, man has displayed all kinds of symbols to tell the world that they follow Jesus Christ, or simply, that they are Christians. I have a chain around my neck with a cross, as so many people do, and that declares that “I am a Christian!” Do you believe it? You may see cross lapel pins or ear rings. Maybe you will see the sign of a fish on the trunk of a car, another mark of following Christ. In some gatherings of followers, it is the haircut or dress that makes the statement. I guess there is nothing wrong with any of this, if that is your leanings. But, do they really say, “I am a Christian, a follower of Christ”? Is there a true universal mark or sign that tells the world whose you are? Continue reading
- Tell Your Story - What Follows: The Bible is filled with lead-ins that could create a good story. My first published book, A Life for Barabbas, was just such a story. I created a fiction 'rest of the life' story for Barabbas. There are many; How about Mary of Magdalene, what happened to her after the resurrection? We could complete the life stories for the likes of Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, the Centurion whose little daughter was healed by Jesus. There is a common thread that runs through each biblical "Rest of the Story", story -- There has been an encounter with Jesus. Continue reading
- Popular Music and Faith - Popular Music and Faith: Ever listen to some popular music and hear a song that, at first, seemed almost like a hymn, but then you realized that you were maybe listening to 40 hits of the day, and you might have dialed it out and moved on. But the fact is that some of the most beautiful songs that we view as faith-based, like Amazing Grace, Ave Maria, You Raise Me Up, The Prayer, all spent some time on the Top 40 charts. Can you imagine? Continue reading
- The Good Stuff - The Good Stuff: The good stuff in our lives. That’s what we’d rather talk about, think about, share about. What are the blessings in your life? If you were to list your blessings, what would be on that list, beyond your spouse, your family, your children, your grandchildren, even your circle of friends? I have heard it said that "what is past is past", but that is simply not true. Continue reading
- How Do You Worship? - How Do You Worship? In the Matthew passage, Jesus is clearly perturbed. He is upset because His message, for more than a year, had always been peace and calmness and healing. His invitation was for all to come to Him and He would give them rest. And they had turned their backs on His Way and His Word. So, how do you worship? Or, maybe a better question for all us; who or what do you worship? Continue reading
- The Other Side? - The Other Side? In the last Watchword, entitled “You are a Disciple”, I wrote about Jesus going where others feared to tread, going to the “other side”. Whether are you are aware of it, we operate on a mentality, and in a culture, that speaks of Us versus Them. We on one side, they on the other. All we need to do is look at the color chart, Reds versus Blues. Whites versus blacks, or maybe you would prefer Protestants versus Catholics or, and so it goes. We do take sides, don’t we? We tend to divide the human race based on ethnicity, culture, language and religion. Continue reading
- You Are a Disciple - You Are a Disciple: So much of the time when we read the Bible we seek to understand what is happening, what the meaning of the parable, or understanding the flow of biblical history. I wonder if we ever stop and try on sandals of the fisherman, the way of the disciple, the transformation of common a man into a disciple of Jesus. Continue reading
- Proof Positive! - Proof Positive! The musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, opened on Broadway in October 1971, to opposition and criticism from various religious groups who also filed suits preventing the performance in various theatre sites world-wide. The album, Jesus Christ Superstar (Album), was a big seller, as was the film version, Jesus Christ Superstar (Film). I purchased the album a year or two after the theater performance and still have it. It’s a bulky thing, by today’s standards, black vinyl, 33 1/3 RPM, 12” wide. I have nothing to play it on and, I guess, in the back of my mind, I hold out hope for its increasing value. Continue reading
- Black-Hearted? - Black-Hearted? Whatcha got hidden in your heart, fella? Would you be willing to post those sly little thoughts, for all the world to see, the total content of your mind, your heart, your desires? You say, of course, my mind is as white as the driven snow. So, you don’t think there’s a black corner in your inner being? I wonder. What thoughts, do you suppose, David had standing on that roof-top, the King gazing down on bathing women? This is the man after God’s own heart? Nathan the prophet came to see David, and he comes to see us. He tells the story of two men, one rich and one poor. And how the rich man took from the poor man. We are angry at this injustice, just as David was. He said, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!” Nathan points his finger at David and at us and says “you are that person!” So, one more time, Whatcha got hidden in your heart, fella? Continue reading
- Overthinking Our Faith - Overthinking Our Faith: Have you ever felt confident when you think you’re following the will of the Lord, but we don’t know for certainty. Maybe we are lost in a ‘service to others’ mentality, and we work at it, and we pray about it, but then we wonder; is this the mission that the Lord has given me? Is this what he wants me to do? And our doubts swirl around us and we wonder. With some frequency I have wandered into a quagmire of doubts. Continue reading
- Tell It, Live It - Tell It, Live It: Some years ago, my Christian education class at church went through four class sessions studying the book “Walk Across the Room” by Bill Hybels. This was a study to help us to understand and to organize all those elements of our faith journey so as to share our experience with others. During the course of these classes I found that I was understanding my own walk of faith in greater clarity. So, for this meditation, and the next two, let me share with you some ideas about faith that touched me, personally, and are probably the same ones that touched you. Continue reading
- I Have Seen the Lord - I Have Seen the Lord: It was a singular encounter. the sin purged Mary at first thought she was speaking to the gardener, but then, he spoke her name and as she walked away, she realized, that was the Lord! I have seen the Lord! There’s a moment for all of us who have moved from the grey-ness of earthly life into the excitement, peace and joy of life lived with Christ. We’ve called it born again, or simply accepting Christ, as Lord and Savior of our lives. Whatever, it's a God moment, a transition, even a resurrection. Continue reading
- Foundation of a Devotional - Foundation of a Devotional: Six years ago, this October, my first faith-based novel, A Life for Barabbas, was published by TouchPoint Publications. It was a true odyssey for me of blessed research into sacred and ancient writings and a recognition of God’s graces through inspiration and discoveries. I'm not a theologian, I'm a psychologist and a Christian, so I was both breaking new ground and verifying deeper held belief. The research had taken me into the writings of scholarly theologians, and multiple commentaries, books about first century Jerusalem. I was introduced to the Apocrypha, which, at the start, I couldn’t spell, let alone know what it was. I pray that this 'different kind of devotional' gives you cause to consider more deeply, as you read God's Word. Continue reading
