April 13, 2019 Lent Daily Devotional: Poor In Spirit

Poor in Spirit

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ~ MATTHEW 5:3 (NIV)

Jesus gave the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes describe traits that Jesus was looking for in His followers. He begins each one with the word, “Blessed,” because God has something special in store for those who live out these traits. Jesus demonstrated each trait He describes in the Beatitudes, and He lets us know that they are in direct opposition to the world’s typical way of life. As followers of Jesus Christ, our goal is to be like Him, and the Beatitudes will definitely change and challenge the way we live each day.

“Poor in spirit” is recognizing our need for God. When we are away from God, our spirits are poverty-stricken. Once we acknowledge Him as our King, the kingdom of heaven is ours. At times our spirits are empty or we are at the end of our rope, so to speak. Where do we turn? How do we get filled up and find joy? We go to God because with God, we are truly blessed, and as His followers we have hope in eternity with Him. With God, we find joy. Our circumstances might not change right away, but our way of looking at them will. When we are “poor in spirit,” Satan is at work in us. He will try anything to get us away from God, but we must remember the end of the story — God wins!

Lord, we give our weaknesses to you that we may be strengthened and used for your service.

CHAR GAYLORD, BETHLEHEM LUTHERAN CHURCH

To read all the Beatitudes: Matthew 5:1-12

April 12, 2019: What's Your Future Hold?

What’s Your Future Hold?

He has made everything appropriate in its time. Also He has set eternity in their heart, yet so that man may not find out the work which God has done from beginning to end. ~ ECCLESIASTES 3:11 (NAS)

When I was a young woman, I was invited to a palm reader at a neighbor’s home. I was skeptical, yet I wanted to know the future. I remember nothing she said about my future. No great prediction. Later, after dedicating my heart to the Lord and learning from scripture that the Lord forbade such things, I renounced them, asked forgiveness, and destroyed all the material I had gathered. (Deut. 18:10-14; Lev. 19:31, 20:6)

Most people want to know what the future holds. And some Christians still read their horoscopes (for what they think is harmless fun). (Dan. 2:27) We want our future settled. We create IRAs, plan pensions, make wills and medical directives, and purchase cemetery plots. We want to know our future is taken care of, yet eternal life is the only concern that can be settled. In St. Augustine, Florida, where Ponce De Leon landed in 1513, there’s the legendary Fountain of Youth (in a hole in the ground). You can drink from a supplied plastic cup from the spigot. The water tastes brassy and has

provided no documented healing or rejuvenation. Yet people still come.
In Punta Gorda, Florida, another Fountain of Youth site offers a spigot producing water laced with radioactive radium and sulfur; it smells like rotten eggs. It has a warning sign on it from the health department. Yet for

a hundred years, people from miles around have traveled there for a sip. Looking to live longer or maybe forever? Move to Florida where the highest number of seniors live in this country. Yet no statistics prove they live longer. To worry about the afterlife can be puzzling. We don’t know what it’s really like. And we don’t know why God loves us like He does. We only

know His promise to prepare a place and receive us in His Father’s house. No prophet, sorcerer, medium, or astrologist can predict or confirm our getting there. And all the savings, work, and stored up supplies don’t assure us of eternal life either. The only act that can assure our eternal existence

with God is the one Jesus paid for each of us — His death on the cross. God placed eternity in our hearts. Do you know where your eternity is

or what your future holds? I pray it’s in Jesus.

Most gracious Father, thank you for your everlasting love and sending Jesus to prepare the only way to eternity in heaven.

PASTOR SHERRY ZAPPOLA, RETIRED

April 11, 2019 Lent Daily Devotional: All In For Jesus?

All In For Jesus?

O God, You have taught me from my youth;
And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.
Now also when I am old and grayheaded,
O God, do not forsake me,
Until I declare Your strength to this generation,
Your power to everyone who is to come. ~ PSALM 71:17-18 (NKJV)

While we were living in Florida, we attended one of the local Methodist churches. We looked forward to Sundays in this church, as the pastor gave inspiring and thought-provoking sermons.

One Sunday the pastor told of the night he was relaxing while watching TV. As he flipped through the channels, he came upon a gambling show. He wasn’t particularly interested in the show, but he was curious enough to watch a few minutes of it. One of the players had a large pile of chips in front of him. He was debating how many of the chips to put back in. Finally, he decided to bet them all. So he said to the dealer, “I’m all in.” He put all his chips in the middle of the table, risking them all.

Our pastor asked the congregation, “How about you? Are you all in for Jesus? Have you risked everything you have for Him, serving Him with your whole heart, or have you kept something back for yourself?”

