The BuildingOneAnother Podcast: Recent Episodes
Dr. Stan Ott
Welcome to the Building One Another Podcast where we seek to encourage your heart and your walk with Jesus and inspire you to encourage others as well. Your host is Stan Ott who has more than 30 years of experience leading transformational congregations and equipping others to do the same. His books and training events have equipped thousands of people to grow in Christian Vitality. Stan has a strong conviction that each of us can make a positive difference in each others lives.
Encouraging others often involves just two steps we take in the moment. See a person to encourage through people eyes – the eyes of Jesus – and do it!
To have people eyes is to be a player. To “see” a person you may encourage and remain a bystander means you are people blind and didn’t really see!
Can you imagine Jesus seeing the woman at the well and ignoring her? Zacchaues up in the tree and Jesus just walking past him? The leper begging help and Jesus ignoring him?
Jesus is a player. He see a person and he acts!
Ask him to give you his eyes to really “see” people. You are sitting in a doctor’s waiting room with others around you. You are standing in line at the grocery or talking a walk in the park or standing on an elevator.
Jesus heals a man lying by the Pool of Bethesda who turns out to be a whiney, spineless person.
Upon receiving an outright miracle, he shows no gratitude. In return for his mercy, Jesus gets nothing but trouble. Why did Jesus heal this one?
Bethesda is a beautiful name in the Bible that combines two words, the first being beth meaning house, such as in Beth-lehem – house of bread.
The second is hesed, so Bethesda means House of Hesed or house of mercy,
Hesed means, “I will never withdraw my love from you. As the Paul was to say, “If we are faithless, he remains is faithful, because he cannot deny himself.” 2 Tim. 2:13
So, why did Jesus heal a whiney, spineless, ingrate lying by the Pool of Bethesda?
The answer is gigantic. Jesus wants us to know that no matter what our inner weakness has been, no matter how we have messed up or have even turned our backs on him, Jesus, himself, is the House of Hesed, always holding onto you so that you may turn to hold onto him.
In the middle of Moses’ final words of blessing to Israel we discover this famous gem:
“The eternal God is your dwelling place and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deuteronomy 33:27
Chris Tomlin sings, “How lovely is your dwelling place oh Lord, Almighty.” As wonderful as that describes our forever home, the next phrase describes the reason for our hope! "Underneath are the everlasting arms!"
Anthony Showalter, on hearing of two funerals, wrote the refrain to the hymn, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms also known as What a Fellowship.
Leaning, leaning, Safe and secure from all alarms; Leaning, leaning, Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Know that the everlasting arms of the Lord who love you are always under you.
Robert H. Schuller made the fascinating observation that anybody can count the number of seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed!
In other words, you have no idea how God will use you to influence the lives of others.
Yet, you DO know our loving Lord will do far beyond what you ask or think!
Who was it that first spoke to Billy Graham about Jesus Christ? Who first connected Martin Luther King, Jr, Mother Theresa, Richard Foster, Pope Francis with Jesus?
Those people may be unknown to you, yet they influenced the whole world by influencing one person!
When you encourage people to trust the Lord who loves them, you have no idea how many people will be touched as the circle grows!
A double yoke allowed two oxen to share a load. A similar harness allows horses to pull together.
When Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you, for my burden is light,” we know that the loving power of God lifts our yoke! The apostle Paul spoke of a friend as a "true yokefellow," he asked to help two women to reconcile. Philippians 4:3
Just as Jesus the ultimate Yokefellow shares our burdens, we, too, are yokefellows sharing the burdens of others. Appreciate the yokefellows in your life who share your burdens with you.
Be a yokefellow! If the load is heavy, Share the load and remember, Jesus is under the yoke with you!
An epiphany is a new and sudden insight!
In today’s podcast, we discuss a remarkable story told by a person whose dramatic epiphany about Jesus was amazing and life-changing.
In this New Year, ask our Lord to give you fresh epiphanies his presence, love and power in your life!
To put it simply, let Jesus in!
Consider the Christmas music in our homes, the Christmas story in our churches, the Christmas gatherings of family and friends, and our Christmas shopping (and Hallmark movies).
All of those activities, which capture our attention and bring joy in themselves, are also simply the wrapping!
The true gift is the presence of the person of Jesus, a babe in a manger no longer, now our risen Lord!
Allow the music, the story, the gatherings and the gifts of Christmas to move beyond capturing your attention to directing your attention to the presence of Jesus.
Practice (be aware of) the presence of Jesus, and be glad!
Have you ever heard of the Grace Cycle?
This is wonderfully captured by the Apostle Paul when he wrote: “You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us.” II Corinthians 9:11 There are three stages to this grace cycle.
Stage One: Grace to us – “You will be enriched in every way.”
Stage Two – Grace through us – “for your great generosity.”
Stage Three – Grace returned. “the gifts produce thanksgiving to God.”
Grace to us. Grace through us. Grace returned. Round and round, the Grace Cycle never stops.
The Lord who loves you never stops pouring grace into your life and as you pour that grace to touch others, they are blessed and you are blessed!
Rejoice in the Lord, always!
Sometimes we focus on the “always,” and to be sure, as my friend, Bob Shull says, “All means all,” so always means always.
We sometimes mistakenly think this verse means to be joyful for every circumstance. To be sure, there are intensely joyful moments in life that we love to experience, yet as the drama masks of comedy and tragedy tell us, there are painful moments as well.
A moments reflection tells us the true focus of, “rejoice in the Lord, always.” It is "IN THE LORD!"
We rejoice “in the Lord” and not necessarily “in the circumstances of the moment!”
Feeling glad? Feeling sad? Know that real joy is the confidence that directly underneath you are the everlasting caring, holding, hugging arms of the Lord who loves you!
Modeling is one of the most potent means of building others.
Modeling sets the example. Provides a pattern. Shows the way. Gives others a picture of what they can become.
Whom do we model? Jesus! Paul said, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" and " What you have learnedand received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. I Corinthians 11:1 and Philippians 4:9
Modeling is not an option. You model your lifestyle in front of the others in your life every single day. The question is “What or whom are you modeling?”
The apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians to speak of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus. Clearly, Paul’s heart’s desire was to grow in the knowing of Jesus.
We begin our friendship with Jesus as we trust him and become his followers, yet that is only the beginning of our knowing.
Are you growing in your knowing of Jesus? Do you know more about Jesus and do you know Jesus more in direct friendship than you did a year ago?
A wonderful prayer is simply, “Jesus, I want to know you more!” You might add to it words from the musical Godspell, so the prayer becomes:
“Jesus, I want to know you more, to see you more clearly, love you more dearly, follow you more nearly, day by day!”
Pray that prayer for month and bedtime and see what our Lord does!
Paul marvelously describes his friend Epaphroditus as, “my brother, my fellow worker, my fellow soldier!
What a marvelous combination! Just think of the people in your life you would call friends and fellow workers and fellow soldier! We call those people “journey partners” in your life.
Journey partners share friendship in life, love, laughter and lament. Journey Partners share endeavor and adversity, perhaps in the past, present or future.
Let your journey partners know how much you appreciate them!
Be a journey partner with Jesus!
In turn be a journey partner with the people God our Lord into your life!
Paul’s words about Timothy’s care for the Philippians reveal that he is “genuinely concerned for your welfare.” Philippians 2:20
The sense of this is, “Timothy is anxious for you,” he worries about you because he actually cares for you, misses you, wants the best for you!”
We have often talked about the gift of “people eyes,” the eyes of Jesus for people.
Timothy’s caring heart is the reflection of the people eyes of Jesus.
Jesus “sees” us as we really are, often harassed and helpless, worn down and thrown down. Jesus reaches to you out of his anxiety of caring, the anxious compassion that seeks your well-being!
Ask Jesus for his people eyes to see the people in your life the way he sees them. Then ask for and act on the courage you need to step into their lives with encouragement!
Is a major aim of your life to help people find joy in Jesus?
There are many ups and downs in the lives we lead, yet always we know the immediate presence of the Lord who loves us and his promise of joy!
- “These things I (Jesus) have spoken to you, that my joy may be in your and that your joy may be made full.” John 15:11
- “Jesus… who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.” Hebrews 12:2
You may encourage the people in your life with words such as: I am with you! I will help you! Take heart! Well Done! Yet, the One who also says these things and will be with the people in your life, whether you are there or not, is Jesus.
So, above all, remind people of the joy in Jesus, even as you offer them good cheer, your presence and your help
“The joy of the Lord is your strength!” Nehemiah 8:10
One of the fascinating things about the Apostle Paul is how clearly he demonstrates his interest in people!
For example, he holds the Philippians in his heart as he remembers them, prays for them with joy as he yearns for them. Immediately we see a patterns to help us hold people in our own hearts:
- Remember them – be aware of them.
- Pray for them – with joy and expectation.
- Yearn for them – love them with the love of Jesus.
The first step is to remember them. It’s easy to remember the people we see regularly, but given our busy lives, the expression, “out of sight out of mind,” is literally true!
To elevate your practice of “holding people in your heart”, make remembering them part of your daily routine, such as during your time of daily devotions.
Reflecting on the wonder of the phrase “love covers,” as in love covers a multitude of sins and irritations and aggravations, I am reminded of the term EGR.
EGR, for Extra Grace Required, was coined by pastor Dale Galloway to give us a way to think about the challenging people in our lives. Joyce Landorf’s book “Irregular People” addresses the same kinds of people situations.
As you work through an EGR situation (knowing in humility we, ourselves, may well be EGR to others), consider these questions:
- Where do I get the extra grace?
- Who are my Yokefellows?
- How do I renew myself?
- How do I expand the caring and coping base?
- How do I respond to false guilt?
- What boundaries do I keep and is there a time to disengage?
Notice these questions are not about the EGR person or situation but they are about YOU and how you respond to the situation. Just remember, the love of Jesus especially covers us with his amazing extra and extraordinary grace!
Twice Peter repeats the phrase, “Love one another earnestly.” The first time, he simply tells us to do it (I Peter 1:22). The second time, he shares a consequence, “because love covers a multitude of sins!” (I Peter 4:8)
Love covers!
God’s marvelous love covers the multitude of your own sins and we in turn are invited to cover the multitudinous sins of the people in our lives.
Covering does not mean covering up by denying the sin happened, nor avoiding the person, nor excusing abuse – for Jesus in Matthew 18 teaches us how to address the one who sins.
Through it all, love covers.
Thus, while addressing the sins of others and living with some of their faults, sins and irritations, you choose to let go and move on – passing on the grace God gave you!
May the love that Jesus covers you with move through you and cover others in your life!
The apostle Peter offers this direct word, “Love one another earnestly from a pure heart!” I Peter 1:22
The word “earnest” carries the sense of reaching out eagerly and resolutely, like a runner racing to the finish line or a parent chasing a child wandering into danger.
So, this kind of earnest love for one another isn’t casual or necessarily easy. It’s focused, urgent unrelenting, exactly like God’s earnest love for us!
Note that Peter says we are to love earnestly from a pure hear, a heart with no agenda other than the well-being and joy of the other person.
We live in a time in which conversation is increasingly coarse, and there is a diminishing capacity to disagree agreeably.
When you disagree with someone, ask yourself, “Do I only want to state my view and if possible, change your view?” Or, “Do I want to hurt you, demean and damage you with my words?
Do you refer to people with whom you disagree as “of that ilk,” a disparaging way of associating them with some group you disapprove of?
Now is the time for us to take the words of Ephesians seriously, “Do not let ANY unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but ONLY what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Building people means using words and tones of voice in ways that make your point yet respect the Imago Dei, the image of God, in them!
Do your words give grace to those who hear? Ephesians 4:49
Do your words put people on their feet? Job 4:4
Let your answer be “yes” and be that person of grace!
We often think of small groups with anywhere from 6 to 12 people in them, but a MICROgroup has only 3 or 4 people!
We see many microgroups in the New Testament: Peter, James and John;' Mary, Johanna and Suzanna; Mary, Martha and Lazarus; Paul, Silvanus and Timothy.
The power of microgroups is their capacity to deepen your love for Jesus and your friendships with others.
A microgroup is tiny church! You study scripture, share lives and pray for one another!
This is much like the early church of Acts 2:42, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
The idea of the empty chair offers a great way to encourages groups to welcome new participants. If the group is open to new people, have an empty chair present every meeting!
The concept of the empty chair extends to our personal lives as well!
Ask yourself, “Am I open to an empty chair in my personal life? Am I open to new acquaintances, new friends while growing more deeply with the friends I have?
Jesus told his disciples, “I have called you friends!” He didn’t call them disciples (although disciples they were) or clients or parishioners. He called them friends, and Jesus had many other friends in addition to the Twelve!
“Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, the other is gold.” The Girl Scouts got it right!
Always have an open chair – and ask the Lord who loves you to seat someone in it – and then have another open chair!
Do you have a plan, even a simple plan, to grow as a disciple of Jesus? It’s very easy to attend a class or a study group, attend worship Sundays and assume that’s enough.
It is true that Christian growth happens as we just live life with the Lord who loves us. However, just as students grow in maturity simply by living life at home with adults, they also grow when they stretch their lives according to various plans at school.
One way to enhance your own spiritual growth is to have a PDP, a Personal Discipleship Plan.
Consider the Three Priorities of the Christian life:
Priority 1. To grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ
Priority 2 To grow in our relationship with the Body of Christ
Priority 3 To grow in our relationship with the work of Christ in the world.
