Archive | April 2020

Chaplain’s Corner – What A Friend We Have In Jesus

Apr29

When one of my granddaughters was younger (she is nine years old now), she was afraid to go to sleep when she spent the night at our house. She wanted to be there, but she was afraid. At bedtime, we would walk around the room with her and make sure that closet doors and drawers were closed, that anything that might make a funny shadow or light during the night was covered, and I would sprinkle magic fairy dust all around (my own secret recipe stored in an old spice jar). Then we would read, sing, and pray together. We would hold her if necessary, and finally she would go to sleep. I would tell her to not be afraid, but it was useless. And of course, it was. I have things that I am afraid of. Try telling me not to be afraid of dogs, for example. Now, I know better; I know that dog isn’t going to hurt me, but that doesn’t stop me from experiencing the feeling of fear.

Many of the devotions, songs, and scriptures that I have been posting each day have to do with fear. Jesus says, “do not fear” and “do not be afraid” very often in the Bible. Honestly, I have read into these scriptures a commandment. I thought “Let not your heart be troubled” was a mandate to believers. But after reading an article entitled “Fear Is Not Sin” by Edward Welch*, I thought it would be helpful to share some of his thoughts with you.

First, even though the statement “Do not fear” sounds like a command, it may not be a command. When you tell someone not to be afraid, are you commanding them? Probably not. You are probably trying offer comfort or security with your words. You are probably inferring that you are with them and will look out for them, just like I was doing with my granddaughter, and just like Jesus was doing when he said “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:22). Jesus sees us as vulnerable sheep needing his care. His words are gentle and affectionate. Our fears arouse his compassion—not his rebuke. “He has pity on the weak and the needy…. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (Ps 72:13; 103:14).

Second, Jesus expects us to be afraid sometimes. The Psalms contain many expressions of fear. Even the Apostle Paul said, “For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within” (2 Cor 7:5). Welch says, “Fear and anxiety express our weakness amid the threats of daily life. We are merely human. We are not the Creator. Weak people are also sinners, but weakness is not sin. Weakness means that we need help from God and other people. “

Last, when we are anxious or afraid, this is the time to call out to God. And when we go to him in prayer seeing comfort, also seek courage to act. Courage is not the absence of fear, it is acting despite our fears. As Welch says, “Courageous faith cries out, ‘Lord, save me.’” Yet courage, like the Psalms themselves, doesn’t stop there. It leads us into a mature and tested understanding of the Lord. “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” (Ps 56:3–4)

The bottom line is that fear itself is not sin. The reason for our fear might be sinful, like the fear of being caught doing something we should not be doing, or fear relating to excessive or idolatrous desires. And our response to fear could be sin, such as failing to talk to God about it, failing to obey God, or falling into temptation. The Bible is full of stories of people who acted wrongly out of fear. But it is also full of stories of godly men and women who took comfort in God and were obedient.

So, don’t be afraid of being afraid. Just take your fears to God and do what He says. Let’s grow together.

What a Friend We Have in Jesus.

In Christ,

Judy

*Excerpts from Journal of Biblical Counseling, JBC 34:1 (2020): 7–19, published by Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (ccef.org).

Chaplain’s Corner – Fervent Prayer

Apr22

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1).

The parable referenced is the Parable of the Persistent Widow. In this parable, a widow persistently asked a local judge for justice. She had to keep asking because he was not paying any attention to her, and finally he relented just to get her off his back. Jesus then by comparison said that he would bring about justice for his chosen ones, and quickly at that.  “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?” (Luke 18:7). So, Jesus said the lesson in this parable is to always pray and not give up, just like the persistent widow.

We all have so much to pray about. Prayer for our own circumstances, our families, the Mission, our churches, our leaders, our country, those on the front lines, the lost, to get back to “normal.” The list is endless. It’s overwhelming. And praying is hard work.

I used to teach my middle school Sunday School class a simple way to pray using the acrostic “ACTS.”

A – Adoration: I have found out that when I start my prayer with acknowledging the attributes of God, everything else falls into place. A good example of this is in the Lord’s prayer when we say, “Hallowed be thy name.”

C – Confession: Just as with adoration where we remember who God is; with confession, we agree with him about who we are and where we have fallen short. “When we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

T – Thanksgiving: Counting our blessings helps to put our needs and wants into perspective. The Psalms are full of scriptures of praise and thanksgiving. Psalm 100

S – Supplication: this is where we ask God for what we want for ourselves and others, and I will spend a little more time on this section.

