Thursday February 19, 2015

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Luke 2:19  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the 40 days of Lent.  It’s difficult for me to imagine what Mary went through as she experienced events leading up to Easter.  Fortunately the Lord laid a remarkable foundation that enabled Mary (and Joseph as long as he was alive) to be rock solid in Him.  Consider the power of these events in their lives.  And let us remember them as well as we walk with Jesus in these days leading to Easter.

Prior to appearing to Mary, the angel Gabriel first appeared to Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth, Mary’s relative.  Zechariah lost the ability to speak because he didn’t believe what Gabriel told him.  But true to the angel’s word, despite their old age, Elizabeth became pregnant.  After the birth of their baby, Zechariah regained his ability to speak once he acknowledged the baby’s name was John.

Joseph had an angel appear to him in dreams multiple times, giving him instructions on what to do.  The angel(s) also explained both to Mary and then later to Joseph, exactly who this child was going to be. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed Mary to be “the mother of my Lord” upon Mary’s visit.

The angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds announcing the birth of a Savior, Christ the Lord.  A great company of heavenly host suddenly appeared with the angel praising God.  Then there was the star and the Magi from the east bowing down and worshipping the baby Jesus, “the King of the Jews”.

In Jerusalem they met Simeon and a prophetess named Anna.  The Lord had revealed to Simeon that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. They both prophetically acknowledged who the baby was.

Mary and Joseph were a young couple, newly married and now new parents.  I believe that whatever difficulties they faced then or in the coming years were pale in comparison to the wonder of all that God had given them.  One can only imagine their joy as they shared their stories with one another: Gabriel, angels, babies, prophesies, dreams, stars, Magi and heavenly hosts.  I can see them sitting alone together looking at the sleeping Jesus and saying, “Tell me again…”

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Wednesday February 18, 2015 – Ash Wednesday

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Proverbs 20:11  Every child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.

Today is Ash Wednesday.  See if you notice any people with ashes on their foreheads today.  Hopefully you will be able to attend a service today as we begin the Lenten season. May our focus upon Jesus increase in these coming days leading to Easter as we draw ever closer to Him.

*****

One of my favorite memories is of 5 or 6 years ago when I drove to Akron to visit our son Jamie and his family.  He and his wife Tiffany have a daughter Sophia (now 12) and a son Sam (now 10).  My wife was already there and at that time I had not seen them in 16 months.  I didn’t realize how much Sophia and Sam wanted to see and be with me.

I was the recipient of repeated hugs and lovin’s.  They snuggled next to me and curled up in my lap, just wanting to be near me.  They expressed their love verbally and physically.  Sometimes it felt like they were applying a tourniquet to my arm or leg they squeezed me so tightly.

The marvelous thing is that they weren’t asking for anything.  It was clear that they were not “doing to get” but they were “doing to give”.  They were expressing what is within them.  They simply wanted to be with me and they freely expressed their love and affection in wonderful ways.

It’s amazing the impact that their expressions of love had on me.  I wanted to be with them even more.  I wanted to bless them and I found myself looking for new and creative ways to express my love for them.  This struck me as a significant aspect of what God wants in us as His sons and daughters.

He desires us to express our love for Jesus, not out of duty or obligation, nor as an attempt to get something from Him.  He desires that our lives express the genuine reality that we are thrilled to have Jesus; that we don’t take Him for granted.  Our actions and attitudes determine the genuineness of our love.  The more we walk in His ways and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us, the more we express our love for Him.  And He responds to that love in ways that allow us to experience even more aspects of His love for us.

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Tuesday February 17, 2015

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Luke 1:45  “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit when she declared this to Mary when Mary came to visit.  Elizabethwas 6 months pregnant with John and Mary was pregnant with Jesus.  What a blessing and encouragement they were to each other.  Both women were chosen by God to do what appeared to be impossible – Elizabeth bearing a baby at her age and Mary a pregnant virgin.

Each of them was going to bear their first child.  Then there were the incredible prophecies delivered by the angel Gabriel regarding both boys and their destinies.  What conversations they must have had!  The Christmas Story is truly miraculous: encounters with angels, God’s supernatural intervention, skies opening and heavenly choirs singing, the Star in the East – a Savior is born!  The story is amazing.

But behind the scenes, God basically chose 2 couples to each bear a son and raise him.  The task of bearing and raising children is common to nearly all.  But the circumstances were incredible!  God has a way of asking us to do ordinary things but the circumstances might be anything but ordinary.  He assures us that He will provide what we need while asking for sacrifices that appear to be beyond what we have or are capable of making. Or maybe it is just responding to His Spirit in a particular situation but we are afraid to obey for various reasons.