Decide some straight-forward way you will seek to grow in each of the Three Priorities over the next three months. For example:
Priority 1. Have a daily Quiet Time of Bible reading in the Book of Philippians
Priority 2. Use the “With-Me Principle” to invite people to grow as friends
Priority 3 Practice “people eyes” and “see” people with the eyes of Jesus
If you ask a friend to partner with you and you both work up a simple PDP, Personal Development Plan, for three months – or even just one month – you see what God will do in you!
Do short-term challenges grab your attention?
The World Vision Global 6K is a 3.73 mile walk that raises money to help the peoples of the world have clean water.
The 100 Push-Ups a Day Challenge raises money for cancer healing research.
Ideally, such challenges go beyond the short-term fitness and fund-raising goals and inspire us to make walking and exercing part of daily life.
The Apostle Paul offered this intriguing observation, “Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." I Timothy 4:7-8
Yes, pay attention to your body, yet even more, pay attention to our soul!
Use short-term spiritual challenges – memorizing a verse of scripture – digging deeply into a Psalm – spending a day in a park with a Bible just reflecting.
It’s easy to mix up the way faith and feelings work in our lives. In fact, we are invited to trust God regardless of how we are feeling.
Sometimes, while we are trusting God, our feelings soar with joy. At other times we experience “stomach lag” as our feelings lag behind our faith.
Faith isn’t a feeling, it’s a trusting, a relying, a resting upon another, no matter what we are feeling!
The apostle Paul does offer a way to counter stomach lag: do not be anxious about anything… but in everything by prayer… with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God… will guard your hearts and your minds [and I might add, your stomachs] in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Think of the times you found yourself positioned with people through no conscious choice of your own and it became clear your meeting was for reasons of God’s own.
That is the concept of “positioning.” When you are aware that God positions people together, it helps us to see God at work in your life.
When you realize God positions you, then “play the position!” Deliberately look for ways to build up the people God positions into your life – perhaps with a word of encouragement or some act of service.
Think of a person whose intentional influence on your life helped shaped who you are today? A parent? A teacher? A friend? A fellow worker? That person was a mentor. A mentor is a person in your life who helps you develop, helps you become the person our Lord wants you to be, by passing the baton of faith and life practices. You also can be a mentor in turn as you deliberately invest yourself in the lives of others. Be a mentor – pass the baton to others of what God has given to you – and tell your own mentors how much you appreciate them!
Why did the woman with the hemorrhage and others who were ill touch Jesus? They trusted him! To touch Jesus today is to trust Jesus. Touching Jesus by trusting Jesus in every moment of every day connects us with the love and the life-changing power of the Lord who loves us! Just we know of those who sought to touch Jesus, we also know Jesus touched people. He touched lepers and blind people and little children with light touches filled with the power and love of God! When we touch people with a word of encouragement by text or call or a visit or a note, the Lord we love is touching them through us with his power. Touch Jesus to know his love and touch others with his love!
The story of your own walk with the Lord who loves you is one of the easiest and most helpful ways to help others become aware of the same Lord!
Sharing your story may be a simple as mentioning something that happened in your life with words of affirmation such as, “The Lord encouraged me by…” God comforted me with…” “The Lord who loves me was with me in this situation…“
More profoundly your faith story includes the beginning of your faith journey with Jesus.
If you have no memory of when your trust in Jesus began, then your story involves how you became aware of your trust in God, whenever that was, although you don’t recall the beginnings.
If you know when and how you heard about Jesus in such a way that you were moved to embrace and follow him, then that is part of your own faith beginnings and thus your story.
Looking for casual and conversationally appropriate ways to affirm God’s work in your life or to share your story of coming to faith in Jesus are ways you may encourage the people in your life with the Lord of your life!
You walk into a room of people – perhaps a party in a home or a church sanctuary or a school program.
Someone standing at the door greets you and immediately looks past you at other people who are coming. You feel both welcomed and ignored!
Further into the room you pass someone else who also greets you and then looks past you? Again, you feel immediately welcomed and ignored!
Imagine bumping into a person who has the people eyes of Jesus, who welcomes you and stays alert to you as long as you stand there, showing real interest in you!
Be that person!
In the midst of the people flow that swirled around him, Jesus remained awake to the individual persons who were near him.
Whether it was Zacchaeus in a crowd, Bartimaeus in a crowd or an ill woman in a crowd, Jesus saw and paid attention to each one with his “people eyes.”
Sometimes the people flow is a people flood and at other times a trickle, yet always every single person you encounter has a story and is a thread in God’s greater story.
In the midst of the people flow of your own life, are you awake and aware of the persons right in front of you?
How might you receive the people eyes of Jesus if you discover that in your coping with whatever task is at hand, you are actually people blind?
Every morning as you awake, pray a simple prayer along this line, “Lord, please help me remain awake to the people in the people flow of this day. Help me to see people with your people eyes and be an encouragement to each one.”
A moment came in which Jesus remarked to the twelve apostles,“I have called you friends.”
In that moment he did not call them students or disciples or followers, and they were all of that. Nor did he use the language of today, calling them parishioners or clients or patients or subjects.
He called them friends! Jesus held them in his heart and they held Jesus in theirs! It’s what real relationship is all about!
Think for a moment about the people who are close to you – family members and friends, both near and far. Who are the people who would call you, “friend, who hold you in their hearts?
A great exercise is to stop reading this for a moment and make a list of the people in your life who would call you friend. They are those who hold you in their hearts and you hold them in yours!
After you’ve made the list, read over it, offering each person to your Lord and then ask yourself the simple question, “Is Jesus on my list?”
He should be your list! He said to those who followed him, “I have call you friends!
Hold Jesus in your heart. He holds you in his!
Of all the marvelous words the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians, among the most meaningful to them must have been “I hold you in my heart!”
To hold you in my heart, have you in my heart is not passive, it’s highly active!
There are countless people you have met, known and know, who reside somewhere in your mind. You think of them when something sparks a memory, but I would suggest that to hold them in your heart is to go beyond remembering them!
If I say, "Marty is in my heart but I never think of Marty, never connect with Marty, rarely pray for Marty", then perhaps Marty is in my heart but in a passive mental filing cabinet sort of way.
To hold you in my heart is active. Its to be aware of you, to pray for you, to love you in every appropriate way. It’s to pray for you, that it is well with you and more significantly, to pray that you and Jesus are close to one another.
Jesus and God the Father hold you firmly in their hearts – go and do likewise for the people God gives you - while being glad and grateful for the people who hold you in their hearts!
Who is with you when you walk through the valley of the shadow? It is Jesus the Good Shepherd! He is your ultimate valley-walker! Who else are the valley-walkers in your life? They are the people who walk with you through whatever valley of the shadow lies before you. You can also be a valley-walker for someone else. Who are the folks who need you to be their valley-walker? May you experience refreshment and the renewal of heart even as you walk with others! Jesus said, “I am with you always.” Matthew 28:20
Jesus helps us cope and gives us hope as he lifts the brokenhearted and those who seek him.
If the people in your life were to be interviewed about you, would they say you are a people-lifter?
I’ve been thinking about Dick Feiertag, a life-long friend of mine who recently slipped away to be with Jesus. Dick was a people-lifter who, like Jesus, helped people cope and gave them hope!
Dick showed how the blend of friendship and leadership is not only possible, but that it leads to life-long relationships of encouragement.
Jesus said, “I have called you friends” to the very people to whom he said, “follow me!”
While you focus on the goals you want to see accomplished with other people, also focus on the people as people – people to be valued – people to be friends with – people who cope and who need hope, as we all do.
The verb “to lift” occurs some 200 times in the Bible indicating various ways we lift our eyes, lift our heads, lift our voices, lift our hands and lift our faces. Above all we learn that the Lord who loves us loves to lift his people!
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. Psalm 146:8
The Lord lifts up the humble. Psalm 147:6
Jesus came and took Simon’s mother-in-law by the hand and lifted her up. Mark 1:31
When you find yourself drained, depleted, diminished, or damaged, you need someone to lift you – to help you cope and give you hope! Jesus offers his hand to you!
Just as Jesus is “the” people lifter, so we, like Jesus, give people a hand - to lift them – to help them cope – to give them hope!
Ask God to give you the people eyes of Jesus to see those who need a lift – and lift them up!
When we observe the methods of Jesus, we see him regularly popping into peoples’ lives, unannounced and uninvited. He popped in to offer words and presence that brought the kingdom of God into their lives.
As his disciples, we are to live as Jesus lives, so observing him practicing this Pop-in Principle, we also look for ways to pop-in to the lives of people.
Rude? Impolite? Well, perhaps at times, but then when you think about Jesus, he often popped into lives unannounced, uninvited, in ways that may have been perceived as a bit rude, or impolite, yet for the purpose of bringing them the joy of the kingdom of God.
The “people eyes” of Jesus do not see people in order to ignore them, but to pop-in and bless them.
Whether we view ourselves as introvert or extrovert is beside the point if we are to become like Jesus. Each of us, according to our own personality and approach are given many opportunities to pop-in to the lives of people, to offer a good word and or deed and follow up in any way that becomes apparent and appropriate.
Would you appreciate it if somebody put aside their discomfort at the thought of popping into your life in order to encourage you? Of course, you would, so when you think of popping into to someone’s life, be strong, be of good courage, and DO IT! (1 Chr. 28:20)
“Lord, give me the “people eyes” to see people and to have the courage to practice the Pop-in Principle! I trust you to bring joy.”
Reading through the words of consolation and desolation the prophet Isaiah speaks to Israel, there are many marvelous sentences that seem to jump off the page!
For example, “The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary,” Isaiah 50:4
Wow! How wonderful to know there is a word – words – that sustain the weary. It reminds me of the wonderful Job 4:4, “Your words put people on their feet!.”
Do your words lift people, put steel in their backbones, love in their hearts and hope in their heads? Do you know words, use words, that sustain the weary. That is at the core of building one another.
Isaiah is telling us that the Lord gave him a “well-instructed” tongue. In other words, Isaiah learned the words that lift hearts and sustain the weary!
Ask the Lord who loves you to, “Please teach me what to say,” and open your ears, so that you may become aware of, and use, the words that will put people on their feet with hope in their hearts!
Consider this remarkable word, “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God.” John 12:3*
Jesus could have thought of his power as a means of serving himself. We easily think of our strengths as given for our own blessing.
So, what did Jesus do, knowing all things were in his hand? He took a towel!
He practiced humility, using his strength in the service of others.
Consider what privileges God has given you –privilege(s) of education, income, location, family, heritage, location, beauty, health, wealth, talent, time or whatever – and take a towel.
God to Abram, “I will bless you… and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” As the old Bethel Bible Series put it, “We are blessed to be a blessing," sent to serve.
Take a towel!
Many people think the lyrics, “It’s off to work we go,” are sung in "Heigh-Ho, Heigh-ho" in the 1937 Disney classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The words actually are, “It’s off to home we go,” but it really doesn’t make any difference. You can’t miss the uplifting joy of fruitful work that runs through the song.
Sometimes people say that “work” was given as a punishment with the Fall of Adam as described in Genesis 3, however, we read in Genesis 1:28, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it,” and in Genesis 2:15, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Work was given to us before the Fall!
Your work really does matter to God!
Whatever your work may be – raising children, working online or in an office, helping a neighbor, cleaning a bathroom, coping with an illness, working through a grief, teaching a class, sending a text – your work matters because YOU matter to God. So work with all of the excellence you are capable of, trusting the God who loves you to work through you.
Think of yourself as a modern-day Bezalel, filled with God’s Spirit and gifted for what you are called to do: “I have filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship.” Exodus 31:3
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 We are sent to work!
What comes to your mind when you read the famous words of the prophet Micah that begin with, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice…?” Micah 6:8
When we consider the ways God “sends” us to do the work of Christ in the world, we know we are sent to show up with compassion and speak up with words of faith. The calls for justice in scripture also teach us that we are sent do stand up for what is right.
While there are many social justice issues that roil our culture at the moment, issues that may affect you personally, there are also matters of justice that are personal to our family relationships or things going on at work or in our neighborhoods and churches.
Elton Trueblood, the wonderful Quaker Theologian used to talk about the significance of the conjunction “and” as we live out the balance conviction and compassion.
Elton’s observation was that when we stand up for what we believe is right, we are also called to do it in a way that sustains the well-being of others involved, whether they are “on our side” or on “the other side.” This is “speaking the truth in love.” Ephesians 4:15
Thus, it would seem that to balance conviction and compass calls for the balance of gumption and grace – the courage to stand up and the grace to lift up people. When you stand up be careful to also build up the people involved!
A “Jesus Moment” is any moment in which we, aware of the person of Jesus, entrust our life to him.
A Jesus Moment is any moment we confess our love of Jesus and intent to follow him.
Such Jesus moments morph into Jesus movements as such moments likes sparks in a fire spread the flame of faith in growing circles.
This suggests the flame of faith in you is a spark you received from someone else in a Jesus moment that becomes a Jesus movement when you pass it on.
“Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asked of Peter. He replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter’s “Jesus Moment” was one of the sparks that became a spreading conflagration of faith powered by the Spirit of God.
Who do YOU say Jesus is? The person to tell is Jesus – and in the telling you experience your own Jesus Moment – and are sent to pass it on!
There is a time to let your life and your deeds be the way you bear witness go God’s love. There is also a time to use words.
People like to quote Francis of Assisi as saying, “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.” as a way of lifting up good deeds and minimizing speech.
Except Assisi didn’t say that!
Perhaps your life has such a vitality that people are drawn to wonder why.
However, it is only with words that they will learn the why.
For them to learn that your life centers on the reality of God and your trust in the person of Jesus takes words.
We are sent to speak up. While people speak in public ways in church gatherings, only you may be the person others will hear at home, in your neighborhood and with others.
So, see yourself as sent. Think about what you might say when opportunity arises. A place to start is to think what to say in just five sentences about why you follow Jesus!
The Lord who loves us sends us to show up!
When through our “people eyes,” the eyes of Jesus for people, we become aware of the need within some human situation, that very awareness is a sending – sent to show up!
Show up to do what? Perhaps just be there – the ministry of presence – perhaps to speak a word, pray a prayer or do some heavy lifting in support of the person or people.
“David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. And Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God.” I Samuel 23:15-16
Why do we fail to show up? We are anxious or think we are too busy or don’t want to get involved and so on.
When Jesus said, “As the Father sent me, I send you,” he didn’t add, “unless you are anxious or too busy or don’t want to get involved!”
May our Lord’s joy fill you as you see yourself as sent to show up. Know that the One who shows up through you is the Lord who loves you and loves those to whom you are sent.
What will your focus be during this season of Lent? Lent is the season of the church year that begins with Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter Sunday.
Typically, our focus during Lent is downward, inward as we review our lives, confess our sin and walk with Jesus during his final somber days in Jerusalem.
However, remember Hebrews report that Jesus, for the joy set before him, enduring the cross. Jesus in the most “down” experience imaginable, looked up!
Take on some spiritual discipline this year that will help you “look up” and connect more deeply with the Lord who loves you.
For example, read a half-a-chapter of Luke every day through Easter or memorize a Psalm such as Psalm 23 or Psalm 100.
Allow the joy of Jesus to renew your spirit right now and every now!
In a very moving moment during the funeral of Tyre Nichols, his mother, RowVaughn Wells said she truly believed her son was sent on an assignment from God. Indeed, all of have been “sent” to accomplish various tasks in life – some rather generic – encouraging the people God sends us – and some specific to our individual gifts and callings. The Gospel of John wonderfully explains how Jesus was “sent” and in turn, that Jesus sends us to serve: * Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. John 4:34 * Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” John 20:21
See yourself as sent! Ask the Lord who loves you for the eyes to see and the heart to serve as God leads you!
This year, as always, with the Building One Another podcast, Lee Zehmer and I encourage you to take the theme of these podcasts to heart. Choose to be a building one another person - a person for whom the road of life is the road of encouragement.
The people our Lord brings to you are on their own challenging roads. You may know for certain that your words and deeds of encouragement can make all the difference. “Your words put people on their feet!” Job 4:4
Ask our Lord for his people eyes, the eyes of Jesus to see people as he sees them. Determine to come alongside and be an encouraging presence, even if that is a personal challenge for you!
Trust God to be the ultimate encourage in your life and in theirs!
Joy snacks are those moments in daily life that inspire you to become aware of the presence and reality of the Lord who loves you.
Such “snacks” help us begin to see the embedded joy in the smallest of details.
Christmas is so much more than a joy snack.
Christmas is a joy feast, a joy festival!
Jesus, who was a babe in a manger, is a babe no longer, but is our very present, living and loving Lord!
Whether you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death or simply living ordinary life, open your heart to the Lord who loves you and let yourself feel the joy!
Merry Christmas
A wish is something you want to happen, but you have no reason to believe it will happen.
A hope is based on something – a reason for your hope to happen.
If you say, “I hope we have an early Spring.” “I hope the fish will bite,” but what you really mean is that you wish for those things because you have no basis to expect them.
Here is a marvelous thought: A promise turns a wish into a hope!
If you wish for a cup of coffee and then someone says, “I will bring it to you,” your wish turns into hope. You have a reason to believe it will happen.
The promises of God turn our deepest wishes into hopes. Our wish to be loved becomes hope when we hear “for God so loved the world.” John 3:16
Our wish for eternal life becomes hope when we hear Jesus, “Because I live, you also will live.”John 14:19
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices!
Richard Sima writes of snacking on joy and taking joy in the small moments of life
Such “joy snacks” may range from lunch with a neighbor, petting the cat, watching a show, calling a friend. Simple things. Wonderful moments!
This Thanksgiving dinner, or during any meal at any time, take time to reflect on your moments of joy during the past year or perhaps just the last week – little moments that were joy snacks – major moments, joy festivals - and give thanks with a grateful heart!
A journey partner is someone who walks with you as a friend through the ups and downs of life.
We find countless illustrations of journey partners throughout the record of the Bible:
Moses, Miriam and Aaron David and Jonathan
Ruth and Naomi Elijah and Elisha
Jesus, Peter, James and John Jesus, Mary, Joanna and Suzanna
The Christian faith is certainly personal but its not private! Our Lord designed us to “walk through the valley” with him – and with the people God gives us.
Who are the journey partners in your life to whom you could say, “I will see you through whatever you are going through” and whom in turn will see you through whatever you are going through?
And Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. I Samuel 23:16
Whose journey partner’s hand will you strengthen today?
In Matt Redman’s song, “You’ll Never Let Go,” he sings to the Lord, “You never let go – Lord, You never let go of me.”
There are countless reasons all of can know we deserve being let go.
Yet, the God who loves us never, ever lets us go.
The Hebrew word hesed, sometimes expressed as kindness, mercy, steadfast love, has the sense of, “I will never remove my love from you.” God NEVER lets us go!
Let’s encourage one another for the long haul with God’s hesed love.
For the long haul: put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you… Colossians 3:12-13
Dear Friend,
In the 1977 Disney movie, “Pete’s Dragon,” the leading lady, Nora (Helen Reddy), stands on the top level of a lighthouse. With the bright light shining behind her as a “candle on the water,” she sings the song of hope, “Candle on the Water” to her fiancé who is lost at sea. You may listen to it on Youtube.
“I'll be your candle on the water, this flame inside of me will grow. Keep holding on you'll make it, here's my hand so take it, look for me, reaching out to show, as sure as rivers flow, I'll never let you go, I'll never let you go, I'll never let you go.” [1]
One day I was listening to that song and suddenly I heard the song as if Jesus was singing the song to me! It was a hugely comforting moment! Jesus often spoke similar words “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” John 14:1
The song speaks to our down moments, “A cold and friendless tide has found you, don't let the stormy darkness pull you down. I'll paint a ray of hope around you…”
Allow Jesus to be your candle on the water.
Then be a candle on the water yourself. Be the person whose words and presence offer hope and help in the midst of someone else’s stormy darkness.
Joy to you – Stan
© Copyright 2022 E. Stanley Ott
Scripture from the ESV
[1] By Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn Disney Pictures 1977
Consider the times Jesus turned his attention to someone who interrupted what he was doing.
Such as when the woman came to the well where Jesus was sitting. Or when Nicodemus came to him one evening. Or when he paused to speak to Zacchaeus who was sitting in a tree.
I will never forget the life-changing perspective I received upon hearing Chuck Miller, a mentor in my life, say, “People are more important than programs.”
It’s easy to put our agendas ahead of the people in our lives. The busier the easier to miss the needs of the person right in front of us.
Jesus put people ahead of program. He constantly pivoted from what he was doing to the person right in front of him. See people through the people eyes of Jesus, always pausing to take the second glance.
To make people more important than whatever program, schedule or agenda you are pursing, simply ask God to help you to become aware – to “see” the children, neighbors, co-workers, people in high or low positions and put their needs ahead of your agenda.
Rejoice in the knowledge that Jesus never takes his loving eyes off of you
The term “second glance” is often to describe how we react to someone’s appearance or apparent worth to us.
She didn’t give him a second glance. He didn’t give the cashier a second glance.
The lack of a second glance suggests the person is ordinary, of no particular value to us - not worth our eyes lingering for a second glance.
Jesus gives people- you and me - the second glance! Perhaps more accurately, Jesus engages us with his first lingering glance. He knows us for who and what we are – and yet his love for you never wavers.
Imagine when Jesus first saw the woman at the well (John 4), the paralytic lying by the Pool of Bethesda (John 5) and the woman who had bled twelve years (Luke 8). We may easily have glanced away but Jesus gave the second glance - the lingering look - and changed their lives.
Much like “people eyes,” the eyes of Jesus for people, the second glance sees beyond outward appearance. The second glance sees both the wonder and the brokenness of another person and extends the hand of encouragement with eyes of compassion that linger in that glance.
Ask our Lord to give you the gift of the second glance - the lingering look. “See” the person in front of you, and encourage them!
Bernard Harnick, a marriage and family counselor in Zurich, enjoyed teaching that, “Love is a willingness to be frustrated!”
Do you wonder what he is talking about since frustration may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about love? He was referring to Ephesians 5:21, “Out of reverence for Christ, yield to one another.”
He explained that in a relationship, the other person may want to do something that you do not want to do. It may even be the opposite of what you want to do!
However, out of love and out of reverence for Jesus, you are willing to be frustrated, to yield your preference and go with the other’s person’s choice – while you, in grace, absorb the disappointment, without a grumble or a roll of the eyes or a complaint to someone else.
Out of love, Jesus was willing to suffer, that we may know joy. So, we are willing to be frustrated with grace for the joy of others. The gift of grace is always expensive for the giver, yet gives joy to the receiver!
In a healthy relationship, both people yield to one another, out of love.
However, in the event of abusive or inappropriate behavior, love does not yield with gracious frustration but stands up to such conduct!
Read these familiar words of the Apostle Paul slowly and allow them to inspire your willingness to love even when it’s frustrating to you:
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. I Corinthians 13:4-7
Consider the meaning of churn, a vivid word that speaks of agitation and swirling confusion. Our lives constantly feel the churn, churn, churn of life’s demands.
When we feel the churn, what do we do? We turn! We turn and re-center ourselves on the Lord who loves us and on the loving people God gives us!
When Jesus says things like, “Let not your heart be troubled” or “In this world, you will have trouble” you know it’s because he wants to bring peace into the midst of our churn.
In the midst of churn, churn, churn simply turn, turn, turn to Jesus, using the words of the song title by the Byrd’s based on the Book of Ecclesiastes, Turn! Turn! Turn!
Turn to your Lord and turn to the people refreshers in your life, the people whose kindness brings joy to your heart and puts steel in your back bone!
“For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.” Philemon 7
The term “cocooning” came into vogue a few years ago as a way to describe staying inside one’s home instead of going out to socialize.
Cocooning blossomed during the height of the pandemic and still many people prefer it.
A wonderful way to get some exercise and to grow your relationships outside your home is simply to walk and while you are walking – talk!
Talk to the Lord who loves you and talk to the people in your life!
Talk to your Lord about the issues and the people on your heart with a spirit of worship.
Talk to the people in your life by calling them or texting them. It’s easy to talk texts as you walk and send short messages of encouragement.
Jesus walked everywhere and nearly always had somebody with him. Perhaps there is someone who will walk with you. Or walk in a fashion that takes you by the same residences over and over, day after day, and be open to stopping briefly for a “hello,” when you bump in to some one (and you will).
The Lord who loves you will love people through you as you walk and talk!
While considering words that bless and encourage children (and adults), we keep in mind that such blessing goes beyond words to the actions that enhance their well-being.
We see pronouncing blessings modeled by God in words to Isaac, “I will be with you, and will bless you.” Isaac in turn passes the blessing to his sons,” By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.” Hebrews 11:20
Ask yourself, when you are with a child, do you look that child in the eye and warmly bless them with words? Words such as:
- I love you more than I love my own next breath.
- You are remarkable.
- I am so proud of you.
- You are amazing.
- I love being with you.
- Your ideas are a wow to me.
- May you always know who you and who God is.
- May the Lord bless you and keep you.
- God loves you.
Use words of encouragement that communicate love, value and strength and remind them of God's love.
As God said to Jesus, “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased,” so we in turn say to the people in our lives, “You are loved and I so appreciate you!”
Do you speak words of blessings to the people in your life, telling them eye-to-eye the ways they are a blessing to you and to others?
A wonderful way to do this is known as the Blessing Cup.
It’s easy to do this with family, with friends and with small groups. The Blessing Cup is a way to celebrate one person or for everyone to share deeply and pray for one another.
Pick something to celebrate such as a birthday, a promotion, a graduation. Sit and share a meal at table. Put in the center of the table a cup, your Blessing Cup, filled with a liquid you all may sip (although some may not for reasons of hygiene).
Pass the cup. Each person holding it tells the person being celebrated, “Why you are a blessing.” After everyone has a turn, whether 2 people or 12, then pray, offering prayers of gratitude for the celebrated person as a blessing among you.
To make the Blessing Cup a regular part of family life, choose a cup that will only be used for this purpose. It will remind you all of God’s blessings whenever you see it.
The practice of the Blessing Cup will deeply encourage you and those with you!
Two very practical ways to grow friendship are the shared meal and the small group.
Shared meals grow new friends of the road and move friends off the road into the heart.
Dick Halverson, former Chaplain of the US Senate, used to say there is something sacramental about the shared meals of Christians since we know Jesus is among us.
Ask yourself, “How may I make eating with others part of my weekly life?” It’s not about the food, its about lingering with one another at home or out to eat.
If asking people to join you at home or out to eat is “not you,” then get a buddy to join you and the two of you begin to include others. It will change your life!
Small groups of three to eight (or so) people also create life-long friendships. If your church organizes small groups, then join one, and if not, then start one!
Make breaking bread with people and meeting with a small group every week a part of your life and you will know the joy of wonderful, lasting friendships!
