Tag: short devotions

Sunday Shorts: The Quiet Woman

church devotions, Devotions, Lectionary devotions, Sunday devotions

Ordy 13BsMark 5:27-28 She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him, hidden by the crowd and touched his cloak, thinking to herself, “If I only touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

Over the many years that I have worked in ministry, I have seen many women sincerely serve God in their own quiet way. Some of them have worked behind the scenes preparing food for different social events; others have written cards or given flowers to folks who were experiencing illness, loneliness, or grief. I have also watched other women professionally minister to their called congregations, serving with love, enthusiasm, intelligence, and compassion, even in the face of gender discrimination which still can be found in some unenlightened churches. Their quiet endurance is something that I constantly admire and I am grateful for the essential ministry of women which keeps Christ’s Church alive throughout the world.

In today’s Gospel story (Mark 5:25-34), a wee quiet woman seeks Christ’s ministry of healing. She has suffered from a blood disease that has plagued her life for years. She has sought medical help and spent most of her resources trying to find a cure. When she hears about Jesus coming to her town, she knows within her heart that this will be her last opportunity of being healed.

Her illness, though, has left her without any helpers. She may even have felt excluded from the rest of the religious community because blood issues among women at that time were deemed to be unclean. Perhaps she doesn’t want to draw attention to herself in case someone recognizes her, so she quietly and timidly reaches out to touch Christ’s cloak as He is passing. She believes that whatever power He has can be instantly transferred to her without causing a scandal.

Jesus, however, feels some of His divine power draining from Him, so He immediately stops and asked who touched Him. His disciples explain that many people in the crowd who were pushing and jostling with each other to get near Him, must have brushed against Him. But Christ knows what has really happened and the wee quiet woman, who has already been healed, is terrified of what could now occur. In her heart, she must have thought that Jesus would have rebuked her for stealing some of God’s power and so she kneels before Him, trembling.

Christ then does something beautiful here. Instead of rebuking her, He commends her for being faithful and He even calls her “Daughter,” which meant that she was not only physically healed but that she was completely restored to God. For years, she had been on the outside of the faithful community; now, she was fully accepted back into God’s love.

There are many women in the church who are faithfully serving Christ. They don’t look for any rewards, public praise, or congregational recognition. They just seek to serve Jesus quietly, efficiently, and effectively, empowered by His presence in their lives, and encouraging others by sharing God’s love which has helped them, healed them, and restored them.

Point to ponder: Who are the quiet women in my congregation? Am I grateful for their faith and service?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, today we give You thanks for the quiet women in our churches whose support, compassion, and ministries sustain local congregations everywhere. Bless them for their devotion, leadership, and service which has kept our faith alive for centuries. In Your Holy Name, we gratefully pray. Amen.

 

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sunday Shorts: Anxious Prayers

Devotions, Lectionary devotions, Sunday devotions

Ordy 12BcolsSunday shorts: Anxious Prayers

Mark 4:38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (NIV)

Sometimes I get frustrated with God, especially when my prayers of concern take a while to be answered. I’m usually a patient person, but when I get anxious, I can’t help feeling that God is either ignoring me or doesn’t understand the situation. I can remember years ago, when a church staff member created an almighty conflict in the congregation I served, how vexed I was because I was being falsely blamed for their misconduct. I repeatedly prayed to God to deal with the situation and make others understand the truth. I even spelled out to God how to do it and wondered if He really cared about what I was unjustly enduring. Eventually, it was positively resolved, but I still carry some pain from that unsettling time.

I hear the same anxiety and frustration in the voices of the disciples who are caught in a terrifying storm as they try to cross Lake Galilee (Mark 4:35-41). While the waves are violently crashing against the boat and the wind is fiercely howling, they are terrified about losing their lives. Meanwhile, Jesus is sleeping soundly at the boat’s stern, resting on top of a cushion. The disciples can’t believe that He is so totally unaware of their predicament and so they anxiously shout at Him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

Christ awakes from His deep sleep and responds to their pleas by stilling the storm. The wind and waves become calm; the situation is dealt with; they can now resume crossing over to the other side. Jesus probably went back to sleep again, leaving His disciples no longer anxious, but completely bewildered. They now ask themselves, “Who is this? Even the wind and waves obey Him!”

Perhaps you’re presently anxious about something beyond your control. Maybe you’re also waiting for God to answer your prayers of concern. It may take time to be accomplished, but please know this: God hears your prayers and knows what needs to be done.

