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- Monday, June 22 - Think about that and about the gifts or talents given to each of us. Every person has the task of releasing angels by shaping and transfiguring all those raw materials that lie within into our life, artistic works, careers, etc. We chip, and scratch, and file away at our raw material to discover our gifts, and the transformational process begins. Beneath this shell of hard-headedness, stubbornness, self-importance, low self-esteem, etc., waits the angel of our worth. Because our gifts carry us into the world and makes us participants in life, the uncovering of them is one of the most important tasks confronting any one of us. When we talk about being ourselves -- being the person we are intended by God to be -- we are talking about gifts. We cannot be ourselves unless we are true to the gifts and graces that flow to us from His hands. Continue reading
- Sunday, June 21 - Our Heavenly Father has a love for us, His children, that is unmatched. All the heavens and earth were created with us in mind. He wanted a beautiful place for His family of mankind. He provides everything we need and much of what we want. He cares about every aspect of our lives: our health, our family, our life’s work, hobbies, dreams, and even our desires. Father God not only loves us in church, He loves us wherever we are. He loves what we do and what we become. He watches over us while we sleep and wakes us up every morning to start a new day in His love! He scrutinizes our every move, and every thought. The Bible says that we are so valuable to God, “even the hairs on your head are all counted.” Luke 12:7 Continue reading
- Saturday, June 20 - Do you remember the song from the 1950’s, “Little Things Mean a Lot”? A sweet, little love song: Give me your hand when I've lost the way [...] Sappy? Maybe. If you are a romantic, and most of us should be, then that little song carries some meaning…like that cup of water that you give, or the door you hold open, or the hand you reach out with, or “doing for the least of these…” Little things mean a lot. Do we realize that when we do what could be considered small acts of kindness for others, in the name of Jesus, we are glorifying his Holy Name? You express genuine concern for hurting people. You give to worthy causes. Your generosity and compassion are seen by the All-Seeing. “You did it unto me.” Continue reading
- Friday, June 19 - We know that quote from Jesus. We have discussed it in so many different forums and tried to slant it one way or another, applying secular morality or inclusionism (is that even a word?) to what Jesus said. But, Jesus did not say he would show the truth or teach the truth or model the truth. He is the truth. He is the source of truth. You and I can discover truth, but we cannot create it. Puddin’ Head Wilson tells us that “Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example. Truth is a good example. What is truth? Truth, real truth, is a hard taskmaster. You know with truth, there is no wiggle room, no way to hedge the bet. No way to hide or duck it. As Steve Brown has said, “Truth is true because it’s…true.” Continue reading
- Thursday, June 18 - Have you ever seen a miracle? No? Are you sure? Maybe you were part of it, and you have no recollection of having been there, or seen it, or heard it. Maybe, without you knowing it, someone had observed you doing something for the Lord, and it caused them to think, to pray, to act. Just a little thing, a seedling. There are some that believe miracles happen all the time, all around us. Are you one of those? We hear about miracle drugs, miracle this, miracle that, and maybe that’s all just advertising. Or is it? Continue reading
- Wednesday, June 17 - Corrie ten Boom, from Clippings from My Notebook, “Worry doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrows, it empties today of its strength.” Worry. We do, despite our Lord telling us “do not worry”, we just go right on worrying. Or do we? Some worry is not worry. Right? We look both ways, twice, before driving through an intersection. We use caution on stairs. Some of us check the ‘Use by date’ on foods, just to be safe. Is all that evidence of worry? In this age of covid19, we take great care to isolate ourselves, use masks, keep ‘social distance’, all in the interest of keeping healthy. To not take those steps, recommended by the scientists who know, is foolhardy. Yet, many of us, who venture out to the grocery store, or other places, see so many who ignore the best thinking of those who know. Continue reading
- Tuesday, June 16 - It’s been three months since the isolation began and some of us are still separated from our loved ones, even to the point of not having seen them except through the graces of Facetime, Zoom or our smart phones. A few of us have broken out of this quarantine, we balanced the risk against the reward of blessed fellowship. I hope you have discovered, as I have, through all of this, that our love relationships have not changed. Maybe you observe that absence makes the heart grow fonder. I can’t disagree with that, but, then, I also believe that love is an absolute. An absolute? Well, yes, I think it’s an absolute. I’m one of those romantics who believes that love never dies. Even death does not diminish it. Nor does it dim because of conflict. I also don’t believe there are differing shades love. I’ve never seen a movie where the protagonist might say, I have 47% love for you and I hope you share the same. Although that does sound a bit silly, and funny, or sad. Continue reading