Consider two kinds of friends: friends of the road and friends of the heart. A friend of the road is a friend who walks life’s road with you. You are next door neighbors or work in the same office or attend the same school or church. They are true friends, however, when the road ends and one of you leaves the place you shared life, the friendship of the road slowly vanishes. On the other hand, at times a chemistry, a unique bond, forms in a friendship such that when the road ends, the friendship continues, a friendship of love and for life. Such friendships are friendships of the heart. It makes no difference if you are 10,000 miles apart or haven’t seen one another for years, were you to get together, it would be as though no time had passed. Ask the Lord who loves you to give you as many friends of the road as possible, for they are true friends, while also asking your Lord to move many of those friends off of the road and into the heart! Remember, your dearest friend of the heart is Jesus, who said, “I have called you friends.”
We may think of the ministry of proximity happening in those moments we connect with people. It may be through ministry without moving, as people come to us, or ministry by walking around, as we move among people in our neighborhood, office, church and so on.
However, there are many people we may encourage who don’t live near us, family, friends and associates who are scattered all over the country and even the world.
We typically think of Jesus’ ministry as the ministry of proximity as he interacted with a variety of people in many face-to-face situations.
Yet, Jesus could and did minister at a distance, such as when Jesus was visited by an official whose son was dying. The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live,” and the son, at a distance, lived. (John 4)
Consider both spontaneous and intentional ministry at a distance. Spontaneously, when someone pops to mind, call them, text them, email them, Facetime them, right then, or jot a note to do so very soon. The Spirit of God loves to call people to our minds!
Intentional ministry at a distance takes a simple plan, such maintaining a running list of those you will contact and having some rhythm or routine that makes it happen every week.
“Out of sight, out of mind” is easy in a world of over-busy people, yet the people God puts on your heart are always in God’s sight and mind. May they be in yours!
Jesus spent much of his time walking from place to place and touching people he met along the way.
For example, when he entered Jericho, he encountered Zacchaeus up in a tree, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” Luke 19:5
As he left Jericho, Jesus walked near blind Bartimaeus sitting by the road, who called to him, “Have mercy on me,” and Jesus said to his disciples, “Call him [Bartimaeus].” Mark 10
Jesus constantly ministered just by walking around!
Every encounter created the possibility of offering a word of encouragement or some other life-supporting, life-changing act.
Sometimes we offer ministry without moving. People come to us in our home, our office or walk by us in the park or in our yard or wherever we may be sitting.
At the same time, adopting the practice of Jesus, we may do ministry by walking around as we go where people are.
As we encounter them in the neighborhood, in a store, in their offices, at a coffee shop – we, too, have the possibility of offering a word of encouragement or some other life-supporting, life-changing act.
Ask our Lord for his “people eyes,” to see the people you encounter as you walk around as those he wants to touch through you!.
When you have “people eyes,” the eyes of Jesus for people, you may experience ministry without moving! Such ministry moments may happen as you simply sit in your home or in a coffee shop or on a front porch or in an office with the door open.
When a person walks by or turns toward you, a simple warm word can open the door to anything from simple friendship to deep encouragement.
Think of Jesus sitting by Jacob’s well when a woman came for water or the evening Nicodemus dropped in.
For Jesus these two people gave him the opportunity to offer ministry without moving! In those brief ministry moments, the lives of the woman and of Nicodemus were changed forever!
If you are in a location where people will walk by or if you can just go and sit there, be open to the possibilities for encouraging people that our Lord will bring to you!
A leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” Mark 1:40-41
When people come to you, trust Jesus to touch them through you!
The word “cope” is interesting. It means to struggle or to deal with some challenge, often in a calm and deliberate way. She coped with a flat tire. He coped with a stuffy nose.
Life presents us with all sorts of coping situations, some are micro-copes and others are macro-copes.
Micro-copes deal with those little challenges we all face. With macro-copes, we face harder ones.
If we contend with too many micro-copes at once, they may feel like a macro-cope!
The Apostle Paul urges us to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2) and that each of us “bear our own load (Galatians 6:5).
We may think of this as bearing one another’s macro-copes and carrying our own micro-copes.
We immediately realize that whether people are micro-coping or macro-coping, our role in their lives is to encourage them and to come along side to help!
The Holy Spirit is “The Helper,” who comes along side to help. Trust God’s Spirit to both help you cope and help others cope through you!
Join us as we revisit a "Greatest Hits" episode from the early days of the podcast. In this day and age of negativity, we can encourage people by calling things good!
“Times of refreshing” is such a wonderful word for us in the midst of lives that are often over-busy and very challenging.
The Apostle Paul spoke of such times of refreshing coming from the presence of the Lord. Acts 3:20
There are people in your life who are Spirit-Lifters? Spirit-lifters lift your spirit and are conduits of such “times of refreshing” in your life.
Ask yourself, “Who are these Spirit-Lifters in my life?” Thank them, if you can! Consider how their words or actions have lifted your spirit.
Then in the spirit of “blessed to be a blessing,” consider how you will be a Spirit-Lifter in the lives of others. A phone call? A knock on the door? Help in a time of need? A text? An email? A gift delivered by Amazon? A hand written note? A regular prayer for them?
As Job’s friend said to him, “Your words have put people on their feet!” May what you say and what you do put people on their feet!
Last week I tripped on a hose, discovered I had to redo a job because someone else dropped the ball, and I had to dig through ten boxes looking for a missing document.
Have you ever done a joy check? Especially when you are feeling a bit annoyed?
Consider this wonderful word the Apostle Paul writes directly after addressing a disagreement between two people, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”
The key here is the place of joy is “in the Lord” and not in the circumstances of life.
Do a joy check. Just stop and consider how your spirit is doing and choose joy - in the Lord.
Remember that whatever your circumstances may be, the Lord who loves you is a very present help in time of trouble and loves you more than you love your next breath!
The joy of the Lord is your strength! Nehemiah 8:10
People are the homes of our hearts.
As you think about the houses and apartments in which you have lived, ask yourself, “What made this dwelling place a home and not merely a house?”
In our homes we experience love, encouragement, tears, laughter, mercy and memory.
If a person is a home of your heart, then that person offers love, encouragement, tears, laughter, mercy and memory.
Such persons are among God’s most indescribably marvelous gifts to us.
Whether friend or family, you may offer to be such a home in the hearts of others. It is one of the profound ways of fulfilling the good word, “encourage one another and build up one another.” I Thessalonians 5:11
Our ultimate home is the presence of the Lord who loves us! “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!” Ps 84:1 “I go to prepare a place for you”- Jesus.
The One-One-One Prayer is a wonderful way to pray more deeply for a person.
The One-One-One Prayer prays for one person a day for one minute for one month.
Think of a person you know seems outside of the life of faith or a person who is carrying a heavy burden. Perhaps it’s a family member or a neighbor, a fellow employee or someone you know in your community.
Praying for a minute doesn’t sound very long until you try it! It give you the time to pray for the person’s well-being, health, family and relationships, work, neighbors, openness to the person of Jesus and that he or she would know hope in trusting our loving Lord.
When you pray for one person for a minute a day for a month, several things happen.
- Our Lord who hears you will answer your prayers.
- You will begin to see this person through the eyes of Jesus.
- You become one step in this person’s journey of faith.
A wonderful way to help people in your church or fellowship group grow a missional heart for the people in their lives is to invite them to join praying the One-One-One Prayer for someone in their life who is not a part of the life of the church or for someone who is suffering. The Lord who loves them will love them through your prayers!
How do you feel about being interrupted? You are cooking a meal, working on the computer, reading a book, scrolling on Facebook and bam someone interrupts you.
Perhaps it’s a phone call or a child tugging or an email or the doorbell. It’s easy to be annoyed because interruptions can be irritating - you want to do what you are doing!
Jesus was constantly being interrupted. Nicodemus interrupts to talk at night. Blind Bartimaeus interrupts with a holler to be healed. A woman coming for water interrupts his rest by a well. His own mother interrupts during a wedding reception.
In these and countless other moments we see the grace, power, and mercy of our Lord shining through the very interruption. For Jesus, the interruption was an invitation – an invitation to serve the person or people who were interrupting.
To see the interruptions in your life as invitations to serve means getting over yourself and giving yourself to the people in your life!
“Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue... Jairus and seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death… and Jesus went with him.” Mark 5
Your interruptions are your invitations.
A number of years ago, Pastor Walt Ungerer called attention to the story of the conversion of Saul.
After Saul’s dramatic encounter with Jesus, he began to preach about Jesus and a plot arose to kill him, “but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.” Acts 9:25*
Walt asked the question, “Who are your rope holders?” Who, in your moment of crisis, are the people who will stand with you, who hold on to the ropes that carry you in some situation, who trust our Lord to guide and to sustain you?
Rope holders are among the most precious people in our lives. They may be friends, relatives, associates, neighbors or people we know in the church we attend. Whoever they are, their heart is to support your heart and your heart is to support theirs.
If you become aware of a person you know facing some rough situation, will you be his or her rope holder? Jesus said to his followers, “You are those who have stood by me in my trials.” Luke 22:28 The Apostle Paul said, “But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength.” 2 Timothy 4:17.
Be a rope holder, standing by in the time of trial and offering strength! Consider who your rope holders people are and, if possible, thank them for standing with you!
I think of Lent as a hopeful season. While Lent is a time for introspection, a time of confession and of coming to terms with the reality of our broken lives, it really not about us! It’s about knowing, anticipating and discovering the joy of the Lord who lifts us!
While Lent is a reflective time during which we consider our Lord’s sacrifice for us, it is also a time to re-discover the passion, the love, the laughter that our Lord has for us today.
The very word “Lent” is a hopeful word. It means springtime! We may not see spring yet, perhaps there is snow and ice around, perhaps there are terrible things we face in our own lives, experience during a pandemic and observe on the world scene today, but spring is coming.
Just as we know spring is on the way, so we know that when we seek the Lord who loves us, we will find the Lord who lifts us.
Our God promised the Jews in the dark time of exile in Babylon, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you...” Jeremiah 29:13-14a.
So have some hope. In the midst of all that swirls around you and in you, know that the Lord who loves you is with you and will lift you up!
In his book Hinge Moments, Michael Lindsay speaks of those “hinge” moments that pivot our lives in brand new directions.
Rebekah’s whole world spun when she met Isaac.
Elisha’s life dramatically turned when he met Elijah.
Saul’s life whirled in a new direction when he met Jesus.
At the heart of each of these hinge moments was a hinge person, the pivot person of a new direction or understanding or experience in life.
Who have the hinge people been in your life? People whose influence on you, whether brief or over many years, have affected and affirmed you on a new course in life?
To be sure, there are hinge people whose impact on our lives may be quite difficult and we trust the very present help of our Lord through such times of trouble.
All of which leads to the question, “Will you be a hinge person in the lives of others who loves them, grows them and encourages them?”
Jesus, the Lord who loves you is the ultimate hinge person who brings joy into our lives! Trust him to give you the “people eyes” to see people as he sees them and be a joy-giving hinge person in their lives!
Sometimes we encourage people with little forethought. We just impulsively say or do something that lift’s someone’s heart.
At the same time, we all know people whose ongoing challenging situations slip from our minds in the busyness of our lives.
Becoming a conscious encourager is a way to elevate these people over the long haul.
Consider spending a mental moment in the beginning of your day thinking of the people you anticipate you will see that day to whom you will offer some encouragement.
Then think of people in your wider circle who you do not expect to see, but with whom you may make conscious contact, in order to offer a word of encouragement.
Then follow through - be a conscious encourager – and make a difference in the lives of others!
“The Lord your God is with you wherever you go,” reminds us that our Lord is the ultimate conscious encourager who invites all of us to do likewise!
In one of the great one-liners in the Bible the Apostle Paul wrote, “Knowledge puffs up but love builds up!” I Corinthians 8:1* It’s well worth repeating out loud!
Knowledge may lead to a swelled head yet love leads to a swelled heart!
Of course, Paul wasn’t opposed to knowledge.
His own letters have much to say about the knowledge of God and the knowledge of our own selves.
However, when on the basis of all that we know, we begin to pride ourselves above others, begin to think more of ourselves than others, we run the risk of using our knowledge to put people down rather than to build them up!
To “build up” is related to the construction of a building – or what we call an “edifice.” The idea is that loves builds up, it “edifies” other people in ways that will sustain and encourage their lives.
To build up people is to strengthen them. Instead of holding your knowledge over others, place it under them, to strengthen them, to support them and to build them up! Remember, knowledge may lead to a swelled head, yet love leads to a swelled heart!
Sometimes we encourage people going through an intense but short-lived situation. Other times we know people who facing challenges that will be over a long haul.
Sometimes over that long haul we may forget a person’s ongoing need to cope. To be encouraging over the long haul, we ill discover a simple two-part rhythm is helpful: Remembering and Showing Up.
Some of us remember each other’s situations effortlessly. We just do! For others of us, if the situation is out of sight, it’s out of mind, so we use our calendars to remind us.
Our rhythm for encouragement over the long haul is first to remember and second to show up. The way we show up depends on the person, their situation and location and the kind of relationship we have with them.
In his book Hinge Moments, Michael Lindsay speaks of those “hinge” moments that pivot our lives in brand new directions.
Rebekah’s whole world spun when she met Isaac.
Elisha’s life dramatically turned when he met Elijah.
Saul’s life whirled in a new direction when he met Jesus.
At the heart of each of these hinge moments was a hinge person, the pivot person of a new direction or understanding or experience in life.
Who have the hinge people been in your life? People whose influence on you, whether brief or over many years, have affected and affirmed you on a new course in life?
To be sure, there are hinge people whose impact on our lives may be quite difficult and we trust the very present help of our Lord through such times of trouble.