Point to ponder: What currently concerns me? How am I asking God for help?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You know everything about our lives, especially the situations and worries that we presently endure. Please help us to remain faithful to You as we hand over all our anxious concerns and deepest issues. Calm the storms in our lives and enable us to continue our journey with You. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

 

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sunday Shorts: A Wee Word

Devotions, Lectionary devotions, Sunday devotions

Ordy 11BsMark 4:31 The kingdom of God is similar to a mustard seed, which, when sown into the ground, is one of the smallest the seeds on earth.

Recently, I was traveling back from a church committee meeting with two other pastors. As we drove home, we talked about how a word preached at the right time to the right person can have a profound effect on the lives of others. A short phrase, sentence, or illustration could impact someone in the pew and change their lives forever. The Word of God, no matter how insignificant to other folks, never returns to Him empty.

I remember many years ago preaching in the Scottish country church that I served. I thought my sermon was mediocre, a wee bit long-winded, and perhaps even boring. In the congregation that day was a visitor from Northern Ireland whom I had never met. Something I said clicked with him and when he went home, he gave up his successful job and business because he decided that his talents would better be used to help other people in places where war and famine occurred. Within a couple of months, he used his skills to prepare, organize, and build 250,000 temporary shelters for refugees in Africa. Almost a million people were physically saved through his work and all because some wee word of hope and challenge had been given in an unexceptional sermon. A mustard seed of faith had been planted in his heart and it blossomed into an amazing work of deliverance given by God.

Whenever we sincerely share God’s Word in preaching or conversation, with words of comfort or challenge, the potential to change things for the better is always present. Perhaps something that you share today – an exchange of ideas, a social media post, a phone conversation, or even a text – will have a profound effect on someone else’s life. A mustard seed of faith may be included in your message and God knows that it will not return to Him empty.

Point to ponder: With whom can I share God’s Word today?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, Your words of life have won our hearts and changed our lives. You have implanted seeds of faith within each of us. May we now sow those same seeds in the lives of others who need them, too. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Sunday Shorts: A House Divided

church devotions, Devotions, Lectionary devotions, Sunday devotions

Ordy10BsMark 3:25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

Have you ever seen the old movie “Fall of the House of Usher?” It starred Vincent Price, in what was his only role with blonde hair. It’s based on Edgar Allen Poe’s short story of the same name and was what we called a “Creepie” back in Scotland. If ever a movie was rated by stars, this one was a Black Hole. It was terrible, full of overacting, cheap scenery, and clumsy effects. The best part of the movie comes at the very end, when the old house sinks into the mire it is built upon, and some Gothic text appears on the screen, quoting today’s verse. They don’t make them like that nowadays – and as my father used to say, “That movie was never released in theaters, it must have escaped.”

When Jesus spoke those words so long ago, He was referring to the unpleasant fact that His religious enemies were calling His miracles acts of demonic possession. Instead of glorifying God for His compassion in helping sick and sorrowful people, the scribes and Pharisees were trying to turn the people against Jesus. In other words, they were causing a division amongst God’s people. It must have been a sad time for Christ because He was doing His best to make the world around Him a better place with healthier people, both physically and spiritually. To be condemned for doing something good by religious leaders who should have known better, must have impacted Jesus emotionally.

There’s a lot of fearful talk about civil war coming to the US after the forthcoming election. We used to be a nation that accepted the outcome and strove to upbuild one another, but ever since the turn of this new century, we have let the demons of distrust and deceit damage our souls. I wish we could get back to moving forward and not give in to those who promote division, hostility, and violence. I pray each day that our nation will not become a house divided, but rather that the teachings, compassion, and love of Christ will impact and influence us all. For the sake of our dear children and grandchildren, we must be better than this.

Point to ponder: Am I contributing to the hostility and division among us? What would Jesus do?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help Your church here on Earth to overcome our differences and divisions. Let a united witness be evident in every congregation and community. Keep us more in tune with Your ways, so that we may turn our lives around and make the entire world a better place, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sunday Shorts: Ticked Off

church devotions, devotional art, Devotions, Lectionary devotions, Sunday devotions

Ordy 9BcolsMark 3:5 Jesus looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. (NIV)

Jesus was ticked off. Someone needed help and the religious folks wanted to keep their religious rules intact instead of reaching out to the man with the withered hand. Their lack of compassion in a House of God is what made Jesus angry. In a sacred place where the community worshiped God, compassion was meant to be available to everyone. Instead, the regular attenders closed their hearts and minds to what was needed because they only wanted their religious rules to be strictly heeded.