Another term for supplication could be intercession, and this part of our prayer would be intercessory prayer. To be sure, God hears our prayers no matter how articulate. Sometimes the Holy Spirit prays for us, even when we can’t utter a coherent word. You have heard that prayer changes things. What this means is that prayer changes us, and that takes some work.

Here are some keys for effective intercessory prayer (with help from C.H. Spurgeon’s My Utmost for His Highest Devotional).

  1. We must believe that God is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do. Otherwise, all we are doing is talking to ourselves, being sympathetic, or maybe even gossiping when we pray.
  2. We must bring the person or situation before God and seek to be changed by his attitude toward that person or situation. Paul said in Colossians 1:24 “I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church.” (NLT). Spurgeon says, “Our work is to be in such close contact with God that we may have His mind about everything, but we shirk that responsibility by substituting doing for interceding.” I know I have been guilty of this.
  3. And finally, we must be persistent. Spurgeon says, “What we must avoid in intercession is praying for someone to be simply “patched up.” We must pray that person completely through into contact with the very life of God. Think of the number of people God has brought across our path, only to see us drop them! When we pray on the basis of redemption, God creates something He can create in no other way than through intercessory prayer.”

I challenge us all to become fervent, persistent, prayer warriors. The world is in crisis. But we know that nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power…And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people” (Ephesians 6:10,18).

In Christ,

Judy

Chaplain’s Corner – Wisdom of God

Apr15

Wisdom as described in the Old Testament is fairly straightforward. It includes the ability to govern well by accurate interpretation and enforcement of the law, to understand visions and dreams, to demonstrate morality and good judgment in making decisions.

Saul of Tarsus was probably considered to be wise as well as passionate. He was well-educated, highly regarded, and on the fast track to Jewish leadership. However, after his conversion to Christianity, he gained true wisdom. He, as Paul the Apostle, describes true wisdom in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, and I am helpless to improve upon his writing (this is from the New Living Translation). I encourage you to take your time to read this passage, think about what you are reading. Read it out lout if possible.

The Wisdom of God

18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19 As the Scriptures say,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
    and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.

24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.

26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. 31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”

These are powerful words. In the aftermath of Easter, as we live in the light of the Resurrection, as believers unified with Christ Jesus, regardless of our past, regardless of our mistakes, know that God chose us. What an opportunity we have before us to boldly preach Christ crucified, to demonstrate the love of Jesus to the least of these.

In Christ,

Judy

Chaplain’s Corner – The Time Has Come

Apr8

“My times are in your hands…. “(Psalm 31:15)

These certainly are unusual times, and we are learning how to live a new normal. But what if everything we have ever learned or experienced in life has been leading us to this time in our lives. Without realizing it, we have been preparing for just this moment so we can demonstrate our faith, our willingness to serve, our mandate to love God and others in the most difficult and unusual of circumstances.

Bringing us to the crucifixion which happened on Friday of Holy Week which we are now celebrating, we can reflect on the fact that Jesus had all along been preparing for just this time because he knew even at age twelve that he was about his Father’s business. Jesus had a purpose for how he spent his thirty-three years on earth.

  • Early in his ministry, he told his mother: “Woman, why do you involve me?” He went on to say, “My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4).
  • Later in his ministry he told his brothers, “You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.”  (John 7:8).
  • However, Jesus did go to the festival privately, and then went to the temple to teach. Although the authorities were seeking to arrest him, no one laid a hand on him. He was spared, he said, because “his hour had not yet come” (John 7:30).
  • Immediately following the festival, Jesus again taught in the temple, and no one arrested him despite the threats. John explains that “his hour had not yet come” (John 8:20).

It was not until the week before His crucifixion that he acknowledged that his time had finally come.

  • Then when Jesus had made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem… “there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival.  They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we would like to see Jesus.’  Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. Jesus replied, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified’” (John 12:20-23).
  • And when Jesus was praying with his disciples at Gethsemane during His last week before the crucifixion, “After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you” (John 17:1).

Some Bible scholars say that the Gentiles seeking Jesus in John 12:21 were the triggering event for Jesus to declare that his time had now come, that this request by the Gentiles triggered the plan that God had designed all along to reconcile his people back to himself—Jesus’ arrest, trials, humiliation, condemnation, beatings, crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and ascension. 

This is a solemn reminder that God has a plan, and it will come to pass in his own timing. There will be a triggering event and then all the elements of Christ’s Second Coming will fall into place as described in the Bible. There is some disagreement about all the events and the exact timing, but there is no disagreement among believers that the Second Coming will happen. That is what we long for with hope. 

The Jewish people knew that the Messiah would come; they had the writings of the Prophets to tell them many of the signs they could expect to see to confirm His first coming. But they were still taken by surprise when He did.

