March 2010 Devotionals
March 29, 2010
Holy Week Truth: Jesus Died for You and Me
A Word of Comfort from Elizabeth Handford
All over the world this week Christians will be remembering the crucifixion of Jesus. We remember His death, dying in our place, taking our punishment for our sins. So Holy Week is a time of grieving as we realize that Jesus suffered so that we would not have to suffer.
But he [Jesus] was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him;
and with his stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5
But Holy Week is also a time of great gladness. Because Jesus died, we can look forward to eternity with the God who wants to share all the glories of His Heaven with us.
Last week one of our beloved co-workers at Interim HealthCare of Greenville SC (where Walt and I serve as chaplains) lost her husband in a tragic death. As we've tried to make sense of it, all we can conclude is that we live in a broken, grief-filled world. Our only consolation in the sorrows of this life lies in what the crucified Jesus has done for us.
He [Jesus] was their Savior.
In all their affliction He was afflicted,
and the angel of His Presence saved them.
In his love and in His pity He redeemed them.
Isaiah 63:8,9
If you are enduring loss and grief in this Easter season, I pray you will find grace and comfort in knowing that Jesus, who loved you enough to die for you, shares your deep griefs. But the astonishing, incontrovertible truth, that He rose from the dead to give us life, can give you hope and certainty for the future.
March 22, 2010
"I Can Plod. This is My Only Genius."
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford
William Carey was a shoemaker in England who came to see that the world God loves deserves to hear about Him. He left his shoemaking and went to India as a missionary. During the arduous years he served in India, he translated the Bible into two major languages, Bengali and Sanskrit and a number of dialects, so people could have God's Word in their own languages. He was called "the father of modern missions" because of his passion to take Christ to the mission fields of the world.
Near the end of his life, this man who had accomplished so much said,
"I can plod. This is my only genius.
I can persevere in any definite pursuit.
To this I owe everything."
There are some duties in life that are exciting and fulfilling, and some times we are rewarded to see the results of our hard work. But sometimes we all have to do a lot of "plodding" at home, at work, at church. No matter how important our work is, some parts of it are repetitive, to be done over and over again.
But "plodding," Carey said, was the essence of his genius. He could keep doing it; he could persevere. Only eternity will reveal how many many people heard the message of salvation because he was content to do the job he set his mind to, day after day, month after month, year after year.
Today you may have a wonderful opportunity to do something extraordinary. But it also may be that today your job will be only to "plod," to persevere in the tasks God has assigned you to do. So listen to this comforting Word from God:
Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid or terrified because of them,
for the LORD your God goes with you;
He will never leave you nor forsake you.
Deuteronomy 31:6
March 15, 2010
Playing for an Audience of One
A Conversation with Elizabeth Rice Handford
Serena Williams, great tennis pro, was playing at Wimbledon against an English player. The crowd was cheering raucously for their hometown star, and against Serena. After she'd won the match, a TV interviewer asked, "Didn't it bother you to hear the crowd cheering only for your opponent?"
"No," she answered quietly, "because my father was sitting up in the stands. I wasn't playing for the crowd. I was playing for him."
Playing for an audience of one!
Jesus talked about "playing to the audience" in Matthew chapter six. He warned people not to give to the poor just so others would congratulate them. Don't pray in public, He said, just to impress others. If we do it for them, not for God, then we've already gotten the only reward we're going to get. But if we serve others to please Him, then, Jesus promised, the Heavenly Father will reward us.
"Early Puritans," someone said, "lived as though they did everything with God in view. God was their audience of one."
How simple life's decisions become when we realize we don't have to please everyone who has an opinion about what we ought to do! Only one Person's opinion really matters: our holy God. That Heavenly Father, who loves us with unmeasurable, exuberant love, is the only One from whom we need approval.
The astonishing thing is, that when we live our life to please Him, He will help us to meet the expectations of those to whom we do have an obligation. Romans 14:4 says, "Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand."
We have an audience of One: may we please Him today.
March 8, 2010
Adopted Forever into God's Family
A Conversation with Elizabeth Rice Handford
After six years of our yearning and praying for a child, our adoption agency told us they had a baby boy for us, and that furthermore we would receive him the next evening! You can imagine how dazed we were as we prepared for that precious child. I tell you, we could not have loved more any child we had borne ourselves.
When, a year later, we stood in a Chicago courtroom before Judge Kerner so he could sign the final adoption decree, we were dismayed by his sternness. It turned out that the adoptive couple just ahead of us had bought the child they were adopting for ten thousand dollars, and the judge was furious. He denied the decree, and appointed a social worker to monitor the home for a year before he'd consider letting them adopt the child.
So we stood before him, our dear child in our arms, trembling.
He looked down at us. "Do you understand," he asked solemnly, "that should there be subsequent issue of this marriage, this child must inherit equally?" When we figured out what the legalese meant, that if we had other children, John would inherit equally with them, we said, "Yes, yes, of course! He's our son, and he always will be."
That's such a wonderful picture of how our Heavenly, Adoptive Father feels toward us orphaned, needy and doomed souls. Romans 8:15-17 says,
For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father ["Daddy"]. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ..
Imagine! When we come to Jesus, God adopts us into His family, and we will inherit everything that His Son Jesus inherits. So Ephesians 2:4-7 says,
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has made us alive together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages come He might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
What more could we ask for?
March 1, 2010
Instant Gratification, Sort Of!
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford
Walt has a large swathe of farmer running through his heart. His first love has always been helping people to know Jesus. But his yearning to make things grow became real important to him after we bought our first home. The house sat on a quarter acre of land, and we owned the vacant quarter acre of land next to it, so now he could really grow things!
He went down to southern Illinois to buy a Farmall F-20 tractor and 2-bottom plow from a farmer. The tractor was so huge, they had to take off one of its wheels so it would fit on the truck, so they could transport it legally on the highway!
When it arrived-me dumbfounded at its size, Walt delirious with joy-he set out to plow our 1/4 acre lot. Only problem was that the lot was so small, and the turning radius of the tractor so great, he could only plow the outside edges.
He solved that problem by renting a field down the road, and there he planted rows of sweet corn. How beautiful that field seemed to us, with its straight rows, and corn kernels safely tucked underneath the soil. We could almost taste the sweet corn we'd be eating in a couple of months!
But the next morning after Walt had planted the corn, he went down to the field before going to work. He dug up a kernel of corn to see if it had sprouted yet. Of course it hadn't. It takes about a week for corn to germinate in normal temperatures. But every morning Walt dug up another kernel just to check and make sure!
The Bible says,
"Whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap. . . .
And let us not be weary in well doing:
for in due season
we shall reap,
if we faint not.
Galatians 5:7,9
At work, have you been trying to implement a good change? Disappointed because it isn't "working" yet? Don't give up. Want to rear children with good character? Don't lose heart. "In due season" you'll see the result of your care. Trying to get your house in good shape? It takes time. Discouraged because you're working in a new ministry at church, and can't see any result? Take courage! You will reap in due season, God promises, if you don't give up.
We will reap what we plant, but it will be "in due season," and it will come "if we don't get discouraged and give up." We don't get a lot of instant gratification when we are doing really important work. It takes courage, and persistence, and patience.