Tag Archives: Devotionals

A Season Of Yeasting by Debra Wallace-Padgett

I have a delicious no-fail sourdough bread recipe!  It involves a three-step process spread over one and a half days.  The key to the recipe is to give the bread dough time to “yeast” –  Sue Monk Kidd’s word for allowing bread to rise.

Kidd tells of making the bread with the assistance of her five year old daughter, Ann.  When they got to the part of adding yeast and covering the dough with a dishcloth so that it would rise, little Ann wrinkled her brow and asked, “Aren’t you going to finish?”  “We have to wait for the dough to rise,” explained her mother. “Well, how long do we have to wait?” responded Ann.  “An hour,” answered her mother.  “A WHOLE hour?” the little girl grimaced and plopped in her chair to wait it out, occasionally lifting the cloth to peek at the dough. “It’s not doing anything,” she announced. Her Mom replied, “You can’t see it, but the yeast is working. I promise.” Unconvinced, Ann wandered off to play.  Toward the end of the hour she returned to peer into the bowl. Her face lit up. “Look, Mama, it’s yeasting!” she proclaimed. (When the Heart Waits by Sue Monk Kidd, pp42-43)

Yeasting is a beautiful concept, not only in breadmaking, but also in our spiritual lives.  In fact, Advent could be called a season of yeasting. It is a time when we wait for God’s word and work in our lives. Though much is happening while we yeast, we must wait patiently for the yeasting process to be completed.

What do we do while we yeast?   The father-to-be Zechariah prays. (Luke 1:5-25)   He and his wife, Elizabeth, have waited so long for a child that he has lost hope of their prayers ever being answered. He receives the surprise of a lifetime when the angel says, “Your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son.” The yeasting process is completed and Zechariah’s hope becomes reality.

Advent praying is essential for our Advent yeasting, too. Through the mystery of prayer, we talk to God about our concerns and joys.  As we pray we hear from God, receiving direction, encouragement, and strength.  Most of us do not have the privilege of an angel coming and spelling God’s plan out for us. But God still speaks to us through a variety of means.  As we wait – as we yeast like Zechariah – we do well to pray.

We pray for forgiveness, changed hearts, and transformed lives. We ask for strength for the day, courage in the face of injustice, and generosity in our relationships with others. We lift up our loved ones, the sick, the hungry, those who do not yet know Christ, those who are persecuted for their faith. We pray for ourselves, each other, our church and our world.

But prayer is so much more than making requests of God. It involves waiting to hear God speak. It requires listening for God’s response to requests.  It means a willingness to hear God answer our heart’s desires with a yes, a no, or with a wait and yeast.

During this Advent season, like Zechariah, we wait.  We wait for God’s comfort, direction, peace, and justice in the world.  We wait while the yeasting process works in our lives, churches, and communities.  The time will come when God calls us to act.  In fact, if ever a response to God and others is demanded, it is at Christmas- which is only a few days away.  But in the meantime, I find myself waiting, yeasting so to speak.  And while I wait, my prayer life is full of talking and listening to God.   For now, that seems like enough.  After all – it is Advent – the season of yeasting.

Simple Gifts by Andy Stoddard

One of the things that I love most about God is how God can take our small efforts, the things in our life that we don’t believe are good enough, and make them truly amazing.  He can take our small, human efforts, and perform divine miracles with them.

He can make the impossible, possible.  Listen to what happens in John 6: 8-11:

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.

Jesus is here with a crowd of 5,000 (men, there were, most assuredly many woman and children there also) and it’s time to eat. But there is nothing there to eat, at least nothing that could feed a crowd this big.

But in this text, we see two people who I’m sure must have felt foolish offer up a small little gift when they saw a huge need.  

First, the boy offers to Andrew these five loaves and two fish. And then Andrew offers them to Jesus.

You can almost see the child sweetly offering up the food, as a child would go to their piggy bank when their family has a need.  The parents smile knowing that it won’t be enough.  You can almost see Andrew do that.

But then he takes that sweet gift to Jesus, knowing that there is no way it can help, but at least it’s something.  And Jesus performs a miracle.

From one small gift, Jesus feeds thousands.

Today, we all have gifts that seem so small with all the needs around.  Offer them anyway.  Give them to Jesus.  Give to them to his mercy and grace.  And see what he can do.

He can take our simple, small gifts, and do amazing things with them.  All for our good (and the good of others) and his glory!

Today, give your simple gifts to Jesus.

The Power of Thanksgiving by Jean Watson

I was born on the east coast but moved to Michigan about 15 years ago.  At first I had a really difficult time adjusting to the amount of snow that falls here in the winter. The area where I live is called the “snow belt” which means exactly what it says! Moisture collects over Lake Michigan which is then promptly dumped in my driveway – every day from November through March! I did a lot of complaining that first year as I slid through intersections as I drove and got stuck on the side of the road. But one day the Lord asked me to stop complaining about my circumstances. He told me clearly that Michigan was his gift to me, and I needed to thank Him for bringing me here.  How could this uncomfortable place that I disliked be a gift? It wasn’t until years later I discovered that this cold icy land would one day be a great blessing to me!

Though I didn’t understand at the time, out of reluctant obedience, I began to thank God for Michigan instead of complaining. Each day,  I determined to find something to be thankful for rather than complaining. I even started to thank God for the things I didn’t like in my life like the snow and cold!  As I chose to give thanks regardless of my feelings, a miracle happened inside my heart. I discovered that the place I had resented was becoming a place where my desires were fulfilled. I was blessed with a job using my music. My children and I found a house to live in that I loved. I was given a beautiful horse to ride. Even my ministry began to blossom through divine connections I never expected!

The land where I did not want to be was becoming the land of my blessing.

Could thanksgiving have been a key to unlocking this blessing in my life?

In the Bible, the apostle Paul tells us that thanksgiving is not optional. In I Thessalonians 5:18 he said, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Easy for Paul to say, right?  Actually, he wrote those powerful words from a Roman prison where he was living with no sanitation, probably surrounded by rats and fleas! How could Paul give thanks in those conditions?

Perhaps He learned from the disciples who had seen Jesus give thanks before He fed the 5,000 with only five loaves and two fish.  Perhaps he heard how Jesus gave thanks and raised Lazarus from the dead, or how a man with leprosy gave thanks and was made whole! Paul knew that thanksgiving was a way we express faith to the Lord. The word “thanksgiving” literally means “to give grace,” and when we give grace to God, our hearts are prepared to receive His grace and power!

Is there an area of your life where you could use some grace? Today, instead of asking God to change your circumstances, try giving thanks in your circumstances instead. Trust God that He has a purpose for every detail of your life. The very things that are making you uncomfortable could be the very things God will use to bring transformation in you and through you!

Father, forgive me for complaining when things don’t go my way. Help me to be thankful  in my circumstances today knowing that You are working all things together for my good! Thank you that as I “give grace” back to you, I know that You can turn my trials into blessings. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Pretty Feet by Andy Stoddard

In a world that is fascinated with beauty and fame and power, what is really beautiful?  What is a true image of beauty?  What do you think of?

Today in Isaiah 52: 7-10, we get one of the more well-known passages that reference beauty.  Listen to what it says:

7 How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, Your God reigns.
8 Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices,
together they sing for joy;
for in plain sight they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
9 Break forth together into singing,
you ruins of Jerusalem;
for the Lord has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.

Isaiah tells us that beautiful are the feet that announce peace.  That bring good news.  That share of salvation.  That says that God reigns.

We are told to lift up our heads.  Shout for joy.  Sing.  Because God brings comfort.

These feet are beautiful, not because they are feet, but they are beautiful because of what they bring: the good news of God’s restoration and hope.

God brings hope and restoration to a defeated and broken down people. They have lost their way, they have lost their hope, they have lost their belief.  And the reason why those feet are beautiful is because God is saying, yes, things are bleak now.  But peace and joy are coming.  Don’t give into that fear.  Live in that joyful hope.

Why?  Because God reigns.

You think we may all need that message of hope now?  God reigns.  He really does.  For real.  No joke.  God reigns.  Don’t despair.  Don’t fret.  Don’t worry.  Remember that.  God reigns.

Beautiful are the feet that carry that good news today.

So, let’s have pretty feet today.  Let’s take the good news of God’s reign to our work, to our family, to our schools, to our communities.  Everywhere we go.

God reigns.  Let’s let the world know.

Mercy and Righteousness by Otis T. McMillan

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12)

It is common practice to look for personal recommendations before trying something new. Jesus didn’t just recommend leading by serving to his disciples, he lived it in front of them, then commissioned them to follow in his footsteps. He calls us to live humbly with our God, to confidently expect to “receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16), and to live for the Father’s approval alone. He tells us that exchanging power-driven leadership for leading by serving is worth it. Do you trust his recommendation? 

“I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1)

A godly life is a reasonable request: all belongs to God. Hold nothing back. As we seek to understand the mercy of God, which is displayed in his longsuffering towards us, it helps to recognize how much we owe him. It is only a reasonable request that we present all of ourselves to him, displayed in a godly manner. All belongs to God; we ought to hold nothing back.

As we consider our lives, there are possibly areas that we hold back from God or parts that we know are not pleasing to him. As Paul exhorts us to do, present yourself a complete living sacrifice to him. His mercy deserves all of us.

Proverbs 21:21. “He who follows after righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness, and honor.”

The pathway to honor begins with righteousness and mercy. Respect comes to those who live godly lives.

It is often stated that respect must be earned. The scripture provides us with insight on how to earn it. Those who set their attention not on what the results will be, but commit themselves to follow after righteousness and mercy, will be the recipients of honor . They will find contentment and respect.

As you treat others with mercy, and seek to live a godly life, you will gain the respect of others, as well as find contentment and joy. Doing right and treating others with respect brings a sense of peace and completeness. It allows one, regardless of their current circumstances, to feel complete.

“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:6)

Prayer: Jesus, we trust that your plans for us are for our good and for the Father’s glory. Help us to follow you today, leading others by serving. We pray with confidence in you as the way, the truth and the life. Amen.

When Your Faith Creates Problems by Andy Stoddard

In 1 John 3: 11-24, we see two truths that are really, really hard to hold together.  We will not always be liked.  But we must always love.  Listen to what we are told today:

For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

Not everyone will love us.  In fact, following Jesus, doing the right thing, may actually cause some people not to like us.  It will make us unpopular.

There will be folks that hate us, simply because of Jesus.

Friends, I want to make a very important point here.  And all of us in the West need to understand this.  Yes, there are folks who may oppose our views, our beliefs, our moral code, whatever.  Yes, we may be unpopular.  Laughed at.  Mocked.  Face pressure and dislike. It is becoming challenging to be a Christian today.

But we have friends, brothers and sisters, who are literally being killed for their faith.  The people in Africa, in the Middle East, in Asia, who are being killed simply for being Christian.

So, yes, people make fun us. But there are brothers and sisters who suffer far worse fates than that. And we need to be praying for them. And John tells us as well what we should do for those who persecute us.

We should love them.

Because that’s what we are called to do as Christians.  Love.  Even those who hurt us or do us harm.

Love.

Because that’s what Jesus did for us.

He loved us.  So we must love them. That’s our calling as Christians.  To love even those who do not love us.  Even those who are abusive towards us.

Love.  Because God loves them. And Christ died for them.  And God can, through our love, change them.

So, let’s love.  Even when it’s hard.

Especially when it’s hard.

Lead Like Jesus by Otis T. McMillan

Have you ever faced a challenge so big that you were tempted to run from it? Fear invaded your thoughts when you looked at it, and you found yourself saying “there is no way I can do this”? If so, you are not alone. Moses and Gideon are just two of God’s leaders who wrestled with fear, and Abraham and Elijah wrestled with discouragement. If you struggle with either fear or discouragement, go ahead and run; just make sure you run in the right direction. If you run, run to the Father. Go quickly, fall on your knees, cast yourself on him, and call out to him for help. He is waiting for you.

“I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me.” (Psalm 120:1)

Are you content to have unfulfilled needs in your life? Most of us aren’t. We want enough for today, plus extra stored away for the future. Yet our longing for more than enough is often limited to what we can see and touch. Jesus told us that these things would never satisfy. He taught that only God can fulfill our most important needs, giving us a sense of security, identity, significance, and purpose.

These are essential needs for leaders. Only when we let God fill these core needs can we turn from our self-centered ways to lead like Jesus.

Consider the words of the Psalmist: “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” (Psalm 63:1)

What do you need in order to lead like Jesus today? Do you need strength? He sustains the universe. Do you need courage? His Spirit emboldens us to witness to him in word and action. Do you need confidence? Jesus triumphed over death. He is for you. He longs to empower you to live and lead like him. Receive his strength, courage, and confidence. Surrender to his Spirit. With open hands, receive the wisdom and guidance you need to lead like Jesus today.

Paul wrote, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:18-19)

Lord Jesus, open our hearts and minds to understand who You are and who we are in You. May we turn to You for the insight and power we need to lead like You. In Your name we pray – Amen.

Recentering by Carrie Carter

The other day I was using Google maps and realized that when I dragged the map ahead on my route, this “re-center” button popped up!

