AUGUST ABUNDANCE 1 to 10

Steamy summer days, 

Day Lily blooms nearly spent.

Sitting on the back porch in the early hours of the day before the heat chases me inside.

Ripe peaches from the nearby orchard. 

Corn so high that we feel like we are driving through tunnels.

The farmer down the street fills the little store with fresh beans, cantaloupe, tomatoes and so much more . . . fresh picked every morning right there.

Living in farm country has its perks!

August is a time to linger awhile as I chew on words from my daily reading and wonder aloud . . .  then on paper.

 I catch a word or phrase and ponder its impact in my life for a fleeting moment.

Some days I’ll digress but, for the most part, I invite you to wander with me as stories unfold. 

August 1  Daily reading: 2 Sam. 4:1-12; Ps. 71,74; Acts 16:25-40; Mark 7:1-23

2 Samuel 4:1-12   “Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, was 5 years old when Saul and Jonathan were killed. When the nurse fled with him, Mephibosheth fell and became lame.”  This lame grandson of

Saul, the one whom God had anointed to lead the people of Israel, would eventually thrive as the ward of King David.  

It’s interesting that, because Saul abused his calling as King of the Israelites under God’s guidance, God said that no one who descended from Saul would inherit what God had bestowed upon Saul and his kingdom.  Jonathan, Saul’s son, was righteous and like a brother in friendship with King David.  Yet, he died in battle along with his father.  

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob honored Jonathan by saving his son, Mephibosheth from a destitute life.  He lived a life of privilege, wanting for nothing, when he was brought into the household of King David.  God is faithful to the righteous.  Mephibosheth, even though lame for his entire life, knew God’s grace and lived a fruitful life during a period of time when humanity seemed expendable.
 Think about it:  Have you been able to help another who is less fortunate, perhaps by donating to a Christian ministry like World Vision or Compassion International?

August 2  Daily Reading: 2 Samuel 5:1-12; Ps. 69,73; Acts 17:1-15; Mark 7:24-37

2 Samuel 5:3 “All the elders of Israel came to the king of Hebron and King David made a covenant with them

before the Lord at Hebron; then they anointed David king over Israel.  

:6 At Hebron David reigned over Judah 7.5 years and in Jerusalem he reigned 33 years over Judah and Israel. :7 David captured the stronghold of Zion [Jerusalem], that is the City of David. :11 Hiram, King of Tyre, maintained a close relationship with David until the Babylonian rule.  Hiram sent builders and materials to build the House of David.”

At this time in his life, young David was focused on God’s will for his life, was willing to follow God’s path laid out for him and had a deep desire to serve God and the people as King of Israel.  Only under David’s rule were Judah [the southern half] and Israel [the northern half] bound as “One nation under God.”  

We who live with so much freedom in the USA as, “One nation under God,” must work together to keep it so.  Israel was not so fortunate after the rule of David.  They became a divided kingdom.  

Citizens of the USA are blessed with the privilege of the “vote” at local, state and national elections to maintain our freedom as One Nation under God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Voting is not an option but an obligation we must take seriously so that we do not become a ‘divided’ nation but “One nation under God.”  
Think about it: Do make voting a priority in your life?

8-3   2 Sam.5:22—6:11; Ps. 75,23,27; Acts 17:16-34; Mark 8:1-10

Mark 8:1-10    “Four thousand were fed with seven loaves of bread and some fish.  Jesus blessed and gave it to the Disciples to hand out.  After all were full and content, the disciples gathered up seven baskets of leftovers.  Then Jesus got into a boat with the disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.”

Most of us remember the feeding of the 5000 but this is a different story with the same affect.  Jesus received the small portion that was offered from one faith-filled servant of God.  The instant Jesus BLESSED this precious gift of food it was multiplied exponentially with plenty left over.  Jesus was not only showing his divinity so that others would believe in him as ‘God’s only begotten Son,’ but Jesus was also showing future generations, like us, the exponential power of God that we also can tap into.  

Because of His presence within us through the Holy Spirit prayed into us at baptism we Christ-followers have the full power of God:Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to bring exponential blessing to others as our Lord directs.  

Think about it: Is there an instance where you were blessed by being a blessing to another as a result of listening to that quiet Spirit within us?  
 “Go, Bless, BE Blessed.”

8-4  Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

      18th Sunday in Ordinary time.

Hosea 11:1-11 or Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23; 

Psalm 107:1-9,43 or Psalm 49:1-11; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21

Luke 12:13-21  The rich man tore down old barns and built new and bigger places to store his goods . . . his motto was to “Eat, drink be merry”  :20 God said, “This very night your soul is required of you so who will now own what you have prepared?  :21 “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

This story has been relevant since the beginning of time.  Even as the Hebrew people wandered in the desert, some chose to gather and hoard two day’s worth of manna so they would not have to get up early the next day to work so hard for their sustenance.  God allowed this hoarded manna to turn to mold.  However, God said they could take a double portion before the sabbath day so they could have a day of rest.