I ask that of myself today. Is there something I’m not willing to surrender to Him, some area that is not wholly His? I pray that God will show me where I’m trying to hold some of the “chips” back for my own use or pleasure. May I be “all in” for Him because He certainly was “all in” for me.

Lord Jesus, may we never take for granted how much you sacrificed for each of us. May we gladly and joyfully give our all in service to you and others. Amen.

MARY LOU STETSER, ZION COMMUNITY CHURCH

Suggested reading: Acts 5:1-11

April 10, 2019 Lent Daily Devotional: The Seasons of Life

Photo by: Mike Ralph

The Seasons of Life

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted. ~ ECCLESIASTES 3:1-2 (ESV)

God created the earth, God created the seasons, and God created us. Have you ever thought about the seasons of the year and how they match with stages of our own lives?

Spring can be compared to the birth and growth of a child. Think of spring with the budding of tender new tree leaves, the sprouting of new seedlings. Quickly the seedlings grow and mature. Many plants produce fruit and multiply.

Soon summer arrives with young plants facing the challenges of life such as hot weather, droughts, thunderstorms, and so on. This is the stage of life with good experiences as well as challenging opportunities. When God created the earth, He equipped plants and wildlife to adapt and survive. God did that for human beings as well, but He also gave us the intellect to reason through tough situations. Most importantly, He gave us a choice to live a life that is pleasing in His sight and a choice to accept His Son Jesus Christ.

All too quickly fall arrives, and the plants and wildlife begin to prepare to survive the difficulties of maturity and old age. Trees store the sap in their trunks. Leaves fall off the trees, while squirrels make nests and bury acorns for warmth and food. Bears prepare to hibernate. In this third season of life, humans become older, and their focus changes from a philosophy of “eat, drink, and be merry” to one of maturity, serenity, and reconciliation.

Finally, winter is here. It gets cold outside, trees lose all their foliage, and tubular flowers are dormant under the soil, awaiting the arrival of the new spring. Winter can feel cold, bleak, and desolate. So it is with us as we think about the hereafter if we don’t know Jesus as our personal Savior.

Have you reconciled with your Maker? Are you ready for the rebirth of spring and the new life in eternity? Take a moment to examine yourself and make sure you are prepared to meet your Maker at the pearly gates of Heaven. I’m ready, are you?

Our dear heavenly Father, I am sorry for my transgressions and ask that you will forgive me for them. I know that your Son died on the cross for me and that whosoever believes in Him will enjoy eternal life. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

FRED TOMLIN, FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, GLASSBORO

April 9, 2019 Lent Daily Devotional: Finding God, or Being Found By Him?

Finding God, or Being Found by Him?

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. ~ LUKE 15:20 (NIV)

We know it as the Parable of the Prodigal Son, but in telling the story, Jesus’ focus was not the son but the father. It is a parable about a father’s love toward his lost son, a father who is ever looking with longing for his lost son to return. When the son is a long way off, the father runs to meet and embrace him and to receive him with tender love and forgiveness.

In reality, Jesus is telling this story about God’s love for us, how we are the lost ones, and how God has taken the initiative to find us and to welcome us home.

In his book The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henri Nouwen writes: “For most of my life I have struggled to find God, to know God, to love God. I have tried hard to follow the guidelines of spiritual life — pray always, work for others, read the scriptures — and to avoid the many temptations to dissipate myself. I have failed many times but always tried again, even when I was close to despair.”

Nouwen goes on, “Now I wonder whether I have sufficiently realized that during all this time God has been trying to find me, to know me, and to love me. The question is not ‘How am I to find God?’ but ‘How am I to let myself be found by him?’ The question is not ‘How am I to know God?’ but ‘How am I to let myself be known by God?’ And, finally, the question is not ‘How am I to love God?’ but ‘How am I to let myself be loved by God?’ God is looking into the distance for me, trying to find me, and longing to bring me home.”

As we move through the season of Lent, these are significant questions for us to ponder, for we must be mindful that it is always God who takes the initiative. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

Heavenly Father, help us to allow ourselves to be found by you, to be known by you, and to be loved by you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

PASTOR GARY TURK, RETIRED,

April 8, 2019 Lent Daily Devotional: God Knows His Own

God Knows His Own

And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. ~ PSALM 9:10 (KJV)

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
~ ECCLESIASTES 11:9 (KJV)

“Oh make us aware, dear God, of daily graces that come to us with sweet surprise from never-dreamed-of places.” *

When I was a Sunday school teacher of junior high students, there was a boy, Johnny, and his sister, who were brought to church every Sunday by their grandmother, Mrs. Mower. Johnny was helpful in handing out the lessons and other craft materials and was always a good listener, but he also teased others by taking crayons or tapping students on the head from behind.