We should not be surprised when trials and tribulations come. Jesus told us in John 16:33“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

We celebrate Christmas and Jesus’ first coming, and we celebrate Easter and His resurrection. We know the Jesus will come again. In John 14:3, Jesus states, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”  We know what many of the signs will be. We just don’t know when. However, we should not be surprised when the time comes. We have been informed. Be ready.

In Christ,

Judy

Chaplain’s Corner – Preparing for Holy Week

Apr1

“If I do not wash you, you have no part with me” (John 13:8).

We are in the middle of a crisis, and my daily communications to fellow staff have been directed toward prayers and encouragement. We are encouraged by the fact that this crisis will end at some point and we will return to some sort of normal (at least that’s what we are counting on). However, we are also approaching the remembrance of another momentous occasion, one which seemed to be a crisis at the time, but which changed us forever for the good. In just eleven days we will celebrate Easter. Whether or not we can attend a worship service, Easter will be Easter and we are forever blessed to be able to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So, my devotion today is directing us to think on the days leading up to that holy event.

This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. It starts with Jesus entering Jerusalem to the adulation of the crowds. It ends with him in the grave following his humiliation and crucifixion. Immediately before being arrested, he gathers his disciples together for their last supper. He surprises them by washing their feet.  It is, in fact, shocking that he would do this. As their teacher, the culture told them as the disciples that they did not have to wash his feet. But here is the teacher washing the feet of his disciples!

 As a long-time believer, I have heard this story about Jesus countless times, but recently during an in-depth study of the book of John, a different perspective was presented to me and it took me aback, as conviction often does.

As Jesus begins the process of preparing himself and the water, Peter exclaims that Jesus will never wash his feet. It’s not that Peter didn’t want Jesus to touch him; he was acknowledging that Jesus was too good to wash his feet. It comes across as a humble statement on Peter’s part, but is it really? How often do we reject the simple acts of kindness and assistance offered by others around us? Is it really because we are humble and truly believe we don’t deserve it? Or is it because we are too prideful and think we don’t need it? Maybe we don’t want to be beholden to anyone or we don’t want to feel that we will be obligated to repay the favor.

What do you think Peter’s motivation was for not being willing to accept Jesus washing his feet? How would I have responded to Jesus? Probably the same way. We who serve often take pride in not needing to be served. (Can you sense my conviction?)

Jesus answered him in John 13:8, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.” David Guzik writes that “This foot washing was a powerful lesson in humility, but it was more than that. It also shows that Jesus has no fellowship, no deep connection with those who have not been cleansed by Him … We should be grateful that Jesus did not say, ‘If you do not have great holiness, you have no part with me.’ We are happy he did not say, ‘if you are not a Bible expert, you have no part with me.’ Having a part with Jesus begins simply with receiving something from Him, not achieving something ourself.”

A clue to Peter’s pride can be found when Peter replies, then don’t just wash my feet, wash me all over. Now he’s telling Jesus what to do and how to do it! Who does he think he is? This was a loving act by Jesus. Are we too proud to accept his loving acts of service? We can see how Peter matures over time by his statement in 1 Peter 5:5 which shows Peter’s change of heart “Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility.”

Food for thought: According to Guzik: “Sometimes we show a servant’s heart by accepting the service of others for us. If we only serve, and refuse to be served, it can be a sign of deeply rooted and well-hidden pride. “According to Temple: “Man’s humility does not begin with the giving of service; it begins with the readiness to receive it. For there can be much pride and condescension in our giving of service.” *

What did Jesus tell us to do? (Clue: It was not to wash his feet.)

  • John 13:12-14 “you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” Jesus tells us to show the same humble, sacrificial love to one another. Charles Spurgeon writes: “If there be any deed of kindness or love that we can do for the very meanest and most obscure of God’s people, we ought to be willing to do it—to be servants to God’s servants.” *
  • John 13:34-35: “I’m giving you a new commandment: ‘Love each other in the same way that I have loved you.’ Everyone will know that you are my disciples because of your love for each other.”

We are also called to receive the blessing of salvation from Jesus and service from others. We are called to love one another, serve one another, encourage one another, give to one another. We are called to do these things cheerfully and generously and sacrificially. Let us seek to fellowship with each other in mutual love, service, and encouragement. Let’s also seek to do these things without a speck of pride as our motivation, with only gratitude and praise to our Holy Father who is the source of all the resources we have at our disposal. In this way, we can prepare our hearts to worship our Lord and Savior during this upcoming Holiest of Weeks.

In Christ,

Judy

*David Guzik Text Commentary from Blue Letter Bible