We have the opportunity to respond in faith – to demonstrate that what we believe the Lord has asked of us, will be accomplished.  God is going to use us to proclaim His word and accomplish many things.  The more we walk in faith and keep Him at the center of our lives, the more we will be able to experience the blessing of seeing Him accomplish His purposes through us.

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Monday February 16, 2015

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Job 1:22  In all this Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

It’s difficult to imagine the impact of all the disasters that happened to Job in chapter one.  Scripture describes him as being blameless and upright; one who feared God and shunned evil.  But through no fault of his own, loss, destruction and death were involved in each of the 4 messages brought to him, one after another.  The last one being word of the death of his seven sons and three daughters by a mighty wind causing the house they were feasting in to collapse on them. Yet his response was to fall to the ground in worship.

Seldom will we or anyone we know experience loss of the magnitude that Job did.  But we do experience loss, pain and tragedy in many forms.  In such times, how wonderful it would be for our immediate response to be one of worshipping the Lord as Job did.  Unfortunately many would find it difficult to worship freely in such a time of agony.  But that is where the verse today is so critically important.

Job didn’t charge God with wrong doing.  He didn’t say, “God how could you….”  He didn’t lash out at the Lord or blame Him in any way.  It’s so important that we understand that such responses are sin. Let’s say that again but more pointedly: ‘Charging God with wrongdoing is sin.’  The importance of all this is further emphasized in Job 2:10b where we learn, “In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”

It’s not that God won’t forgive such responses, but it’s what they reveal about us.  They reflect an inadequate and inaccurate understanding of who God is and of our relationship with Him.  To respond negatively towards God shows us we are weak where we should be strong.  When we find ourselves in such difficult situations, think of the difference between these responses: 1) “God how could you…” and 2) Oh Lord, I’m so glad that I have you in the midst of this…”

There are times when we are experiencing difficult and painful things that our hearts are not in the place to worship.  But hopefully, they are also not in the place to charge our Lord with wrongdoing.  In such times let us take the faith position of thanking the Lord for keeping us from sinning and asking Him to work the change in us so that our heart-response is to worship Him in the midst of it all.

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Sunday February 15, 2015

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Romans 12:13  Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

In the spring of 2010 when the greater Nashville area experienced severe flooding, the churches played a huge role in bringing relief and assistance to those who were victims of the flood.  Some areas received as much as 26 inches of rain in 36 hours.  The motivation of the churches wasn’t to receive recognition; it was a spontaneous response to the obvious crisis that descended upon this region.

While applicable to major disasters, today’s verse particularly speaks to the needs we Christians have in our daily lives.  It speaks to us about the importance of being aware of the needs in the lives of Christians around us and helping to meet them.  Widows, the unemployed, the sick, those in financial distress, family crises, accidents, the hungry, – the list of needs goes on.  The Lord wants to use us to meet the needs of one another.  This is another powerful attribute that must characterize who we are

Last week we began looking at the verses starting with Romans 12:9.  They contain a list of righteous attributes that identify God’s people.  In order for the church to be what God intends it to be, these attributes must characterize it.  That means they must characterize us!

  9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.  Practice hospitality.

I have underlined the phrases that form a consistent thread running through these verses.  They are all other-oriented – and all positive in nature.  They reflect Christians loving one another in practical, useful ways.  They reflect the body of Christ living out a lifestyle that is most attractive; a lifestyle of salt and light.  Such lives will cause people to become thirsty for God.

Unfortunately we allow our lives to become self-oriented.  We allow the business of life to deprive us of rich opportunities to bless and be blessed – to see and become aware of needs in other Christians’ lives, and to help meet them.  One example of this: instead of extending hospitality to others, we assume they prefer a motel – thus missing the blessings hospitality bestows.  The more we do these things, the better and richer it becomes for us and those around us.  May our lives richly reflect these wonderful attributes that glorify our Lord.

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Saturday February 14, 2015 – Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Don Schmidt

1 John 4:9, 10  9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Valentine’s Day is a special day to remember those who are especially dear to us.  I tend to be the romantic type and I love to give my sweetheart flowers, particularly yellow roses or a gardenia.  Today is a special day to say and to be told, “I love you.”  A special day to remember the love we give and the love we receive.

While the giving of cards, flowers or gifts is special, it’s particularly wonderful to be together – to take the time to enjoy one another.  In the midst of busy schedules, we need to slow down and be there for each other.  I so relate to Thumper in the movie Bambi when Donna smiles at me and I see the twinkle in her eyes.  The thrill that goes through me is beyond words.  I will thump my chest with my hand just like Thumper ‘thumping’ the ground with his hind paw – and we will laugh.

The two greatest gifts in my life are gifts of love and I never dreamed that I would ever receive either of them.  Never did I think that a girl would love me the way Donna does!   And even more amazing is the fact that our love not only doesn’t grow old – it gets better with time.  We ‘get to’ spend every day of our lives loving one another!  Our love was a gift to us from our Lord.  And as wonderful as this gift of love is, He gave us one even better.  He gave us Himself in Jesus.

How do we describe the absolute wonder of His love for us?  It is so much more than a theological reality – it is an experiential reality that He perpetually blesses us with.  He loves us and enables us to be blessed even more by loving Him in return.  I still pinch myself at times because it seems like I have won the Lotto of the Ages.  The day He broke through into my life (October 11, 1968) is even more stunning than the day that Donna and I met and were engaged (2 ¼) hours later –August 25, 1969).  I went from lost to found; from left out to included in; from being lonely to being chosen; from having a Matterhorn of doubt to seeing it leveled; to being clean inside from head to toe, and being swept up in love like I never dreamed existed.

My whole world became new – inside and out!  Jesus not only became my Lord, He made me His own.  The wonders of being made clean inside and being forgiven still overwhelm me.  They never grow old; like His mercies they are new every morning.  Please take time today not only to communicate your love to those dear to you, but to focus upon Jesus.  After all, His coming for us is the very definition of love.

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Friday February 13, 2015

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Romans 12:12  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Several years ago on three successive days I received a wonderful email and phone calls from three dear friends who had me on their hearts.  Those contacts were beyond encouraging – they were tokens of kindness from the Lord.  At that time I had been without a job since the end of October and my search hadn’t produced one yet.  There had been a great job opportunity that I thought for sure was going to be mine, but the Lord had that door close.  (As I later learned, God closing that door was a real gift to me!)  In the ongoing job search I hadn’t been without hope but sometimes we flounder because the results seem to be in hiding somewhere.

The first of those 3 days was a very difficult day and later in that afternoon I received the first of these communications from a friend I’ve mentored and is like a son to us.  WOW – what a blessing it was.  Then the next morning another friend called because the Lord had put me on his heart for two days.  We had been involved with Afghanistan together.  The message and encouragement he spoke to me were priceless.  Then the third day, while writing a devotional, a third friend called, concerned about us.  He was a soon to graduate student at the college we had been with.  Three days – three major touches from the Lord through friends.

Then there is the treasure contained in today’s verse – which so powerfully declares how we are to live no matter what is going on.  I’m thrilled with the encouragement God has given me through friends.  All of that just enhances my focus upon Him and the power of His Word.  Our Lord gives us hope and enables us to be joyful in it.

Life is filled with trials and He enables us to develop patience (one of the fruit of the Spirit) in the midst of it.  He teaches us to pray and through spending time with Him we want to pray more.  On top of all that we learn that these concrete actions have an ever greater reality to them.  They are specific expressions of our love for Him.  We love our Lord by being joyful in hope.  We love our Lord by being patient in affliction.  We love our Lord by being faithful in prayer.  And, each of these actions are things that we can grow in.

There are those around us who need to be encouraged.  We need to ask the Lord to show them to us so that not only will they be encouraged by our contact, but also by this wonderful scripture.  Help them remember the power of prayer and to see that they too can have joy and hope and patience in the midst of all they’re going through.  God will provide us with the opportunities to share our faith as we live out these qualities each and every day.  God wants to use us to show them Himself.  We get to be the frame and He is the picture! 

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Thursday February 12, 2015

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Romans 12:11  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

This morning when I was asking the Lord about today’s verse, I was reminded of some friends of ours.  Their home is in the north where the winters are long and cold – like below zero.  They heat it with a wood burning stove.  Having a bonfire in the fireplace once a week, while nice, just doesn’t do it.  They have a wood supply and habit patterns that include tending that stove so it produces heat around the clock; day after day.

If they want the house to be a comfortable temperature, they maintain the stove and all it involves.  Their physical bodies are constantly aware of how well they are doing or not doing.  When the temperature in the house is comfortable, their ‘bodies’ are ‘quiet’.  But let the temperature drop in the house (somebody forgot to put wood in the stove) and their bodies start ‘communicating’!  Can’t you just imagine being busy and all of a sudden your ‘body’ speaks up and saying, “Excuse me!  We are shivering and turning blue.  Put some wood on the fire!!”  Ignore it some more and it says, “The pipes are going to freeze to say nothing about us!”