Johnny and his sister moved to California. One day years later, Mrs. Mower approached me to say she had visited them and that Johnny wanted to know if I was still at the church. He wanted his grandmother to make sure that I knew he had become a preacher!

Sunday school teachers often wonder how much of their teaching is absorbed concerning the Word of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord, for touching Johnny’s heart and for his becoming a preacher. Praise to you, Lord, for my winning of a soul for you, and for the souls Johnny is winning. I will always be grateful that my teaching may have contributed to Johnny’s life and to his loving our Lord and Savior. Praise to you, Lord, that Johnny is using his ability to minister to others.

Dear Lord and Father of mankind, thank you for the Bible and all it teaches. We all need you to become what you want us to be. Thanks for the youth who come to Sunday school and listen to your Word. Thank you, too, dear Lord of all, for great and small blessings and for the suffering Jesus had to bear for our sins. In your precious name, amen.

HELEN DUNK, ZION COMMUNITY CHURCH

*A Collection of Hope by Helen Steiner Rice

April 7, 2019 Lent Daily Devotional: Some Bunny Loves You...

Some Bunny Loves You...

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. ~ EPHESIANS 2:4-5 (NIV)

Easter is coming with all the egg hunts, egg dyeing, chocolate candy, and the arrival of the Easter Bunny. What? Stop right there. Why am I writing about the Easter Bunny and all the secular traditions of the Easter season? One reason is that they are fun to do. The other is to remind us they can be done in coordination with the real reason for the season. (During the Christmas season, we see bumper stickers of “Keep Christ in Christmas” and “Jesus is the reason for the season.”)

Personally knowing the “big guy in the red suit and white beard,” I can assure you that all of his actions are because of love. He gives gifts because of love. He sees kids all the time and looks in their eyes and sees their need to be loved. Likewise, the Easter Bunny leaves eggs and baskets full of candy because of love.

Love is the heart of the seasons. During the Christmas season, we thank God for loving us so much that He gave us His Son. At Easter, we recognize God’s love for us in sacrificing His Son on the cross.

Both were merciful gifts to us to show us the power of love and, in turn, we can express that love toward others.

Each Saturday when I attend Kids Alley for the children of Camden, love is at the heart of our reaction to the children who attend. We never know what is going on in their lives, but we are called to love them no matter what. Each time a child sits on Santa’s knee, Santa doesn’t know what the child’s background is, but he shows love to them anyway. Like it or not, the Easter Bunny comes each year, whether the kids are good or bad. Christ is ever present and sees if we do good or bad, and yet loves us anyway.

Father God, thank you for just loving us. Even when we don’t deserve it, we know we are loved. Amen.

BILL SCHOBER, EVANGELICAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

April 6, 2019 Lent Daily Devotional: Our Faith and Works

Our Faith and Works

But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
~ JAMES 2:18 (NKJV)

You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. ~ JAMES 2:24 (NKJV)

In the book of Romans, Paul goes to great lengths to tell us that no person can earn or win forgiveness from God by what they do. It’s only by God’s grace that comes down to us that we win forgiveness. The fact is that Jesus died for our sins. After we accept that, then we should grow in our Christian faith. This is where the works come into the picture.

The verses from James seem to oppose what Paul says. However, James is talking to professing Christians. His message is not opposing what Paul said, but rather complementing what Paul said. In the message by James, it is not a case of either faith or works but a case of both faith AND works.

In the latter part of James 2, two examples of faith with works are given to us. Abraham, because of his faith, answered God’s call by his actions with his only son, Isaac. He proved that his faith was real by consenting to sacrifice his son. The second example was Rahab. She hid the spies from Israel and then let them go with the promise that she and her family would be saved. She risked her life by going with the future and fortune of the conquering Israelites. Abraham and Rahab both showed that their faith was real by the actions they took.

In a well-balanced Christian life, there must be faith and works (or deeds). It is through deeds that faith will show itself to be alive in us, and it is through faith that those deeds can spring forth out of our lives. They are linked together.

As we grow in our faith and demonstrate it through our deeds, we cannot leave out prayer and Bible study. These two activities will strengthen our faith and prepare us to go out into the world with God by our side, as Colossians 1:10 tells us, “... being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

Dear God, we pray that during this Lenten season as we prepare for Easter, you will help us turn our faith into productive deeds for you.

TOM BENNETT, PITMAN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH