Archive | December 2020

Chaplain’s Corner – Be Ready

Dec30

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36).

When January 1, 2020 dawned, could we have ever imagined what we would be dealing with for the next twelve months, or how courageous and resilient and creative we could be? Truth is, we never know. Maybe there will not be another tornado to devastate much of Middle Tennessee in 2021. Maybe there will not be another global pandemic in 2021. Maybe there will not be another bombing (can you even believe it?!). But some of us will undoubtedly experience some calamity or tragedy or sickness that will wreck our schedules, require financial resources, and introduce the unexpected.

What have we learned in 2020 to help us to be better prepared for 2021, whatever it holds? One way to think about this is to realize what we most appreciate about what we have been through, and that will shed some light on what we have learned. I asked my seven grandchildren, ages 14 to 3, what they most appreciated about 2020, and their responses were overwhelmingly the opportunity to spend more time with their own families, as well as the use of technology (ZOOM) to be with more people than even would have been the case in a “normal” year. I can certainly identify with both of those. I cherished every moment with my family. And because of the pandemic. I joined a Bible Study Fellowship bible study online which includes people from England, Washington State, Texas, and many other states. These godly women are becoming very dear to me, and I probably would not have “met” them in a “normal” year.

In the above passage, Jesus is preparing his disciples for his upcoming crucifixion. He continues in Matthew 25 to give three parables or teachings on the need to be ready today, taking any needed action without procrastination, because we do not know what the future holds or when the end might arrive.

  • The first is the Parable of the Ten Virgins. “Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.” When the bridegroom did arrive, the ones with oil in their lamps were able to go into the feast, but the others were scrambling to find oil for their lamps and got locked out of the event. Jesus then advises “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
  • The second is the Parable of the Bags of Gold. A businessman was going on a trip and gave three of his employees some money to take care of in his absence. The first two invested their money and doubled it. The third one, however, just stuck the money in a drawer. His boss was angry at this and said he should have at least put it in the bank to draw interest. But to the first two employees, he rewarded them for their faithfulness and their efforts, saying “Well done, good and faithful servant(s)! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
  • The third is the Parable of the Sheep and Goats. Basically, Jesus is telling us that when he returns as King of Glory, he will execute final judgement. Everyone will come before him and will be classified as a sheep or a goat. To the sheep he will say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” To the goats he will say, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” The difference was that both sheep and goats had an opportunity to serve Jesus by serving the least of these, but only the sheep had done so.

Make no mistake; this message is not about doing good works. It is about being ready. It is about not waiting another moment to place your heart and soul in the hands of Jesus, believing him for your salvation. The good works, such as serving the least of these, follow our salvation, motivated only by our love and gratitude for what Jesus has done for us.

“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).

In Christ,

Judy

Chaplain’s Corner – Advent: Love

Dec23

This fourth and final week of Advent we celebrate Love. We have celebrated Hope, Peace (Shalom), and Joy in the previous weeks. While we can describe these biblical qualities, what I hope has been made clear is that not only are these attributes of God, these are God.

  • “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
  • “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation” (Ephesians 2:14).
  • “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).

But nowhere in the Bible is there a clearer statement about who and what God is than what we find in 1 John 4:7-12: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what a blessing to know that we worship the God of love, peace, and joy; and therefore He is our Blessed Hope.

We are made in the image of God. That means that we can grow more like him in his personality. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, each of us is empowered to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit, which include peace, joy, and love (among others).

Frequently, God tells his people that he wants our obedience more than sacrifice. So how do we obey? Jesus told us exactly how: “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.” (John 13:34-35).

Our love for each other is our testimony to a broken and needy world, which is so apparent during these days of sickness and isolation and grief. In the world in which we currently reside, let us remember that God is love, and as the hands and feet, we are called to be love to each other.

“My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!” (1 John 4:11-12).

Merry Christmas,

Judy

Chaplain’s Corner – Advent: Joy

Dec16

“An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.'” (Luke 2:9-11)

What is joy? I typically go to Webster’s Dictionary when I want a definition. Webster says of joy: “a. the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: delight. B. the expression or exhibition of such emotion: gaiety.” So, Webster says joy is an emotion or the expression of that emotion, which is the result of well-being, success, good fortune, or possessing what one desires; therefore, joy is conditional on our circumstances. But we as believers know that’s not the biblical definition of joy.

We must look to the Bible if we want understanding of biblical joy such as that referenced in our scripture above. If we turn to the Bible (which I should have done in the first place, right?), one of the key verses about joy is in Galatians 5:22-23 which speaks of the fruits of the spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Breaking this down, we first see that joy comes from the Holy Spirit, not our circumstances. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” We see in Jesus’ teaching that true joy can survive the harshest of circumstances because it is not dependent on circumstances. It is instead dependent on God and his promises for his people’s eternal future. (Bible Project / Advent Reflections).