- Monday, June 15 - Do we fear death? With some frequency, you may hear of people who, due to incurable illness, age, pain or loss of faculties, say they are “Ready to go.” They wish to leave this vale of tears. They may say they “long to be with Jesus”. I have a friend who is not in good health, has lost the spouse, and has expressed that very wish, to be with Jesus. This person has the will made out, funeral planned, all bills paid, insurance in place, and has said goodbye to those important in their life. I cannot walk in another’s shoes, or feel their pain, or know their thoughts. From our standpoint, it is hard to fully understand what is going on in their lives, or how their mind is working. The only gauge is our own, and the comparison is foggy, at best. Continue reading
- Sunday, June 14 – Let Me Clarify - Let Me Clarify: I offer a retraction. Well, maybe not a retraction, maybe a qualification. Well, maybe not a qualification, may be clarification. That’s it, let me clarify. Here it is: In Friday’s Meditation on Watchword, I made the argument that Joy was a choice, our choice. Then on Saturday, I was soundly informed differently by Jesus and Oswald Chambers. I confess, I misunderstood. Well, maybe not misunderstood so much as reflected on only a small part of joy. Nehemiah made it clear, but I did not read it for the full meaning. “The Joy of the Lord is your strength.” It is not my joy, but the Joy of the Lord that buoys me, lifts me up and makes my day. “Joy comes in the morning.” A joy that we treasure, that comes with the dawn of a new day, that is fresh and new in little moments throughout our day, in us and our loved ones, gifted by the Lord. Continue reading
- Saturday, June 13 – Favorites - Favorite passages from the Bible. We all have them. Maybe it was a passage that we memorized when we were a child and it stuck with us, taking on real meaning when we became adults and we drew closer to our Lord. The Proverbs passage was a favorite of Glenn Hawkins, a long-time member of Men in Mission, the men’s Bible Study group at our church. He spoke of how meaningful it was to him at an especially difficult moment in his life. That testimony had an impact on my life and the lives of others. Philippians 4:13 is a passage that touched the lives of so many of my friends and loved ones over the years when strength to overcome difficulty was needed. That passage had power to calm and to bring courage in the face of overwhelming odds. Continue reading
- Friday, June 12 – Sing A New Song - Ever have your heart so full of joy that it seems you can’t stop singing, or humming or even dancing? You want to shout, “I feel goooood!” You can say that you were happy, but it’s more than that, far more than that. The Psalmist tells us to sing to the Lord a new song. That doesn’t mean you need to compose a song, plunk it out on your guitar, or bow it out on your cello. The early Christians in their zeal for worship composed psalms, many of which were indeed a new song. Our hymns accomplish the same purpose, and our heart-song joy is unique to each of us. I think at the very heart of our joy is the knowledge we have been invited to come to Him and he gives us rest. How do we do that? Continue reading
- Thursday, June 11 – Radical Self-forgiveness - My daughter Beth, who has been reading Watchword from the start, received this lengthy letter/essay from her friend, Annie Lamott. Beth thought this was right in keeping with the theme and the intent of Watchword Network. This was striking bit of writing and raised many ideas and thoughts that have made their way through Watchword over these many months. Think of this as a letter from a fellow Christian, struggling, as we are, to come out of this storm, closer to our Lord and Savior: Our pastor’s sister died last night, and so she won’t be preaching today. Our tiny church of 30 is in collective mourning for both of them, although none of us had ever met the sister. Here on this side of eternity, we are asked to survive un-survivable loss, and times of wailing, gnashing of teeth, heartbreak. It’s not a good system. If I was God’s West Coast representative, a job for which I am uniquely suited, I would have created an easier way through life, a way that made more sense and didn’t hurt as much. Continue reading
- Wednesday, June 10 – Are We Lost? II - Part 2: I don’t believe that spiritual discernment is a single thing, an isolated act, or a change in broad behavior. Or even a change of heart, or a change of mind. Spiritual discernment is all of those things, and so much more. In some ways, spiritual discernment is a bit like a learning process. When you know that you should do something, and you do it, you realize that you know more, that you understand more fully a situation, or a person, or yourself, or where the Lord is leading you. Too often, I believe, that if we were to examine closely, where our spiritual walk was not a central focus of our belief, we would find that it might track back to something that we should have done, but failed, because, at the time, there didn’t seem to be an immediate call for our involvement. Continue reading
