Sandy

/ The Pastor

The pastor’s heart goes out to those being affected by Sandy; that massive storm hitting the east coast.  I have bee watching the Weather Channel this morning and seeing reports of what is going on and then the reporters saying the worst is yet to come.

Scary

High winds
Flooding
Rain and snow
Power outages
Storm surge

So many people are going to be affected; not just on the coast but way into the mainland; as far in as Ohio.  A large mass of area feeling the effects of Mother Nature’s fury.  And in the midst of such chaos it is easy to lose perspective and become despondent.

I believe Satan uses such weather events in an attempt to drive a wedge between people and God as every year Mother Nature proves to be a formidable foe.  But not even Hurricane Sandy can stand up to the sovereignty of God.

So…

Please be in prayer for those being effected.
Please be in prayer for those relief workers.
Consider giving to relief organizations.
Don’t lose faith.
Don’t stop praying once the storm passes.
And remember…

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
[Psalm 46:1-3]
We have an awesome God.  May God be praised even in this massive storm.
edh -|—

ADDITION:
Please remember and pray for those who were affected by this massive storm before it hit the U.S.  The people of Haiti, Cuba, etc.  Lives were lost and property destroyed.  A friend of mine brought this to my attention which shows how biased the media is when it comes to these natural disasters.  I never even considered where this storm came from.  For that I repent.

Bad start but God reigns

/ The Pastor

I got off to a bad start this morning.  This is going to sound like a broken record to those of you that have followed this blog for a while but my stupid “smart clock” set itself back an hour this morning for daylight saving time.  I’ve had this clock for 8 years so one would think I would have learned my lesson…but no.

You see…after I got this clock the government thought it would be funny to change the date of daylight saving time.  The problem…my clock is still operating under the old date.

“Why don’t you get a new clock?”

That is a very good question…one that has a very good answer.  The clock was a wedding gift and hence my wife has an emotional attachment to it.  I love my wife dearly but I don’t understand the attachment to the clock.  So…we keep it, but one of these days my hammer is going to “accidently” fall on that clock 🙂

In any case…because of my unfortunate incident this morning I got off to a bad start.  My routine was totally disrupted and I stated my day irritated.  I don’t like starting my day that way.  So I got ready in a hurry; shoved breakfast down my throat and ran off to my office.

It wasn’t until I made it to the sanctuary that I realized that I hadn’t greeted God yet this morning 😦

So I stopped my hurrying.
Calmed down.
And prayed.

Amazing what difference it makes when one realizes that GOD is in control not some stupid “smart clock”.  Satan took his best shot at me this morning but God got the upper hand.  Satan tried to disrupt my worship and sermon prep but God will be glorified.

Nice try Satan…you lost 🙂

Praise God always and forever!!!

edh -|—

Changes

/ The Pastor

Things are changing:
~ Weather is changing.
~ Life is changing.
~ Ministry is changing.
~ I am changing.
~ Relationships are constantly changing.
~ Family is changing.

So many things changing and sometimes it is hard to keep up.
So many things changing and sometimes I get overwhelmed.

Some of the changes are good.
Some of the changes are exciting.
Some of the changes are scary.

But whatever happens; whatever changes; whatever transpires I know this one thing for sure:  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)  That does not change.  That is something I can hold on to even when life seems to be out-of-control.

God does not change.

And as things change around me (and with me) I pray that God may change me to cope, deal and minister within the changes.

And I look forward to what God will do in the midst of these changes.

edh -|—

God is Good

/ The Pastor
image

God is Good!

This was my supper at Wednesday Night Live (Sunday school on Wednesday) a couple weeks.  I am willing to bet you can guess what was on the menu 🙂

After I took this picture I showed it to a parent/church council member and she laughed (she is the one who came up with the caption for the picture).  She then said that she was in charge of devotions at the council meeting (which was slated to begin soon) and she didn’t have anything.  Now she did and shared this as part of her devotions (with her talking and me passing my phone around the table).

God IS good for countless reasons but if God were pancakes I imagine God would be the best pancakes ever.  Sweet enough that you wouldn’t need syrup (which I did use on the above mentioned pancakes).

God is good…all the time!
All the time…God is good!

