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Kathryn Lindsay | ||||
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Where have I seen Jesus lately? I saw Jesus today in my son. Today is the second day of Kindergarten for my twins, Travis and Trevor. This morning my husband, their father, suggested that they allow me to drop them off at the curb of the school, rather than walk them all the way inside. (The Principal previously suggested this in an effort to facilitate the separation process, and to ease parking constraints.) Trevor vehemently disagreed with this proposal and was quite clear that I must walk him into his classroom. Being the mother none too anxious to see her babies grow up, I quite easily relented. We began the drive to school. Both boys were quiet in the back seat. A few minutes into the drive, Trevor asks Travis, “Travis, will you help me?” Travis, knowingly, calmly and reassuringly said, “Of course, Trevor, I will help you. You come with me and it will be all right.” Trevor responded, “If you come with me, I’ll be all right.” I listened to my 5-year-old son show his brother all the love and kindness that I could ever dream would be in his heart. This, out of boys that are more likely to argue, or fight over a toy than to ever show each other such genuine, loving kindness and concern. As much as I wanted to walk my boys into school this day, I knew that I needed to let Travis be Jesus for Trevor. They got out of the car together, walked up the sidewalk together, and Trevor had his brother, right there beside him, all the way. When I heard Travis reassure Trevor that he would be all right, he would be by his side, I knew that it was Jesus speaking at that moment. All we ever need to do is ask. Ask the Lord, will you help me? The Lord will always answer, “Of course I will help you. You come with me and it will be all right.” Psalm 81 1Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob. 2Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. 3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day. 4For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. 5 He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a voice I had not known: 6“I relieved you shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. 7 In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the water of Meribah. 8Hear, O my people, while I admonish you; O Israel, if you would but listen to me! 9There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. 10 I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open you mouth wide and I will fill it. 11“But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. 12So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. 13O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! 14Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes. 15Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever. 16 I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” This psalm is credited to the northern tribes – Israel. The first verses are colorful instructions on how the people should properly celebrate a festival: Sing! Shout! Sound the tambourine! Blow! Verses 1-4 are lyrical enough to burst into song – given some music by a John Rutter or Johannes Brahms, a fitting anthem for our PLC twenty-fifth celebration next year. “Blow the trumpet at the new moon.” The trumpet (sometimes ram’s horn) got a lot of wear. It was blown anytime the people were called together for a feast, and always on the first day of every month (the feast of the new moon), and especially the first day of the seventh month, for a major annual festival called the feast of Booths. The command (Deuteronomy 16:13-15) for The feast if Booths is for everyone to make merry for a week after the produce from the threshing floor and the wine press have been gathered in. A proper celebration honoring the God who has blessed their crops. Part two abruptly changes voice, possibly that of a prophet, who then continues to speak God’s words. The mood darkens from heady celebration to sorrow. God, Lord of all creation, cries out, overcome with a parent’s grief. He prostrates himself not once, but twice, “ Oh, Israel, if you would but listen to me!” and “If only my people would hear me, and Israel walk I my ways.” He tells what he has done for his people – demanding only loyalty in return – and speaks of stubborn heart,” because they will not listen. This is the tender, poignant picture of God, the Father, we uncover in the Old Testament now and then. It reminds us God is not just standing by to strengthen us during our own times of anguish. He suffers right along with us, a real, grieving father. Kathryn Lindsay February 2002 |
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Matthew 21:1-11 1When
they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of
Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go into the village
ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with
her; untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone say anything to you,
just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them
immediately.” 4This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through
the prophet, saying, 6The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7 they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” 10When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.” When Jesus enters Jerusalem, the whole city stirs and asks, “Who is this?” (Matt.21: 10) Even the folks who did not know Jesus were caught up in the crowd and answered that this was “Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” Entering in such a simple manner, riding on a donkey, people knew that this Jesus was something special. It reminds me of Jesus’ humble beginnings in a stable in Bethlehem. Three kings, royalty, traveling cross-country bowed down before an infant. God makes good use of understatement regarding Jesus’ entrances. My constant prayer and concern is that I am not good enough. I am not as good a wife, mother, daughter, sister, teacher and friend as I should or could be. I am not as good a faithful servant as I should or could be. I truly want to be better. With training, I believe I can be better. I teach fitness courses at TAMU. I try to impress upon my students that health is very important. It is for life. It is not for one workout or a semester or just during college. Decisions made now have impact on one’s entire life. Habits started now often stick with us for life – good or bad habits. I encourage my students to go on a “fitness quest” for life, always learning more and establishing new goals. The overload principle states that a system to be trained is made to work beyond normal demands and adapts positively to be more able to withstand those demands. If we are in tune with God only on Sunday morning and for an occasional bedtime prayer, we are not overloading. We are content with the present level of God-fitness. In order to go on a lifelong “God Quest” we need to train. We need to progressively overload with daily conversations with God. We need to daily ask if we are living for Jesus in each moment. Are we obedient to God by reading his Word regularly? Are we giving prayerful consideration to life’s challenges, and listening for an answer? Are we giving our best for him, or giving him the leftovers? Every good comes from God, who fills us up with this Holy Spirit when we surrender ourselves to him. Our spiritual health is trained when we are in tune with God moment to moment. Let Jesus make an entrance into your life in a more indelible manner. Others will take notice and see Jesus has made an entrance into your heart. It takes practice to become a better wife, mom, daughter, sister, teacher and friend. It takes forethought and love and consideration and a lot of time management. Take hold of every day opportunities to love God. Lent is an opportune time to enhance our spiritual fitness. Practice, practice, practice. Pray, Pray, Pray! Kirstin Brekken-Shea |
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Steve Searcy Psalm 143 1Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness. 2Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. 3For the enemy has pursued me, crushing my life to the ground, making me sit in darkness like those long dead. 4Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled. 5I remember the days of old; I think about all your deeds, I meditate on the works of your hands. 6I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. 7Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit. 8 Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. 9Save me, O Lord, from my enemies; I have fled to you for refuge. 10Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path. 11For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life. In your righteousness bring me out of trouble. 12In your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries, for I am your servant. Do you give much thought to the things that you pray for? I don’t mean the specific words that you use, but those petitions that you share with God. My own prayer life is a combination of short quick prayers for unique situations, like the individuals mentioned in the prayer request e-mails, and the more regular prayers said before meals. I sometimes find that those mealtime prayers have a lot of similarity. I pray for the tings that are important to me and those close to me, but occasionally think that perhaps God would like to hear a little variation in those petitions. Is it ok to repeatedly concentrate on those items of concern that are foremost in my thoughts? The Psalm for today is a prayer of King David. It is striking in its similarity with the prayers that have been offered recently. Verses 3-6 are echoes of our prayer response to the events since Sept. 11, and our desire to feel that God is with us in times of crisis. We often ask for answers to our requests as David did in verses 7-10 (not even David was above asking for answers NOW). We pray for good health and safety or healing and comfort for ourselves and others (verse 11). I am surprised to realize that my prayers are just less eloquent versions of this Psalm. What can we take away from the fact that God’s children have been asking pretty much the same things for all these generations? Our modern life may be vastly different from that of David’s time, but human concerns are not. God is still there to hear our prayers. We continue to be the recipients of God’s love and grace. God listens to the endless loop tape of prayers from our ancestors, us and our children. Taking our needs to God is more important than the words we use. Thanks be to God! Steve Searcy February 2002
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Sandra Gossett Isaiah 42:14-21 14For a long time I have held my peace, I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor, I will gasp and pant. 15I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbage; I will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools. 16I will lead the blind by a road they do not know, by paths they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the tings I will do, and I will not forsake them. 17They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame – those who trust in carved images, who say to cast images, “You are our gods.” 18Listen, you that are deaf; and you that are blind, look up and see! Who is blind but my servant, or deaf like my messenger whom I send? 19 Who is blind like my dedicated one, or blind like the servant of the Lord? 20 He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear. 21The Lord was pleased, for the sake of his righteousness, to magnify his teaching and make it glorious. God will make the blind see. I’m looking for a story. You know the one. A heartwarming story that says everything I need to say, and leaves everyone feeling warm and fuzzy. I’m waiting, God. God? Ok, I know I could write about slowing down so we can appreciate the world we live in – about really seeing the good in our lives. This winter is fantastic, and we have been lucky not to have major economic woes like some in our country. And we seem to move through our lives without seeing you’re your blessings, but God, that kind of trite – a little overdone. Well, yes, we are blind to a lot of things in our world, not just the good things. It’s easy for me to say no one is hungry in College Station unless it’s on purpose. Seems like everyone is trying to lose weight. Just ask anyone I know. But, God, I read that Texas is #1 in hunger, and I don’t think they were talking about dieting. I am blind to that part of my community. God, what about homelessness? I thought that was in Houston, Dallas, or somewhere else. Surely not here. But at Christmas I met a couple who told me they were homeless. They had tried to get into the mission, but weren’t able to. They were at least getting food from one of the social agencies in Bryan. God, sometimes it’s just easier to be blind to the world around me. I can’t do much to help people, and when I look beyond my community, I just get overwhelmed. Oh, You want me to see and to help. Now, I see. Thank you, God. God leaves us with His Word and a prayer. The answers don’t come in free flowing conversations. His Word promises us His love and grace, and that he will stand by us as we face everyday challenges. I pray for the courage to see Him and to see and to help with the missions he has set in front of us. Sandra Gossett
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