- Tuesday, June 9 – Are We Lost? I - Part 1: I wonder what thoughts have occurred to us, early in this time of isolation and change, when it felt as if we were lost, out on the desert, or possibly out on the ocean, where the familiar, and the comfortable no longer existed, that all this was somehow planned. Or, perhaps, you felt like you’re in a storm, buffeted about, disorganized, your True North lost in the wind and the rain, desperately seeking direction. After a time, maybe for you, and for me, the memory of the familiar, that was comfortable and seemed right, gets a bit foggy, and something else fills that space. Maybe this is the hand of the Lord, using the storm as a way for us to be removed from that ease, that comfort, and set us apart where only God is the True North, where Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Continue reading
- Our Failures? - Jesus is not praying for us in our success! He is praying for us in our failures! Wow. What a statement! Do you believe that? Jesus is rejoicing in the success He sees in our lives, which is different than the success we may aspire to, and the success He sees in us does not surprise Him. He has equipped us for that success, He has foreordained that we would succeed. So, in our equipping and in the foreordaining, He has set the stage for what would follow…our success through His will. Now, what about our stumbles, those times when we ‘pass by on the other side’, or did not do to the ‘least of these my brothers’? Why would Jesus pray for our failures? He is not praying for our failures, He is praying for us, that next time when confronted with need, or service, or outreach, we would be like the Good Samaritan, that we would not lose heart, that we would draw ever closer to Him. When that happens, we see through eyes are opened to His will for success. Continue reading
- Is God in My Pumpkin? - Stan Ott is a long-time Presbyterian pastor who has seen the church through transformational eyes and theology. Years ago, I attended a conference where Stan was one of the speakers, he told a little story about a time, during the Halloween season, when his three-year-old daughter interrupted his early morning meditation time. He invited his daughter onto his lap, and explained to her that she would need to be quiet, but you could talk to God if she liked. The child remained in thoughtful silence for a time, then whispered, "Is God here?” Yes, Stan replied, God is here. Then after a period of silence, she whispered, “Is God everywhere?” Yes, God is everywhere. Another a period of silence, then she whispered again, “Is God in my pumpkin”. Trying to keep a straight face, Stan replied, Yes, God is in your pumpkin. To which his daughter replied, “Why is God in my pumpkin?” Continue reading
- Saturday, June 6 – Imitation of Jesus - How has the happenings throughout society, the science part and the protest part, impacted your Christian walk? There are some obvious reasons for a change, an impact: Churches are closed to all but “essential” services. Some long-standing outreach, support and Bible studies have greatly limited access to the facilities of their church. For the most part, these are geography matters, except those few times when politics rears its ugly head. Outreach and Bible studies can relocate to locations outside the ‘home’ church, while some of the support issues become very limited. The mental health matter is more difficult to deal with in this environment. Continue reading
- The Enemy Within - The scene is a room, far from the marketplace in Jerusalem. The location is shared in secret among the followers and disciples, for they are afraid of the Romans and the Pharisees. Jesus came and stood among them, saying, “do not be afraid”. He walked around the room, showing the wounds He had suffered, in His wrists, His feet, His side. He paused at one disciple and they spoke quietly, a private conversation, then Thomas knelt, head bowed, tears in his eyes. Forgiveness. Then Jesus spoke to those disciples, and to us, saying, “Go and forgive each other, love your enemies, pray for those who insult you, come as a child, trusting, forgiving.” Continue reading
- Thursday, June 4 – Wake Up! - We wake up to another day. Is this the day the Lord has given us? Yes. Do we rejoice? Do we? Are we glad? Or, do we take one look at the TV and realize things have not changed, or if they have, we cannot see it. We pray for security and safety for our family, for our children, for our circle of friends, for the nation, for those we do not know, in places where we’ve never been. The thought may occur to us, that our prayers to God cannot be heard above the cries of the crowds that fill our streets in protest of injustice, or above the crash of breaking glass, and the emptiness of words spoken by our so-called leaders. And we may wonder where are you, Jesus? Continue reading
- Wednesday, June – Once the Storm is Over - A poem by Haruki Murakami: And once the storm is over. you won’t remember how you made it through, how do you manage to survive. you won’t even be sure, in fact, that the storm is over. But one thing is certain. when you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. that’s what the storm is all about. And Jesus asks us, “Why are you afraid?” and we have no answer because, in our fragile-faith lives, we think it is obvious why we are afraid. As if to reinforce that thought, we look around us and, sure enough, there it is, cause to be afraid. Continue reading