Despite their lack of compassion and stubborn pride, which incidentally, embarrassed the man with the withered hand, Jesus broke all of the rules and customs to do what was right, rather than pander to what was so obviously wrong to Him. We tend to think that Jesus only got angry in the Temple when He overturned the moneychangers’ tables in the sacred courts, but here we have Jesus getting angry because good people – good religious people – were doing nothing to help and justified it by hiding behind their sacred rules.

The world throws a similar angry accusation at the Church today. How many issues and problems could be solved in our communities, as well as all over this planet, if Church people – Christ’s followers – were to help those in need instead of hindering the outcast, the alien, the different, the poor, the hungry, the war-trapped, and the unloved? Sometimes church people – even me – get angry when faced with other people’s problems because it would offend our moral or religious codes that we keep inside of ourselves. But instead of us getting angry, we should ask ourselves this honest question: is Christ angry with us because we say or do nothing?

Point to ponder: Who needs my help today?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, following You leads us into difficult situations and causes us a great deal of discomfort. Challenge our indifferent ways and change us so that we may help those in need whom we encounter. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sunday Shorts: Asking God

Devotions, Lectionary devotions

HandsJohn 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. (NIV)

This is one of those Bible verses that is mistakenly used by people who believe in the Prosperity Gospel. They focus on the second part of the verse where Jesus states that ‘whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.’ They think it means that to get anything they want, they just have to ask for it, using Christ’s name as their guarantor, so God will be compelled to give them whatever they desire. But that is not based on faith, it’s actually a form of magic which is called an enchantment. God becomes the Great Genie in the Sky who grants people their wishes, so long as they use the right words.

This mistake occurs because people forget about the first part of the verse where Jesus states that He chose and appointed people to follow Him for one purpose – to bear fruit; in other words, to expand God’s Kingdom and make faith prosperous, not the person, nor their individual desires. It’s what God wants that is important, not what we want. Christ’s name is honored by being associated with the bearing of fruit and is not trivialized or taken in vain by trying to coerce God into doing what we want. We align ourselves to God’s purpose – the sharing of His love through the life, work, and ministry of His Son – instead of maligning God by expecting Him to give us everything we desire.

So next time when we’re praying about something that matters to us, let’s be careful about what we ask for, by personally pondering whether or not we are attempting to manipulate God to our will, rather than consolidate ourselves to God’s will.

Point to ponder: When I pray in Jesus’ Name, am I asking for things that will bear fruit for God’s Kingdom or just myself?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we come to You very often with our needs, wishes, desires, and dreams. We pray for things that we want and forget to ask You what it is that You want for us. Help us to reconsider how we pray and what we ask of You, in order to make our requests more fruitful for God’s Kingdom. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

 

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sunday Shorts: Abide in Me

Devotions, Lectionary devotions, Sunday devotions

E5BsJohn 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

I like the word ‘abide’. In this verse it has a very peaceful meaning attached to it because it refers to remaining with Jesus and stopping everything else just to be with Him for a while. We all get so busy in this post-covid age and overload our schedules that we often miss out on our sleep and constantly wake up tired. Our hyper-activity is relentless at times and the pressure to accomplish six impossible things before breakfast is causing us a lot of stress. We all have hopes and dreams, ambitions and goals that we want to pursue but if we get obsessed by them, we’ll end up being possessed by them, and this is not what God wants for our lives.

To abide in Jesus is to let go of everything that drives us and let Him lead us. It means stepping back from who we think we need to be, to become what God wants us to be. In the end, whatever we accomplish, build, or achieve will mean nothing in eternity, but the fruit of faith that we bear by abiding with Christ – that will delight God and bring us everlasting joy. This is what Jesus means when He says that ‘apart from me you can do nothing.’

Today is Sunday. God set it apart so that we can abide with Him and His Son. It’s not just a sacred day with religious obligations, it’s also a trysting place, a thin space when everything in heaven and on earth is meant to stop and abide in God’s presence. It’s a day to step back from the busyness of life and let God embrace us peacefully and lovingly, in order to reset our lives and recharge our spirits.