Why do we hoard?  
Why do we fear not having enough?  
If, indeed, God promises to supply all our needs, why do we demand excess in wants? 

Of course we must save for that ‘rainy day’.  In fact, we

should all have a “comfort bumper” which provides enough to live on for at least ninety days if we lose our job.  That is not hoarding.  That is practicality. 

Hoarding is collecting, beyond reason, whatever pleases us with no regard for others’ needs.  

Think about it:
Each time we make a purchase outside of our budgeted monthly expenses, ask yourself, “Can I give away the same amount I’m spending on this purchase?”  
If so, DO so.  

BTW, did you know that any household of more than one person that owns more than one car is considered the richest 1% in the world?

8-5    2 Samuel 7:1-17; Psalm 80,77; Acts 18:1-11; Mark 8:11-21

2 Samuel 7:1-17  David wanted to build a house for the Ark but God told Nathan [the prophet] that since leaving Egypt He had no ‘house’.  God promised to establish a kingdom after David dies.  :16 “Your House and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; Your thrones shall be established forever.”

And what a promise for us today!  God could not be ‘housed’ in a box like a tabernacle or a temple.  Yet, the Ark of the Covenant, God’s presence, needed a place for God’s people to worship.  Indeed, the Ark was housed according to David’s wish, not God’s.  People needed to know a specific place where God was ‘housed’ ie. the ‘House of God.’

God promised David that his kingdom would endure before God forever.  His earthly kingdom simply passed through 

generations to the full presence of God in Christ Jesus . . .  the kingdom of God.  

We cannot put God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit in a box but we can know that God’s presence resides in those who proclaim Jesus Christ as our salvation.  
Because we who claim Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives are led by the Holy Spirit, God’s presence within us, we are living “temples" of the Lord.

      God IS. . . . beyond our grasp . . .  beyond our imagination.  Yet, God’s forever presence within us is a powerful beacon of light for others to see and learn about our source.  God has no ‘house’ but God has us.  
We are ‘called’ to Go, Show, Be  who God made us to be . . . to draw others into His presence. 

Think about it:  Do we live as if God's presence is only in a church building and can only be visited on Sundays or special feast days?  Think of ways you are 'called' to Go, Show, BE who God made you to be.

August 6, 2019  Transfiguration of Our Lord, Jesus

Christ

Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99; 2 Peter 1:13-21; Luke 9:28-36

Exodus 34:29-35  Moses’ face shone with the presence of God.  As Moses came down from Sinai with the two tablets, his face gleamed with a radiance unfamiliar to God’s chosen people.   Aaron and his followers were afraid to come near Moses.  Moses commanded the people to do all God told him on Sinai.  Then Moses put a vail over his face to hide the beaming light of God that shimmered on his face.  Each time Moses spoke with God he took the vail off and when Moses spoke with the people the vail remained on.  

Luke 9:28-37 Transfiguration: Jesus took Peter, James and John up to Mount Tabor and . . .  "He was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow.”   They also saw Moses and Elijah speaking with Jesus about his departure.  As Moses and Elijah left, Peter said, “Let us make a tent for them.”  Then a cloud overshadowed them and they were afraid.  :37 A voice from the cloud said, “This is my son, My chosen one, LISTEN TO HIM.” 

WOW!  
What moments in history to be fully present in God’s presence!  
Was Moses ashamed of the ‘glow’ on is face that showed the Hebrew people, the chosen ones of Israel, that he was ‘filled up’ with God’s presence?   
God’s Presence in Moses beamed new light that seemed frightening to this crowd who was just beginning to understand and worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

     

Fast forward too many generations to count.  
Jesus takes his ‘prize disciples’ into the full Presence of God!  They see Jesus ‘transfigured’ into the divinity He is.  Both past and future are with them in this very present moment as they see the bearer of God’s Law, Moses.  They hear conversation with the bearer of God’s prophecy, Isaiah.  Jesus would soon fulfill the Law.  This was a prophetic moment of the New Covenant, Jesus.  

This was an “Edward R. Murrow" moment!  You. are. there!  

I totally identify with Peter.  I’d want to ‘house’ that glowing moment forever.  And then the Presence of God, the Father, speaks to the Presence of God, Jesus.  “This is My Son, Listen to Him!”  A booming voice from on high giving a command to the ‘chosen ones.’  

Did they listen to Jesus?  Did they understand the holiness of that instant in their lives?  
Think about it:
Do we understand that God is also speaking to us?  
Do we understand God’s Holy Presence in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit within us . . .  24/7/365?

