SEPTEMBER

I can hardly believe that it is already September. (In fact it has been so now for 5 days.) Another season, summer, is gone.  That means it is now fall.  That means another winter is not far behind.  That means another year will have passed.  I guess this is good.  It means another new beginning is waiting in the wings..  But in reality I don't need to wait till January for a new beginning do I.  I can start today.  I can start fresh each day if I so choose. 

This morning I had a strong sense of watching a new day be born.  I'm not sure why I felt this so strongly this morning. Maybe it is partly because it is September and now fall. The sun suddenly doesn't rise as early as in August. I was up at 6:45 this morning and the moon was out and it was still very dark.  So for the first time in many months I watched a new day be born.  A beginning of a new day.

So what will this new day be.  I know what it will be for some others.  For Jon and Taylor it will be the day they begin their new life together as husband and wife.  For Malory it will be the day she heads off to begin and new job on a new continent.  But what will this new day be for me?  I don't yet know.  According to one of the scriptures I read from today's lectionary though I don't yet know God does.  In fact the reading tells me he knows all my days. Psalm 139: 16.  "In your [God's] book are written all the days that were formed for me.when none of them as yet existed."  What does he know about my future?  If  I could know my future would I truly want to?  I think some things yes, other things probably not.  Its probably better that only God knows and I discover it as it unfolds. So as the world, at least the world here in Austin, TX, wakens I will wait with anticipation to see what today's new beginning will be for me.

Yes, it is a new season.  It is now September. It is now fall.  I will endeavor to make the most of each day as it arrives and if I stumble or fall along the way I pray, with God and the help of family and friends, I can pick myself up and begin again to move forward to the future God has written for me.

Post Script:  Just went and read this mornings  Upper Room devotion.  The last line was: "...no matter where we begin, if we allow God to form us and mold us, we can make a difference in the world for God." 

HEBREWS 5:8

The other day I was talking with a friend about my current reading habits. Since I'm alone so much I am reading up a storm. During May alone I read 5 books and listened to another. (I listen to books in the car going to and from work.) I know that's how many I read because I've started keep a list in Excel to keep track of what I read so I don't forget and begin rereading it. My friend shared with me that she has certain books she rereads on a regular basis because every time she does she is at a different point in her life and she gets a different message from the book.

That got me to thinking.....I do that with the Bible. Since I began reading the Bible, which was probably as soon as I began reading since I went to a parochial school and had Bible Study classes from grade 1 on, I have read through it many times. I am amazed how each time I read it, whether as part of my daily devotions, a planned out "read through the Bible in a year" programs, or a study of a certain theme or book of the Bible something new that I swear I never read before pops out.

I guess it is like my friend said; when ever I pick up and read the Bible I am at a different point in my life than I was the last time I did. Even on a daily basis I am in a different frame of mind or something new has happened or I am dealing with a new issue than a moment before. This happened this morning during my Bible reading.

This year I am following 2010 Bible Reading Guide put out by the Maryland Bible Society. Their pamphlet, which I found at our church, caught my attention because their theme for the year is Embodying Hope and I felt I certainly needed a good dose of hope this year. Currently the readings are from Hebrews today's Hebrews 4:14-5:10. For fun this year I am reading from Eugene Peterson's, The Message, though I keep my trusty NRSV close at hand.

Hebrews 5:8 was one of those verses that jumped out at me. It says "Though he [Jesus] was God's son he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do." ~~The Message. That stopped me in my tracks. Jesus had to learn trusting-obedience just like I do and he learned it through suffering and the need to rely on God to be by his side and get him through the suffering! I couldn't believe what I was reading. Surely this was Eugene Peterson's interpretation, but no, the NRSV says "Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered;..." I have been involved in numerous discussions and debates as to why it was so important that God came to earth in the form of a human baby and grew into a human man. For me this verse gives part of the answer to that question.

I have a hard time relating to God. God is God.....He is perfect. He can do all things. HE knows all things. He is above all things, or is he? When he came to earth in human form he allowed that part of him to be part of all things. He allowed himself to experience and feel all the things we humans do. He struggled with many of the same issues we humans do. According to Hebrews 5:8 he learned and he grew and reading on to verse 9 he being also divine went on to becoming perfect and therefore becoming our source of salvation. He did that partially by dealing with his struggles, taking them to his Father God and learning to trust and be obedient.

Now I know I can not become perfect, at least not in this world, I am not both human and divine, but I to can follow Jesus lead and out of my struggles, and currently there seem to be many in my life, learn to trust and be obedient to God. This is my lesson for the day.

VERSES FOR TODAY

Philippians 4:4-7
4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
4:5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.
4:6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This is one of the lectionary verses for the week. It is a good one to keep in mind. I think each verse carries a key word.

From verse four REJOICE! It is always good to rejoice. Especially to rejoice in the Lord as we are told to do hear. No matter what my state of mind or emotion if I "rejoice in the Lord" I find I will soon have a heart of thanksgiving for all God has blessed me with; a mind full of wonderment at all he has done; and a smile on my lips.

From verse five GENTLENESS! Our spirit should be one of gentleness toward others and towards ourselves. In today's world of expected perfection and demanded immediate results it is often easier to be hard and judgmental. To be demanding of self and others. But we are called to be gentle.

From verse six we actually have a phrase DO NOT WORRY! When has worry solved anything? Worry is a time and an energy waster. I don't think that means do not be concerned, but when concerned we are to take those things to God. We are told to take our concerns to God. He will provide an answer and the first answer will be DO NOT WORRY...I'm here, I'm with you we can handle this concern together.

And finally in verse seven PEACE! This is the greatest of the words here and it comes out of taking heed of the first three. If we REJOICE, are GENTLE and DO NOT WORRY we are told God will grant us a PEACE that passes all understanding. A PEACE that only he can give and wants to grant to each and every one of us.

VERSE FOR TODAY

Today's Bible verse from my morning devotion is Philippians 1:9. Another God-incident? Maybe maybe not, but in any case this is a verse that will be my prayer for today.

"This is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you know what is best."

I went to my Bible to find out the context this verse was in. This is from a letter of Paul to the church in Philippi. Paul was writing from prison. In the introduction to the book in my New Oxford Annotated Bible translation is says that the Philippians were also experiencing some sort of opposition. and that Paul's major concern is to bring them back together. Verse 9 states Paul's prayer for the people of the church at Philippi. The above is not exact in what the NRSV says and actually rolls over into a bit if verse 10. Here is the totality of verses 9 through 11.

" And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is the best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:9-11 NRSV

When Paul refers to the day of Christ he is referring to Christ's return to the earth in the second coming. He, Paul, and many in the early church believed Christ's second coming would be within their life time. Today we know this did not happen. It has been over 2000 years since Christ walked this earth and it may be another 2000 years or more before he returns. Or he may return tomorrow. But when ever the time of his return we as Christians need to be prepared and waiting. Living, in the meantime, the life which God has planned and prepared for us. Sometimes in our humanness we do not do a very good job of following God's plan, but God is good and he continues to work with us. He is a God of "second" chances. Actually I would say and third and fourth and so on. When we come to him and say "I know I messed up in following your plan, but I ask that you give me the faith and the wisdom to know how to hear and follow you", his grace pours out and this verse and Paul's prayer for the people will be answered.

Sometimes things are so easy that we distrust them and make them harder than they need to be. So my prayer for today is Paul's prayer. That your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help me to determine what is the best. The love is God's to me and it is the love that will direct and guide me.

PERFECT WILL and PERMISSIVE WILL

A few days ago I began reading a book by Lloyd Ogilvie called Asking God Your Hardest Questions. It is a book that has been on my shelf for at least 10 years, never read. But I've had some hard questions through out 2009 and so when I was looking for some inspirational reading it seemed to pop off the shelf into my hands.

The chapter I read tonight is titled; How Can I Know God's Perfect Will? It was an amazingly thought provoking read. Here are a few excerpts from it that I need to keep in mind and mull over.

• "The perfect will of God is that we fulfill the purpose for which we were created: to know /god, receive his love, and enjoy fellowship with him forever....God's perfect will for our lives is that we love him, love ourselves, love others as he has loved us...." p.53
• "God's perfect will is what he intended: his permissive will is what he allows." p.54
• "God is always ready to go back to ground zero with us and begin again." p.55
• "...at the lowest ebb of history he {God} came to earth in Jesus Christ, the Mediator....The mediator's persistant ant prayer was, 'Not my will, but Thine be done.'" p.55
• "Is it possible to be a Christian and be out of the will of God? Yes. We can accept Christ's salvation and still run our own lives. Once again the Lord;s permissive will must be involved. He must work out to bring good out of our wrong choices. We are thankful that he does, but it's not the best he intended." p58
• "We can trust what God intends, believe that he will use whatever happens, and know that his ultimate will cannot be dissuaded," p. 62

There are many other wonderful thoughts in this chapter as there were in the preceding 3 chapters. I have 16 chapters more to go and can't help but muse over what wonderful things I will uncover in them.

I don't remember when or where I picked up this book, like I said it was at least 10 years ago, but there is a reason I did and that reason was so I had it on the bookshelf to read now!

THOUGHT AND PRAYER FOR THE DAY

This will be my prayer for today: All I have is from God. He is the author and the Lord of my life. He loves me and will care for me. I just need to put myself in his wonderfully tender hands. The days and nights may be rough but he is with me always. This he promised. I claim this promise as my own and His love and grace will be enough.

Every morning in my inbox I have a short devotional thought from The Upper Room. Usually it is a quote from one of the books which they publish. Today's quote was from a book written by Norman Shawchuck and Rueben P. Job. The book's title is A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God.

The quote was "Take Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my entire will; all that I have and call my own. You have given it all to me Lord, I return it. Everything is yours to do with; as you will. Give me only your love and grace. It is enough for me." This will be my thought and prayer for the day.

To receive these wonderful morning devotional tidbits you may go to The Upper Room and simply sign up.

THOUGHTS TO PONDER

There is a wonderful web site started by a stamping friend and a sister in Christ called Women to Women Sharing Jesus. On it Diane have wonderful posts about her life, faith, and love of Jesus. And she often has guest post by other women. This morning when I was thinking about what I should do for my devotional time (which I confess has been sadly lacking) I thought of this site and decided to see if there was something there that would jump start me. There was!

There was a wonderful posting by Hope with many things to ponder. And they were all things I need to be pondering. Here are her points and some related verses. For here thoughts you will have to visit Women to Women. I am going to ponder on these points one each day for the next 4 days and if I come up with anything profound or maybe even anything at all I Will share my thoughts here in further posts.

1. Give God permission to be your caregiver.

Matthew 11:28

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

2. Pour out to Him, so He can pour into you

Psalm 34: 6, 18

This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
And saved him out of all his troubles.

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

3. Accept and surrender to God’s Truth

Hebrews 4:16

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

4. Remember the Truth

Psalm 40: 1-3

I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the LORD.