Amen to that 🙂

edh -|—

Smart knowledge and wisdom

/ The Pastor
My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2     turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
3     and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4     and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5     then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6     For the Lord gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7     He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8     for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
[Proverbs 2:1-8]
Technology has made it possible to access knowledge, facts, trivia and data in the blink of an eye.  Simply ask Siri (iPhone) or go to Google and they will tell you what you need to know.  If my wife and I are out and about and we come up against a question we don’t have an answer for my wife says to me, “quick, poke your phone“; like I am the keeper of all knowledge and information. Sometimes I get a big head about this until I realize that I am really not that smart…just my phone is.
But even though I may not be the keeper of all knowledge and information I do have access to it.  No…not my trustworthy smart phone but rather scripture (which I happen to have on my smart phone).  Anyway….the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Granted…the Bible is not going to tell me how much the world weighs or how much plankton a whale eats (like I really need to know that), but the Bible will tell me what I truly need to know:
The Bible tells me I am a sinner and how God has redeemed me through Jesus.
The Bible tells me how I am forgiven when I confess my sins.
The Bible tells me how I am to treat others.
The Bible tells me that I can have hope in the midst of trials.
The Bible tells me…
If we are not seeking God for information and wisdom we are missing the boat.  Knowledge and wisdom gained through this world is fleeting but that which comes from God is eternal.  That’s why I love going through the Proverbs often.  There is so much in there that is very practical; advice that is timeless.  One would think that some wise sage from this time and place wrote them., but that is not the case.  This is wisdom that comes from God.
“Poke your phone” if you need some information but go to God for true wisdom and knowledge.  Be fed through scripture and prayer.  Be nourished by the Gospel.  Find life through Jesus.
Seek the Lord and live!
edh -|—

Fear and Fools

/ The Pastor

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
[Proverbs 1:7]

Those who fear God; have a reverent awe of God, desire to know more about God AND to know God.  They desire to know who this God is that would go to such lengths to save them and desire to have a close relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.   The fear of God does not cause one to run away but to run to.  And their running to is the path of Life; a running they do through faith in Jesus.  They realize, though, it does have it’s challenges, but they know Jesus is with them on their path.  Fearing the Lord leads one to know all they need to know:  Jesus.

Fools on the other hand desire to simply wallow in their own waste and filth (A gross metaphor but it works).  They have no desire to know Life.  They have no desire to grow and be challenged.  Fools walk a path of destruction as they rely on their own feeble “strength” and “knowledge” (something that can not even be compared to God) to get through the day.  Fools have no regard for the Law of God.  They don’t meditate on or learn God’s Law.  They have no regard in knowing how God commands people to live.  For a fool, the Law is simply a list of suggestions;  something to follow if it serves them and doesn’t interfere too much with their life.

In what category do you find yourself?
Fear the Lord and don’t embrace your waste and filth.

edh -|—

My whole self – a prayer

/ The Pastor

Loving God, today is about you…actually, everyday; every moment, is about you, but today is different… 

Today we gather for corporate worship.
Today we gather to sing our praises and offer our thanks to you.
Today we will hear your Word read and proclaimed.
Today we will confess our sins and hear about your forgiveness.

And what makes all of this even more special is that we get to do this with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ…and maybe some others who do not happen to know you but still find themselves at worship.

So much going on.
So much to think about.
But so many distractions.

Loving God…you are worthy of my whole self.  Please do not let Satan take a part of me away; for I want to give every part to you. I want to worship you with my whole being.  I want to focus my entire attention on your love.

Calm my heart, energize my spirit, tune my hears and sharpen my eyes that you are all I see, hear and think about.  

O Lord my God, you are worthy and awesome.

May my life be an act of worship to you…in Jesus name I pray.

AMEN!

edh -|—

Wait…

/ The Pastor

I don’t know about you but I hate waiting…

…but I think the worst part of waiting is knowing God is sovereign.

God knows what is best.
God sees the whole picture.
God has a divine plan.

I get all of that and I am extremely thankful for all of that.  I praise God that He is sovereign.  I worship God because He is…well…God.  But I still hate waiting.  So I think the worst part of this is my selfishness/sinfulness doing battle with my belief in a sovereign God.  They run around in my heart fighting all the while I get torn on how to react when I find myself getting impatient. I want my way but I also want God’s way.

