Someplace Special
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Someplace Special
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Read Isaiah 49:8-15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.” Isaiah 49:15 I will never forget you. What a promise. People we thought would be friends forever are gone from our lives. Our parents grow old and no longer recognize us…or think we are someone else. A Mother’s love is often held up as the shining example of caring and compassion. And with all our understanding of how deep a parent’s love can be, we know another reality exists for many people. Yet God promises us a love that is greater than the greatest love we can imagine – that of a parent for a child. God will never forget us. No matter where we go, no matter what we do. We are held in the palm of his hand. We are loved, we are cherished, and we will never be forgotten. That’s a promise to hold onto. Prayer Lord, help us to live each day remembering that we are loved so much that we will never be forgotten and that you hold us in the palm of your hand each day. Amen Sue Stapell
Read Psalm 40 “Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever.” Psalm 40:11 This prayer holds the promise of my friend and savior, to give me all that I need, for the small price of trusting in him. How often I have trouble accomplishing this. In the dark, I am afraid. This prayer holds so much promise for me, and brings me comfort. In the confusion of life I often find myself in a place, or performing a task, and am not quite sure how I ended up there. Often, I find a lesson in just such a place, and am always amazed at the power God holds over our lives. Years ago, in the days before cell phones and Mapquest, I had a friend who lived in Rochester. I had only just received my driver’s license within the last year, and decided to take a trip to visit him. I got into my little car, drove on the highway for a short while, and wound up in downtown Rochester. I found his home, and spent a wonderful weekend enjoying some of the sights. On Sunday night, I left much later than I had planned. It was dark, and I was unsure of the way home. I missed the entrance to the Thruway, by a long shot. Unsure how to turn around because I was unsure of the way I had turned, I said a short prayer. Knowing that Rochester is east of Buffalo, I knew I would need to find a road heading west. I did…and took it through miles and miles of country homes. The sidewalks in these areas were rolled up and there was no light burning in any window. Getting a little panicky after about 2 hours on the road, and still unsure of where I was, I started chanting the simple prayer…”please God, please, I want to go home. I am so tired, so afraid and need you to show me the way.” A few minutes later, I found the twin cities highway that leads between North Tonawanda and Tonawanda. Alleluia, I knew this road, and how to get home from there. Thank you God! I am in a similar place now. I want to go home. Unfortunately, this time, I don’t know where home is, what home is, or even who home is. So every day I rely on the promises held in this special verse: I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. I know that with trust, patience and prayer God will give me the knowledge I need, the direction to follow and friends to help me along the way. In the meantime, I will do my best to trust Him. I will also do my very best not to offer God my “advice” or try to force him to apply my own timeline to this process. In short I surrender, white flag and all. Prayer At all times dear friend, I am talking to you, hoping to find my path. You promise to show me the way, and to provide me with the support I need to get there. Thank you for the many gifts and blessings you have provided me with. Help me to discern your will in my life, and to follow your plan. Amen. Kirsten Tedesco
In Praise of God’s Goodness Read Psalm 34:22“The Lord will save His people; those who go to Him for protection will be spared.” Grace is an utterly phenomenal concept. It amazes me how something so simple can be so profound. And what a tremendous gift it is. We are merely asked to go to our Lord, and with our faith, His grace will save us. As is often the case today, we take our many blessings for granted. We think because we have always had, we always will have. However, grace and faith also require commitment and perseverance. We must not only continue to seek God’s grace, but also to reach out to our friends, family, neighbors and our entire community to promote and encourage others to come and “live” the Gospel of our Lord. Selfishly speaking, if we really love someone, the best thing we can do for ourselves, is bring them to Christ, and pray that the Holy Spirit infects them with a passion for Jesus. We can then rest assured that when our short time on this planet is through, we can trust that because we have gone to the Lord and asked for Him to protect our loved ones, that they shall be saved. Prayer Heavenly Father, please always remind us to seek your unconditional affection and never ending security. Warm us with your love so that we may bring others to worship Your majesty. We pray in the name of our risen Savior. Amen. Jeff Storch