How handy! Maybe this is a new feature from the most recent software update, or maybe I’m just that slow and haven’t noticed it until now, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve jumped ahead on the map to find my destination and then didn’t know how to get back to find where I actually was (can I get an “Amen?”) .

That’s how I tend to live my life: while there’s a strong side of me that tends to dwell on how great yesterday was, I’m internally wired to be constantly looking ahead, zooming in to pinpoint my destination, viewing it from every angle (preferably from Street View) and wanting to know what to expect when I get there. I don’t like surprises. I long for the unknown to be familiar before I venture into it.

Therein lies the problem. Before I know it, I’ve mentally prepared myself for every scenario, have the answer for every potential question, and stewed over possible negative outcomes. I’ve built an entire world of possibilities around a destination and I’m not even there.

It’s only when I’ve worked myself into an “If/Then” frenzy that I realize it: I don’t even know where I am. I drag my proverbial finger back over my “map,” thinking that I’m backtracking, but I simply can’t find the little blue Star Trek insignia-thingy that is me. I panic a little. How am I going to get to where I need to go, if I don’t know where I am–right here, right now?

That’s when the Holy Spirit nudges me to look at my “re-center” button.

“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” – Colossians 1:17

“The Lord is the One who goes ahead of you; he will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” – Deuteronomy 31:8

When I push that button, it gives me the freedom to live each day as it comes. It reminds me to live in the present, because each day is a gift. It makes me aware that God himself goes before me, God knows my route, and he knows my destination.

Today, I need re-centered. I need today’s purpose. Not tomorrow’s, not next year’s, but today’s. It is today’s purpose that will determine tomorrow’s potential.

Goal-setting, five-year plans, and retirement ambitions are all good things, but sometimes I just need to take a step back and evaluate my current location on my life map.

Because every once in a while, I need to know where I am today before I can get to where God wants me to be.

Your Behavior Matters by Andy Stoddard

One of the most common phrases in our culture, and in the church as well, is “you can’t judge me. Only God can judge me.”  And yes, there are many verses in Scripture that tell us that we should not judge each other, and that God is the only judge of our behavior or intentions. (By the way, none of us really want God to judge us; as one of my professors in seminary used to tell us, when the Holy God of Heaven comes in judgment, we will all be found lacking.)

But I think that when that phrase is uttered, something else can be implied.  “Only God can judge me” can quickly morph into, “you don’t matter.”  Your opinions, your thoughts, your feelings, they don’t matter.  And that simply isn’t what we are taught in Scripture.  Listen to what Jesus tells us today in Matthew 18: 6-7:

“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!”

Jesus is telling us we should not be a stumbling block to others.  In other words, you matter to me.  My life and behavior affect you.  How I live, how I act, what I do – my behavior will have an affect on the lives of those I know, those I love, those I’m in relationship with.

You matter to me.  I want to live in a way that helps you, that strengthens you, that helps your walk with God, and with other people. You matter to me.

So yes, only God is the righteous judge. But may we never be so concerned with doing what we want, how we want to, that we forget that other people matter.  May we never be a stumbling block to each other.

You matter to me.  May I live in such a way that my life is blessing to you.

How To Get A Good Name by Andy Stoddard

I really do love the book of Proverbs.  There’s just some really good stuff within this great book: wisdom that can help us live our lives in ways that are just so powerful and so good.

Ways that are just so true.  Listen to what we are told today in Proverbs 21: 1-2:

1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.
2 The rich and the poor have this in common:
the Lord is the maker of them all.

In this passage, we see what is truly priceless in the world.  Not power or wealth or status, but this.  A good name.  It is better than anything else you can have in all the world.

A good name is not for sale.  A good name doesn’t come from ill-gotten gain.  A good name speaks to who we are as people.  A good name is one of the few things that really does matter.

But how do we get a good name?  Verse two tells us.

We see in verse two where our worth comes from.  It comes from this fact: God is our maker.  He is the maker of the rich.  He is the maker of the poor.  He is the maker of us all.

Everyone matters.  Everyone is important.  Everyone is made in God’s image.  And Jesus died for everyone.

You have never met an unimportant person.  You have never met what C.S. Lewis calls a “mere mortal.”

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors… Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.

God is the maker of us all.  Everyone matters.  Treat everyone like they are that sacred.  Because they are.  Treat everyone with the worth that they have. That’s how you get a priceless treasure. That’s how you get a good name.