Looking for an earlier Watchword?
- If We Had Known - Paraphrased from Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest: Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly and the city was stirred to its very foundations, but a strange god was there -- the pride of the Pharisees. What is it that blinds us to the peace of God in this our day? Do we have a strange God -- not a disgusting monster but perhaps in unholy nature that controls our lives at this moment? More than once God has brought us face to face with that strange God in our lives, and we knew that we should have given it up, but we didn’t. We may have gotten through the crisis, but just barely, only to find ourselves still under the control of that strange God. “If you had known…” God’s words cut directly to the heart, with the tears of Jesus behind these words which imply responsibility for our own faults. God holds us accountable for what we refuse to see or are unable to see because of our sin. Oh, the sadness of what might have been. Doors of our lives close that will never be opened. Continue reading
- This Present Crisis - Are we living in such a vital relationship with our fellow man? Consider our present circumstances, in our homes, with our neighbors, with our country. The present crisis (God DOES know when and how this will end, we don’t) as it touches us and others – are these things crushing us? Is our self-worry driving a wedge between us and Our Lord? Then let us call a stop! Resuscitate our relationship with God that our relationship to others may be maintained in prayer and active intercession, whereby God works His marvels through us. Continue reading
- Cup of Isolation - Jesus, the perfect God, the perfect human. Who among us has not wished “this cup of isolation away” from our lips? Yet, Your will, God, not mine. Amen. From Elisa Morgan, Our Daily Bread for April 1: Every coin has two sides. Christ’s prayer in the garden possesses two sides. In the deepest hours of His life, on the night before he died, Jesus prayed ‘Father, if You are willing, take this cup from me…” That’s the raw honesty of prayer. He reveals His personal desire, ‘This is what I want.” Then Jesus turns the coin, praying ‘not my will’. That is the side of abandon. Abandoning ourselves to God begins when we simply say, ‘But what do You want, God?’ Yes, Lord, I confess, I would like it back the way it was before all this, but not my will, but thine. I rest in your love, Precious Lord and Savior. Amen. Continue reading
- The Peace of Christ - It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the psychology counseling business, but I know that this isolation, by itself, is not a good thing for our mental or physical health. I’ve been listening closely to talking heads who have sterling advice to offer, and I think some of that is sound, and makes sense. We all have to stay active, in one form or another. You have to keep our minds active whether it’s through reading, crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, or conversations with friends. We have to stay in contact with others. Set a goal each day of touching base with one or two of your circle of friends, relatives, or church community. Continue reading
- Do Not Fear - In times like these, it is easy to let fear grip our hearts and occupy our minds. What we heard last night in the latest news, garners even more fear, if we let it. You know, much of it is fear of the unknown. That kind of fear fills our mind, too much of the time. We need to remember these important truths: God is with us, God is for us, God is in charge and God loves us. His voice continues to instruct us: do not be afraid. Brothers and sisters, we are not alone. When the storm rages all around us, and darkness seems to close in, he offers us peace and refuge in the midst of it. He promises us hope and strength. Proverbs 3:5 is a true watchword: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Continue reading
- We Are The Church - Sunday morning, what is missing? Oh, yes, we are not IN church, but we are THE church. [...] Build Your Blessings List: How has God blessed your life? From Maury: In going through a lifetime of pictures to down-size, I was moved to give thanks and praise to God for all the Christian friends and opportunities to serve and to travel that the Lord has allowed an ole farmer to experience. It had to be His doing! The present blessing is the Wednesday morning Bible study. I miss you guys and the blessing of being together in His Word. How do you answer that question? Give it a thought and let’s post it here. Continue reading
- Dialog With Jesus - A Dialog with Jesus: And Jesus says, just keep in touch. Don’t worry about the Prayers, they will come. The important thing is the communication, it’s the human, I created, reaching out to Me. Don’t worry about the Prayers, they will come. In My own time, they will come. Stay tuned, always stay tuned to Me, the Lord and your fellow man. Do not lose touch. Don’t worry about the Prayers, they will come as inspiration springs from thoughts and calls and compliments and criticisms, from feelings, from isolation and loneliness, and even from a loss, for, My Child, I know all of this. So, don’t worry about the Prayers, they will come. Continue reading
- Drawing A Blank - I sit here at my computer wondering what to say this morning. Nothing comes to mind. I think about all those encouraging words that I’ve heard, over the years, from a variety of sources. Nothing. I want to pass something on to you, almost anything, even a silly song! Still nothing! Then my eye rests on a little picture frame that holds something entitled “Creativity and Inspiration” that I wrote two years ago, a little 3-point mantra that I have used almost daily. The last of the three points is this – What would you have me write, Lord? Then a whispered voice from the back of my mind tells me ‘share this from Thomas Merton’... Continue reading
- Waiting On Me - Good morning. I pray that you had a good night’s sleep and that you are rested and ready to go to work. The hardest kind of work – keeping our loved one and ourselves in a peaceful, optimistic mood. The words of a song from long ago, one that we sang to our kids when they were bored and grumpy: Gray skies are gonna clear up, put on a happy face. Brush off the clouds and cheer up, put on a happy face... Continue reading
- Smarter than Smart - Last night I had a long and helpful conversation with a doctor friend of mine who is a senior pharmacist in a major hospital in the heart of Chicago. He is part of the Coronavirus network. In a matter of 20 minutes or more he brought me up-to-date on everything that he knew and all that he had heard regarding the spread of the virus. He emphasized its sensitivity and how easily it transmits one person to four, and then it multiplies from there. I know we have all heard parts of this, almost endlessly, over the past couple of weeks, and sometimes repetition can cause deafness. What my friend emphasized is that we must be smarter than our common sense may tell us, and smarter than smart. Please don’t miss that point. Continue reading
- Called by Name - As if in answer, Jesus tells us this morning: ‘This is a time in your life when you must learn to let go: of loved ones, of possessions, of control. In order to let go of something that is precious to you, you need to rest in My Presence, where you are complete. Take time too bask in the Light of My Love As you relax more and more, your grasping hand gradually opens up, releasing your prized possession into my care. You can feel secure, even in the midst of cataclysmic changes, through awareness of My continual Presence. Continue reading
- Pandemic Precautions - Tip of the day: The phone is safe to use! Wow, what a revelation! So, use it! Call a friend, a grandkid, one of the MIM guys. The chat will do you good and will do that person good to know you are thinking of them and supporting them. Remember, they are going through the same thing as you, and cabin fever is not fun! Wisdom from a Dove piece wrapper: Talk to people who make you laugh! Continue reading
- The Church is Dark - Here it is Sunday morning and I am at home, my church is dark, and maybe yours, too – but not our hearts for we learned long ago that church is within us. [...] This morning in my reading of Oswald Chambers I came across a series of sentences that applied directly to a book that I’m in the process of writing. It is a Christian fantasy. There are parallel storylines: one that follows the lives of mortals in a peaceful and loving community that is suddenly confronted with a tragedy, when a mine collapses killing three miners, leaving five children fatherless. The other story line follows a class of baby angels who are following the lives of the mortals and relating what they see to what Jesus has taught. Continue reading
- The Beginning - The email I sent out that Saturday, March 21st, was technically the first Watchword mailing. It went to just a small group – the 20 men from eight different congregations that made up the “Men in Mission” Bible study group, which I had long been a member of. We felt that – for what we then thought would be “the next couple of weeks” – it was important to honor the stay-at-home directive. But we still needed the support we extend to one another through our prayers and personal contact, which had always been the power of our group. Continue reading
