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- Forgot Your Password? - Forgot Your Password? Have you ever seen that question? Probably not more than three thousand times! You want to get into one of YOUR accounts? What’s your password? Accessed denied! Why all that rigmarole just to get into MY ACCOUNT? GRRR. It’s for your own good, it’s for your own security, to protect your property, etc. The protocols (password) for entering that part of the tabernacle, beyond the curtain, called the Most Holy Place were a bit more elaborate. The penalty for getting those elements wrong…DEATH! I am not sure what we would do, as a company of believers, if we could not come to Jesus, to God, Continue reading
- My Cup Overflows - My Cup Overflows: I had never heard this song nor read these lyrics until recently when they were sent to me by a friend. While I don’t do this often, I do want to share this as the meditation for today. I hope these words speak to you as clearly and as spiritually as they did to me. Too often we take the blessings that flow to each of us from our Lord, and move on to the next challenge of life without the recognition of whose we are and how loved we are, and how His graces affect our lives. Continue reading
- Meditate on God’s Word - Meditate on God’s Word: Do we ever really take time to truly meditate on the Word of God? I mean really dwell on words, phrases, settings, meanings. When we personalize the Word and make it ours? It is not an easy task to translate the Holy Word of God into our everyday life, but I think the full power of His Word is unleashed when we truly make it ours, personal, in the midst of our conversation with God. You know, letting the scripture guide your conversation with God. This is what I came up with. Give it a try, you have the Master of the Universe helping you! Continue reading
- Abide with Me - Abide with Me: Moses was a great man; one of the greatest to ever walk this earth. But Moses was not irreplaceable. God being with them, Israel was in good hands, with or without Moses. God’s word, through Moses to Joshua, was: Be strong and of good courage. As believers in Jesus Christ we need to allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit then to reach out with courage and compassion tor others who are suffering through this time. We cannot do this on our own, that’s the reality of our frailty. But we can do it with Jesus who will give us the strength. We are never alone when we speak the truth in love. Continue reading
- Do Not Fear - Do Not Fear: So much is happening around us and it seems beyond our understanding and our ability to deal with it. The Omicron virus now lurking and apparently undetectable until you are infected. In times like these, it is easy to let fear grip our hearts and occupy our minds. What we heard last night about the spread of this new virus, garners even more fear, if we let it. You know that much of our fear is of the unknown. That kind of fear fills our mind too much of the time. Yes, we hear God say to us, “Do not be afraid,” but we are. We need to remember these important, timeless truths: God is with us, God is for us, God is in charge and God loves us. Continue reading
- New Years Day – Jubilee! - Jubilee! Yes, happy new year, indeed. All who hold a mortgage on house, car, boat, whatever, would indeed be happy if we practiced the Jewish tradition of Jubilee. Debts forgiven. A fresh start for all (except for the mortgage and holders of notes who would shed a tear or start a war). Wikipedia tells us a little of the ancient Jewish tradition of Jubilee. The Year of Jubilee is the fiftieth year at the end of seven cycles of Sabbatical years: seven sets of seven years. and, according to biblical regulations, had a special impact on the ownership and management of land in Israel. I can only imagine the chaos that would reign, if in some future time, a year of Jubilee were instituted in this country. Can you imagine? Wow! Wait, just a doggone minute! We already have that blessing, Continue reading
- The Next Room - The Next Room: We are mere hours away from the birth of a spanking new year. The year 2021 is in its final moments and will soon die away and we will be left with only the memory. As promised, a whole new year dawns promptly at the stroke of midnight. Blessings upon blessings. It would be hard to miss the symbolism of the calendar changes and our own lives as promised through Christ. Our own life becomes dust and we move into eternal life, brand-new, our bodies and minds sound, our joy unrestrained. This is why we come to the Lord with gratitude each day, for all the graces that have rained down upon us throughout our lives. Blessings upon blessings, and a peace that passes all of our understandings, all from a God who loves us. Continue reading
- Before Damascus - Before Damascus: I wonder if many of us in our religious lives, are back where Paul was before he became a Christian? Oh, I don’t mean they are out there persecuting other Christians, but what if we are caught up, or I should say grown-up, with a religion that has taught us, we are bad, we are sinful. It taught us how to feel guilty, but not how to be free, free and at peace. how many children, sitting in church week after week and heard that same theme in sermons -- We’re all sinners. Young children, hearing that repeatedly may search in their minds for how they were so bad, what sinful things have I done, and not really having a resolution of that question. Continue reading
- Time Traveler – Bible Style - Time Traveler – Bible Style: What if we could transport ourselves in the Way-back Machine to that time prior to the birth of Jesus. If we could stand there in the Temple, beside the teachers of the law who are reading the prophecies and shaking their heads, mumbling, “I don’t understand.” And, we, with our post-Resurrection understanding, begin to explain to these very smart Pharisees, the truth of the prophecies. Would they listen? I think the catchword, in this modern era of ours, is “seeing is believing”. The question really is how does firsthand knowledge, hands-on experience, proof positive, etc., deepen our faith? Nevertheless, imagining what it would be like to have borne witness to the ministry of Jesus, is fertile ground for story, but it is also enlightening as we dig deeper and deeper into the Word. Continue reading
- Pride… - Pride: We all struggle with pride in life! The seeds of pride are planted very early in life. Who among us has never said, “That’s mine!!” we grow out of some of that childish possessiveness, but little threads of pride remain in each of us. Isaac Watts has written a wonderful hymn: When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride. We need to distinguish between pride, as referred to in the hymn, and positive self- image. Jesus gives Peter the comfort he needed when his pride was broken and he had lost hope. That’s us, as well. Jesus asks us, do you love me? Continue reading