But the thing is…

…I can’t rush God.  I can’t force God’s hand through bargaining or threats. God is going to do what God is going to do in God’s own time.  So I need to get over myself and trust.  I need to wait and see what God is going to do in my life.  I need to understand that God’s plan is a perfect plan.  I need to pray and ask for patience…

Loving God, you are in control.  You have a plan and I am excited about that.  But sometimes I can hardly wait to see what that plan is.  I get impatient and try to bring about what I think is the plan.  And when things don’t work out I get upset and angry.  Almighty God, grant me patience to trust you.  Grant me faith to wait on you.  Grant me wisdom to teach others.  God…you are mighty and I look forward to you displaying your glory.  In the mean time I will wait.  In Jesus name, Amen 🙂

edh -|—

Seek the Lord

/ The Pastor

I lift up my eyes to the hills
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out
and you coming in from this
time forth and forevermore.
[Psalm 121]

This is my wife’s favorite Psalm.

When I am gone overnight she keeps this close by and reads it over and over.  You see…she doesn’t like staying in our haunted parsonage by herself.  O.K…maybe it’s not haunted but with the bats scratching their way in the walls and all the creaking boards one would be tempted to think the house is alive.  Someone once told my wife that the spirits of Salem’s former pastors were walking around and looking out for her.  For some reason that didn’t help 🙂

My wife hasn’t told me specifically but my guess is that she finds comfort in the fact that God is not sleeping and that God is watching over her and …

 “The Lord will keep you from all evil”

I have to admit…there is something very comforting about that phrase.  There is evil all around us and I do not doubt that Satan is using those strange noises in our house to get my wife to doubt God’s presence and sovereignty.  Satan will do whatever he can to get us to believe that we are alone; that God has left us.

God hasn’t left us and never will.

God is our help.
God is our peace.
God in our life.

Where do you turn for help?
Where do your eyes look when fears ravage you?
Who do you seek for safety?
Who do you run to for shelter?

The Lord will keep your going out
and you coming in from this
time forth and forevermore.

“Lift your eyes” and seek the Lord…and don’t let spooks and goblins (or Satan) drive you to despair, but trust in the Lord’s presence and strength.  He will keep your life and bring you home through Jesus Christ…and there is nothing Satan can do about that.  Wrap your heart around that blessed assurance and sleep well tonight knowing that God is not sleeping and that God has your back.

edh -|—

Vacation and disconnected

/ The Pastor

I have been on vacation for a few days and away from any computer (and very little cell phone/WiFi signal).  It’s been strange being somewhat isolated but also revealing.  It shows how much I (and I am guessing most people) desire to be connected to the world as we are accustomed to through the Internet and smart phones (and other means).  Technology is such an important part of our lives today.  Ten years ago I wouldn’t have felt myself twitching being disconnected like that.

In any case…I am sorry that I haven’t posted any devotions for a while but I will be back at it tomorrow when I return to work.  One thing that I have learned these past few days though; I need to find another outlet for this spiritual discipline if I happen to be “disconnected” from the world.  I have missed writing and engaging scripture in that way.  In a time where people rarely hand write letters and notes I never gave it a second thought to do that; to actually pick up a pencil or pen.  What a strange concept 🙂

My other thought is that maybe Satan used my dependence on technology to keep me away from devotional writing.  I never gave THAT a second thought (or a first thought for that matter).  But now that I am aware of this hopefully I will be better equipped to combat Satan when he strikes again.   It’s amazing the things and ways Satan uses to draw us away from God but to see them and be aware of them is half the battle.  The other half is how you chose to deal with it.

Satan, often times, uses good things to draw us away.  I guess that is why Satan is so successful in tempting us.  Another reason is that we think we are strong enough to handle things on our own.  It’s like we have a humility problem.  We have a hard time falling to our knees in prayer; asking God to take control.  If only we would turn our lives over to God and send Satan running in the other direction.

Dear God, grant me the eyes to see when Satan attacks.  Grant me the faith to turn to you.  Grant me the strength to resist temptation.  Grant me the humility to reply on you.  In Jesus name, Amen!

P.S.  Wait a second…did I just write a morning devotion?  I guess I am back today 🙂

Praise be to God!

edh -|—