Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise him all creatures here below
Praise him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise father, son, and holy ghost.

I have written two Chaplain’s Corners for today, but all the while the above refrain keeps playing in my head. Rather than publish either of those other devotions, I just want to praise God for his goodness and mercy. I am so thankful today.

I am thankful that our leadership team had the foresight way back in the early days of what would become a pandemic to insist that we have additional shelter capacity in the city for those in quarantine as well as to accommodate social distancing.

I am thankful for our leadership team who have made the hard decisions in a timely way all during these past eight months.

I am thankful for all our fantastic staff who have carried out the decisions and made “in the moment” calls when needed.

I am thankful that we have the relationship with the Health Department to help manage the medical side of this pandemic, and I am thankful for the testing capacity.

I am thankful we made it so long without an “outbreak.”

I am thankful for the staff at the Women’s Campus who have courageously covered while so thinly staffed. (And the Men’s Campus have had their share of this as well.)

I am thankful that most of our women’s staff who tested positive are getting better, and some have already returned to work.

I am so thankful that we have been able to transport the remaining women guests to the overflow shelter where they will be cared for while giving our staff a much-needed break.

I am thankful that the number of positives at the Men’s Campus has been mercifully low.

I pray that our staff who are out on leave will recover to full health and be back at work as soon as possible.

I pray that those awaiting test results will get negatives.

I pray for our program participants and guests who are quarantined will be restored to good health.

I pray that we will be able to use these next two weeks to get back to full strength in every way.

I pray that we will all have grateful hearts, and that God will use us in a mighty way to testify to His glory and love.

I pray all this in Jesus name,

Amen

“Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.”

(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 The Message).

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” (Proverbs 31:8-9).

The Bible is clear that God loves justice and He hates wrongdoing (Isaiah 61:8). Unfortunately, justice is not something that just happens. Because of our sinful natures, we naturally skew toward injustice and wrongdoing rather than justice and righteousness. At best, most of us just avoid making matters worse, or do we? It takes being proactive to bring about justice.

The concept of justice implies more than one party (and I’m not talking politics). Just as we can’t exercise justice in a vacuum, we can’t live in harmony with others without engaging and interacting with each other in healthy ways. (Like notes on a scale, without interaction and connection there is no harmony, just independent melodies.) If we are not engaging and interacting, then we are co-existing, but falling short of harmony.

The passage above advises us twice to speak up. That means to take action, to be bold, to advocate. I see that quality in heaps in our staff. That is the work of a Rescue Mission, and you do it so well.

This passage also tells us to judge fairly. Judging implies that we make decisions on behalf of others. We do this all the time, unconsciously as well as consciously. In all our dealings with others we are coming to conclusions about them that determine how and what we say and do. We are instructed to do this fairly. We must not jump to conclusions or be hasty in our decisions, although we should be aware when time is truly of the essence. To be fair, we must listen well, we must assume good intentions in the other person, and we must always make an effort to educate ourselves about the entire situation. To be fair, we must have all the facts possible about the individual and about the culture and environment.

I applaud the work that you do, and I want to encourage you to continue because God demands it. Our God is a God of justice as well as a God of mercy, and nowhere do these two traits merge more than in our interactions with the poor and needy. When Jesus returns and sits on this throne to separate the sheep (his followers) from the goats (those who are not followers), he places his sheep on the right, bound for heaven and the goats on the left, bound for hell). This passage in which Jesus is executing judgment indicates that the mercy we show toward others determines the mercy he will show toward us. (Read Matthew 25:31-46.)

We should not infer from this that it is our works of mercy and justice that will save us. The Scriptures are very clear that it is only by the grace of God that we are saved. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Works of mercy and justice will not save us, but through them we can glorify God, which should be the chief goal of every part of our lives. “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:5-6).

Can you just imagine how beautiful the harmonies are that are raised to God when we live in harmony with one another?

In Christ,

Judy

In our Bible study on the Women’s Campus, we have finished a study on Esther, and we are now studying the book of Ezra. What are some things these two books have in common?  For starters, they are people’s names, both start with “E”, they are both in the Old Testament. Also, both Esther and Ezra are Jewish, but both have been removed from their homeland and are living in exile, at least when the story begins. Exile is a theme used throughout the Old Testament. Adam and Eve, Cain, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, the children of Israel, Naomi and her family, Ruth, Esther, Daniel, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel immediately come to mind. The books of Exodus, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and Daniel are based on the theme of exile and return, as are several of the prophetical books. Exile is not stated per se in the New Testament, but because the people of Palestine were living under foreign (Roman) rule, it could be said that they also lived in exile.

According to Webster, the definition of exile is a: the state or a period of forced absence from one’s country or home, or b: the state or a period of voluntary absence from one’s country or home. 

So, a key factor in determining a period of exile is determining where one’s true home is. And then, if we are not at home, we are in exile. If one temporarily relocates to another state or country, say for a job, it could be said that he or she is in exile. When we become believers in Christ, we become citizens of Heaven. However, we can’t actually go to Heaven until after our physical death, so it could be said that as believers and citizens of Heaven, we are living in exile from our true home until that time.  What are some do’s and don’ts of living in exile that we can learn from biblical examples?

1. Do submit to and obey our local rulers with respect. Joseph, Daniel, Esther all showed respect to their earthly rulers. “For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer… “Pay to all what is owed to them; taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed” (Romans 13:4,7). “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.” “1 Peter 2:13-14”.
2. Do what is good. Joseph, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and Daniel and were able to obtain positions of authority and respect and influence for good as a result.  Ruth found a godly husband.
3. Do educate ourselves, seek truth, and vote for candidates who we believe will make an effort to support truth. This is a very challenging mandate in these times. There are no perfect candidates, but here is what Billy Graham had to say on the subject: https://billygraham.org/answer/im-sick-of-politicians-and-political-campaigns-and-ive-decided-im-not-going-to-vote-this-year/. The bottom line is that we must educate ourselves on the issues and the candidates.
4. Do pray. When Daniel found himself in exile and needing God’s intervention, he prayed: “ So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.” (Daniel 3-5).  Follow the “40 Days of Prayer” guidelines published in Workplace, and I believe God will give us the guidance we need.
5. Don’t give in to politics of anxiety and fear. “But our world does not end if the candidates for whom we vote do not win the day. Our Father in heaven is sovereign and wise and is in control. Our ultimate hope is not in any election. Our hope is in our Father in heaven.” (Dr. Keith A. Mathison, writing for Tabletalk Magazine, June, 2016.)

“Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).

In Christ,

Judy