All of which leads to the question, “Will you be a hinge person in the lives of others who loves them, grows them and encourages them?”
Jesus, the Lord who loves you is the ultimate hinge person who brings joy into our lives! Trust him to give you the “people eyes” to see people as he sees them and be a joy-giving hinge person in their lives!
Think of the significant moments in your life when you said, “yes” to some invitation – to be with someone, to go somewhere, to join a group, visit a church and so on. Its remarkable how significant our response to a simple “come” may influence our live.
The flip side is equally true. To be the one who offers, who says, “come,” creates for others and for yourself the possibility of new experience and deeper friendship.
An interesting line in the Book of Revelation (22:17) says, “The Spirit and the Bride (the church) say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” So for we who have heard and responded in faith to the invitation to come we, ourselves, are to invite others with, “come.”
Come where? Come be with me or with us. Come have a cup of coffee. Come chat with me on Zoom. Come to my home. Come with us to our church. Come!
Think of a three-step dance: ready – aim – acquire!
Step One – Ready – what are you doing to which you may invite someone?
Step Two – Aim – specifically who are the people whom you may invite?
Step Three – Acquire – take courage and say, “come.”
The art of encouragement takes such a holy flexibility because everyone we seek to encourage is a unique person in a particular set of circumstances.
One of the great concepts we learn in music and drama is “improv,” short for improvisation. Improv is the capacity to take a risk as you create the new, try something different, look for a new way.
Encouraging people is certainly an improv experience! Are you willing to take a risk and look for a way to encourage people? If you are, our Lord will love people through you!
When Jesus called Simon and Andrew to come fish for people, Simon and Andrew already knew that fishing is takes an improv mind, a willingness to adjust what you are doing.
Trust our Lord to help you and adopt the improv mind of one who fishes, who adapts what you are doing, as you look for ways to encourage the people in your life.
Consider how intensely personal spiritual encouragement may be.
For example, the apostle Paul writes, “we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” I Thessalonians 1:8
Paul and those with him didn’t just share ideas or concepts or faith but their own lives, that’s as personal as it gets. He makes no mention of activities, programs, books or resources (not that they don’t play a role), but simply the encouragement of life on life!
Later he observes that, “we exhorted each of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.” I Thessalonians 1:12
Here we see encouragement is not only personal, it’s very focused on spiritual encouragement. More that “you can do it, be strong, hang in there, keep your chin up,” its imploring people to live in a manner worthy of the Lord who loves them.
When is the last time someone looked you in the eye and spoke in ways that encouraged your Christian life? When is the last time you spoke in such a way to someone else?
Be conscious of the people in your life and look for appropriate ways to encourage their relationship with the Lord of their lives.
The literal words Luke uses to describe the father hugging the prodigal son, “He fell upon his neck,“ are precisely the same words Luke uses to describe the elders in Ephesus “falling on the neck,” that is, hugging Paul. In both cases, Luke is describing people who by their very hugs are saying, “I love you and I’m not letting go of you!”
Hugging is an oddly complex topic today because there are matters of appropriate boundaries and proprieties, of acceptable and unacceptable settings to hug people. Yet, we all know how a warm hug can communicate love. Even without the words a hug can communicate “I love you and I’m not letting go of you!” A hug with the words of love is even better!
Gary Chapman writes about five love languages and physical touch is one of them.
Be aware of the people in your life who would appreciate appropriate touch, such as a warm hug or a tap on the shoulder. I always imagine Jesus with his arms outstretched when he says, “Come to me all who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” He wants to fall on your neck hugging you and to whisper in your ear, “I love you. I’m never letting go of you.” As a matter of fact, that’s something you can whisper back to Jesus!
This is the time to choose joy!
There is much in our lives and in our day that distracts us from the Lord who loves us. Furthermore, we live in a culture of complaint. It’s easy to criticize Christmas carols and church services and pastors and family members and just about everything and everyone. Yet, Christmas is about God breaking into our self-centered world with literal good news of great joy.
So, while not denying that there are serious matters in our lives, This is the time to choose joy. It’s the time to re-awaken your heart and soul to the presence of the Lord who loves you.
Remember, my friend, as you sing, “Joy to the World,” that the Lord actually IS come. Let you and I and the whole earth receive our King!
Many things distract us from what we are trying to do. While we’d like the days leading up to Christmas to center on reflection and anticipation, we find ourselves distracted by the many demands of the season. We also become aware of crises in the lives of people we know and in situations around our country and world.
This is a good time to remember that sometimes what we feel are distractions are actually the main attraction. Attending the sudden crisis of a friend or a family member is far more significant that finding the perfect gift or attending some annual event.
In the drama, the term “to throw focus” describes what happens when accidental noise in the audience or some unplanned move by someone on stage throws focus away from the main action at center stage. We think whatever we are doing in life is the main action and center stage of our lives, yet when our Lord opens our eyes to the needs of people around us, instantly what may feel like the distraction of thrown focus becomes our center stage, our main focus. Our response is the heart of encouragement.
May our attention this Christmas be on the Lord of Christmas and upon the people our Lord came to love!
Join Stan and Lee as they welcome Bob Bohler who talks about his book “Pass Your Faith To Your Children.” There is no more important task for a parent! Thanks for listening.
Surprises can thrill us, renew us and bring us joy, although we do know some surprises can be painful and very difficult to bear. Surprising people in a manner that sparks joy is one wonderful way to practice the words of I Thessalonians 5:11, “encourage one another and build up one another.”
One of the things we learn from Chip and Dan Heath’s book "The Power of Moments", is that it takes thought and effort to elevate an ordinary moment so that it encourages the heart and so that it is memorable. This advent season is the perfect time to think through some of the people in your life – those who are close to you – family, friends and so on – and those less familiar to you – your supermarket clerks, the people who serve you at Starbucks, your postman, those whom you ordinarily might not pay attention to.
What might you do – a word spoken, an act taken – that would lift their hearts – even if it requires you to step out of your comfort zone or even feels a tad embarrassing to you? Then narrow it down. Choose a few people and follow-through. Ask the Lord who loves you to love others through you as you surprise them with joy
Henry Smith wrote the wonderful worship song, “Give Thanks," It begins, “Give thanks with a grateful heart.” You may find it on Youtube and sing along! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMTmZKotTYw
As we celebrate Thanksgiving Day this year, begin with having a grateful heart that springs from the joy of the Lord who loves you.
Then consider the People in your life, the Events of your life and the Things in your life (P.E.T.). Take your time and give thanks for our Lord’s encouragement as you remember each one. Then go a step further. Chose some of the people you have given thanks for and tell them! Tell them you are grateful for them and tell them why! You will encourage their hearts and your own heart as well!“
Years ago, Bruce Larson and Keith Miller wrote about the difference between basement people and balcony people.[1]
Basement people wear you out and tear you down. “It won’t work. Why didn’t you do it right? What’s wrong with you?”
Balcony people bear with you and build you up. “You can do it. I’m with you. You are amazing!”
In our often tough and tense time, it’s the balcony people who put us on our feet (see Job 4:4). Consider the people in your own life and the ways you relate to them. From their perspective, are you a basement person or a balcony person? What words will you speak and what actions will you take to lift their spirits?
[1] The Passionate People
Think of times you have talked with people who share your faith when they are need of a word of encouragement. Do you ever mention words of faith – such as Jesus, God, faith, hope, trust – in such ordinary conversation – to encourage them in God - whether you are on the phone, at a coffeeshop or simply sitting outside?
Some time ago, G. Campbell Morgan wrote: It has become very difficult for Christian people to talk of the things of Christ to each other. They meet together in ordinary life, and they talk of everything except the deepest things of their spiritual life; and that not because they have not deep experience, not because they are unfamiliar with the things of God and His Kingdom, but because they never learned how to help each other in mutual converse concerning them.[1]
Morgan’s point is that learning to encourage one another with words of faith is something we can learn to do.
We learn to talk by talking! If you would like to grow in your comfort in bringing words of faith into ordinary conversation, a simple, safe way to do it is to join a small group Bible study. You will find it a wonderful way to learn to speak of spiritual matters and to grow new friends as well!
Speaking of God in affirming, encouraging ways with our friends, our children and grandchildren and with others God puts into our lives is a wonderful way to build one another!
When you awake in the morning, is your mind a jumble of disappearing dreams and the coming events of the day? Do you take a moment, still lying in bed, to center yourself on the Lord who loves you, ready yourself for the day to come?
My friend, Lee Zehmer, likens this to the priming of an engine, whether it’s an airplane engine, a lawnmower or a snowblower.
To prime an engine means to give it a little starter fuel, to get it going. Consider practicing a “Priming Moment” in the first seconds you are awake in the morning that can set the tone for your day and guide you as you encourage others. An example of a waking priming moment would include three simple parts all of which might take a whole minute to do you get up!
First, a simple centering prayer. Morning, Lord it’s great to be loved by you and love you back!
Second. Lord, please give me people eyes, the eyes of Jesus, so I may encourage and spark joy in people.
Third, a quick review of the day ahead. Lord, I trust you in the adventures of the day of ahead.
The Priming Moment comes down to, “Morning Lord, I love you and ask for your people eyes that I may encourage and spark joy in people as I trust you for the adventures of this day. Amen!
A friend drove me on a six-hour trip when I was recovering from surgery. A receptionist made a phone call she didn’t have to make to help me. A neighbor helped me stop a leaking pipe. All of these acts of kindness lifted my heart and sparked joy in me!
Think about ways you may spark joy in the life of another person. How might you lift their heart and renew their spirit?
One direct way to do this is with your words. As one of Job’s friends said to him, “Your words have put people on their feet!” Indeed, your words have the capacity to lift the heart!
At the same time your acts of kindness have the same capacity to lift hearts – such as a helping hand, a warm smile, your simple presence, a word of encouragement!
We know that joy and kindness are linked along with the other fruit of the Spirit including love, joy, peace, patience and kindness! It’s all about bringing our Lord’s joy to us.
Marie Kondo has influenced a great many people with her approach to sorting and decluttering things by asking the simple, yet profound question, “Does it spark joy?”
That question becomes even more profound when we consider the question, “Do YOU spark joy?” Is joy in other people the consequence of your presence, your words, your actions?
Jesus offered a marvelous word when discussing the significance of keeping his commands, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” John 15:11
How marvelous to think that the infinite joy of Jesus is to live in you and that the result is that your joy may abound, be complete and full!
One of the simplest ways to impart joy is to speak of it! Speak of joy when you are with someone and especially when you end a conversation. Instead of saying goodbye or see you, say, “I wish you joy!” or “Joy to you!”
May your good words encourage the joy of the people in your life.
What kind of pressure do you find yourself under today? Pressure from situations with your home, health, work, finances?
So many people are suffering the after-effects of Hurricane Ida, wildfires and constraints caused by the pandemic, it’s common to feel, “I’m so over it,” and want to escape!
We find ourselves returning to the marvelous New Testament word, hupomone (pronounced hoop-o-mown-ay). The prefix hupo means “under” and the verb mone means “remain.” Literally, hupomone means to “remain under," thus to endure.
The ideas is that as we experience pressure in life and want to get away from some situations, instead we choose to “remain under” the pressure – that is to endure and bring God's grace into the situation. We may think our capacity to endure comes from a positive attitude or the strength of our will, however Romans 12 shows us the way: let us run with endurance (hupomone) the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Look to Jesus and find strength through the power of positive trusting in the Lord who loves you “...that through endurance (hupomome) and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4
The wonderful Hebrew word hineni means, “Here I am.” It's more than simply "being here," it's being fully present to you. When God called Samuel, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, all of them replied, hineni, here I am! Hineni is, "I am here with you at the deepest level, yours, ready to run with you."
Darlene Zschech has shared that hineni could mean, “My answer is yes before you even ask!” What a wonderful way to understand hineni!
If your heart is soft, open fully to the indwelling Lord Jesus who loves and leads you, then when you sense our Lord asking something of you, you will respond, “Here I am – my answer is yes before you even ask!”
One wonderful way be a noticer of oneself is undertake the spiritual exercise known as Examen. Examen is a two-step process of reflection. A great time to do it is at the end of the day. First, reflect on moments of “consolation,” that is moments that encouraged you during the day. Second, reflect on moments of “desolation,” that is moments that discouraged you. As you walk mentally walk through all of those moments, be aware of the presence of the Lord who said, “I am with you, always,” in every moment. Examen is a simple process, yet it is a life-giving way to notice the encouragement of God in your daily life
There are two kinds of travelers, the collectors and the noticers.
A collector has to see everything: every point of interest, every special site, every museum and every exhibit. They rush through countless sights “collecting” them, in essence taking a quick picture, checking off the sight-seeing list and moving on.
A noticer notices, takes the time to observe and to reflect, is not in a hurry and makes no effort to “see it all.” The noticer wants to see and to see deeply. You may be a collector as you rush along trying to pack everything into your life because of FUMO (Fear of Missing Out). You may be a noticer like Jesus, who at times had a lot going on, yet who takes the time to look and to see what actually is going on around you and especially in the lives of the people in your world. Noticing is at the very heart of encouragement! When we “notice” people and respond by encouraging them, we have the “people eyes” of Jesus, seeing people through the eyes of Jesus and responding as he responds. Ask the Lord who notices and loves you to open your eyes and help you be a noticer too.