8-7  2 Samuel 9:1-13; Psalm 119:97-120; 81,82; Acts 19:1-10; Mark 8:34—9:1   

Mark 8:34-36  Jesus summoned the crowd along with his disciples and said to them, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will

lose it and whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?”

In other words, “Fish or cut bait.”  Jesus is cutting through the hearts of his followers with tough love.  

Following Jesus is not about free food or getting healed from an ailment or living a comfortable life. 
Far from it.  
Being a Christian in Jesus’ day was tough.  Most leaders lost their lives.  

      Is it any different today?  In some parts of the world Jews as well as Christians are living vicariously simply by going to a place of worship.  They are killed for believing in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Yet, those killed have not wavered in their faith when facing death.

     That may be unimaginable to some of us.  It’s tough enough not to be harassed because of certain parameters

set before us to remain chaste and holy as God is holy.  Yet, few in the USA are actually threatened with death for our belief.

Think about it: Dying to self takes a life time.  Do we truly take seriously the words of scripture, “For whoever would save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it ?"  

Are we ‘losing our life’ by worshiping the One who gave us eternal life only when we feel like it?  Are we setting our own rules for truly making Jesus Christ number One in our lives?

  Do we lose a little bit of life daily when we forget to acknowledge God, Our Father, who created us to create life?  

Do we seek an intimate relationship with Christ by asking the Holy Spirit within us to show us who He is when we study scripture daily?   

Life in Christ is so daily.

8-8  2 Samuel 11:1-27; Psalm 145,85,86; Acts 9:11-20; Mark 9:2-13

Psalm 86:6  Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;  and give heed to the voice of my supplications! 

These words may have been on the heart of the very devout parents of Mary, mother of God.  
Mary’s mother, Ann, may have prayed this Psalm many times before she

finally gave birth to her only child late in life.  
Anne and Joachim were a worthy couple, set apart by God, who bore the “bearer of Truth,” who birthed the “Ark of the New Covenant,” Mary.

Anne and Joachim, parents of the Virgin Mary, are the maternal grandparents of Jesus. Their names have been preserved in Church tradition since the second century. 
    It is believed that Joachim and Anne, although wealthy, lived a devout and simple life of voluntary poverty, chastity, and generosity to the poor. 

According to legend, after long years of suffering from infertility and praying for a child, Joachim and Anne were each separately visited by an angel in their old age, who announced that they would give birth to a very special child. Their moment of joy at this happy news is depicted with their embrace and kiss at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem. It was from their holy and chaste marriage that Mary was brought into the world. 

According to tradition, when Mary was three years

old, they dedicated her to God and presented her to live in the Jerusalem temple until the time of her betrothal to Joseph. 
St. Anne is the patroness of unmarried women, wives, expectant mothers, pregnancy, women in labor, grandmothers, childless couples, and against poverty and sterility. 
St. Joachim is the patron of fathers and grandfathers.

We think little of the responsibility of the parents of Mary, the Grandparents of Our Lord, Jesus.  Yet, they took their faith very seriously and listened to God.

Think about it:  Are you listening to God?
Are you called to lead any child or grandchild into a faith-filled walk with Jesus Christ?
Listen hard and long in your daily prayer.  

PAUSE . . . . . . . FOR A LITURGICAL MOMENT

Some of you may not have a set pattern of scripture reading throughout the year but ‘liturgical’ churches do.  “Liturgical” means ‘work’ . . . ‘do your duty’, ‘do’ works of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  We ‘work’ daily to know Christ and make Him known to others.

In order to make sure we maintain an intimate relationship with our Lord, we read through scripture in a specific order daily:  Old Covenant scripture, Psalms,

Letters (Epistles), and the Gospel.  Our week-day reading enables us to read most of the Bible in two years.

Sundays we change gears.  We focus on a different

set of Scriptures that ‘tell God’s story’ in three years. 

On Sundays we follow a cycle much like the Jews did in Jesus’ day, accented with feasts and fasts that bring the faithful closer to God:  Passover, Pentecost, Succoth.   

Christians follow the same pattern as we begin the year with Advent: preparation for Jesus’ birth.  Twelve days after the Christ-mass celebration is Epiphany: The Aha! moment when the Magi meet Jesus.   We celebrate the Baptism of our Lord in the Jordan almost immediately, as did Jesus, we experience a day of Christian atonement, Ash Wednesday as we walk with Jesus in the desert for forty days of Lent. 