Read John 7:40-53 St. John of the Cross wrote “helpful hints” for those living in the close quarters of the monastery. These folks were seeking a closer communion with God, while living in the company of brothers or sisters. He calls these Precautions. John knew the obstacles of living in community, the obstacles of the wandering mind & the obstacles of our excessive feelings in the lives of we, who are seeking an ever-deepening relationship with the Holy One. John cautions to “carefully guard yourself against thinking about what happens in the community, & even more against speaking of it. Nothing about ... conduct or deeds no matter how serious any of this seems. ...but forget these things entirely & strive to keep your soul occupied purely & entirely in God, & not let the thought of this thing or that hinder you from so doing.” Oh, if only I could do this! I have been plagued by something recently. (No, nothing at Grace.) Obstacles to my work. They have seemed, at times, insurmountable & have been foremost in my mind. How shall I deal with them? How shall I address these obstacles? Do I speak or keep silent? Then I see the scripture reading for today. Surely Jesus heard the grumblings against him. He had to be aware that some questioned his authority to speak so boldly. After all, wasn’t he aware that some were out to arrest him. It appears to me that Jesus did just what John of the Cross suggests that we do. That we keep our eyes, our hearts, our tongues, our minds on God. All obstacle are mere distractions from my Beloved. These heartaches can bring me closer to God, OR drive me-- my attention-- from God. Which is it that I choose? Prayer O Beloved, keep me open to You & your gentle leadings in every situation. Keep me focused on You. Help me to see that You are all that matters. When I am distracted help me see it as a gentle reminder to once again turn to You & trust that You will take care of the situation. Amen Sheila Banks
Read John 8: 1 - 11 “Then each of them went home, while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.” John 8:1 This passage tells the story of a woman caught in adultery. Down through the ages the story continues of the WOMAN caught in adultery - one question about this story has always bothered me - what about the man?? Why is this sin so much greater for the woman - the man is not mentioned. As a mother of sons I always tried to make them understand that they were responsible for their actions and could not pass blame onto another. Jesus tells the crowd: "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone . . ."Isn't he telling us to examine our own souls before we condemn anyone else? This gets easier with age since we have had so much more time to be imperfect. The wonderful part of this story is that Jesus tells her he does not condemn her and "go your way and from now on do not sin". Jesus has taken her sin from her as he does for us everyday. Prayer Thank you Jesus for taking our sin from us and thank you for giving us another chance to be a better person. Amen Sue Swanson/Wittek
Read John 8:12-20 “You judge by human standards; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.” John 8:15-16 Sometimes when reading the Bible I react with doubts, confusion, skepticism and even guilt. This was my experience as I flipped through my Bible to pick a devotion. I turned to this verse and I read: Again Jesus spoke to them saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life." He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple and as I read his words I felt that he was speaking directly to us, to me. "You judge by human standards, I judge no one.” he said. And I relaxed. Sometimes for me, the Bible is like this. Like the light of Jesus shines from the page and he speaks directly to me. Prayer Jesus your example shows the way. You are the light! Amen Sandy Whitt
Read John 8:21-30 “Once more Jesus said to them, I am going away. And you will look for me. John 8:21a This passage is a reminder of Jesus as God. He talks to his disciples, his friends, his followers of his departure from this world. He tells them that they will not be able to go where he goes, yet. He reminds us that the only way for us to follow is to believe in Him. I often wonder at all that Jesus had to do to prove to people he was the Son of God. In my life I have never doubted Him, but, of course, I have the benefit of hind-sight and the whole story is given to me, written down for my benefit. Today, I think that believing in Jesus is easy. We weren’t born of another faith, taught that our Savior was coming and that this Savior was going to be a powerful king. How hard it must have been for the Jewish people to accept that their “king” was this simple man, who laughed, cried, bled and feared just like any other man. I believe that all of us were created to a little like Jesus. I am less confounded about how the people in Jesus’ time felt when I think of my reactions to people today. I started a new job working for an attorney at a very large law firm in January 2003. In the beginning I viewed my boss as a difficult, arrogant and completely disrespectful man. Nothing I did was ever good enough, there was no reaching him (and I don’t often have trouble reaching people). I was miserable, and viewed him as something less than human. As time went on I learned a powerful lesson from this very person. It turns out that he had a very sick child, who passed away in July. She had suffered from cancer for most of her childhood, and was only 7 when she died, the same age as my daughter, Hannah. Ouch. All this time my boss was dealing with such sadness at home…what right did I have to judge his behavior? I had forgotten to search for Jesus in his heart. I attended the wake, and while I waited in a very long receiving line, I look at the picture board that was standing close by. The board was covered with pictures of John and his family. In the center of the board was a picture of John with his girls, all four of them. John was surrounded by a giggling gaggle, and I could see the scene stretch out before me, hear the laughter, and see just how good, kind and wonderful a person he was. You see, his hair was adorned with pink, foam curlers, his face was covered in very brightly colored makeup and, if memory serves, they were painting his nails. All of them wore smiles. This arrogant, bitter, pain in my butt was actually quite human, quite loving and very, very funny. The lesson I learned…to always search for the piece of Jesus that is in everyone’s heart. From the beggar on the street to the most privileged member of society, we are all created in his image, and I believe the reading today was a reminder to keep searching as a way to remember the man that Jesus was, and to honor his place as our Messiah. Prayer Dear God, please give us eyes that will allow us to see Jesus in all that we do or where we travel. Amen Kirsten Tedesco |
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