It’s easy to go through life staring at a computer or a smart phone or a desk or a road or to be so preoccupied with various matters that we literally do not see the glory of our Lord around us – in the beauty of nature and in the people around us! Wake up! See the beauty around you, share that beauty with others, and together know the presence of the Lord who loves you! “For the beauty of the earth, For the Glory of the skies, For the love which from our birth over and around us lies: Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our joyful hymn of grateful praise.” Folliott S. Pierpoint
In the midst of a horrendous week, with deadlines pressing, and uptight people pushing, it is easy to become overwhelmed. In these situations reach out to the God who loves you and find your center. Do you have a “still center” in the midst of your whirlwind of pressing demands and mind-absorbing activities? A wonderful way to find this center is to spend some time reflecting and meditating on the words of this marvelous Psalm, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
A common English euphemism when speaking of a person who has died is to say that he or she has, “passed away.” Using that expression, though, hides the reality of death. It is more simple and true to just say he or she died. People don't “pass away;” they die.
Acknowledging this truth and naming the loss is what grief is all about. However, grief for the Christian is not a hopeless grief because of the genuine confidence about the future that Easter brings. “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” I Thessalonians 4:13” “I am the resurrection and the life [says Jesus]. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26 I do! Hallelujah! I pray you do, too!
There are “Jesus Moments” in our lives when we become aware of the presence and love of Jesus and are moved to trust him as our Lord. Two such dramatic moments in scripture involve Peter and Jesus, himself. The first of them occurs when Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” It’s Peter’s “Jesus Moment.” The second moment occurs when Jesus is in the courtyard of Caiaphas the high priest. Caiaphas puts the question straight to Jesus, “Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” You realize instantly its “show time”, no dress rehearsal, this was Jesus’ own Jesus Moment. This was not a moment to work a miracle or offer some new brilliant teaching. This was Jesus’ moment to confess himself as Lord and Messiah! When Jesus invites us to confess him as Lord, he asks of us what was asked of him! It is a Jesus Moment when we confess Jesus as our Lord! As we move through Palm Sunday and into Holy Week and the joy of Easter, may joy be yours as you affirm Jesus is your Lord, in your own “Jesus Moment!”
With all of the uncertainty and anxiety of these days, it is easy to lose sight of our real source of a future and a hope.
The minor prophet Habakkuk offers a wonderful word for our present day:
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, YET I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:17-18
Yet combines the ideas of “at this time and nevertheless.” So, if at this time it’s raining while nevertheless the clouds are parting, we would say, “It’s raining, YET, the clouds are parting!
Yet is a wonderful word of hope! God is a “yet” God and we are a “yet” people. When life is challenging, remember the yet! Yet offers the word of faith that affirms our Lord’s care even when life “at this time” seems uncertain.
In the midst of the unknowns and anxieties in your life, trust yourself to the God who loves you.
Eye-opening moments are life-changing moments!
The Lord who loves us loves to open our eyes! “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.” Psalm 119:18*
There are many matters in life for which we may appeal to God to have our eyes opened!
- Open my eyes, Lord, to see your wonderful works of love, presence, and power in my own life and in the lives of others.
- Open my eyes, Lord, to see the downtrodden, the weary and the suffering - those who are harassed and helpless and in need of a shepherd.
- Open my eyes, Lord, to see the people you have put into my life whom I am to encourage with the word of faith and the deed of compassion.
- Open my eyes, Lord, to see my true motives and the true motives of others.
- Open my eyes, Lord, to see the task to which you call me this day.
- Open my eyes, Lord, to see what you want to give to me and receive from me now.
When we pray these prayers for “illumination,” we may also pray for illumination for other people. Ask God to open their eyes - not to what you want them to see - but to what our Lord wants them to see.
There is something our Lord wants to give to you and something he wants to receive from you that can only be given and received at this very moment – now! There is something you may give to the next person you speak to – a word of encouragement - a word of counsel - a word of faith and something you may receive from that person that can never be given and received again. Become aware that “now” means now!
When life is busy it’s easy to be so caught up in coping that you lose sight of what our Lord and the people in your life have to offer you now – and you to offer them!
Think about Jesus and the woman at the well. Jesus was tired, perhaps not in the mood to talk with her or with Nicodemus who also interrupts him. Yet, life changing words were spoken because Jesus was alert to them in the now of the moment.
When you receive a “nudge” from the Spirit of God to call this person or affirm that person, to offer something to someone or follow through with a person, then be alert to the moment, the “now,” and do it! Be alert for ways to encourage others in your every "now."
A 30-day prayer covenant is a wonderful way in which you and another person may pray an agreed upon prayer for one another for a month. It is a great way to encourage one another in the faith. There have been many times in my life in which praying for the grace to commit my life to Jesus and for his strength and guidance was all I knew to pray or even was able to pray – and our Lord has always graciously answered. It is a wonderful prayer to use with a prayer covenant partner. Lead the people in your small group, ministry team, or committee to pair up with prayer covenants! You all will be encouraged.
The late Sam Shoemaker concluded in his poem “An Apologia for My Life:”
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place, near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there. But not so far from people as not to hear them, and remember they are there too.
Where? Outside the door—thousands of them, millions of them. But—more important for me—one of them, two of them, ten of them, whose hands I am intended to put on the latch, so I shall stay by the door and wait for those who seek it.
I had rather be a door-keeper . . . So I stay near the door.
I once attended a city-wide prayer gathering and heard the preacher, Joseph Garlington, ask a life-challenging, life-changing question: Would you rather be right or reconciled?
Would you rather stand your position, your convictions and your pain or would you rather be reconciled? That can be a very challenging question in our day! It’s becoming increasingly common for us on all sides of an issue or a situation to buy into a culture of contempt. It’s always easier to criticize than to advance and resolve. This isn’t a question of abandoning your viewpoints or ignoring your pain, but it is a question of how you go about valuing people and looking for a path to reconciliation, of showing respect even when you differ from them. How might you go about sustaining or repairing relationships without sacrificing what you hold to be true?“ God, being rich in mercy… made us alive together with Christ.” In mercy, our Lord has withheld penalty we deserve and offers reconciliation. Will you be a person of mercy?
Consider the differences between friendliness and hospitality. Friendliness shows warm interest and goodwill to another person. Hospitality is the welcome reception of a guest. Friendliness asks, “How are you? What’s happening?” Then, “See you around.!” Hospitality asks an entirely different question, “Will you come into my life?” You can be friendly without being hospitable! You can be warm and pleasant in a conversation in church, shopping mall, or office, but have no intent of actually including that person in your personal life. Hospitality goes beyond friendliness to friendship, it starts in the heart - and opens a door into your life!"
Years ago, Harry Fifield, the then pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, told the New Testament story of the woman, who after suffering for many years, approached Jesus through a crowd. Upon touching his cloak, immediately she was healed.
Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” She fell at his feet and Jesus, speaking through her anxiety, told her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” Mark 5:34*
Harry let that sink in and then asked a question that changed my life and continues to speak to my heart, “Are you crowding Jesus or touching him?”
Are you one among the crowd, consumed by busyness, merely chatting with your friends, or are you touching Jesus – connecting to the life-changing Jesus by means of your trust in and following of Jesus?
This is a key questions that will help you remain centered on the Lord who loves you.
Dear Friend,
I love the famous encounter between Jesus and a paralytic:
“Then they came, bringing to Jesus a paralytic carried by four of men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.When Jesus saw their faith…,” he forgave the paralytic and healed him! Mark 2:3-5*
It was my teacher, Chuck Miller, who opened my eyes to this text when he asked the simple question, “Who are the stretcher-bearers in your life?”
Who are the people – when you are down – physically, emotionally, and spiritually or in any other way – who carry you into the presence of Jesus? Who will stop at nothing to lift you up? Whose faith Jesus sees – not even glancing at your own faith or lack of it in the moment – and raises you up?
For whom are you a stretcher-bearer? Perhaps you are “on a roof” that is separated from the person you care about – yet you are entrusting that person to the Lord who loves.
Thank God for the stretcher-bearers in your life and with your “people eyes,” the eyes of Jesus for people, offer yourself as a stretcher-bearer who carries others to the Lord who loves them.
Joy to you -- E. Stanley Ott
© Copyright 2020 E. Stanley Ott
This morning I enjoyed a conversation that was delightful. It warmed my spirit and left me feeling good. Directly afterwards I read an email that was completely annoying!
Life is full of such moments in which we hardly know what we are feeling, although I have to admit the bummer email tended to overshadow the upbeat conversation.
The concept of spirituality in our day is increasingly linked to the emotional, to the visceral, to what we are feeling. In the upbeat moment we may “feel” God’s presence and we enjoy an experiential sense of God’s love. In the downbeat moment we may “sense” God’s presence standing with us in our suffering, although some of us may have the opposite reaction and “feel” God’s absence.
We are feeling creatures, something our Lord understands very well. The Apostle Paul offered a wonderful word to us whose emotions can move up and down every other second. He puts it simply, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” II Corinthians 5:7* True spirituality is based on our trust in the Lord who loves us and not on our feelings in the moment by moment circumstances of our lives.
I love that! Our relationship with God comes out of trust, of faith, of relying on Jesus!
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Trust God; trust also in me.” - Jesus
Joy to you -- E. Stanley Ott
“And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” Luke 2:18-19
The people wondered but Mary treasured.
There is a time to wonder at the acts of God, a time to stand in awe. When God goes something special in the world around you, it is appropriate to “wonder”, to praise God for these works of wonder. Yet, Mary went beyond wondering, beyond the amazement and joy of the moment. Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. To treasure something is treat it as precious, to keep it in a safe place. To treasure something is to make that something or someone central to life. Your Christmas treasures are your memories of God’s gracious works in your life: and in particular your understanding, following and experiences of Jesus. Know that Jesus Christ, born a babe, now stands with us in all of life in His risen power so that we may trust him, love him and be loved by him.
Awe is an awesome word! It marvelously combines amazement and wonder with a sense of overwhelming respect. When you feel awe you are aware of the wow!
“And all who heard it (about the angels appearing to the Shepherds) were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” Luke 2:18* They were aware of the wow! Perhaps “awe” understates their experience!
After they saw the baby and spread the word, “all were amazed!” Awe! Wow! To be with Jesus is to experience awe: “The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things.” Luke 1:65 “Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, 'We have seen remarkable things today.'” Luke 5:26 “They were all filled with awe and praised God.
Busy lives, daily pressures and personal anxieties can easily diminish our sense of awe! Jesus Christ is literally “awesome” and worthy of our awe. Make a mental adjustment, be aware of the wow, of the awesome presence of our Lord and his love for you.
Rejoice in the majesty and miracle of Jesus Christ and be aware of the wow!
The season before Christmas, known as Advent, is a season of preparation – a time of getting ready.
- Is my/our home decorated?
- Have I/we obtained gifts for Christmas
- Given the pandemic, how will I/we connect with people
Advent is especially the time to prepare our hearts. “Let every heart prepare him room!” Spend some time alone this busy season. Prepare yourself, get ready, to open your heart more widely to Jesus. Focus your mind on this Lord who loves you. Acknowledge and confess your sin and rely on our Lord’s forgiveness and cleansing. Formally offer room in your heart to him.
Make worship with God’s people a priority. Allow the joyful music of the season and the power of our Lord’s Word to speak to your deepest heart – and share that heart with the Lord who shares his heart with you!
Mealtime today is often an interruption between Activity A and Activity B. For Jesus, meal time was an Activity A, indeed, Jesus often ate with his disciples.
“So, they gave a dinner [deipnon] for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.” John 12:2*
The Greek word deipnon is translated feast, banquet, supper, dinner, an sometimes as “the lingering meal.”
The deipnon was the main meal of the day and not just inserted between activities, it was one of “the” activities.
Deipnon meant three things: food, conversation, and lingering – and the food was secondary. The primary function of the deipnon was to talk – to be “with” one another - to speak of what was happening in your lives and in the world around you.
Furthermore, when we eat with fellow followers of Jesus, he joins us, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." Matthew 18:20
There are few more effective and delightful ways to grow relationships and to build people than to enjoy a deipnon, a shared meal, a lingering meal with:
- anyone who lives in your home on a daily basis.
- with those who are already dear friends of your heart.
- with those whom you would like to grow deeper in friendship.
Make the lingering meal a regular part of your busy life!
Grace is a marvelous concept. When we speak of the grace of God, we refer to the undeserved gift of blessing given to us by Jesus, and that is huge! You and I have the opportunity to offer many little graces to people, blessings we freely offer that our Lord uses greatly to encourage others. The apostle Paul was once rescued by being lowered over a wall in a basket. Whoever gave the gift of that basket offered a little grace with a large life-giving result. A boy offered five small loaves of bread and two fish to Jesus, a little grace with a marvelous blessing. Is there a phone call or a Zoom conversation or a text to send that would encourage someone you know? Is there something you may do for them.? Your act of offering a little grace multiplied by the hand of God will greatly encourage someone in your life!
Acts 27 describes an incredible storm that for two weeks violently shook the ship on which the apostle Paul was a passenger. After hanging on for dear life the crew watched as Paul calmly, “took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves.” Acts 27:35-36
Reading this story reminds me of three steps to take when facing times of uncertainty: Pray, Work, and Wait.
First, pray. Speak directly to our Lord explaining the situation, the concerns you have and the hopes you embrace. Our Lord always listens to us.
Second, work. God has given you certain capabilities, skills and gifts and an array of people around you. Do what in your God-given power you can do and link up with the supportive fellowship in your life.
Third, wait. Waiting on God is never a blind resignation to the idea that what will be will be. It is always the creative dependence of God’s people on the Lord who loves them knowing that in waiting we are trusting God to be directly involved in our lives.