Point to ponder: Am I willing to abide in Christ today?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to let go of our relentless activities and driven ambitions in order to experience a sacred piece of eternity in our finite world. Allow us to abide in and with you, so that we may renew our faith and reconnect our souls with God. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sunday Shorts: Lay Down

Devotions, Lectionary devotions, Sunday devotions

E4BsJohn 10:15 Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. (NIV)

I’ve sometimes heard and read some post-modern preachers say that Jesus didn’t sacrifice His life on our behalf. They question Christ paying the price of our sins because God’s justice demanded it. They also express the thought that His death was accidental and was never intended to happen. I wonder where they get their notions from and feel as though they’re just parroting something that a seminary teacher, lecturer, or professor once stated. They are fully convinced that they are right and people like me are totally wrong.

I question their ideas because scripture, like today’s highlighted verse, plainly states that Jesus Himself declared He was willing to lay down His life for the sheep; in other words, Christ clearly expressed His readiness to die for His flock, which is not some 19th century theological notion created by revivalist preachers, but is a First century teaching that the Apostle John must have heard directly from the lips of Jesus.

I have known several shepherds in my lifetime and have seen how devoted they are to the wellbeing of their livestock. At this time of year, they are constantly watching over the ewes who are producing lambs and spend many hours tending to their needs at a very vulnerable time for both the ewes and their young. Without that commitment and watchfulness, the sheep would perish, so it’s no wonder then that Jesus talked about being the Good Shepherd to His followers, but He also took His pastoral care a stage further by stating that He would lay down His life for them – that’s not just good shepherding; it’s great shepherding.

There can be no reason for Jesus saying He would lay down His life for His sheep other than sacrificing Himself on their behalf, even on our behalf. It may be theologically fashionable for some folks to reject this notion, but it does not eradicate the fact that Jesus did what He said He would do. He laid down His life on the Cross at Calvary in order to save His sheep and satisfy what God required. Why? Because the sheep, including us, could do nothing to save themselves from the wrath of God.

Point to ponder: Do I believe Jesus laid down His life for my sins? If not, what can I do to save myself? If so, am I willing to accept Christ as my Savior today?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, without Your sacrifice, we could never do enough to placate God or be restored to God’s favor, love, and kingdom. Help us to understand and accept that You laid down Your life for every one of us by enabling us to receive You as our Redeemer, Savior, and Lord. Amen.

Sunday Shorts: Restored by Love

Devotions, Lectionary devotions, Sunday devotions

E3bsLuke 24:47 Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (NRSV)

When Jesus came back from the dead, His first message to the disciples was similar to what He initially expressed as He began His ministry. At that original point, He urged people to repent and believe the good news because the Kingdom of God was near (Mark 1:15). After being resurrected, the message that His disciples were now given to proclaim was simple: people were being urged to repent and their forgiveness of sins was to be declared.

This meant that when Jesus died on the Cross things were changed for all of humanity. Whatever debt we owed to God because of our sinful ways was cancelled completely. Before the Cross, people needed to appease God with sacrifices; after the resurrection, we were urged to sacrifice our pride and humbly confess our mistakes in order to be given total forgiveness of our sins.

I don’t know about you, but that divine transaction of my debt being imposed on Jesus when He was nailed to the Cross gives me hope. I’ve done some really bad things in my life that I truly regret and wish never happened. I would be as miserable as sin if I didn’t know Jesus as my Savior, so when He offers me true forgiveness in return for my repentance, I’m ready to take that gift.

Perhaps you’ve been carrying some guilt in your heart and it keeps you awake at night. Maybe you’ve done something foolish that you regret and it torments your mind. Whatever it is, it can be rectified; whatever you’ve done, you can be restored to God’s favor and love. Jesus has completed what was necessary to reconnect all of us to our gracious God – all we simply have to do is repent.

Find a quiet place today and have a quiet time with God. Unburden your soul and let the tears of regret fall from your eyes. There is nothing that you have done that God cannot forgive through Jesus. God already knows what it is, so just allow yourself to be relieved by simply whispering it to God. Repentance will restore you and Jesus will embrace you. Let His power to forgive, renew you; let His ability to love, release you.

Prayer: Lord, You know us completely. You’ve seen all of our mistakes and are totally aware of all the things that bother our consciences. Help us to find some quiet time to be with You alone, to confess our faults, address our sins, and unburden all that we are sinfully and selfishly carrying. Allow us to take the opportunity of the forgiveness, peace, and love that You offer. In Your Holy Name, we humbly confess and pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.