June 2008 Devotionals
June 30, 2008
Handing Down Your Heritage
A Word of Encouragement from Walter & Elizabeth Handford
Last week Libby and I attended the wedding of one of our grandsons. It was my great joy to “tie the knot.” My grandson had tears in his eyes as he repeated after me, “I, Daniel, take thee, Dennae to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, so long as we both shall live.”
It was the culmination of a two-year courtship, and God willing, the beginning of a lifetime of commitment and joy that will influence future generations.
It brought to mind what King David said, in Psalm 145:4, “One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.” Libby and I identify with Psalm 71:18, “Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shown thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.”
Libby and I both had godly parents and godly grandparents, and we have earnestly endeavored to pass that great heritage to our children. Our son John has been a godly father to his four. Now Daniel and his beautiful Dennae want to hand down that heritage to their children and their children’s children.
At the rehearsal dinner John and Dennae and their parents shared their dreams and hopes with us. It was so moving that one of the grandmothers said, “I feel like I’ve been in church!”
After the rehearsal dinner, the men in the wedding party met for a private time of fellowship. It wasn’t the usual kind of stag party, for which I was very glad. You see, I lost a cousin who died the night before his wedding with alcohol poisoning from his stag party. Rather, we each gave Daniel a few words of encouragement and advice. Then Daniel knelt, and we put our hands on his bowed head, and prayed for him. It was a holy time.
You may feel a twinge of sadness as you read this, because you don’t have that kind of godly heritage. But that doesn’t doom you to failure. God is committed to helping you be the kind of parent you long to be. You can break the vicious cycle. You can hand down to your children and their children the godly heritage you long for them to have. You don’t have to do it alone, because God is stronger than any inheritance, and He will help you every step of the way.
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June 23, 2008
Whose Servant Are You?
A conversation with Elizabeth Rice Handford
When we Rice girls were growing up, if a sister asked me to do something for her, I might answer flippantly, “Who was your slave last year?” Of course I expected her clever response, “You are, and your term isn’t up yet!”
Too often these days, if we ask someone to help us, the response is often:
“I’ve got too much to do myself.”
“Not in my job description.”
“Why can’t Elmer do it?”
“Are you sure it’s really necessary?”
“The nerve of some people!”
“That’s what they’re paying you for.”
Or, even, “Who was your slave last year?”
But Jesus taught us a whole different mindset. When He took on the distasteful task of washing His disciples’ smelly feet, He didn’t do it simply to be our example (though He certainly is our example). Those dirty feet had been walking on muddy and dusty paths. They specifically needed washing.
Then the Scripture tells us:
“So after Jesus had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. (John 13:12-17)
If we want to be truly great, then we will do what Jesus did, and be the servant of all. We will postpone doing the things we like to do for the sake of a world that desperately needs to see Jesus in us. That, Jesus says, will make us very happy.
Will others sometimes try to take advantage of our willingness to serve? Perhaps. We cannot always do what others expect. That’s why we need a clear understanding of what God has called us to do. But within those limits, there are many, many ways we can find to serve others, if we have a servant’s heart.
Jesus is our example. He, God of heaven and earth, stooped to bring us out of our deep misery. When we serve others, we are imitating His incredible example.
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June 16, 2008
Our Inexhaustible God
A Conversation with Elizabeth Rice Handford
Maybe you, like I, have fallen into bed too tired even to fall asleep. So here’s a story to encourage you:
One Sunday at church we sang,
God is exalted,
The King is exalted,
And I will praise Him!
That week our kids came over for a holiday meal with all the grandchildren. I loved every minute of it, you understand—after all, I’d really bugged God to give me all seven of our children, so I’m not complaining. But at the end of the day, when I crawled into bed, I was tired to the bone.
Trying to go to sleep, I found myself humming,
God is exhausted,
The King is exhausted,
And I will praise Him!
I woke Walt up with my sudden laughing. The eternal God of Heaven exhausted? Thank God, never!
Isaiah 40:28 says, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.”
Not only does He never get weary, but “He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isa. 40:29).
Then God makes us an astounding promise:
“But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.”
- Isa. 40:31
Do you face a task too heavy for your strength? Are you burdened about a situation you cannot remedy? There is a God in Heaven who deeply longs to give you His wisdom, His strength. He is not exhausted. He is not impatient. He is not critical of you. He wants to meet every need of your life. Why not “wait on Him,” as He tells us to do, to give you what you need?