At this point we look at the goose bumps on our skin; notice that we are rubbing our hands trying to warm them up; the ‘rice-buddy’ around our neck isn’t keeping us warm – so we go tend the fire.  Again, we don’t build a bonfire, we just add wood to the stove to produce the needed warmth.  A fact of life is that our bodies are very difficult to ignore; they can get our attention.

In a similar manner, we must learn to pay attention to our spiritual condition.  It, along with the Holy Spirit, will communicate that our ‘fire’ is getting low.  Unfortunately, it is much easier to ignore our spirit – and the Holy Spirit – than it is a shivering physical body.  Today’s verse in The Message reads, “Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master.”  We must train ourselves to tend to this because it is far more important than physical warmth.  Tending this ‘fire’ is a daily thing – not something done once or twice a week.

We cannot be the people that He wants us to be – that we must be  – if we don’t.  The Amplified Bible states the phrase in a wonderful way, “…be aglow and burning with the Spirit…”

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Wednesday February 11, 2015

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Romans 12:10  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Being devoted to something is pretty normal in our society.  People are devoted to families, sports teams, hobbies, TV, Facebook, Twitter, etc…  Today’s verse points us in an important direction.  The Lord expects us to be devoted to one another in brotherly love.  This is something we do as part of Jesus’ command for Christians to love one another.  In John 14:34, 35 Jesus declares, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Isn’t it wonderful to be loved?  Isn’t it a blessing to have friends who are caring and devoted?  Think of the richness of relationships we have with those who live out this verse.  Think of individuals that you know who exemplify this truth.  Their lives engender appreciation and gratitude within us.  We are to be the same kind of people. We have the opportunity for others to experience the devotion and love flowing through our lives.  We get to be blessed by being a blessing to them.

One of my favorite verses is Matthew 5:15, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  When we are genuinely devoted to one another in brotherly love, the result is our Father in heaven being glorified.  What a thrilling thought that others will glorify God simply by seeing us live the lives He wants us to live.  Not only that, but loving one another is primary evidence that we are Jesus’ disciples.

When I read of honoring one another I think of humility.  What a refreshing quality that is!  The Message presents another thought on humility, ‘Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.’  We get to honor and defer to others.  Bless them.  Take the lesser seat – not grudgingly, but joyfully.  Be other-oriented rather than self-centered.  One of the great blessings of this process is the heartfelt gratitude we develop.  The more we become what God intends us to be, the more gratitude we have for His kindness and grace.

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Tuesday February 10, 2015

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Romans 12:9  Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

Imagine for a moment someone you love speaking this verse to you; carefully and lovingly, not rushing or reading a list, but focusing upon each thought.  These and the next few verses in Romans 12 present a picture of who we are to be.  They identify the attributes that must characterize our very being.  We get to discover what they each mean and partner with the Holy Spirit to work them out fully in our lives.

Today’s verse raises all manner of questions:

  1. What exactly is this love that must be sincere?  Is it feelings?  Is it actions?  How do we know that what we think is Godly love, really is?  Does God’s word define it for us?
  2. What exactly does it mean for that love, whatever it is, to be sincere?
  3. What is evil?  Are God and the world (our culture) on the same page when it comes to identifying evil?  Where do we look to find out?  Might we consider something okay that God considers evil?  What does it mean to hate evil?
  4. What exactly is ‘good’?  Who defines what is good?  How does one cling to what is good?

The point that I’m getting at is that we must be careful not to use worldly wisdom in determining the answers.  Here are two other versions of today’s verse to give us some additional insight – and also raise some more questions:

“Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good.” (The Message)

“[Let your] love be sincere (a real thing); hate what is evil [loathe all ungodliness, turn in horror from wickedness], but hold fast to that which is good.” (Amplified)

Do we ‘run’ for dear life from evil?  Do we ‘loathe all ungodliness; turn in horror from wickedness’?  Picture the contrast of being around someone wearing delightful cologne, where the fragrance is attractive and draws a response of “oooh, I like that!” – and being around someone with body odor that makes us move away, it repels us.

How do we do these things in a way that honors God; in a way that attracts people to God rather than repelling them from us.  Jesus spent a lot of his time with sinners.  He demonstrated that there is a way to hate sin and love the sinners.

Each phrase contains treasure to dig for – to pursue and discover the richness they hold.  They are guiding principles and qualities that we must have in our lives in order to be the men and women that God has chosen and destined us to be.

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