The week before Easter is especially holy as we walk to the Cross with Jesus.  The ‘Triduum’, 3 days before Easter, are heart rending days of worship that focus on the Passover Supper on Maundy Thursday, the arrest and conviction of Jesus, and, of course, Jesus’ death on the Cross on Good Friday.  Saturday of prayer ends with the grand grand Vigil of Easter: bringing in the New Light and  remembering our Salvation History from Exodus to Christ's resurrection .

Resurrection Sunday, the highlight of the “liturgical” year for all Christians, marks a new beginning as we celebrate Jesus’ life after death.  We sit at Jesus’ feet, drinking in every affirmation before Jesus' Ascension  forty days later.  

But wait! We wait with the disciples in anticipation Jesus’ promise of something yet to come.   Pentecost Sunday, filled with the ‘fire of Christ’s love’, ushers in the reminder that the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, our Advocate has been planted in us through baptism.  

Throughout the next six months we sit at the feet of Jesus (with our scripture reading) and grow as wheat

grows in the fields.  This ‘growing’ season, all the way into December, girds our faith foundation so we can share the Gospel with others and become Christ’s strongest disciples.

     And then we begin again with Advent as we usher in another ‘liturgical’ year.  I hope this helps those who may not have experienced this ‘liturgical’ way of growing with Christ.

8-9      2 Samuel 12:1-14; Psalm 88,91,92; Acts 19:21-41; Mark 9:14-29

Mark 9:17-29 A follower of Jesus had a son with a “mute” spirit that took over his body with convulsions which the disciples could not cast out.  And Jesus said to him, “If you can, all things are possible to him who

believes.”  Immediately the boy’s father cried out, "I

do believe, help my unbelief!”  Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again!”  The boy was as still as a corps after a great convulsion and Jesus took his hand and the boy got up.  Later, when Jesus was alone with the disciples, they asked Jesus why they could not heal this boy.  Jesus said, “This kind cannot come out by anything but PRAYER.”

In Jesus’ day, instead of doctors, magicians and ones who might provide incantations were available.  But, just as Jesus’ disciples could not move this spirit, neither could they.  Jesus not only knew the ‘power’ that could draw out this spirit but He WAS the power!

Just as Jesus turned plain water into wine at the

wedding in Cana, Jesus knew He only needed to say the ‘word’ and the boy would be healed.  Jesus was in constant communication with the Father via the Holy Spirit, what we call prayer. As Christ followers, filled with the Holy Spirit, we can do the same if, while in constant prayer, we are prompted to do so.  

Prayer is the key.  

Talking with the Lord throughout our day, being intimate with our Abba, chatting within our soul, is prayer. 

We ‘know’ how to pray for healing of another because we ‘know’ the One who teaches us.  

After Jesus’ resurrection, when the disciples received the power of the Holy Spirit, they could also heal in difficult situations if called to do so.

     We all can.  But we need to be consistently connected to God in prayer, through His Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Laying hands on another for healing is just another gift the Lord may give to us when we choose to receive and use His power to help another live a full life in Christ.

Think about it:  Some situations seem impossible.  We also might like the son's father as we say to the Lord, "I believe, help my unbelief."  Perhaps we feel we do not believe enough?  No such thing.

How do you pray in a difficult situation?
What do you expect when you sense silence?
Ask, wait, ask again, wait some more.
Our Lord listens and waits for us to truly believe in the belief we already have in Him. . . and sense a different answer.

8-10    2 Samuel 12:15-31; Psalm 87,90,136; Acts 20:1-16;  Mark 9:30-41

Mark 9:37  Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever receives a child in my name receives Me and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”  

We all have heard these words but do we really understand them? 

Jesus and his disciples were in a part of Galilee where

they would not be hindered by crowds.  This gave Jesus the opportunity to imbed in the disciples’ souls the fact of imminent death that was quickly encroaching upon Jesus.  

Yet, these “men” whom Jesus groomed for three years were bickering among themselves as to who was the greatest.  Some of us would say, “Who cares!!!  We are all going to die for our faith in the long run.”  Yet, the disciples had not even reached that point of truth.

Jesus, in his divine wisdom, brought these ‘boys’ down to earth with gentle words they were called to ponder.  Jesus did not say, “Hey kids, stop squabbling and focus on the real work of God!”  

He did not say, “Get real, guys, My end is near and the heavy burden of saving souls will be on your shoulders!”   

Jesus did not say, “You’re talking to God here.  If you “kids” accept Me, you accept the One who sent Me.”

God’s wisdom is quiet, firm, explicit and always filled with grace.  

Jesus would not need sarcastic quips to keep His closest

disciples in line since these wise words from Mark can pierce the toughest soul.

Think about it: When we see other Christians bickering about the ‘best’ Christian practices or being less than gracious toward those in another denomination, what do we say to them?

How do we turn a negative thought into a positive thought so that we exude the same grace that Jesus had toward his “bickering boys?”