- Christmas Day – Oh, Happy Day! - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all. Glory to God in the Highest and on earth Peace and good will. Amen. Continue reading
- Christmas Eve - Christmas Eve: A Happy and Holy Christmas Eve to all of You! Advent is over and now we come together to celebrate the Birth of Jesus, Our Lord and Savior. The stable of Bethlehem helps us to imagine how Mary and Joseph were the first people to see and hold the Son of God. The first visitors to the stable were shepherds, humble people who took care of the animals who lived on the hillsides surrounding the town. What attracted them to the stable? Perhaps they heard heavenly music from angels who came to announce the holy birth of the Son. Maybe it was an unusual star that shown down on the stable. It must have been a strange and wondrous sight – shepherd folk visiting the One who one day would call Himself “The Good Shepherd”. Shepherds who only wanted to worship the Holy One. Continue reading
- He Sent a Boat and Love - He Sent a Boat and Love: Yesterday, my partner and I drove into Chicago to meet with family and friends for a Christmas reunion dinner at a nice restaurant. The decision to “mask-up”, and place our confidence in the Lord and our vaxx shots, was still made with an awareness of what is happening all around us throughout our nation. Over the many months, we have coined several phrases. One that I hear most at this point in time is “mask fatigue”. We trust in the fact that nothing touches us that doesn’t pass through the hands of God. Are we active parts of His plan or are we just lumps waiting for Him to bail us out? In this morning’s newspaper, we read that the emergency rooms everywhere are overloaded and the waiting time to see a doctor often stretches to 18 hours! It is shocking to know that 99% of those waiting in the ER are unvaxed. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Continue reading
- Me Time - Me Time: I am grateful to so many of you reading these Watchwords and who, in your own readings, have forwarded to me poems, thoughts and ideas that eventually find their way into on the daily Watchwords. Some of you have connected me with websites which you favor, and they too prove to be valuable sources of ideas. One such site linked me to the Daily Stoic where the content is often right over my head, but every now the then, something opens a brain cell or two. Such was the following that touched me and I hope you can relate from your own experience. It was in the morning. Or it was at night. Marcus Aurelius took time for himself—whatever was happening, wherever he was, to sit and think and write. Brand Blanshard marvels at what Marcus was able to accomplish there in the “midnight dimness,” alone with his pages and his thoughts. Seneca, we know, took the time in the evening, after his wife had gone to sleep. He reflected on the day past. He wrote his letters. He examined himself. What about you? Do you make this time? Continue reading
- Preparing for Jesus - Preparing for Jesus: We’ve heard this story, probably all of our life, and it substance of the advent story. The prophecies that foretold the coming of John the Baptist, the messenger, and of Elizabeth and Zachariah. More importantly, look at the six Scripture passages, prophecies, and the estimated dates. What makes this part of the advent story are the prophecies that started nearly 750 years before Christ was born. How can we ever doubt that this was an act of God? But then, six months into her pregnancy, her cousin Mary arrives, and suddenly the baby within her womb gets active! Continue reading
- Walking with Jesus - Walking with Jesus: You won’t believe this, but last Sunday, when I got to church, there were people sitting in my pew! I said you wouldn’t believe that. I was so upset, I almost walked out. How dare they? Sadly, those aren’t fictional comments, they’re probably representative of some of the unspoken thoughts. We like the idea of forgiveness, but there are some we simply can’t. We recite the Lord’s prayer, often without understanding. We read “give us this day our daily bread,” not thinking that the daily bread refers to His Word and practicing it. His message to us is to follow “the daily bread”, not a devotional, not a reference to food in the physical sense, but in reference to the Word of God. So, you want to walk with Jesus? You want to follow Him? Me, too! Continue reading
- Prayer - Prayer: Think about that. Do we turn to prayer as a last resort? When circumstances are crushing us down? Only when it thrills or excites us? Do we consider prayer as some exercise in common sense that prepares us for some greater work for God? The most important point about prayer is this: prayer is the primary way for the belief in Jesus Christ to communicate our emotions and our desires with God and to fellowship with God. When Paul spoke of praying without ceasing, he was underscoring the reality that we have direct access to Him, and we must never forget that. Continue reading
- I Declare a War - I Declare a War: Does it sometimes feel like you go from one struggle to another just to get through the day? Sometimes the struggle is Health related, sometimes the struggle is relationships, or issues related to finances. Does it ever occur to you that that’s the nature of being a human being? That there is a continuing struggle, whether in the mental, moral, physical, or in the spiritual areas of life. I don’t know how you read Jesus words, but I think the struggles that we have, moral and physical and mental issues, always come back to spiritual. Continue reading
- Sunday or Monday? - Sunday or Monday? It was a special morning. My mind was filled with all sorts thoughts and ideas, some coming from devotionals that I had read and some coming from the scripture passages that caused me to meditate, or sort through my own understanding. What a morning! Like cream rising from the top of milk, one idea persisted long after I moved on to breakfast. Jesus commanded his followers to go and make disciples. Sunday or Monday, or “any-day” of the week, that commandment is the same for us. Continue reading
- Division is Good? - Division is Good? Stories of churches who have split over some of the most ridiculous reasons are numerous. At last count, there are as many as 50,000 splinters of the Christian faith. Churches have split over serious differences as well as ridiculous and superficial reasons. While disagreements among the congregations they continue, the basic tenet of Christianity, Jesus Christ is Lord, remains. That is the point, isn’t it? We who sit in the pews may grieve a split in your church, but our worship has the singular focus of Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified. Why do you go to church? Continue reading