So, in whatever uncertainty you face this day, pray about it, work as you are able to resolve what you can resolve, and wait upon the Lord!
Late one afternoon I was jogging around a high school track and let’s just say I wasn’t exactly flying around that oval. On the other side of the track the high school track coach was working with one student. I could hear the coach holler to his runner:
Lift those knees!
Square your shoulders!
Lengthen your stride!
Pick up your pace!
I suddenly realized I was flying around the track at a terrific rate of speed (for me)!
I’d squared my own shoulders, was lifting my knees and stepping higher, lengthening my stride and picking up my pace. The voice of the coach prodded me into action!
The voice of the Spirit of the God is prodding you in a similar way:
“Lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees.” Hebrews 12:12
“Seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden.” Matthew 11:28
May you hear the voice of the Spirit prodding you to draw near to the Lord who loves you dearly and who has already drawn near to you!
Joy to you -- E. Stanley Ott
In the Bible, there is the story of Jesus in a boat with his disciples when a great storm erupts on the scene, and Jesus is sound asleep. The disciples wake him up, he calms the storm and the lesson often taken from this is to remember Jesus is in your boat!
There is another way to think about this, suggested by the wonderful Psalm 46, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Suddenly it hits you, Jesus isn’t just “in” your boat, my boat or our boat, Jesus IS THE BOAT! The refuge, strength and help of our lives.
Given whatever is going on in your life today, know that more than being in your “boat,” Jesus is your boat and you may entrust yourself to his love and power!
Many of us could use a word of encouragement these days when there are so many matters that drain the spirit.
One powerful source of refreshment is the people our Lord has put into our lives. We see this wonderfully illustrated over and over again in Scripture.
Stephanas, Forunatus and Achaicus, “refreshed my spirit and yours also.” 1 Corinthians 16:18
“We were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you.” 2 Corinthians 7:13
“May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.” 2 Timothy 1:16
“Your love [Philemon] has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.” Philemon 1:7
Who are the people refreshers in your life whose words and works bring restoration to your spirit? Thank them because your words of thanks will refresh their spirits, too!
Be a people refresher! In accord with Philemon 1:7, may the members of your family, co-workers and friends say of you, “You refresh our hearts!
May you be a refreshing friend who is in turn refreshed by our Lord and others. Joy to you -- E. Stanley Ott
In these days in which so many people feel on edge, it’s helpful to know the Quakers have an interesting and very useful expression, to center down. To center down is to create still moments in your life and reconnect with the presence of God and be refreshed.
One of the things that amazes me about Jesus Christ is that whether he was surrounded by pressing people or in a boat careening in a raging storm, there was always a centered-ness about him, a still center within him.
To center down, you must first create still moments, some quiet moments in your life. Get alone, read Scripture, pray. Bob Oerter who was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Boulder, Colorado many years ago, was speaking to a group of us who were all crazy busy when he said, “Learn to live with the load of the unfinished!” That good word stunned us and I have returned to it many times. You will always have a “do-list,” so learn to stop, to “center down” and be refreshed by your Lord!
Bob reminded me that the real issue isn’t my “do-list” but being centered on the Lord who loves us. To center down is to practice Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God!” Center down by setting aside a few moments in your life to focus on the presence of God, to listen, to read the Bible and to pray about the matters on your heart. Decide now to make this a daily practice and when and where you will do it.
One of the phrases you will hear during the game of football is, “in the grasp.” A referee calls this when the quarterback is in the embrace of another player.
It reminds me of William Barclay’s wonderful translation of Philippians 3:12, “I seek to grasp that for which I have been grasped by Jesus Christ.” You and I are “in the grasp” of Jesus Christ, his powerful loving embrace is holding us tightly, not letting us go.
Jesus said, “No one can snatch them [his sheep] out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. John 10:28-29.
When you look to Jesus you are in the loving grasp of the hand of the Son of God and in turn embraced by the hug of our loving God that says, “I am never going to let you go. I love you.”
There is a lot of coping going on these days.
Parents coping with their children’s education, often while working themselves. Teachers coping with both online and in-person classes. Business people coping with pandemic guidelines and on and on.
A lot of that coping is irritating and exhausting while some of it is debilitating and devasting. If you feel like quitting when you are exhausted or frustrated, Scripture speaks:
"Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, 'Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God… will come and save you.'" Isaiah 35:3 ESV
“Therefore, lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees.” Hebrews 12:12
The English idiom puts it simply, “Buck up little camper!”
Indeed buck up for the Lord is with you!
“Encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.” I Thessalonians 5:14
A pod is a life-sustaining vessel or group that nurtures those within it and sends them to serve. “Pods with a purpose” give us a way to sustain personal connections, minimize attrition, grow discipleship and send people to serve.Pods are “face groups,” small enough for people to face one another, whether in-person or online using platforms like Zoom.
A pod face group gives you a way to know more deeply the Lord who loves you, to grow friendships and to send each other to serve in the world God gives us. Pods enable you, to quote Sam Shoemaker, to “get together, get changed and get going!”
The website www.pod-church.com offers detailed “how-to” information that will help you form your own pod and help your congregations form many pods with a purpose!
Noted scholar Dale Bruner describes the disciples when they realize Jesus has asked them to feed a huge crowd and all they have are five loaves of bread and two fish this way: “The disciples think they have ‘nothing here’ except these seven items. But they are counting only the realities that impress them, not the Reality that should impress them the most. Disciples should always count to eight.”
Jesus works with what you bring to him beginning with your own life. In whatever situation you are in, be alert to your equivalent of the five loaves and two fish, offer them to Jesus, count to eight and trust him.
There is a simple Hebrew word “hineni,” (he-ney-nee) that means, “Here I am.” It means, “I am fully present to you. How may I serve you today?”
God called to Abraham and he replied, “Hineni - Here I am, Lord.” Genesis. 22:1
God called Jacob and he replied, “Hineni - Here I am, Lord.” Genesis. 31:11
God called Moses and he replied, “Hineni - Here I am, Lord.” Exodus. 3:4
God asked of Isaiah, “Whom shall I send?” he replied, “Here I am, send me!” Isaiah 6:8
Being fully present and willing to serve is a really big deal to God and to God’s people!
Think of the times you have found yourself with someone who went on to have a great impact on your life or you a great impact on his or her life. That’s “positioning!”
Positioning is the process by which God puts people into your life through no decision, forethought, choice or plan of your own for reasons of God’s own, to encourage you or them.
As you find yourself people positioned with people in a store or a doctor’s office or at a social or in your neighborhood, be alert to the ministry moment, how God may encourage you or the others who are there.
There have long been rhythm’s and routines in the spiritual life. Think of the annual festivals of the Hebrew people, the annual practice of the Seder at Passover, the weekly practice of Sabbath and in the Christian experience, the weekly practice of worship.
Theologian Elton Trueblood knew there are some things we do every day. Think about the rhythms and routines of your daily life right now – such as bathroom habits, meals, television shows and social media. Ask yourself, do you have daily routines that build your life on a foundation?
One such routine is our daily engagement with scripture. Elton’s recommended practice of reading a Psalm a day along with a chapter of the Old and New Testaments is both do-able and modify-able according to your own situation.
David certainly understood the significance of such daily rhythm, “I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.” Psalm 145:1-2
Elton Trueblood, a well published theologian, recommended the reading of a Psalm every day and along with it, a chapter of the Old and New Testaments.
There are many kinds of Psalms, yet each kind has a way of reminding us that our Lord is the God who loves, forgives, redeems and restores. Try this practice of reading a Psalm and a chapter of the Old and New Testaments each day. Even if you miss occasional days, you will discover a new freshness in your life with the God who loves you!
There are many moments in our lives: joyful moments, exciting moments, sorrowful, memorable and defining moments. Consider the concept of the “ministry moment.”
Jesus connected with people countless times in brief encounters that changed their lives forever. Such meetings were ministry moments. Think of his call to Peter to follow him, his healing of blind Bartimaeus, and his conversation with the woman at the well.
Ministry moments are the interactions of normal every day life in which the Lord living in you wants to encourage others through you where you are.
Elton Trueblood, the great Quaker theologian, liked to quote mathematician and inventor Archimedes who lived some two hundred and fifty years before Jesus was born. Archimedes was discussing the use of a lever and said, “Give me a place to stand and I can move the whole world.”
Trueblood then quoted the Apostle Paul, “Now I would remind you, brothers,[a] of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand.” I Corinthians 15:1
The key to life-changing, life-sustaining experience is having the right place to stand. Paul is telling us that the good news about Jesus and his resurrection, indeed Jesus himself, is that place to stand.
One of most beautiful things written about speech is in the Book of Proverbs: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” Proverbs 25:11
To say the right word, the helpful word, the encouraging, correcting, guiding, blessing word, is like apples of gold set forth in a stunning and beautiful way.
Our words matter, especially when the right word is said in the right way (inflection and tone of voice) and in the right moment.
Reflect for a moment on the nature of your own speech. Do your words reveal you to be a blesser, builder, encourager, teacher, counselor, consoler and friend? OR Do your words show you disliking, disassociating with and demeaning those you disagree with?
Allow the Holy Spirit to be the Master of your tongue so that what you say, when you say it, and how you say it may build people and honor your Lord like apples of gold in a setting of silver.
When a divisive spirit is abroad in the land, we need voices that can point the way to hope and healing.
Jesus said, “Love one another” John 13:34 and the Apostle Paul, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” I Thessalonians 5:11.
The next time you speak to someone, or post something on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or some other platform, ask yourself, “Do my words affirm or divide? Even if we differ in points of view, do I grant to the other person love, dignity and respect?” “Lord, may the words of our mouths and the actions of our hearts value people, the very people you have created in your own image. Amen.”
Pastor Chuck Miller taught that "people eyes" are the God given capacity of being aware of other people and their needs and focusing on them. People eyes are the eyes of Jesus for people.
It is so easy to be "people blind" and to be unaware of others around you.The comfort of being "inside" some group or fellowship or circle of friendship lulls us into being blind to those who are “outside.” This is not deliberate exclusion. We just do not see them.
We may be friendly to them, saying, "Hi, how are you? What's happening?" yet, through people blindness, we fail to practice hospitality or respond to their needs.
When you are with other people, at home, work, church, community, whether physically together or together online, ask Jesus Christ to give you his eyes for people – people eyes – to see people as he sees them, with love.
We are always on the edge of adventure. Every day and every challenge for we who follow Jesus Christ is our opportunity to say, “Let us take the adventure the Lord has for us!”
We may think of life’s adventures as the adventures of external circumstance, whether raising a child, coping with a job, traveling to a distant place, or responding to an illness or a pandemic.
However, the ultimate adventure for which we have been created is the interior adventure of the soul, trusting God the midst of every moment and detail of our lives.
Oswald Chambers famous devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, was based on his lectures and talks that his wife, Gertrude Hobbs, transcribed and published after his death. It has never gone out of print!
Utmost means, “to the highest degree” and “to the greatest extent possible.” When you give your utmost, you give your all. Utmost is pedal to the metal, flat out, all out, full tilt, to the max. When you give your utmost to anything, there is nothing left. You are spent!
While this idea of offering our Lord everything we have is wonderful, the giving of our all, we also know that in order to be expendable we must also be renewable! Jesus took care of himself. He spent time in prayer. He spent time with people who refreshed him. He spent time on retreat. So should we!
The Greek for "with God" is "pros ton theon" which is more literally translated "toward the God," that is facing God. So, the Word, Jesus, was "with" God in the sense of being in face-to-face relationship with God.
What a wonderful picture of Jesus and his Abba, his Father, face-to-face, loving one another, enjoying one another, communicating with one another. They share an incredibly intimate, loving, wonderful, and ongoing relationship.
We who put our trust in Jesus are literally "in Christ" and have the privilege and joy of facing the Father with Jesus in intimacy and love.
The summer Olympics have been postponed a year. Hopefully, next year we will watch thrilling relay races in which the runners on each team pass their batons to their teammates.
So many of the essential truths of our lives and certainly of the Christian faith are transferable concepts, “batons” each of us has received from others and that we are to pass on to still others. Pastor and teacher Chuck Miller once said, “Discipling (encouraging others to grow as followers of Jesus) is reproducing in others what the Spirit of God is producing in you and enabling them to pass it to a third generation.
What is God producing in your life? Your knowledge and your experiences of Jesus and his love for you are "batons" you may pass on to others!
One of my favorite New Testament words is "paraclete" – someone who comes alongside to help – help us cope, help us get through whatever we are going through.
The term paraclete describes the very character of God.
God the Father is our Paraclete – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort [paraclete].” II Corinthians 1:3*
Jesus the Son is our Paraclete – “…if anyone does sin, we have an advocate [paraclete] with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” I John 2:1
The Holy Spirit is our Paraclete – “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper[paraclete], to be with you forever.” John 14:16
The whole Trinity is our Paraclete – who loves to come alongside us – to help us.
In the same way, you and I are sent to be paracletes to the people in our lives – sent to come alongside them to offer help, encouragement, and presence.
To whom is God sending you? How can you be a more effective paraclete for them? Remember, the key to care is “be there” and your words can put people on their feet!
Do your words lift the spirit or crush the spirit? Or just “lie there,” neither encouraging nor discouraging? Your words, both the words themselves and how you speak them, your tone of voice, have tremendous power. Someone once said, “Our God created the world with a word and you create your world with your words.” And indeed, you do! I love the words that Job’s friend Eliphaz spoke to Job: “Your words have put stumbling people on their feet.” Job 4:4 Think of it! Your words can put people on their feet – or knock them off their feet. Decide that you will be known as a person whose words put people on their feet.