Toward the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, he spoke about joy. It was only with Jesus’ arrival on earth that believers could have true joy, the joy of having Jesus in their (our) hearts. And when Jesus ascended to Heaven, he sent to us the Holy Spirit to give us continual access to joy, the joy of man’s desiring.

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).

“So, with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy” (John 16:22).

“And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52).

Joy is having Jesus in our hearts, which God made possible by sending his Son to earth to redeem us from our sins and make the way to have life everlasting.

Joy to the World, the Lord Has Come, sung by Charlie Pride

In Christ,

Judy

Chaplain’s Corner – Advent: Shalom

Dec9

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6)

I have two brothers, and between them and our Dad, our house in my childhood was rather rambunctious to say the least, and often full of conflict, with fighting, yelling, etc. My sweet mother suffered through all of this and begged for peace. She would have been happy if everyone just stopped yelling and fighting. However, as a mother myself, I know now that what she really longed for was not just the elimination of conflict but the restoration of love and reconciliation between all the members of her family. Maybe you can relate at some level. As a mother, I am most happy when all my children are together and truly enjoying each other. It is then that I feel whole, complete. I hope you can relate. That sense of wholeness is the essence of “shalom.”

“Shalom” is the Hebrew word for “peace,” but it means much more than the absence of conflict. It means restoration or reconciliation, completeness or wholeness. Many times in the Old Testament we have seen reference to peace treaties after a time of war. We have seen peace treaties in modern world history. Typically, there are conditions and regulations to ensure not only a ceasefire, but to instruct how to live in harmony with each other.  We know these peace treaties are legally binding, but not always long-lasting. But when Isaiah prophesied the birth of Jesus in Isaiah 9:6, he revealed God’s promise of reconciliation, not primarily between people, but between people and God.

Ever since God sent Adam and Eve from the Garden, we have felt the consequence of our sin which separates us from God. It is only through the mediation of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, that we are not only spared the wrath of God but allowed back into God’s presence. It is only the sacrificial horrific death of Jesus on the cross that has gained for us the ability to rest in peace with God, eternally in His presence, whole and complete in His love. We celebrate Advent, the first coming of Jesus, because he is the Prince of Peace, our mediator to reconcile us and restore us to God’s holy eternal presence.

May you rest in His peace forever. Shalom.

“Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne  and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it  with justice and righteousness  from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty  will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:7).

In Christ,

Judy

Chaplain’s Corner – Advent: Hope

Dec2

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. Titus 2:11-14

This is the season of Advent, and during this first week we will focus on hope. Hope has many definitions, but the one we use is a person. Jesus is our hope, our blessed hope as the above scripture reveals.

What’s your plan for Christmas? Mine tends to read like this: decorate the house and tree, get the Christmas cards mailed, make candy and cookies, buy presents, plan the family gift-giving and eating gathering. It’s no wonder then, that when it’s over, I’m exhausted. I dread putting up the Christmas decorations, I dread getting the pounds off that I put on with all the candy and cookies, I dread seeing my credit card balance from all the spending, and I’m worn out from all the celebrating. That just sounds awful, doesn’t it?  Why would we put ourselves through it? We say we do it for everyone else, because it’s expected of us. Really?

Now I know some people don’t go in for all that. They don’t decorate, they don’t participate in gift giving or family gatherings. But the people I know who are like that usually have less than positive reasons—Christmas is a depressing time for them, and they just want to get through it, ignore it and hope it goes away uneventfully. I can see that, and I understand. Really, I do. But it sounds equally awful.

What if we celebrated Christmas another way? It might only take changing our mind about what we are doing. What if our mindset was totally on celebrating the birth of the Christ Child, the arrival of the Savior of the world? If so, then:

  • We might still decorate, but we are decorating for the most important birthday party in the history of the world. We are honoring our Savior by putting out our special beautiful seasonal décor, our best things that we save for such a time as this.
  • We might still cook, but we are preparing these foods to offer hospitality and our most delicious treats in honor of our King and to welcome others into His presence.
  • We might still send Christmas cards, but the purpose is to remind others of the coming of the Christ Child, which we can do with nativity-themed cards and messages, and even religious-themed stamps.
  • We might still give gifts, but it’s all in recognition of God who loved us so much that He gave us His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not die but have eternal life.
  • We might still celebrate with family and friends, but we do so with the intention of sharing the gospel message through our love, words and deeds.

So, again I ask, What’s your plan for Christmas? Is it to follow the culture? Or is it to be intentional?

I pray that you will enjoy Christmas for all it’s worth. I pray that the Holy Spirit guide you and strengthen you as you dedicate this season to the celebration of Jesus, who as God incarnate, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, came to save his people from their sins. Our blessed hope. What a gift!!

In Christ,

Judy