There is incredibly great news in these days of the COVID-19 coronavirus when we are very aware of the reality of death. There is real resurrection! Jesus Christ is alive. He is not merely alive in our memories, not only alive in our writings, not simply alive in some symbolic or mystical sense. He is literally alive --in every sense of the word -- and he offers his life to you: "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:11 Entrust your life to Jesus and receive the promise of his resurrection for you! Jesus Christ is risen today! Alleluia!
In the story of Palm Sunday we read, “... Jesus sent two of his disciples, and said to them, 'Go to the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied there... Untie it and bring it.' Mark 11:1-2 Jesus sent his disciples on a mission to serve him. He still does. The verb “to send” is a key word in the Bible. It is clearly describes a major dimension of the ministry of Jesus who was sent by God and who now sends us: "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." John 20:21
Perhaps you are feeling “chained down,” in some part of your life – stuck, overwhelmed, even bored. That’s likely true of just about all of us in one form or another because of the coronavirus outbreak. No matter what happens in your life, no matter how bound up, boxed in, or overwhelmed you may be, the word of God is unbound, unchained, sent by God to bring life to your life and encourage others through you.
In these days of being chained, make it a daily practice to read a portion of the Bible and allow God’s word, the one true unchained melody, to refresh your heart!
There is a lot of pressure on our lives today, what with fears of the coronavirus and the countless concerns we are tending!
A good word from the Bible is, “Hang in there!”, which is the essential meaning of the New Testament word hupomone (pronounced hoop-o-mown-ay).
Hupomone is actually composed of two words. The prefix hupo means “under” and the verb mone means“remain.” Literally, hupomone means to “remain under.”
You find yourself under pressure. You have concerns about the coronavirus or a loved one or to do with your or work. The greater the pressure pushes down, the greater your desire to get out from under it, to be done with it, to escape it. However, inspired by your trust in Jesus Christ and the encouragement you receive from the Scriptures, you “remain under” the situation, seeing it through, remaining faithful to our Lord, trusting in the power and presence of God. That’s hupomone!
Do you permit anxiety to silence you when you have the opportunity to speak warmly of the reality of God and of the person of Jesus Christ? Remember that we are called to be bold! So speak up and share words of witness to our Lord when God gives you the clear opportunity to do so. Bold doesn’t mean overbearing or pushy. It’s simply having the courage speak warmly and be an encouragement to the person you are speaking to.
While the Season of Lent is a reflective time to consider our Lord’s sacrifice for us and the vitality of our own discipleship, it is also a time to re-discover the passion and love our Lord has for us today. You could think of the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter as a cheerless time, a time of“giving up” something for 40 days, but many have seen Lent as a time to take on something… to take on a fresh seeking of the Lord or to acknowledge that one's spiritual life can feel run down just like everyday life. So this Spring consider refreshing your relationship with my Lord.
This week we begin the spring season of the church year known as Lent which ends with Easter. The Carpenter’s used to sing, “Love is Surrender,” and Lent is a wonderful time to surrender deeply to the love and will of the Lord who loves you! I encourage you to travel the days of Lent this year in a spirit of surrender to the Lord who loves you.
God’s word is soul food and is essential for our spiritual well-being.Consider Vitamin C -- your body doesn’t store it up. You need a constant intake of Vitamin C for health. The sailors of old learned to take citrus fruits like oranges, lemons and limes on their trips so they wouldn’t be afflicted with scurvy which comes of Vitamin C deficiency. In a similar way, we can experience a word of God deficiency if we aren’t constantly taking it into our hearts and minds, trusting it to do its wonderful work in our lives.
When you pray for others, what do you pray for? Make a prayer shift. In addition to praying for people’s “well-being” needs, also pray for their growing discipleship – for their growing relationship with Jesus and their knowledge of God and for their growing experience of faith, hope, and love.Taken all together, you are praying for their encouragement and joy as we are all called to encourage one another!
Showing up in the midst of someone's pain, grief, or struggle is a meaningful way of being an encouragement to them. You do not have to say much; simply being present with a hug and an "I love you" is enough.
Every gathering is unique, and God can do something uniquely different every time we gather together.
For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead - Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10
In the coming new year, let us turn away from idols, serve the living God, and wait for Jesus.
God has given us such a wonderful capacity to anticipate, to look forward to what is to come, to experience the anticipation that comes with faith.
It is true that anticipation can be a negative experience when we yield to various fears and anxieties. Yet, anticipation can also be an amazingly positive experience.
Our Lord invites us to shift our anticipation to what God is doing and to find peace. Do not be anxious about anything ;but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians4:6-7
Advent is the season of expectation as we look forward to the joy of Christmas. What are you expecting to happen in the next few days?
Our Lord made promises that run counter to our experience so that we would trust in Him for our future and not in our own experience.
Center your expectation on the promises of God. Our Lord loves you and will bring his promises to pass in your life.“For all of the promises of God find their Yes in him [Jesus].” 2 Corinthians 1:20
The Christmas season is a wonderful time to welcome people into your life. My friend speaks of hospitality as “making room for love!” What a wonderful way to express it!
Hospitality involves reaching out and drawing in: Reaching out with the invitation that says, “Come.” Drawing in with “Welcome, I’m glad you’re here.” Both steps make room for love.
The New Testament frequently reserves the word “pursue” for matters of great consequence such as pursue love and pursue peace. It comes as no surprise that we are, “to pursue hospitality!” Our Lord has made room for love for you and you also may make room for love.
Consider these words from the famous Psalm103: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” Ps. 103:2
Basic to the practice of giving thanks is the practice of remembering, of recalling God's many benefits in your life and in the lives of others. This Thanksgiving, take the time to remember God's benefits to you.
A great way to do this is by sharing your thanks during the Thanksgiving meal by using the letters P. E. T. – People, Events, and Things.
Remember:
The People God placed in your life to bless you and to build you. The Events in your life in which God has encouraged you. The Things in your life that God has given you to help you and delight you.
Especially remember God’s incredible love and affection for you – and give thanks. “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High.” Psalm 92:1
Sometimes we speak of seekers and believers – the seeker who seeks and finds God through faith in Jesus and in so doing becomes the believer. While this is true enough, we know the most vital believers never stop seeking.It is remarkably easy for believers to become “passive receivers” and to forget to remain seekers, to become “busy” at church yet slowly grow out of touch with their Lord. Passive receivers sit in pews listening to sermons and songs – perhaps reading books about other people’s experiences of God – but without experiencing a vital growing relationship with God themselves. Our Lord does want us to “receive,” but imagine how much more you will receive when you are active rather than passive – actively pushing to receive and to grow and to know God.
The Apostle Paul’s New Testament letters typically begin with, “Grace to you” and they often end with, “Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” Grace at the beginning. Grace at the end. Trust God’s grace when you begin anything. Thank God for God’s grace at the end. Grace simply means “God’s gift” – God’s gift of love, mercy, forgiveness, and help. When you begin something – a project, a job, a relationship, a service, even the beginning of the rest of your life, entrust yourself and others to the grace of God. When you come to the end of something – a job, a course of study, a relationship, even the end of your life on earth, thank God for all God’s grace did to and through you! Grace at the beginning and grace at the end – trust at the beginning and thanks at the end. Rejoice in the grace that comes in the beginning and stays ‘til the end.
Some people think the story about the importune neighbor (Luke 11:1-13) is story is simply about persistence – that we have to get our God’s attention with repeated prayers even though God is an incredibly attentive and loving Father. Another way to think about this story is to look at the boldness, the shameless audacity (NIV) of the one who asks. Whatever your need, whatever burden you bear, whatever you carry within your soul, “Be Bold,”and freely approach your heavenly Lord. God loves you and through Jesus Christ is always thinking lovingly about you!
Jesus Christ enjoyed spending time among crowds of people.
He loved the “many” as they came to him.
As people flow into your life one by one or in the midst of crowds, extend the compassion of Jesus Christ to them.
At the same time that Jesus loved the many, he also focused on a few.To these few, Jesus gave extra time and attention seeking to grow in friendship and to develop them in discipleship.
To model the ministry of Jesus means we, too, must focus on a few, no matter how many our many may be.
When you face uncertainty, where or to whom do you turn for wisdom?
Wisdom is our God-given help for decision making in light of uncertainty.Why in uncertainty? Because if life was certain, you wouldn’t need wisdom.
You and I face countless situations in which the way forward is not clear or discerning our best choice among multiples options seems muddled to us. There are of course, many sources of God given wisdom.The counsel of the Scriptures. The counsel of wise people. The counsel that comes of reading and of life experience. For a delightful encounter with God’s wisdom, just before you go to bed tonight read a chapter of the Book of Proverbs which is called “wisdom literature” in the Bible. In just 31 days, one month, you will discover the entire Book of Wisdom filling your mind with wonderful wisdom.
Following Jesus is first. That means everything else is second.
Peter doesn’t appear fully to get it. On the shore of Galilee, he sees the Apostle John and says, "Lord, what about him?"
We are so like that! Instead of attending to the life God has given us and the demands of followership, we look at others and wonder, “What about them?” which takes our eyes off Jesus!
Sometimes we covet their jobs or health or wealth or relationships. Sometimes we are critical of how they choose to follow Jesus.
Jesus replied, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” John 21:22
“Follow me,”says Jesus! Eyes off of others. Eyes on Jesus.
Have you ever felt “untouchable,”“unlovable”, even “unforgivable?”
“A man with leprosy came to Jesus and begged him on his knees, ‘If you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.” Mark 1:40-42
The leper came to Jesus on his knees. The knees of a disfigured leper can be terribly painful. This leper had humility.
The leper“begged” Jesus. “Beg” is from a word in the Greek language meaning someone who comes alongside to help.
The leper implores Jesus, “Come alongside me and help me.”
Wonderfully,Jesus does just that, actually touching the disfigured “untouchable” leper.
Remember this:Jesus touched the leper and Jesus touches you.
Come to Jesus in humility and faith with the struggles of your own soul and hear his words shouting his grace to you, “I AM WILLING – BE CLEAN.
I love the way King David spoke to his son, Solomon: “Be strong, be of good courage, AND DO IT!” I Chronicles 28:20a KJV
In Solomon’s case, his father David was charging him to build the great temple. The task was daunting and David speaks to strengthen his son. David not only tells Solomon to be courageous and to act, he says why: “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you.“ I Chronicles 28:20b
In your case and mine, there are many tasks the Lord sets before us that appear difficult and formidable. Ours is the God who never ever withdraws his love. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5 The Lord is with you and will not fail you.
So, in whatever challenge, whatever task is facing you… be strong, be of good courage, AND DO IT, whatever “it” is!
The devotional writer Oswald Chambers once offered these wonderful words: “We are to have staying power in the alarm moments of other peoples lives.”
Alarm moments are tough moments, moments that require us to cope and that grip us with fear. They face us with loss and hold us in uncertainty. Staying power is the capacity of hanging in there with someone. It’s the art of “being there, of staying faithful.”
The Hebrew word “hesed”, often translated as kindness, faithfulness or love, may be understood as “I will never withdraw my love from you.” That’s staying power!
If you know someone experiencing an “alarm moment,” be the friend that “sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24) – and keep on sticking as long as the alarm moment lasts!If you are experiencing an alarm moment in your own life, remember the words of Jesus, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” John 14:18
God cares about persons. No matter how large the group may be, our Lord knows every one of us by name. Now, whenever I come across a list of names in Scripture, I read it slowly, focusing on every single name, knowing each name is significant to God.God is focusing on you, loving you, and thinking of you this very moment. God knows your name and loves you more than you love your own next breath!
Guarding the unity of the fellowship is of the highest consequence for every believer and for every person who would respond to our unity by believing in Jesus Christ.
We live in the age of the thin skin. We are easily short-tempered showing little patience for differences of opinion, preferences, and procedures.
The New Testament church used a marvelous word, Makrothumia, which means literally “long-temper,” often translated as “patience.” It is the exact opposite of “short-temper.” I like to understand Makrothumia as meaning “the grace of getting along.”
Think of this “grace of getting along” as the grace of guarding the fellowship. It's restraint in the face of provocation, it’s finding a better way to bridge differences. While working to resolve differences, graciously live with fellow believers.
Practice the love that covers a multitude of annoyances!
You and I are tested frequently as various situations challenge our temper and our character. At times we fail.
Perhaps you are feeling that way today in some aspect of your life. Just like he did for Peter, Jesus is praying for you right now. “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost[a] those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession [pray] for them.” Hebrews7:25.
Whatever you are facing, no matter how irritating, frustrating or devastating, no matter how inclined you may be to turn your back on Jesus, he is standing with you, praying for you, that you may turn to face him and be freed by him.
Washington Irving, born in 1783, the first American to make a full time living as a writer, said: "Great minds have purposes, others have wishes." If you don't have a purpose you just are along for the ride. Yet purposes without plans remain just a wish. Have a purpose, and make a plan to achieve your purpose!
Stormy weather is a part of all of our lives, whether the storm is raging inside you or leaning furiously against you. Are you contending with such a tempest right now? Do you know someone who is?
The Apostle Paul knew that life can be a storm. He loved to say, “Stand firm.” “Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.” 1 Corinthians.16:13
“For we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord.” 1Thessalonians 3:8
While standing firm draws on our deepest strength of will, there are storms that require an even greater source of strength.
Martin Luther wonderfully expressed the key to standing firm and the source of our greatest strength: “…Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing; were not the right Man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same, And he must win the battle.”
It’s difficult to imagine a greater word of encouragement!